Best Of
Announcements post #60: Our Next Big Thing is decided!
<pre>From: Ilyos, the Arbiter
Subject: Our Next Big Thing is decided!
Greetings, Starmourners!
Our "Next Big Thing" poll has now been closed aaaaand...it was a really tough battle!
With a few of you having moved their votes from other options to Economy (in the comments), the big winner is Economy!
We have a few major projects and exciting changes that we're going to tackle in the Economy sector in the near future. However, please allow us a few days to put all of our plans together before sharing with you the details!
As a reminder, we will work on everything that was put up as an option in the poll, so just because Economy won this time, it doesn't mean everything else is scrapped.
Stay tuned this week for updates on what we'll be doing regarding mining, refining, manufacturing and other related activities!</pre>
Subject: Our Next Big Thing is decided!
Greetings, Starmourners!
Our "Next Big Thing" poll has now been closed aaaaand...it was a really tough battle!
With a few of you having moved their votes from other options to Economy (in the comments), the big winner is Economy!
We have a few major projects and exciting changes that we're going to tackle in the Economy sector in the near future. However, please allow us a few days to put all of our plans together before sharing with you the details!
As a reminder, we will work on everything that was put up as an option in the poll, so just because Economy won this time, it doesn't mean everything else is scrapped.
Stay tuned this week for updates on what we'll be doing regarding mining, refining, manufacturing and other related activities!</pre>
Art!
I've done a few drawings so far based on mine and my friends' characters. I wondered if anyone else had done any SM related art?
Here are mine! They are Orrin (me), Clover and Ronan.
Orrin - https://ibb.co/CMGPC0R
Clover - https://ibb.co/0DfcY3Q
Ronan - https://ibb.co/nfR1bH6
Here are mine! They are Orrin (me), Clover and Ronan.
Orrin - https://ibb.co/CMGPC0R
Clover - https://ibb.co/0DfcY3Q
Ronan - https://ibb.co/nfR1bH6
Orrin
11
Re: Help choose our next "Big Thing"
It appears that there is absolutely no option to change your vote, which is unfortunate, because I glazed over the PvE Mechanics option (as Evasion/Cover) without thinking about what it could be.
Having a level cap has actually been OK in my opinion for the health of the game, because it gives us a good point to test from. We are in beta, so we are still testing things out; we still haven't gotten things to what I think is a pretty decent balance point.
On the other hand... PvE is in need of a lot of work, and it isn't about using cover or Evasion being more useful (although both of those are important issues). First and foremost, the problem is (as @kamyr said above and @Rhindara said elsewhere and @Pink_Candyfloss mentioned here) that solo bashing is really boring, and group bashing is not a viable option.
It has been said, "I don't want group bashing to be better than solo bashing." I don't share this opinion: I see absolutely no reason that group bashing shouldn't be better than solo bashing. It shouldn't be twice as good, but 20-50% better is absolutely a goal to aim for. Why? Well, simply: this game is social. Social activities should be more rewarding than not, because if we don't foster a community then we are in danger of the community falling apart.
blah blah, anyway. Long-winded post summarized as: pls to make group bashing (and bashing with your low-level friends that you just got into the game without rolling a whole new character) very viable.
eta:
Also sorry for late add but - level 50 areas. We need a new one, a better one. One that is not Literally Hell (anemoi is even Amaian for Hell) to bash in.
Having a level cap has actually been OK in my opinion for the health of the game, because it gives us a good point to test from. We are in beta, so we are still testing things out; we still haven't gotten things to what I think is a pretty decent balance point.
On the other hand... PvE is in need of a lot of work, and it isn't about using cover or Evasion being more useful (although both of those are important issues). First and foremost, the problem is (as @kamyr said above and @Rhindara said elsewhere and @Pink_Candyfloss mentioned here) that solo bashing is really boring, and group bashing is not a viable option.
