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### Topic

#### Buffs for Not Exceeding Brain Capacity

I think there should be some sort of buff, besides learning speed, for not severely exceeding Brain Capacity. Perhaps increased iMG accumulation or an additional quoin multiplier as a reward for not having a brain clogged with excess skills. It makes sense for Brain Capacity to matter beyond the short periods of time when new skills become available. The 'about Brain Capacity' pop-up on the Skills page describes an unstressed brain as 'a healthy brain' which implies that a stressed brain is unhealthy. We use our brains for more than just learning, so a glitch with a healthy brain should benefit more than just while learning.
What do others think?

Posted 4 months ago by Feldspar Gravity | Permalink

### Replies

- Hm. I tend to think that the healthy brain / stressed brain wording is just flavor text and that a smaller learning time is its own reward.
  However, this could probably help if TS wanted to encourage skill specialization (not sure too many people would be very happy about it though).
  Posted 4 months ago by diaveborn ♥ | Permalink
- Agree with diaveborn. It's fine how it is.
  Posted 4 months ago by Annettee | Permalink
- A smaller learning time has no impact at all on endgame players. People just plow through every skill. The way things are does almost nothing to promote specialization. They may as well just not have the brain cap function if it's not going to encourage specialization.
  And no, people who want every skill would not be happy if they were penalized. That's why I'd propose it as a buff for people who stay close to cap, not a penalty for people who want to 'know everything.' Except for those upset when somebody else gets a buff for playing differently, it shouldn't be an issue for completionists.
  If TS is serious about specialization, they need to do more than they are.
  Posted 4 months ago by Feldspar Gravity | Permalink
- Dorgan: I love the buff approach, and I agree with your last sentence. :) I do think that even with a buff approach people would find things to complain about (and my part people not being very happy about it was not only directed towards your idea but also towards the entire specialization thing in general) - but for sure ideas like this are awesome, because while TS has talked about wanting to go the specialization route I haven't seen too many player-generated ideas like this :)
  Posted 4 months ago by diaveborn ♥ | Permalink
- -1 We're encouraged not to have alts, so eventually long-term players will learn all skills. There should be no game-affecting penalty for doing so.
  I actually don't even think the learning time penalty makes sense given the game model, and would rather see the learning time just be a motivation for buying the brain upgrade cards.
  Posted 4 months ago by Janitch | Permalink
- Janitch: You're making an assumption. Every player does not have to learn all the skills, and if there were a rewarding disincentive to learning everything, many players might not. The way you put it is an A=A type of statement. People learn all the skills because in the end they learn all the skills. Indeed, what is the point in having the brain cap system in the first place if it's just going to be a mild speedbump?
  The goal of the game designers, I think, is to encourage specialization and collaboration. I see a lot of collaboration, but there probably could be more and in interesting forms. Guilds? Partnerships of glitches with balanced complementary skill sets? There's some of that already, but it's not particularly encouraged by the game design. There's lots of potential there for more interesting interaction. The status quo of everybody has the same balance of skills? Too much of a boring economic flatland. Ticky tacky all in a row.
  Thanks to everybody who has or will contribute to the discussion.
  Posted 4 months ago by Feldspar Gravity | Permalink
- *nod* The thing is it actually does make sense for us to eventually learn all the skills, as Janitch was saying. Currently there's no huge reason not to. But TS has mentioned encouraging specialization; I think if they *are* going to go that route then neat ideas like Dorgan's would be super helpful (to be implemented in a gameplay sense but also, opening dialogue would help the prospect of specialization not to be as scary as it currently seems to many).
  Posted 4 months ago by diaveborn ♥ | Permalink