lotuss79 said:There are certainly other ways of preventing min/maxing. Im more concerned with the ability for customization given that the class system is pretty rigid.
Capping stats would further reinforce the phenomenon of, for example, every lvl 50 Rogue being an exact copy of every other lvl 50 Rogue save for the gear they can get their hands on.
I suppose a robust AA system would address this also, but that does not seem likely.
I think the reverse can also be true depending on stat weights and soft/hard cap points paired with racial stats.
For example, lets say we have:
Ogre Warrior base - 15 STR/13 STA/9 DEX/7 AGI/7 CHA
Halfling Warrior base - 10 STR/9 STA/12 DEX/11 AGI/9 CHA
If the soft or hard cap were low enough (lets say 25) and paired with rare/low stats on items then the Ogre Warrior would more than likely end up in very different gear than a Halfling Warrior. The Halfling would be in plate focused more on STR/STA while the Ogre would be in more DEX/AGI plate with both having a minor focus in CHA items as well.
I far prefer curves to caps. Hard and soft caps are just stepwise functions rather than continuous ones and even a slap dash curve thrown together will be better than a stepwise function. Caps are used to provide a restriction at the top end and as long as you can't over-stack a single stat at the top end, then the rest of the system should be designed around mitigating undesirable effects prior to that point.
With hard and soft caps:
You go from full benefit - to partial benefit (soft cap) - to no benefit (hard cap). Players make the determination of whether it's worthwhile stat-wise to go over the soft cap. If it is worthwhile, they itemize to the hard cap. If it isn't, they itemize to the soft cap. Players are easily told exactly how they should itemize to maximize stat efficiency because the system is so easily boiled down to a "rule of thumb".
With a curve:
A curve gradually takes you from full benefit to minimal benefit, where you get full benefit from the first stat point and every stat point afterwards provides you with less than the previous one. Every theorycrafter will develop their own idea of what stat distribution is best and since there's no clear cut boundary provided by the game. There will likely not be consensus on a single "rule of thumb". Players cannot be easily told by anyone exactly how they should itemize, although people will still be able to develop opinions on when people have over-allocated a stat.
Riahuf22 said: Not really what he's getting at porygon, yes they will focus on their primary stat, but if it caps at 255 and they hit it they will than focus more on constitution, or whatever stat them deem more important afterwards, but if their is no cap than they will never focus another stay and just try to get to 600 intellegence if you let them and have their constitution be at 30, reason for having caps is more important than not having them imo, it makes it to where the challenge remains in the game, and you can't get crazy agility on a tank which probably increases dodge I'm guessing and have 100% dodge, which means obviously the tank won't get hit til decay dwindles down on him but by than most targets would be dead so why would jt matter, another reason for caps is to prevent this
This is essentially what "soft caps" prevent. This along with a stat curve to counteract stat stacking. At a certain point (let's say 35% dodge), each point agility would actually factor less into the stat. You might need 20 agility for the first 5%, but then 60 for the next 5%. This allows you to have no stat caps but still prevent situations like this
Been thinking about this ... in a game where they know the level cap will increase eventually stats will need to go up again. To me, starting fresh without soft or hard caps would be the best bet. Why would you cap things to later have to undo that work? If you balance the upward trajectory of stats from the beginning when levels go up in expansions stats can just organically improve as new gear is released.