customizable weapons?

[Daynen]

No, Em-8ER focus is not RNG. There will, of course, be some RNG, but nobody like a grind lottery.

GOOD MAN. The world will prosper for ideas like this.

 

[zdoofop]

Gambling at the NPC R&D division will be RNG though, as it is gambling. High risk, slim chance of high reward...great drain on economy

But nobody will be required to gamble on R&D to be effective at game. Esp because of how we are going to weave a skill factor into all weapons and abilities.

@Grummz you know I luv you.

the problem with rng in terms of weapon improvements, of any kind, is the big question:

If x is weapon improvement factor, and one player has 2x, and another has 5x, is player one doing more damage than player another assuming all other variables are equal?

if the answer is yes (and from the looks of it that is the intention) another question arises: will content become more challenging as you progress as a result of x?

This is where problems arise: If you do factor x in difficulty, players will be expected to get 5x weapons for group content or else die a lot or not even be welcome in most groups. If not, you have players with the 5x mod complaining about everything being easy and the others complaining group content requires players with the 5x mod for successful completion. In either case, you risk have issues regarding, dare I say it, P2W.

In summation, tread carefully down this path, for the hanging fruit of chance improvements in igs and the like may well be poison to your reputation and much of your community.

 

[Torgue_Joey]

@Grummz you know I luv you.

the problem with rng in terms of weapon improvements, of any kind, is the big question:

If x is weapon improvement factor, and one player has 2x, and another has 5x, is player one doing more damage than player another assuming all other variables are equal?

if the answer is yes (and from the looks of it that is the intention) another question arises: will content become more challenging as you progress as a result of x?

This is where problems arise: If you do factor x in difficulty, players will be expected to get 5x weapons for group content or else die a lot or not even be welcome in most groups. If not, you have players with the 5x mod complaining about everything being easy and the others complaining group content requires players with the 5x mod for successful completion. In either case, you risk have issues regarding, dare I say it, P2W.

In summation, tread carefully down this path, for the hanging fruit of chance improvements in igs and the like may well be poison to your reputation and much of your community.

YEAH, THROW IN YOUR 5xDMG TO GET A BETTER SH*T.
*BOOM*
IT REVERTED BACK TO 2xDMG BUT WITH 3x MORE AMMOS

YOU LIKE IT? NO? BUMMER, YOU SHOULDA HAVE BUILD ANOTHER SQUIRTGUN TO TOY WITH.
NOW YOU GOTTA PLAY WITH YOUR SH*TTY DISAPPOINTMENT TILL YOU CAN AFFORD A NEW F*CKING PEWPEW OR TAKE THE RISK AT THE RNG-JOKER AGAIN.


BAH GROUP CRAP SH*T AGAIN. I'D RATHER PLAY WITH 100 PUSSIES WITH NORMAL EQUIPMENT THAN WITH 10 CRY BABY THAT ONLY WANT 5xDMG.
BECAUSE
MANPOWER EQUALS FIREPOWER

 

[BlackHorde]

Might be an idea to add into the craft system a Discovery Mode - Random Chance to Find Upgrade Module.

Find lots of parts / junk / salvage.
Research parts / junk / salvage.
- Access to random discovery of and upgraded part or module.
- Time required for research would be depending on quality of materials or quantity.
- Time of research can be boosted by VIP / Sub Status.
- How many Slots Allowed for Research - 2 F2P or 4 for VIP/Sub *bit like what FF had only more advanced crafting.
- Research Levels will effect the major part of game and how items can be upgraded and crafted.

It's a Thought

 

[BlackHorde]

Questions about the Skill Gain System

1. Will it be time based?
2. Will it gain xp or skill points on use?
3. Will there be an OverFlow System (boosted aspected from buffs and and items with modded bonuses)?
4. If there was a Skill Tree, will the progression system have an advanced point system for frames you control or make?
eg. The T.H.M.P.R Rig - Will have it's only Tree Type Skill System?

 

[Krhys]

MANPOWER EQUALS FIREPOWER

Quantity sometimes does have a quality all of its own...

 

[Kouyioue]

I just realized, that once weapon profiles and practicality get thrown out of the window for the sake of sci-Fi Fantasy. Weapon stances become WAAAAY more badass:

Hard to believe this thing is a blowback action Sniper Rifle . . . .

I know of a few non-nuclear, old fashioned, deisel powered aircraft carriers that are stated to be able to power a city or two if a major power outage were to happen, simply wire them into the mains. They're pretty much mobile weapons platforms, after all ^_^ lots of electricity ! ! !

So if the omniframe or whatever has its own power source to run it, why not have something like this:

At 4:05 in the video, the weapon gets wired directly into the mechsuit to do something badass.

 

[Omnires]

Ruby doesn't always use rifle part of her weapon in that way. In the past, before firing it at full power she would often use the blade or hook on the end to anchor it into the ground or something to stop the recoil from knocking her backwards. Because we alway know the gun when fired at full power has enough recoil send her flying into the air that used to help her travel faster and even add extra power to her melee attacks.

