When UO was created, skill training was intended to be a part of the game. You were meant to train skills as you play. However, the metagamers, min/maxers and power gamers took care of that in short order by finding the fastest way to max out their skills—the "journey" and T.O.S. be damned.
Not too many years later skill training became to UO what getting around the Great Firewall of China is to Chinese citizens: a right of passage and an Olympic sport. No one wants to skill grind. Everyone wants to train their characters up as fast as possible so that they can join their friends in the "end game", whether it's peerless, champ spawns, EM events, pvp, or farming to make gold or get that uber gear they simply *must* have.
I think it's time to put the whole issue of unattended skill training to bed once and for all. EVE is really the spiritual daughter of UO in the science fiction realm, and the way they handle skill training solves a lot of problems, even though I don't like the exact way they've done it.
I would suggest that at any time you can designate two characters per account as being in training. Being in training greys them out in the character selection menu. If you choose to play them, the training stops.
When you put them in training you choose the skill to train and they gain 1.0 per second up to 10; .5 per second up to 20; .1 per second up to 30; .1 per 5 seconds up to 40; .1 per 10 seconds up to 50; .1 per 20 seconds up to 60; .1 per 40 seconds up to 70; .1 per minute up to 80; .1 per 2 min up to 90; .1 per 5 min up to 100; .1 per 10 min up to 110; .1 per 20 min up to 120
Those numbers could of course be adjusted. And I accept that in game training would be faster for some characters, but the fact that you can legally do it "afk" and the fact that you can do two characters at the same time, should more than make up for that.
And then start getting serious about handing out 72 hour suspensions for afk training, and a week if illegal third party apps are used. And those suspensions should include stopping all skill training for the period of the suspension.
Not too many years later skill training became to UO what getting around the Great Firewall of China is to Chinese citizens: a right of passage and an Olympic sport. No one wants to skill grind. Everyone wants to train their characters up as fast as possible so that they can join their friends in the "end game", whether it's peerless, champ spawns, EM events, pvp, or farming to make gold or get that uber gear they simply *must* have.
I think it's time to put the whole issue of unattended skill training to bed once and for all. EVE is really the spiritual daughter of UO in the science fiction realm, and the way they handle skill training solves a lot of problems, even though I don't like the exact way they've done it.
I would suggest that at any time you can designate two characters per account as being in training. Being in training greys them out in the character selection menu. If you choose to play them, the training stops.
When you put them in training you choose the skill to train and they gain 1.0 per second up to 10; .5 per second up to 20; .1 per second up to 30; .1 per 5 seconds up to 40; .1 per 10 seconds up to 50; .1 per 20 seconds up to 60; .1 per 40 seconds up to 70; .1 per minute up to 80; .1 per 2 min up to 90; .1 per 5 min up to 100; .1 per 10 min up to 110; .1 per 20 min up to 120
Those numbers could of course be adjusted. And I accept that in game training would be faster for some characters, but the fact that you can legally do it "afk" and the fact that you can do two characters at the same time, should more than make up for that.
And then start getting serious about handing out 72 hour suspensions for afk training, and a week if illegal third party apps are used. And those suspensions should include stopping all skill training for the period of the suspension.
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