What is HP?
No, duh, I know it's 'hit points'. But, look at some of the ridiculously high HP points at high levels. I mean, although one gets tougher as he battles more; the super duper amount of gains in most console RPGs would never justify the fraility of the human body.
Is it 'skillfully avoided damage', as one comic put it? I mean, yeah, it would make sense having high totals, as one does learn how to dodge and stuff. But how do you heal that?
Uh, discuss.
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Warlord Darius obviously shouldn't have said:
100% realistic games suck. You're supposed to be super human and be able to take 50 fire blasts from that dragon boss with a heal here and there.
omg wtf i sux then i lose 
The first aprt of HP can be classified as damage to armor, or non permanent damage.
"Healing" here would actually be armor repair, in a way.
I dunno, hehe.
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And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Lenlalron Flameblaster was all like:
The question that should be answered!What is HP?
No, duh, I know it's 'hit points'. But, look at some of the ridiculously high HP points at high levels. I mean, although one gets tougher as he battles more; the super duper amount of gains in most console RPGs would never justify the fraility of the human body.Is it 'skillfully avoided damage', as one comic put it? I mean, yeah, it would make sense having high totals, as one does learn how to dodge and stuff. But how do you heal that?
Uh, discuss.
nothing more than a representation of the damage the body can withstand. The ridiculously high hitpoints of the character is matched by the ridiculous amount of damage the creatures dish out. Proportionately speaking, a god that just stomped the hell of the seasoned hero, is no different than the rat that kicked his ass the day he learned how to use his sword.
from the psychological standpoint of the player, it represents progression and achievement. It represents all the physical training and conditioning the character has withstood. A gauge if you will of their strength, power and skill.
Take Call of Cthulu, Shadowrun or Cyberpunk for example: you dont gain hitpoints, you dont gain levels, you only get better at your skills. This turns alot of players off for the simple fact that a punk on the street with a knife can kill the character you've been playing for a year in one lucky stroke.
now take that same situation, and pit two "hp" characters together, 1 high, 1 low. The lower level 1 can whittle away at the higher level one all day.. or probably die in one hit from the other.
Whitewolf has a good alternative. Hitpoints are just that, how much damage you can take. If you are tough, you will take less damage per blow, but still have the same amount of hitpounts - seven (with a few exceptions).
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Everyone wondered WTF when Lenlalron Flameblaster wrote:
omg wtf i sux then i lose
Well how fun would a game be if the ogre smacks you with his club and you die. Your skull was just smashed open, game over. It wouldn't be fun at all. You'd try to avoid fighting to the best of your abilities, rather than entering one and looking forward to the experience and gold you'll get afterwards.
Looking at a console RPG from the view of the real world is a bad idea. In the real world you can't cast spells. There's no plate mail suits +3 that drop of the imaginary goblins on the outskirts of your hometown. You can't jump off a cliff and break every bone in your body, only to rest in the inn for one night and be fully healed. And besides all that, you're generally not on earth in games. Maybe not even in the same dimension. Rules that exsist here do not exsist in your game.
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Warlord Darius painfully thought these words up:
Well how fun would a game be if the ogre smacks you with his club and you die. Your skull was just smashed open, game over. It wouldn't be fun at all. You'd try to avoid fighting to the best of your abilities, rather than entering one and looking forward to the experience and gold you'll get afterwards.Looking at a console RPG from the view of the real world is a bad idea. In the real world you can't cast spells. There's no plate mail suits +3 that drop of the imaginary goblins on the outskirts of your hometown. You can't jump off a cliff and break every bone in your body, only to rest in the inn for one night and be fully healed. And besides all that, you're generally not on earth in games. Maybe not even in the same dimension. Rules that exsist here do not exsist in your game.
I like how you beat me on a point I wasn't really arguing. When did I say that games would be cooler if they were like the real world! I just wante d a cool debate and a funny one. But nooo Darius is a loser. Let's ban him.
Healing this would be something like...OK, for another bad analogy, your 'karmic HP' is like a muscle. With use (ie, EXP) it grows stronger, but it gets worn down and needs to rest when used for long periods of time (ie, you can only pull so much out of your ass). Heal spells replenish your karma. I guess this is also why inns work, a good night's sleep with dreams of glory replenishes your place in the universe.
This also explains, in a way, why cutscene kills are possible. There's not much karma can do to stop the sword once it is physically through your heart.
Disclaimer: I'm just kidding, I love all living things.
The fastest draw in the Crest.
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If you wanted it equated to real life, if someone came up with a club and struck my fragile little arm with it really hard, its probably going to break. Now watch them do the same if I were to actually try to work out or something every day for 6 months, and see what the result is. Most likely, the damage taken is not going to be quite so severe as it was before, overall, but (as with any good game with RNG!) the possibility is still there!
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Lenlalron Flameblaster probably says this to all the girls:
I like how you beat me on a point I wasn't really arguing. When did I say that games would be cooler if they were like the real world! I just wante d a cool debate and a funny one. But nooo Darius is a loser. Let's ban him.
Feh, I misread the topic, sue me.
I like Moogle's karmic idea, though.
Most games side-step the issue effectively, calling HP your "ability to battle" instead of your health. It is up to whoever runs your games to effectively determine what exactly your "hit points" represent. I personally view most of your HP to be your ability to AVOID serious injury, with only your lower levels of HP being true wounds. It is in conflict, somewhat, with how Armor Class is determined - but in my opinion, ability to avoid blows should be somewhat draining in a sense. Having participated in mock duels and such, I can't classify it as anything but draining - especially as time goes by.
It's mostly a matter of how real you wish the game to be. Game realism is a constant point of contention in RPGs, really. Should a knife in the back kill you? It's not in the rules... but technically a knife in the spine should. Should a mountain falling on top of you kill you? The rules say you can survive it, but realistically you should be reduced to paste. You have to strike a balance.
