One big problem in games like this is that leveling that third or fourth alt can prove repetitive. Even in Warcraft, which seems to get cited as a game flush with content, it's entirely possible for "Loremasters" to have seen and done ALL low level content. In WoW, they had three solutions to bypass this:
- Increased leveling speed, drastically, in conjunction with "heirloom" items earnable by a high level alt and sent to leveling characters..
-- Downside. Trivializes content. Also, a bizarre if slight immersion breaker because it treats your alts as somehow "special".
- A "hero" class that starts at a higher level.
-- Downside: Creates an imbalanced number of people who roll a character of that class. Also creates balance issues when designing a class not intended to follow the same leveling curve.
- Introduce/develop alternate leveling tracks.
-- Downside: Development intensive. There's never enough of it. Spending development time on the mid-game neglects the endgame.
Proposal: The Spinoff System, modeled largely after Hikaru Sulu branching off to take command of the USS Excelsior in the movies but also applicable to a number of other characters, primarily in the novels.
What it does: You "upgrade" a maxed out bridge officer into a playable alternate character.
How it works: You design a "sister ship" similar to the Nemesis System in Champions Online. This sister ship becomes a persistent reoccurring feature in missions and content you experience. After sufficient encounters with your "sister ship", a long and involved special mission becomes available to max rank admirals which culminates in the death or retirement (variable: for variety's sake and based on choices) of that ship's captain. One of your Bridge Officers, Captain rank, is assigned to that vessel. They become "dismissed" from your bridge crew and appear in a newly unlocked character slot. They retain their branch specialty and have enough skillpoints to start play as at Captain rank, reporting for duty at a recognizible location like Deep Space Nine rather than the tutorial. In turn, you create a new "sister ship" to take the place of the old one in scripted quest scenarios.
Note: You MIGHT only receive an extra slot from the first time you complete the accolade and doing it again may require additional vacant character slots. The most intensive part of this proposal is that it would require the ability to check for vacant character slots in order to allow you to complete the last mission in the chain.
Possible amendment: You can "pull a Riker" and have your bridge officer refuse to take command of another ship. In this event, your Bridge Officer has their racial traits promoted to the highest quality of those available, a new NPC Captain takes command of your sister ship and your progress in the chain resets, allowing you to start over and have the option of pursuing a spinoff again or upgrading the racial traits of another bridge officer.