Why aren't NPC characters also becoming more powerful over time? Why do only you get to level up?

[Tweed]

Rusty is about to start working on a way to add loading screens to the forum.

[rusty_shackleford]

Rusty is about to start working on a way to add loading screens to the forum.

We do have them, and they improve the forum.

[Oyster Sauce]

Some trainers in Pokemon Gold/Silver will exchange numbers with you after you've beaten them. They level up, catch new Pokemon, and call you for rematches. Don't think this feature was kept throughout the series.

[Stack of Turtles]

Some trainers in Pokemon Gold/Silver will exchange numbers with you after you've beaten them. They level up, catch new Pokemon, and call you for rematches. Don't think this feature was kept throughout the series.

Other gens have rematches too.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I am pretty certain that in Sapphire you could open up a menu that would tell you which trainers in which routes had reset and you could fight again.

[Oyster Sauce]

I am pretty certain that in Sapphire you could open up a menu that would tell you which trainers in which routes had reset and you could fight again.

well if they didn't call you on the phone for chats occasionally it was soulless

[rusty_shackleford]

Some trainers in Pokemon Gold/Silver will exchange numbers with you after you've beaten them. They level up, catch new Pokemon, and call you for rematches. Don't think this feature was kept throughout the series.

sovl…

[Tweed]

I am pretty certain that in Sapphire you could open up a menu that would tell you which trainers in which routes had reset and you could fight again.

well if they didn't call you on the phone for chats occasionally it was soulless

Top PerCenTage OF RAtTaT^ta!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I am pretty certain that in Sapphire you could open up a menu that would tell you which trainers in which routes had reset and you could fight again.

well if they didn't call you on the phone for chats occasionally it was soulless

Why is it important that you want Gold & Silver trainers to "call" you for chats? Is it because of this lady?

[rusty_shackleford]

because it's cool that trainers would work hard to improve and want to rematch to try again

[Tweed]

because it's cool that trainers would work hard to improve and want to rematch to try again

Twerp you haven't fought in however long wants a rematch, fights you with new and improved wurmple, proceeds to get OHKO'd by your Lugia.

ZOINKS!

[Xenich]

No offense Val, but this kind of comes off as a "stoner" theory type of thing.

Power development is the point of games... you get stronger over time, surpassing those around you... It is a metric to your accomplishment. The whole "student has surpassed the master" type of concept of play.

I am not saying there isn't a place for relational development schemes in games where the NPCs also continue to develop and the like, but the point is... Zero to Hero... and encountering people who were once much higher level than you now being lower is a concept of that. How else would you show your progression if everyone around you continued to grow as you grew? Would they not stay above you? What would be the focus of the game then? You trying to keep up and surpass those in the world who had a massive head start above you? Also, how the hell did you grow so fast to make up numerous levels while they merely progressed at a very slow rate? If it is because you are "special", then why is it a problem you shot up and surpassed them while they stayed relatively the same? Also, who cares about this if the characters have no real relevance in the story concerning it?

Seriously... what is the point here?

[Tweed]

In the 7th Saga the other apprentices level up as you do, in fact, due to a bug they often overpower you making fighting them extremely risky.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

How else would you show your progression if everyone around you continued to grow as you grew?

First, the implicit goal here is to probably try to outpace your contemporaries in growth. Maybe you and other students both started at a dojo at around the same time, but because of your hard work, you are becoming more powerful at a faster rate than your rivals. And that would make conquering the already powerful warriors of the setting who fight/train a lot more impressive, since they were more powerful than when you had first met them, but you worked harder and managed to eventually catch up or eclipse them. Rather than a static world in which everybody does nothing while you climb the ranks.

Second, it would not be everybody who is getting stronger, and not at the same rate. A lot of wildlife like wolves, bears, etc, probably are not training their swordsmanship techniques, or exchanging tips and tricks from others. So you will probably be one day not powerful enough to fend off a level 10 wolf, eventually become powerful enough to beat one, and then from then on you will always be able to defeat wolves, and begin setting your eyes on bigger prey like yetis or eventually T-rexes, and more skilled warriors.

Not all warriors are equal. To use Trails for example, you have people like Osborne who used to be in the military and a strong fighter, but then quit to become a politician, and has spent the last 20 years sitting at a desk doing paperwork or going out to banquets. This guy should NOT be equal in strength to a top mercenary like Rutger or a master swordsman like Victor or Aurelia, who had been constantly doing fieldwork and fighting and training for the last 20 years. There is no way the growth rate would be the same, and there should arguably be skill atrophy.

Or Rufus Albarea, who was the son of a duke and learned court fencing, and was apparently more powerful than the whole party when they fought in CS2. Then Rufus becomes governor of a conquered province and chief of staff. But then when you face him again 200 hours later in CS4 with a party of people who have been training very hard and have gone a lot of missions over the past two years, Rufus is apparently STILL more powerful than the whole party. He has to run a province and manage the buercracy and so on. Where did he find the time to practice his combat skills as hard as us? Insane.

[rusty_shackleford]

This happens to some extent in Hero's Adventure, I'm pretty sure sects will even start fighting and may even defeat each other eventually(?)

[Stack of Turtles]

This happens to some extent in Hero's Adventure, I'm pretty sure sects will even start fighting and may even defeat each other eventually(?)

I thought you were against putting sects in video games.