Best Of
Re: Community Hype (Tell Me What You Want)
I'm writing this with the caveat that my vote is technically for "PvP is not important for me, however, I would not want to see it thrown under the bus and neglected for those that do care, because there's a fair amount of you that do." But I don't have any suggestions for how to work that because that's not my scene.
That being said, I'm in agreement for "Endgame" PvE, I'm the type of person that kind of needs a goal to work towards, even if slowly, as soon as I hit 75, I'll lose my current goal and probably will disappear. Removing that cap before I hit that will not make me want to grind more, and will in fact probably make me want to less because suddenly the road now has no end.
The reasons I come in is to see things change, to see things evolve over time, this will definitely become more of a thing that happens once the game has gone gold because changing the fundamental underlying dynamics of the universe shouldn't be done until the ribbon is cut and people have a chance to experience things before the changes start. I'd like to see large scale constructions built by the developers, factions or even individual dynasties blossom out over time, taking months or even upwards of a year in realtime and huge lots of resources and labour marks to be fully realised. I enjoyed the fact that new dikamazi changed after a while, with the hook that things can change again in the future if a storyteller feels up to writing the plot, and a player uncovers the hook for it. It's things like that that keep me coming back. Raw amassment of power can only yield so much enjoyment, after all.
Now with that out of the way I might as well say that your PvP is also very important and reasons to fight are also important. And at the moment the only solution on the table is just make more and differently flavoured types of control point. It probably isn't enough. I'd like to see more reasons to fight in the universe than just raw combat, I'd love to see sports come up, both clean and bloody, I'd like to see people betting on sports and fights, You could generate teams and simulate whole rosters for tipping.
Gods that was long, sorry about that. BEAST probably needs a balance pass seeing the folks wanting a change. I cannot give exacts though, I only enjoy classes for their utilities and roleplay value.
That being said, I'm in agreement for "Endgame" PvE, I'm the type of person that kind of needs a goal to work towards, even if slowly, as soon as I hit 75, I'll lose my current goal and probably will disappear. Removing that cap before I hit that will not make me want to grind more, and will in fact probably make me want to less because suddenly the road now has no end.
The reasons I come in is to see things change, to see things evolve over time, this will definitely become more of a thing that happens once the game has gone gold because changing the fundamental underlying dynamics of the universe shouldn't be done until the ribbon is cut and people have a chance to experience things before the changes start. I'd like to see large scale constructions built by the developers, factions or even individual dynasties blossom out over time, taking months or even upwards of a year in realtime and huge lots of resources and labour marks to be fully realised. I enjoyed the fact that new dikamazi changed after a while, with the hook that things can change again in the future if a storyteller feels up to writing the plot, and a player uncovers the hook for it. It's things like that that keep me coming back. Raw amassment of power can only yield so much enjoyment, after all.
Now with that out of the way I might as well say that your PvP is also very important and reasons to fight are also important. And at the moment the only solution on the table is just make more and differently flavoured types of control point. It probably isn't enough. I'd like to see more reasons to fight in the universe than just raw combat, I'd love to see sports come up, both clean and bloody, I'd like to see people betting on sports and fights, You could generate teams and simulate whole rosters for tipping.
Gods that was long, sorry about that. BEAST probably needs a balance pass seeing the folks wanting a change. I cannot give exacts though, I only enjoy classes for their utilities and roleplay value.
Sammy
3
Re: Community Hype (Tell Me What You Want)
I can hear the collective cry of BEASTs everywhere proclaiming the unfairness of life and the universe itself, and I sympathize, the class needs some help. But I really hope that those players can concede that the whole PVP scene in Starmourn needs more attention from an opportunity standpoint. In most recent activity, all I've seen are spars and an occasional weird, short-lived, meaningless scuffle. So while 1v1 is currently the dominant activity, I can see why BEASTs are upset when they are less viable, but I believe the class still has unique utility and capability to meaningfully contribute in group PVP. I'd like to advocate foremost for fixing and creating group PVP opportunities that will make BEAST just as relevant, and which will be more inclusive to the community as a whole, especially those who want to casually PVP and don't aspire to be some duel champion. Class updates are needed, but I think the bigger picture needs work, both in providing meaning and opportunities to PVP.
Azlyn
3
Re: Community Hype (Tell Me What You Want)
Thanks for starting this thread. I think a general bug/ classlead month is required. Among the things which need to be looked at
1) B.E.A.S.T issues
2) Ship modding
3) Modding in general to enhance functionality
4) Economy related changes (balancing of commodities, specializations
1) B.E.A.S.T issues
2) Ship modding
3) Modding in general to enhance functionality
4) Economy related changes (balancing of commodities, specializations
Kirin
2
Re: Mining spec
Come September I will be shutting off my market orders until January, just to see how the market balances out. I'm not saying I am the jesus of the space economy, but let's just say that before I started my scheme, elessium's market price was two marks (it is now at eighteen).
Also, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I can absolutely ignore the whole space economy and nothing about my game changes. That's how broken it is: it's inconsequential. There is nothing about it that I want
And beforr you pull out the next station mission mechanic, I will stop you right there and say that made things needed negatively, not wanted positively.
