DevTracker

[Grummz]

I guess it was too much to hope for something original.

I think you are confusing this for the main story. There are 28 systems and the US and Russia are not dominant parts of the story. The Crixa setting for tabletop is very wide and accomodates DM's need for the usual favorite tropes as well as new and unique ones.

Ember itself has nothing to do with these factions. They focus on a a single faction which has nomadic roots and is not allied with any past nation.

 

[Ronyn]

Aight, I'm sorry then. Tough morining I guess.

Heh. No worries.

 

[Ronyn]

So casual style is for successfull ppl IRL while seeking challenging games with good gameplay depth is for losers, you say? I hope I understood your post wrong.

Whoa. You misunderstood entirely. The point is that there is no simple equation like that.
The level of difficulty/depth a person likes in their game does not indicate their overall level of maturity/success in real life.

 

[Ronyn]

At the risk of sounding like I'm hounding you (Which I am not. lol) I have more to say on this.

the difference between finding the game you like and trying to avoid the challenges are two different issues, one with real merit and one just a show of immaturity--.

Looking to avoid challenge from the entertainment medium of video games isn't necessarily a sign of immaturity. In some cases it certainly is, in other cases it is simply a person who has had enough challenge in their real life so they want something easy for their recreational time. Likewise there are those who look to overcome challenges in the digital space so they can feel a sense of accomplishment while shying away from hard things in real life. Easy games, hard games, nothing is wrong with either preference as long as one is honest with themselves about why they play.

As for Bl4ckhunter, you're not wrong; distilling the true essence of the game is important and removing unnecessary components can often make a better game. Having said that, riddle me this: isn't the goal of a shooter game to be the one who survives the battle?

In a larger context, the need to maintain things is a part of life and a motivator for many. While it may seem silly to include it in a game where shooting things is the 'core gameplay,' I still posit that we do ourselves a disservice by not trying to tie two kinds of gameplay together into a more rewarding whole while also creating a world that is more alive and memorable for having such things. We already have a plethora of games where we 'just shoot things;' frankly, guns and jetpacks simply aren't new and exciting anymore. Ember, and indeed any game in the works, can stand to be more than that. The core gameplay of a shooter doesn't HAVE to be JUST shooting; it really can be more. There's no need to keep using such limited vision when we have so many possibilities available for something grander.

Finding the right sentence to describe what the fundamental goal of a shooter is a remains a tricky thing. So I won't butcher it here. lol
I do want to say, if we are being real, this threads discussion hasn't really been about whether Ember's shooter-first-experience should include maintenance. There is going to be maintenance of a sort. The debate has been about the HOW that maintenance should be expressed.
In essence: the need for repairs verses the need to remake. Which one fits where, how, and why.

 

[Ronyn]

Hopefully XP isn't such a central feature to our progression in Ember; the proposed horizontal nature suggests that XP should not be the primary contributor to our unlocks, if it exists at all. In such a case, the rewards system will practically write itself: you're rewarded for the mission you're on or the problems you solve, preferably with more material gains and less abstract "experience points."

There won't even be XP if we don't have vertical.
So there's no worry.

We know there is progression, a way to earn new weapons and abilities. Xp is a progression mechanic. It can just as easily be used to unlock new side grades in a horizontal progression system as it could be used to unlock upgrades in a vertical progression system. Though I know Grummz was considering using resources to unlock things instead of xp. Either way the concern of someone gaining something from other peoples work or being afk is something worth thinking about.