It has been said, "I don't want group bashing to be better than solo bashing." I don't share this opinion: I see absolutely no reason that group bashing shouldn't be better than solo bashing. It shouldn't be twice as good, but 20-50% better is absolutely a goal to aim for. Why? Well, simply: this game is social. Social activities should be more rewarding than not, because if we don't foster a community then we are in danger of the community falling apart.
blah blah, anyway. Long-winded post summarized as: pls to make group bashing (and bashing with your low-level friends that you just got into the game without rolling a whole new character) very viable.
eta:
Also sorry for late add but - level 50 areas. We need a new one, a better one. One that is not Literally Hell (anemoi is even Amaian for Hell) to bash in.
Nykara
5
Re: Cosmpiercers: Problems and an Ambitious Proposal
Okay, could we take this somewhere else and keep this thread for feedback on the Cosmpiercer system and not about the vague philosophical differences between social pressure and individual/group e-peen anxiety?
Re: Announcements post #57: Faction Engagement Missions.
Thank you all for the suggestions! We will be making some tweaks to this system soon
Ilyos
5
Re: Help choose our next "Big Thing"
As a counterpoint - no to faction arenas, but provide more neutral ones. I hold a strong dislike for faction arenas. They make factions more isolated, and in a game our size we can't really have any of that. We need to be forced to interact and having neutral zone arenas definitely enforces that.
Nykara
5
Re: Help choose our next "Big Thing"
Faction Arenas...maybe down the road. Indeed, there might be cases when you're waiting in line for the Omni Arena to free up, but with our current population, it's not that big of an issue. I'd rather expand the functionality of the arena so that you might spectate the fight inside (which we will do soon) and add more PvP games to the arena before giving factions the option to have their own. Oh, also, when that happens, factions will have to buy them. And they'll be expensive.
Ilyos
6
Re: Cosmpiercers: Problems and an Ambitious Proposal
Right now, I see several big problems with the cosmpiercer system:
Problem 1: If you land on a cosmpiercer and die, your ship is stuck there until the generators respawn. If your side loses, you have to pay ship insurance costs and lose all your cargo.
Solution 1A: Allow INSURANCE TOWREQUEST <ship> to function on ships docked at cosmpiercers in addition to ships floating in space.
Solution 1B: Remove/reduce cargo loss/insurance fees when a ship is destroyed in an open PvP zone.
Solution 1C: Alter ship PvP costs to be less punishing in general, in hopes of encouraging more ship PvP.
Problem 2: Space combat in cosmpiercer fights rarely exists, but when it does exist, it eclipses all other stages of the contest.
Solution 2A: Introduce a space combat objective that comes after the the hacking objective is completed. For example, a second set of generators at the end of the hacking which needs to be destroyed to complete the transfer.
Solution 2B: Introduce a space combat objective that is simultaneous with the hacking. For example, instead of giving points directly, hacking a terminal spawns a 'communications satellite' aligned with the terminal's prior owner and destroying that in space causes points to start accumulating.
Solution 2C: Introduce a 5 minute window at the start of a cosmpiercer attempt during which all players can use SHIP WARP.
Problem 3: The Engineer skills Heartstart and Wormhole have an outsized effect during cosmpiercers, as these skills allow defeated players to return to the fight much quicker than they can otherwise.
Solution 3A: Change wormholes not to work on cosmpiercers or ships docked at cosmpiercers; likewise cause death onboard a cosmpiercer to destroy corpses and leave only INRs.
Solution 3B: Introduce a 5 minute cooldown, starting upon revival by any means (cloning, heartstart, timeline revert, etc.) during which heartstart fails to revive them and wormholes cannot be used.
Solution 3C: Give anyone who's faction controls at least one terminal the ability to wormhole onto a cosmpiercer without using a ship.
Problem 4: Best play for the defensive team requires constant hypervigilance and a willingness to drop everything in order to defend on zero notice. This makes it difficult to make time for in depth roleplay events, incursions, space mining, bashing or anything else that requires considerable uninterrupted periods of online time.
