Help choose our next "Big Thing"
While we're going to keep on refining and tweaking the systems we put in place this month and going through our backlog of bugs and suggested changes from you all, we'd also like to start work on our next "Big Thing" (planning, designing, implementing). But we'd like your help on deciding which of the options below it should be!
(Oh, we always have fun things in the works, we do so now as well, but a "Big Thing" takes a lot more planning and time so let's look to the future together!)
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Comments
That said, I'd find the most engagement in more world related PvP options to participate in (i.e things outside the arena).
That said, I do think enabling and encouraging group bashing needs to be a priority. I don't care about new zones and lifting the level cap, that can come later when we want to flesh out existing content. Every IRE game has bashing, it isn't exactly exciting so shouldn't be a priority. All it will do is inflate the marks people can earn, increasing the price of credits for newbies. Being able to hunt with people no matter the level difference is a staple in IRE games. It turns it into more of a social activity and I think the social aspect is one of the main appeals to MUDs.
I think I'll go with hacking updates because right now, hacking is really only useful for cosmpiercers. A little diversification would be nice. Other PvP games or level uncapping would be a close second.
Though what I'd most like is more to explore, the ability to build colonies, space stations, etc.
The only thing that doesn't jump out as a potential option, though, is the uncapping. I do not need to come grind by myself more.
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.
what differentiates SM from any other MUD is the gigantic space map that one can explore. Right now it feels very spartan and feel we can really push it in many interesting directions.
All other activities listed are also nice but it’s not why you come to SM.
space is the final frontier
I also want to clarify that I don't think it's necessary to raise the cap to any specific level; I think 75 is fine for an end point where stats, health, and equipment are concerned. But allowing people to go past the current cap so that they can watch numbers go up with no real mechanical benefit would be really nice for the people who enjoy that sort of thing.
That said, despite I am more RP-PvP oriented and at times dislike grinding I know PvE and sense of advancement via grinding is alluring to a portion of people. Hence gave my vote on that side. Besides, I also look from the side of the economy...better PvE means more drops and more materials (mods, armor pieces, marks to spend etc.) Improved PvE mechanics, boss fights requiring different strategies and resistances, no level cap etc. could play to the hands of other activities in the future.
You know if you can create some mobs (possibly a special area or a boss) that can fight like a PvPer with rotations/healing that would even make PvPers interested. But possibly that would be the pinnacle of what can be achieved with current game mechanics, so I would not expect them appearing any soon.
hard disagree there. Not having a faction arena forces people to go to the neutral arena, which produces spontaneous interaction. Some of us are invested enough in RP to send tells to random notables, but lots of people are either terrified or dislike that kind of RP. More spontaneous RP = more life.
Two 'problems' that come up is the random nature of loot, and the fact sometimes you wind up with one bit of equipment that is like 10 levels below you for ages. So I propose an alternative drop design, whereby gaining a fixed amount of xp per level generates "kill data" tokens. Can take these tokens to a kiosk, and convert them to/sell them for fixed level gear.
"Kill data" generates gear, basically.
Maybe until like level 15 you still have the old random drop rate and call it "system calibration" for that level 1-15 area/range.
1) Rerolling your armor/weapons. Spend tokens to try and get better stats (kind of reverts back to old loot system but its only part of the functionality)
2) You still gain XP, and every time you "level up" at 75 you get another batch of tokens.
3) Can now go to kiosk for mods.
However, facilitating pvp is very important to me.
And as I see that uncapping level is important to so many people, I just want to caution (again, I know I probably sound like a broken record on this topic) against stat/hp increases continuing with more levels. Getting to 75 here honestly felt like getting to L100 in Aetolia in the late 2000s. It being a requirement for pvp... by all means uncap the level limit, but make it optional.
And... for the reward, access to an alternate class (i.e. Achaea's dragon) is the best idea IRE games have had for max level, and a major stat boost (i.e. Aetolia's endgame races and statpacks) is the worst.
I would vote top priority be "PvE Mechanics - Evasion/Cover improvements or revamp". My disenchantment with how PvE is currently is largely why I've essentially quit playing for now. And when I do happen to log in, I just sit there unable to bring myself to grind out PvE. It's important to have the PvE game be interesting because it's the one thing EVERYONE can fall back on in the moments of low population/activity.
It's not that PvE is bad, it's just boring and not what I was expecting whenever I read about the awesome ideas behind the cover system and the curing system.
I picked scoundrel to be my main due to the expectation of them being highly dependent on as well as make the best use of the cover mechanics. Jumping behind cover, moving from cover to cover while firing off shots in a gunfight. But cover ends up being something I barely care to use simply because I cannot tell if it's effective, or not. Cover should be an integral part of combat with each of the classes requiring cover more for protection the lighter their armor, in exchange, they should gain the most benefits from cover. For example:
Heavy Armor (Beast) - Do not need cover at all for their protection. Could possibly even be used for cover.
Medium Armor(Engineer/Nanoseer) - Can make use of cover but it isn't necessary for their survival and gets minor benefit from cover.
Light Armor(Furies/Scoundrel) - Cover is integral to their survival with Scoundrel being the most dependent but, in turn, gets the most benefits/use/tricks from cover.
And for PVE in general:
My biggest gripe about bashing is the fact that HEALTH is the most important thing, and all of my deaths or close calls has been because of health damage. With such an awesome and varied system of afflications, losing health should be the absolute *last* way to die simply because it's the least interesting. I hardly ever get a chance to experience being hurt by other means because I'm always most concerned about my rapidly depleting health.
I really wish health damage was low, or almost negligable compared to the other forms of damage possible. NPCs could be *so* interesting if they actually made more use of this system. Additionally, I don't like how depleting health is the most effective way to kill an NPC.
I've been joking about BEASTs being the ideal cover since launch, much to the seeming annoyance of a few pilots.