1

Which one should be used in which cases? (lvl1, lvl2, lvl3 vs padawan, knight, master)

So far my observation is,

Numbered levels:

  • Easily remembered
  • Boring and predictable

Named levels:

  • Users learning which rank is higher is a bit more harder
  • Interesting to explore

I would like to know at what situations should you use different types of level systems?

|improve this question
  • 2
    Why would you limit yourself to just levels or names; you could combine multiple systems: eg. lv1 Knight (74,574 credits); this way you can have a finer granularity with your named leveling but still give a fairly good representation of how trustworthy that actually is (some people may not know a lot about the game names - but can really relate more with the score :-) Use SE as a great example of what they do else to apply gamification :-) – Xabre Aug 25 '15 at 14:42
4

It depends on if your ranking system branches more or roots more. Branching would mean many different "classes" but only a few levels of hierarchy ("ranks"). Rooting would be only a few "classes" but that have many levels of progression (more hierarchy).

In the case of branching it would likely be easy to come up with three different ranked names for each class. (Mage, Master Wizard, Grand Sorcerer).

However if you only have a few classes but each has 100 possible ranks, good luck coming up with 100 logical hierarchical titles, so simply giving Level #'s would make more sense.

EDIT: Ideally you could do what Xabre states in the comments and do both. That way you can have all 100 levels of progression numbered and then have a rank title that changes every 30 levels or so (however many names you can come up with), to keep it interesting.

|improve this answer
  • The direction of your answer is a solution to "what kind of level systems need what kind of namings". I think the OP wanted to ask which system is better for which user persona. – Thellimist Aug 25 '15 at 16:46
  • Ah that may be the case, I was answering more directly toward the final question "I would like to know at what situations should you use different types of level systems?" in general. – DasBeasto Aug 25 '15 at 16:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.