» Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:20 am Throwing the question back at you - what makes an attribute system inherently, functionally better than one without attributes?
A fair question! I will attempt to outline my comprehensive list of reasoning for why attributes are better, please bear with me as this will be a long post.
Why a character system with attributes is better than one without
1. Attributes distinguish the player character beyond a simple skill set
This I find is the first and most vital reason to have attributes in a game. It is also the most evident reason to have attributes. If someone came up to me and asked me, "How strong are you?" and I told them "I am a very skilled weightlifter" that doesn't begin to answer the question. The only way I could convey my strength to anyone is if I told them how much I could lift or some other similar measure of strength. The problem with Skyrim is there are no real systems to measure your characters own personal attributes.
Everyone can wear heavy armor, everyone can swing a two handed sword, and everyone can jump the same height. I can't do anything in the game that is going to give me perspective on who my character is compared to others. As far as I can tell, I'm just a carbon copy of every other character in the game, with no distinguishing characteristics. This fact is grating beyond what words can tell, because we all know people are not carbon copies. We all have distinguishing characteristics, we all have strengths and weaknesses, and it detracts from the game greatly when we cannot understand our characters as individuals, and then play to or even against those strengths/weaknesses.
My skillset does not tell me who I am, just what I am good at or what I like to do. Who I AM tells me who I am, along with the choices I make. Skyrim certainly allows choice, but it is missing a very large piece of the overall puzzle.
2. Attributes make sense of character parameters and clear up unnecessary perks
Why can I swing a sword harder? Why can I regenerate magicka faster? Why can I sprint faster?
Attributes offer very logical answers to all those questions, respectively: because I am stronger, have more willpower, possess more speed. With the exception of speed, Skyrim's answer to those questions are perks, which can be boiled down into boring percentage boosts. These perks are in place to cover for the lack of increase that used to be derived from corresponding attributes and also as a way to fill trees to keep them from becoming too sparse. These perks are boring and uneccesary in a system that has attributes, because those stat increases would be derived from strength and skill boosts completely, opening up the ability for more interesting perks, or even better, less perks. Perk, definitionally, is a "special privilege or right", the keyword there being special. What is special about a statistical increase? Nothing.
So, is being strong, willful, or fast a special privilege, or is it something anyone can achieve through training? In short, perks should not be the sole path through which our character experiences growth. Attributes make much more sense in this area than do perks on their own.
3. Attributes supplement perks and vice versa
Look at the perk list from Fallout 3 and notice how many of the perks have both skill requirements as well as attribute requirements. This may seem like a minor detail, but I think it is a brilliant dynamic. When I go to define my character, I usually model him after myself, so I gave him (my fallout 3 character) a lower charisma and perception rating, but boosted strength, endurance, int, and luck. Based solely off of these point assignments, I felt as though this character represented me, and when I started playing, I was able to play the game making choices I would given the circumstances, which further engrossed me in my character. The perk choices I made later further supplemented my immersion, and by taking into account my attributes and skills, I felt as though the perks I was choosing were specifically meant for me. Just by the large pool of perks, I was still forced to make tough decisions, but I was also blocked from making choices that would NOT work for a character with my specified set of skills.
By basing perk selection on these two interconnected systems, I was given choices that were viable and suitable for my personal character, while at the same time being prevented from choosing perks I shouldn't have access too. Eventually I raised my speech skill a bit, because I am good at speaking, but I don't have a charismatic personality. I still was blocked access to perks that required me to have a high charisma to be effective, which I felt was extremely fair for the character I had made. This type of system smacks of more depth and meaning than anything we have in Skyrim.
One other vitally important thing: in the system of Fallout 3, perks were not linked in a tree. This meant I didn't have to invest in something I didn't want, and because perks were such a limited resource, each one was extremely valuable and important. This, above all other things, indicates the necessity of attributes. If we removed the tree system from Skyrim, players could power level skills and invest solely in top tier talents, circumventing the need to spend more than 3-8 perks per tree. In other words, this type of design would wreck Skyrim.
In closing
I think these three points make a strong case for attributes, certainly not the only things that can be said for them, but they make the point. I would again stress that I don't want an attribute system that is a copy of Oblivion's to be put into the next Elder Scrolls, nor do I want them to copy S.P.E.C.I.A.L. into the next ES. I would like them to implement a system that allows us to have a certain level of control over our initial attribute settings (maybe min-max settings within each race, and a few points to attribute as we see fit) and I want us to be able to grow our attributes, but not all of them to a max of 100 (if 100 will even be the new max). Rather, I would like there to be a soft cap for each race/six based upon what makes sense within the game world. For instance, if I choose a bigger body type, maybe give me a higher strength cap, but a lower agility cap, and vice versa. Make the choices reasonable and meaningful, which will allow us to really build a character exactly how we want.
So... there is my answer. I am interested in seeing yours!
