"They are elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty."
— Oscar Wilde
"I'll take care of it, Luke said. And because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before."
— Margaret Atwood
Hacking Contracts
So first I will display my hand:
I love the new hacking changes. Thank you thank you thank you for these! They're so much fun! I have not been finding them too difficult at all; I've been really enjoying the challenge of having to explore, talk to other players in-game, cooperate and problem-solve to figure things out. I think this has been a really positive change for the playerbase, in line with other recent implementations like xenozoology and performance, encouraging players to work together, often as a faction.
However, it's clear that not everyone feels the same way. I'm of the opinion that it'd be a real shame if the exploration aspect were made much simpler, but I know that staff likes to listen to player feedback and it has me concerned.
So, in the interest of getting a proper gauge of the playerbase's sentiments, vote below. Is it indeed the case that everyone but me hates it? Or is it just a few complainers making themselves most loudly heard above the rest?
(Based on Discussion being had over on the Unofficial Starmourn Discord.)
I love the new hacking changes. Thank you thank you thank you for these! They're so much fun! I have not been finding them too difficult at all; I've been really enjoying the challenge of having to explore, talk to other players in-game, cooperate and problem-solve to figure things out. I think this has been a really positive change for the playerbase, in line with other recent implementations like xenozoology and performance, encouraging players to work together, often as a faction.
However, it's clear that not everyone feels the same way. I'm of the opinion that it'd be a real shame if the exploration aspect were made much simpler, but I know that staff likes to listen to player feedback and it has me concerned.
So, in the interest of getting a proper gauge of the playerbase's sentiments, vote below. Is it indeed the case that everyone but me hates it? Or is it just a few complainers making themselves most loudly heard above the rest?
(Based on Discussion being had over on the Unofficial Starmourn Discord.)
0
Comments
The only quibble I really have with the system is the brokers being a teensy bit elusive. I'd imagine in scenarios like this, all parties are told of meeting points and times in advance, and it should be reflected a little in the play style.
I don't even care if it's an upgrade you have to buy using Fray credits, I don't even know what they buy yet anyway, but knowing a handoff location or dead drop location in advance seems more in tune with the concept of espionage then blindly bumbling around, hoping you see someone you recognise as an informant.
1-I think the corporations where we need to CONTRACTS RETRIEVE should be more obviously identified. That time I got Vitus Pharmceuticals only to find out it was some nameless lab in Sabiak really annoyed me. Couldn't find any written mention of Vitus Pharmceuticals anywhere.
2-The progress in hacking rank is waaaaaay too slow. At Guru level (19), completing a contract gives 0.01% and it can only be done every 12 RL hours. Way too little for something that gives no other reward. There's no other skill to learn past Guru, no mark reward, nothing.
Aside from that, they're good fun. I don't mind the brokers being sneaky, but I'm also biased since BEASTs (and Nanoseers) have an easy way to detect them.
I've really been enjoying this update so far, it's nice to have a goal for hacking that is beyond leveling up for its own sake. I hope the rewards include fun vanity items!
I can't do them because you have to have a high hacking rank to even start on them, which I find dumb.
Wake me up when there are low level ones. They don't have to pay out a lot, just be a way to level the ability without endless grind on the same terminals.
Even though it took me a decent while to realise I was looking in the wrong place for the thing I needed to retrieve, tracking the broker down was the only really frustrating aspect and I gave up trying a couple of times.
I think part of it was that because someone could have conceivably beaten me to a broker that spawned in the zone I was checking I didn't feel like I was necessarily progressing towards locating one, whereas once I actually had the contract any difficulty locating the targets was just ruling out possibilities.