 

[Grummz]

I'll just say I'm not a fan of realism. I find it way too constraining for design. You start making decision in favor of realism and away from fun. I like to push the boundaries, but still suspend disbelief.

 

[HumanTrainingBot]

Might be an idea to add into the craft system a Discovery Mode - Random Chance to Find Upgrade Module.

Find lots of parts / junk / salvage.
Research parts / junk / salvage.
- Access to random discovery of and upgraded part or module.
- Time required for research would be depending on quality of materials or quantity.
- Time of research can be boosted by VIP / Sub Status.
- How many Slots Allowed for Research - 2 F2P or 4 for VIP/Sub *bit like what FF had only more advanced crafting.
- Research Levels will effect the major part of game and how items can be upgraded and crafted.

It's a Thought

I like the thought, but if this is implemented as the only way to get upgrades, then weapon progression is essentially locked behind a RNG wall. I would prefer a system where the player spends time and resources to incrementally increase the quality of their weapon. This could be balanced by the improved weapon drawing the attention of (spawning) more difficult creatures to attack the player. These enemies would then have incrementally more or better loot/damage/health based on the "power level" of the player that caused that enemy to spawn.

One other option is to implement elemental damage and resistances later on in development. This could be tuned to slow or prevent power creep and could be introduced into the game through "an important scientific discovery regarding native materials" or something along those lines.I would implement this as a "choose one" option with the ability to swap elemental modules at your garage.

Everything is centered around gathering resources and using them to customize the functions of your weapon and omniframe. There will be a very straightforward recipe system and "nudges." Nudges are used to take a base weapon recipe and nudge its stats to favor what you like: reload time, ammo capacity, and other factors yet to be nailed down.

Like Diablo II, there might also be a way to "gamble" on improving an item. You could combine resources with alien artifacts you have found to bring to a NPC who can do R&D and tinker on your weapon. This will result in slight improvement to crazy good improvement or new weapon effect. Its a great way to have a resource sink in the game too.

For cosmetics, we're going to (where we can and still makes okay sense) separate cosmetics from functionality. Functionality is what you play and earn from skill/time. Cosmetics is what is sold to keep our servers afloat and pay for CPU and bandwidth. Even though we are charging up front, that doesn't cover the costs of running online servers for very long, and we'd rather the money go into future expansions.

Gambling at the NPC R&D division will be RNG though, as it is gambling. High risk, slim chance of high reward...great drain on economy

But nobody will be required to gamble on R&D to be effective at game. Esp because of how we are going to weave a skill factor into all weapons and abilities.

On the topic of resource sinks, I do like the idea of regular maintenance of the weapon or a durability bar. If permanent weapon breaking is involved, I would want to have resources returned equal to a large percentage (larger than 50% maybe) of the build cost with resource quality equal to the previously destroyed weapon. (no loss of progression) This could be done by the weapon becoming resources (either instantly or through salvaging the weapon) as well as giving the player a one-use, non-transferrable (, non-deletable?) weapon blueprint.

Additionally, you could set up the R&D to work off of community contributions, requiring a huge amount of resources to unlock the next "nudge" available for the entire community. Similar to the community working together to expand the playable territory in the previous game. I'm not sure whether the resource requirements for the next nudge would be exponential, linear, or some other form (Fibonacci sequence?), but I think there should be some reactivity to the number of accounts active within the last X months.

Finally, one mechanic I still want to see in a game is the ability to refine a large number of common resources into a small amount of higher quality resources. If there are tiers of resources and resources can be improved, then there's the choice of whether the improvements can jump from one tier to the next.

- HumanTrainingBot/LastingLongbow

 

[Torgue_Joey]

This could be balanced by the improved weapon drawing the attention of (spawning) more difficult creatures to attack the player. These enemies would then have incrementally more or better loot/damage/health based on the "power level" of the player that caused that enemy to spawn.

AND ALONG. CAME A TORGUE. AND ONE-NUKED YOUR F*CKING PREYS. BECAUSE YOUR WEAK SH*T ASS SPAWNED F*CKING WEAK RABBIT SH*T. THANKS FOR THE FREE LOOT, PUSSEY.

GRUMMZ DEFINITELY NEED A SOLUTION FOR SH*TTY LOOT-STEAL.

LOOT STEALING = UNBADASS.

LOOTPLOSION 4 ALL!

 

[Silv3r Shadow]

I really hate RNG when a large raiding party completes a lockout raid and the rewards are random with only a few of them(not just for firefall). But it was firefalls main way to get 'good gear'. Really really didn't like RNG, it wasted everyone's time. Self accomplishment is a great satisfaction. Back when there was 999Q resources, getting the 950Q+ was great, but there wasn't a way to get the 999Q, which was 'kinda' alright, my explanation bellow:

This was the result of 1.0 with Epics as the highest quality

I hated that there was only 4 qualities and Epics became gear that everyone had.

 

[Pandagnome]

a gun that can blind temporarily with some damage!