Do power-of-two or power-of-two-minus-one caps really count? I see a few listed in the article (including the 4 billion XP cap in Asheron's Call, which I suspect is a rounding off of the maximum value of an unsigned 32 bit integer (4,294,967,295)).
Such caps tend to be based on technical limitations, and are generally used in situations where the programmer would otherwise leave levels uncapped. In fact, on a multiplatform game, the such level caps might differ between platforms, depending on how the game is programmed.
So if the level cap is meant to be as close to infinity as practical, does it count as a level cap?
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(old post but I'm responding anyway)
How high the level values can go in and of itself is irrelevant to the trope. This trope is about the highest attainable level vs. the highest level a player will typically be able to complete endgame material with.
For example, if the maximum level is 1000, and a typical run in which the player does just enough to be able to beat the Final Boss ends with levels around 990, it's not an example. (If anything, that's close to Absurdly Low Level Cap.) If the max level is 30 but the final boss is beatable at level 10, then it counts.
Edited by 67.161.7.118
pirate girl
Just stating that the choice of image has to be the greatest thing ever.
I mean, I can only think of ONE other game that even goes into the triple digits as far as level is concerned.
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I have to disagree. It doesn't agree with the definition of the trope. This trope is about level caps that are much higher than needed to finish the game (especially if the process to grind to them takes an extremely long time), not just Pinball Scoring meets Character Level.
'M not Crazy, just Raven
Can anybody clarify the Legacies of Dondoran entry? It mentions being forced to go through a bonus dungeon (which certainly doesn't meet with any definition of "bonus dungeon" that I've ever seen). Could also stand to be less complainy about how hard the game is and more elaboration about what specifically makes it so.
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Eh, you can delete it if you want. I only added it because I needed examples when the trope was still in YKTTW and I'm really bad at explaining things, so it's probably unnecessary (especially since it doesn't even have a wiki page).
If you still want clarification, what I was trying to describe was that you end the game at level 50ish, but you need to have your levels in the 80s-90s and have at least some of the loot from the bonus dungeon to even have a chance at beating the Final Boss. It's "forced" in the same way Forced Level-Grinding is "forced". Basically, it just involved a lot of Forced Level-Grinding, like what I described in my above reply.
That makes more sense. Dondoran is on my backlog of "freeware games that I will get around to playing at some point", so I'll probably just leave the entry alone until I get more firsthand information.
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'M not Crazy, just Raven
I took this out of the description:
It's tangential to the trope at best (since it's dependent on how difficult the bonus dungeon is, not how much more powerful than the final boss the game allows you to be).
Besides, extra difficulty in a bonus level? Who would've thought such a thing!?
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Well, what I was trying to get across is that sometimes you are expected to get to the level cap, but only for the Bonus Dungeon. This leads to lots of Forced Level-Grinding if the level cap is normally out of reach. I've noticed it in a few games. I'm sorry if I described it badly; I'm not a good writer. You can keep it out if you want.
What's that first dungeon that's referred to in the Last Scenario example? The one that's doable at endgame levels?
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That would be the Tower of Redemption, I believe, which you need the airship to access. You may want to go through the final dungeon anyway, though, since there's some pretty good loot there and you'll get more experience. (Trek back right before the final boss, of course)
Have you been going through the other towers, by the way? If not, you should do so now — the monsters will be pitiful, but you'll need all the rewards to access one of the other bonus dungeons. (There are a few stat capsules there, too, which are always good)
Edited by Fool "Would you stake your life on a world that cannot be saved?" -The Reconstruction
Given the length of the "Role-Playing Games" folder, which is double the length of every other folder combined, I would like to suggest moving RPGs to their own page.
Edited by KingLyger The fantasy RPG videos that play in my head are amazing.