Also, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I can absolutely ignore the whole space economy and nothing about my game changes. That's how broken it is: it's inconsequential. There is nothing about it that I want
And beforr you pull out the next station mission mechanic, I will stop you right there and say that made things needed negatively, not wanted positively.
Matlkael
3
Re: Quality of Life Wishlist
For the message: 'You have sold x commodity for a total of y marks. You have z left for sale.', also include which Station the market offer was purchased from, otherwise it's difficult to track sales by Station.
Re: Quality of Life Wishlist
- Make the captaincy skill TRANSFERS its own thing so that it's not literally just station cargo commands. The way it works now, you SHIP CONNECT <ship ID>, and then if that ship's pilot consents, the ship gets turned into a station for storage, basically. There is no input on the target's side of things, they can't stop you from taking/putting things in after they initially consent, and they can't even see what you're doing without spamming CARGO CONTENTS SHIP (there's literally no message on the recipient's/victim?'s side regarding storage/loading). In addition, because it's legitimately just the same system as station cargo storage, you can't even use this skill near a station, because it will default to that station. I think unique commands/handling would make this a lot easier on everyone involved.
- Show when cosmpiercer windows are closing on COSMPIERCER LIST. So instead of just 'Vulnerable', it would say 'Vulnerable for x days'.[IMPLEMENTED]
- Add PTPs to Arrizuri and Jelle, either from the respective voidgates or from the main PTPs on the respective planets. Right now, there's no other way to get to those areas except transferring to the respective stations.
- Some countdown or something when you enter a 'safe' area to let you know INRs are about to explode
- Purge STATION MISSION LIST periodically, because boy does that thing get massive
Rhindara
3
Re: Mining spec
@Cubey:
Okay, I hear what you're saying, and in large part I agree with the sentiments. Players and the community interaction are obviously the backbone to the MUD and are necessary to have a successful world. I just think some of your analogies are untrue to this scenario. I really disagree with "there are players who don't mind mining asteroids for 12 hours" because the testimonies of so many players in addition to the low market activity overall say otherwise.
I also disagree with "organisations can offer additional incentives to miners that are not strictly monetary". Rank is only for bragging rights, so favors are pretty weak motivation. Maybe Song can erect a magnificent statue of me to glorify my economic prowess, but once that baby goes up I'm out.
But seriously, maybe factions can cobble something together that I just can't envision, but even still, I'd like to see meaningful commodity/product sinks inherent to Starmourn. Resources shouldn’t just be a means to marks and ship supplies. I would presume they should be treated as the conflict currency here, like Lusternia power or Aetolia ylem, and in those other systems the currency can be spent by orgs or players for perks or RP type investments.
And look, I've been the burnt-out city leader/guild leader/whatever before or have chased boneheaded achievements, where the MUD becomes too much like a job. Many times. I'm actually a sucker. But the motivation to do that comes from some passion (or ego?), and in this economy system, I just don't see it. When I first heard about SM, I was excited and envisioned fighting to control planets I could mine, or embargoing sectors of space and monopolizing the PLUTONIUM, or busting into people's factories guns ablazin to sabotage their production. Not... pushing m's across text space. Serious kudos to those who are all about it, but I'm skeptical those people actually exist and are producing. I'd be interested to maybe see some data on the output and longevity of the CA system, but I suppose time will tell!
Azlyn
2
Re: Mining spec
Now we've graduated from "you aren't playing the game right" to "Not only are you not playing the game right, but it's your fault that no one in your faction is having fun with this."
Nope. Not going to accept that shade. The onus is definitely not on faction leadership to make a game system work.
Nope. Not going to accept that shade. The onus is definitely not on faction leadership to make a game system work.
Poet
3
Re: Mining spec
I'm just dropping into the thread to say: back when I was active, I knew several players who were able to afford their own refineries and even corvettes almost exclusively from money they earned while mining. One of them even fit the "space trucker with a shitty attitude" archetype pretty well, as mentioned by Nykara.
What CA has isn't a centralized economy because that term implies free market is limited and individuals are forced to participate. What it has is a voluntary system that incentivizes mining to make it profitable for players, with gains that make the barriers of entry worth it - and it's not a "fluffy unicorn happy trade deal" either. It doesn't exist to give players free money from the org's coffers. It started as ways to boost up faction commodity stocks but it actually generates revenue and has for some time now - both for the players and the faction. Everyone wins. It's a system where both parties cooperate together for mutual gain, and I'm not tooting my own horn because it's people who came after Ren that really made it flourish.
Where am I going with all of this? My point is:
You can't have profitable mining without working economy, but you also can't have a working (faction-level, but let's face it: almost all economy is faction level) economy without involvement of people in power. Just like in real life people won't work (at least voluntarily) unless someone with money is willing to pay them, in the game players won't mine unless someone - faction leaders, will properly incentivize them to do so. That's what happened in CA: Grek, Ata, etc worked hard to set up a system that required an initial investment but, in return, offered long-term benefits for everyone involved. If you are a faction leader and complain that the economy doesn't work or that it's hard to get people into mining because it doesn't generate cash or has high barriers of entry? It's in your power to change that.
An economy can't be driven by NPC orders. It's up to the players to make it work.
Cubey
1