Since they are talking overhaul of the Entire Engineers Mod, I'd like to add something to the wishlist:
1) Have a Difficulty rating that the player can choose.
Play at a lower difficulty rating and all rewards and penalties would be compressed. Amounts commodities cost below, (or above) the average would be closer to the average. Amounts commodities could be sold for above, (or below) the average would be closer to the average. So gains, (and losses) in trading transactions would not be as pronounced and making a living would become more difficult. Fines would be lower. Bounties would be lower, both collected and suffering. Missions would not yield the same level of return. Repairs, refueling, purchasing ships, purchasing standard upgrades would be the same, so at the lower levels of play, it would take longer to upgrade. NPCs would not be as tough as at the higher settings. Progress on the Combat track would stop based upon the level you were playing at. If you wanted that higher Combat Rating, you would have to play against higher level NPCs. Even if you only gained that combat rating against NPCs, it would mean more. If you tried at a higher level and failed, (losing a ship) that should be on you. You were not ready. Those that want a higher challenge will have it. Those that don't, won't have to suffer. What is problematic is dealing with PvP encounters. At that point, the player playing at the lower level should be Buffered somewhat. They cannot do as much damage, but will suffer less damage as well, and once they realize they are likely to lose, will have at least some opportunity to run away. If both damage given and damage taken are buffered down, there is nothing "unfair" about this, even though it may be unrealistic. I don't know exactly how the rating for Trade Rank is computed. If it is based upon profit made in trading, (which may be totally or in part already computed by) then progress on that track would be slowed, but not stopped. Since I think that it would encourage more explorer types in the game, (under this guise) I would not suggest modifying the rewards for exploration or the progression of a players Exploration Rank. In Combat, no-one even sees these ranks. You might see the Livery on their Ship if you are looking for it, but you really have to be good to think you have the luxury to do so. Those ranks mean more to the individual player than to anyone else, and they generally convey the idea of success simply through persistence and maybe some skill. The mechanism for adjusting combat might even be able to be used identically against Players in PvP and NPC encounters. The creativity in the programming is the only limitation, but one number, factored into all the correct equations, could yield a satisfactory result.
2) Allow for storing of ships with Cargo and other Materials/Data on board and the option to transfer what will fit onto the new ship.
This effectively does allow the player to store items, although those items may not be conveniently located. Limit the Materials and Data based upon the size of the ship. Be liberal, but not as liberal as the current settings are. If someone wants to transfer what they have into a "storage ship" they will have to put their current ship into storage and transfer the items and then switch ships again. Possible, but tedious. Put a fee schedule up for long term berthing of ships, which can vary from station to station somewhat, but also allow the player to "lease" out a ship (without Cargo Material and Data on board) for some modicum sum as well, although only certain Major Stations would do this, and if the ship were leased, it would have to be removed from lease and be available only after a certain amount of time had passed, accumulating long term berthing fees until it was picked up after that time had passed and the ship were returned. This does give people the chance to have storage, but it won't be cheap and would take some planning. I would suggest that if the berthing fees cannot be paid, the ship and its contents will be sold and the proceeds used to defray the berthing fees owed and the remainder given to the Player who did not plan their finances well enough. This could provide actual real-life lessons for some of our younger players and maybe some of our older ones as well. Harsh, but less so than having to learn them in the real world.
3) Diversity AND Simplicity.
Some Blueprints are very hard to get things for. For those most difficult items, a large amount of more common elements may be utilized at greater expense, since they must first be utilized to synthesize the more difficult to get elements. This will give those with a great deal of cash a distinct advantage, but Frontier has a way to leverage this: Allow payments for this to also be in another Currency that is only obtainable by paying in real world cash. It would give an advantage to those who have been playing this game for a long time, and to those who are financially supporting it so that others can continue to play. I see no problem with giving such people an advantage.
4) Karma: Both Good and Bad
Put into game play, (easily factored in if using suggestion 1) a factor that can be used to reward exceptionally good play, or institute a penalty for extremely bad play. It should diminish over time and not be unbalancing. Computations that would be required if using suggestion 1 would have to go one way or the other on each computation, depending upon whether it was Good Karma or Bad Karma. Play well, (not always just nice, and in the correct circumstances, not nice at all!) and your path will be easier. Bad play will make things harder.
Just my input.
;'{P~~~
