There are a few reasons a 'PL or Zeni' is and has been in place in the past. I'm not sure if the original creator is aware of them, or even who this original creator was, but before voting it is definitely important to you guys to aware of these, so I'll do my best to summarise.
(As someone who has a degree in Game Design I like to think I'm somewhat qualified
)
1. It's actually a much larger part of the entire systems balance than people realise.As part of a games design, immediate vs delayed gratification are two very important factors, even more so in a game like this than a traditional programmed one, especially given the multiplayer nature of what we are doing and the relative simplicity of the overall system.
I'm of two minds about mentioning this, but; Despite power level being the focus, zeni is what controls your characters growth.
1a. > Immediate gratification is doing a training thread and getting your power level awarded. mmm mmmm thank you sir, I have my reward served right up on the spot and get to see it's effect straight away. This is a sort term gameplay loop which is the most frequently repeated action of a player.(think of it as a little circle)
1b. > Delayed gratification on the other hand is going that zeni thread, getting your money, and saving up for that sweet sweet prize you have your eye on. Oh man those training weights sure do look tasty, can you imagine how much sweeter training will be once I have them? Knowing that
at a later date that gratification of the benefits the item provides await you creates a larger, secondary gameplay loop.
If we extract souls right down to it's core gameplay loop:
Train/interact -> Claim reward -> Upgrade character - repeat
Above that we it's two primary forms:
train/interact -> Claim pl -> acquire strength- repeat
train/interact -> Claim zeni -> acquire wealth -> Redeem for bonuses -> Return to loop 1 with boonThis choice creates what is called a compelling gameplay system. It's
fun to have these two options and the differing reward systems they present. It is an interesting change of pace to have worked towards a meta-goal instead of the primary goal, knowing it will help to better achieve the desired end result. Being able to do both at once actually interferes with this dynamic.
2. In almost direct correlation to the above, it also is an important pacing mechanism for the game. Indeed that is why until just recently 'zeni amplifiers' have also been off the table.*
> As a pacing mechanism it prevents people from burning through the game too fast and ruining everyone else' fun by becoming too strong
. A character that is too strong represents a problem not just for others but for them self too, after all, no one wants to play with that kid whose just
too good at the game. Same deal.
By having to take time *away* from gaining power level in order to acquire zeni, you create an opportunity for others to keep pace/catch up, while allowing the person in question to still feel productive and grow their influence through this alternate track.
*on zeni amplifiers -> Before now, the fact that you could never amplify zeni kept character growth to a fairly linear rate(unlike pl which due to weights and gravity and transformations becomes an exponential function as you increase your gaining efficiency).
However, a flaw was noticed, with leader figures sometimes finding it difficult to amass enough influence to really put themselves ahead of their fellows and create a proper rallying point out of themselves. To try and address this, zeni started being given out for free every month to these leaders, however this pushed things too far in the opposite direction and became an unfair advantage, leaders never having to *work* for their items and thus shooting far far ahead of their fellows due to the superior equipment available and the ability to focus exclusively on pl gains.
My proposal has therefore been these zeni-amplifying structures, with (hopefully) a high enough cost to encourage grouping up while still requiring proper engagement from the owner to utilise.(But I am definitely keeping a close eye on it ready to raise any issues with the community)
3. 'PL and Zeni' grading shares a similar sort of issue. From a player point of view it
sounds great at first(like the free zeni 'wages'), I mean we get to do both at once meaning we don't have to work on one or the other!... but like the kid eating too many sweets what sounds great in theory is sometimes not such a great idea in retrospect. Gaining both at once becomes a dominant strategy(which actually discourages compelling choice rather than adding to it) and removes a level of depth and pacing from the game that perhaps some may not have been aware of(Untill I began analysing I certainly wasn't
). While I won't go into the more rigorous details of reward schedules, resource cycles, expansions/actions/rewards, and flow channels(though feel free to look up some of this stuff if you like
) I will say that It removes or flattens a number of gameplay loops and problematically hampers the pacing and equaliser mechanisms.
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At the risk of sounding overdramatic, I do earnestly wish to convey/impress upon you guys here that such a simple and harmless seeming tweak actually does a fair amount of damage which won't immediately be apparent.
Having to chose between pl and zeni is, in essence, a 'necessary evil' if you like to consider it that way. It gives you a calculated disadvantage to your raw growth in the name of a better game overall. (and indeed emphasising and expanding this dynamic is actually part of why so many additional 'Zeni sinks' have been proposed, to provide further development paths which do not involve direct pl progression and make the choice between growing your power or acquiring zeni even more of an interesting dynamic).