Solution 4A: Change cosmpiercer openings to have considerable overlap, but be less frequent. Having 6 cosmpiercers open up every 5 hours has desirable traits here, as it provides a good spread of possible targets while giving a minimum of 3 hours of down time for hunting, mining and RP between possible defenses. Also, it causes the timing of openings to gradually drift across timezones, ensuring opportunities for non-peak players.
Solution 4B: Require that cosmpiercer attempts be declared in advance somehow.
Problem 1: If you land on a cosmpiercer and die, your ship is stuck there until the generators respawn. If your side loses, you have to pay ship insurance costs and lose all your cargo.
Solution 1A: Allow INSURANCE TOWREQUEST <ship> to function on ships docked at cosmpiercers in addition to ships floating in space.
Solution 1B: Remove/reduce cargo loss/insurance fees when a ship is destroyed in an open PvP zone.
Solution 1C: Alter ship PvP costs to be less punishing in general, in hopes of encouraging more ship PvP.
Problem 2: Space combat in cosmpiercer fights rarely exists, but when it does exist, it eclipses all other stages of the contest.
Solution 2A: Introduce a space combat objective that comes after the the hacking objective is completed. For example, a second set of generators at the end of the hacking which needs to be destroyed to complete the transfer.
Solution 2B: Introduce a space combat objective that is simultaneous with the hacking. For example, instead of giving points directly, hacking a terminal spawns a 'communications satellite' aligned with the terminal's prior owner and destroying that in space causes points to start accumulating.
Solution 2C: Introduce a 5 minute window at the start of a cosmpiercer attempt during which all players can use SHIP WARP.
Note: Solutions 2A and 2B could both be combined with removing the generators guarding cosmpiercers. This would have a number of possibly desirable effects on the game.
Solution 3A: Change wormholes not to work on cosmpiercers or ships docked at cosmpiercers; likewise cause death onboard a cosmpiercer to destroy corpses and leave only INRs.
Solution 3B: Introduce a 5 minute cooldown, starting upon revival by any means (cloning, heartstart, timeline revert, etc.) during which heartstart fails to revive them and wormholes cannot be used.
Solution 3C: Give anyone who's faction controls at least one terminal the ability to wormhole onto a cosmpiercer without using a ship.
Problem 4: Best play for the defensive team requires constant hypervigilance and a willingness to drop everything in order to defend on zero notice. This makes it difficult to make time for in depth roleplay events, incursions, space mining, bashing or anything else that requires considerable uninterrupted periods of online time.
Solution 4A: Change cosmpiercer openings to have considerable overlap, but be less frequent. Having 6 cosmpiercers open up every 5 hours has desirable traits here, as it provides a good spread of possible targets while giving a minimum of 3 hours of down time for hunting, mining and RP between possible defenses. Also, it causes the timing of openings to gradually drift across timezones, ensuring opportunities for non-peak players.
Solution 4B: Require that cosmpiercer attempts be declared in advance somehow.
Solution 4C: Allow factions to declare their cosmpiercers off limits for a small fraction of each day, I guess?
Bolded solutions are my personal preferences.
Grek
5
Re: Cosmpiercers: Problems and an Ambitious Proposal
If nothing else, this.Grek said:
Solution 1A: Allow INSURANCE TOWREQUEST <ship> to function on ships docked at cosmpiercers in addition to ships floating in space.
Re: Help choose our next "Big Thing"
Your friendly local Storyteller is your direct line on that kind of thing. I can't make any promises about it being 'the next big thing in CA', but I can definitely take inspiration where it's appropriate.Jerom said:Another thing I'd also like but isn't in this poll are faction arenas. I want a Celestine arena, goddammit. I can already picture it in my mind, full of splendor and over-the-top bling. A testament to badly-spent wealth.
Tallulah
5