[suggestion] Limit levels to 15

No it wouldn't because some skills go together

yes, some skills go together; but not all of them. it's the player's choice for which skills he/she gets.

do you go heavy on one/few skills and leave yourself vulunerable with specific weaknesses, or do you go balanced and not specialise in anything in particular?

I agree that skill choice seems to be somewhat unimpactful at this point. There are few skills, and many points.

I'd like to see more skills. I feel this is the right choice as there are few demigods to play. Each demigod should be able to be played in a multitude of ways.

I agree fully!

There is simply no Choice. And the skills have little influence compared to simpler games like dota.

I mean in dota you got only 3 normal skills and one ultimate: But you have to realy think about your choice and plan ahead or otherwise you will suffer badly.

I dont know if limiting the level to 15 is the right answer to this, but it would help.

For me it would be nicer to see more skills (like Kintak said) so you have to choose bertween few high lvl skills or an even spread amount of skillpoints.

And one thing to consider aswell: If you increase the number of active skills one would be forced to choose wisely because your mana pool could only support X skills. This point is not given for any character. There is only they choice to let e.g. boulder roll on lvl1 because lvl2 costs to much mana.

Considering you could end up with all the skills in DOTA, I dont understand what your getting at by comparing them?

I disagree. Power levelling is a valid strategy.

In my games, I capture flags and destroy defences, which means my character levels slower than characters which bundle into melee.

However, my side always wins because capturing flags and destroying defences is what wins the game ...

Therefore, by forgoing levels I still gain an advantage for my side.

Which also puts you at risk, because if you dont do it fast enough, and everyone levels significantly higher then you, they will steamroll you .

Perhaps the problem is that it's too easy to level...

Not agreed in that form, I think that's a fairly weak solution given the current leveling rates, you'd plateu about half way through every game. I hold the continual increase in power of a demigod to be important, otherwise matches will end up stale. If level 15 was as strong as you can get base defences would be slow to destroy and it'd take quite a few sucessful pushes to get over.

The ideal solution would be to keep the same level cap and extend the skill trees further so you still only reach the level cap at the end of the occasional game but can continue to focus skill points into a few skills for longer and you won't have all the skills at the level cap.

Of course, extending the skill trees could be more effort than it's worth (more balance tweaking to be done)

So alternatively you could try slower leveling rates (longer games, with more chances to grind down defences before getting near the level cap, IMO would make the game dull) ... Or make base defences quicker to overwhelm (You get shorter games decided before demigods have leveled too high)

Personally I don't find it too bad, most games I've played end at around level 17 so I've only just about finished leveling skills if I left out stats. The only solution I'd see as an improvement over the current system would be actually extending the skill trees.

I no what your saying but I think that u can just lower it down to level 20. U might want 2 abilities maxed out and u be able to do that.

I see what you're saying, but you're trying to solve a problem that isnt there.

If a player diffuses his points across all skills, all of those skills will be negligible anyway. So really, people already focus their points into a few branches. For instance, as Torchbearer I roll all my points into Circle of Flame first, Fireball second, and attribute upgrades third. Once those are maxed out, I can have a little more fun exploring, maybe find something that works better.

Infact, I believe your suggestion would cripple the game. As it is, a player can explore the entire tree of his Demigod in a single game, assuming he gets to 25. This allows him to see what he likes, and see whats effective, and what can be used in tandem. Your level cap would result in people sticking to the same choices in match after match, and would result in anyone who tried something new being berated by their team mates for 'not using what works.'

As an added bonus, a level 25 game is majestic, all skills are being used to their full potention. The Rook raises towers, then absorbes them, rolls boulders and hammer-slams while his trebuchet, archers, and tower of light all fire into the masses of creeps. The Torch bearer is raining ice, throwing fireballs, freezing, burning, and exploding everything around him.

This is important because a level 25 game has already gone on long enough, and it needs to be interesting and engaging.

thats why i suggested 20 cause u can get practiacly all skills totally maxed out at end of the game and I think maybe it should be alittle lower cause at the moment I can get like 6 skills maxed out with some DG's

"What works" should not be cut-and-dry. Players SHOULD be able (and encouraged) to experiment. Giving players so few skills and so many points only leads to cookie cutters.

Again, the ideal solution is more skills, not less skill points, so I agree with you there.

These two idea's are effectively the same, but with one requires much more work than the other.

I'm gonna agree with Deadmg here, I think lowering the level cap to 15 would be a good idea; but with a couple of changes:

1) Demigods level slower

2) Skills scale with level

#2 was talked about in another thread, where skills get additional damage based on the demigod level.  Not as much as another level in the skill, but enough to keep the skill effective at high levels of play.  By having skills scale, you allow mixed builds to be an effective option for those who are willing to give up power for versatility.

I also agree with deadmg but if stardock could make more skills that would be best, yet that might take a decent amount of work which is unessary.

I disagree. I feel that trying to level your DG and build him is an important aspect of gameplay.  If anything I feel levels should go higher (without adding more skill points).

I agree with that concept. That way skills stay useful as well, even when everyone has a huge amount of health from armor and attribute bonuses.

ok, I'm coming to this thread late, but just to build on what Droopy is saying and to step back for a moment...

If you get to level 25 and have all your skills maxed something is wrong.  Ideally the game should be over between level 10 and 20.  If it isn't it's because

1.  You and your opponents are improbably evenly matched or very skilled

2.  The game is not balanced for quick games and decisive play is unlikely

3.  you are milking easy AI for favor points 

Right now I'm going to go with # 2, but you still see games that end in 10 minutes. 

Regardless, levels 16-25 exist to allow you to progress even in long games, not fill out your build.  Your build and the skill choices you make are important because you really only have 10-15 skill points to use before the game is over.   

It is a choice, and you can see how important the choice is at level 1. 

Instead of limiting the levels why not increase the final tally of abilities but make the players specify specific trees they will follow rather then having the option for everything. With some careful thought you could break up the abilities into linia trees that had to be preselected before achieing them. You would be prevented from achieving certain skills but it would force people to play as a team and cover different aspects of play.

sry Gyle01 but i personally hate the idea. For 2 big reasons. People need to be able to adapt mid game and also differnt strategies rely on a multitude of skill options.

I agree, so you would increase the number and range of abilities but limit the number of trees you choose. So in some cases it would be wise to hold back before commiting to certain lines of abilities. This could bring in a nice rock, paper, scissor style of play where timing, choice, and tactics play a larger role. This was utiliesd to a degree in Company of Heros with command points but i always felt they didnt captialise on it fully as a case in point you only got one choice that could dam you if you went wrong. 

One extra advantage of this is the longevity it could add to the game. Since i first started playing demigod i have been a little concerned with what staying power it might posses or lack there of. By offereing different styles of play to each character you are in effect challenging players to play the scenario they are currently in rather then just rehashing the same old game routine. No doubt after the game has been out for a month or so, the more hardcore players will have selected an order of which skills to play that works best in most situations and will likely stick to it. Others will then copy and that will be the norm till GPG introduces balance changes.

Food for thought anyways i think... thoughts?

The prob with your theory is that besides erebus's op strat most play styles have a counter

I agree. The current cap is too low for a white knuckle five vs game. I often hit max level before a solid push is achieved. Granted I set everything to hard and creeps to weak but still...

I think this title should have an epic feel to it and not be perceived as merely a DotA knockoff.

I also think u should be able to level past 25 just not gain skill points.

/agree

More skills would be best. But if that isnt possible, this would be the best remedy.