I want to bring up a discussion about the length of time the game allows us to do [thing]. To illustrate, I bring up the idea of consumables in combat (though this applies to far more than combat). We have them in ED in the form of SCBs, AFMUs, chaff, heat sinks, and ammo.
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Generally speaking, I see consumables doing two things, sometimes both:
Allows players to buy time and power (such as healing potions or food buffs)
Limits the excursion time (such as ammunition)
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After X number of anacondas, we have to go back and rearm, because we've run out of chaff and SCBs or ammo or whatever. We have to return because we've only brought so much 'fight time' with us in our ship, and we've consumed it all.
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I was recently talking to someone in a thread about exploration. The OP was saying that smaller ships are having an easy time making it to Sag A*, which is among the most prestigious journeys in the galaxy. They argued this devalued larger ships. I don't think it devalues smaller ships. But... Doesn't it reduce the value of the Sag A* pilgrimage?
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People say they stay out at a CZ for four hours and make millions. The profit per hour doesn't bother me one bit. What bothers me is they could spend four hours out in the stresses of heavy combat. They didn't take damage because of shields, and they didn't run out of ammo because of thermal weaponry.
...Is this okay? At first pass, I see nothing wrong with this. They choose boosters over chaff and pulse lasers over cannons. They built in a way that gives them an indefinite excursion time.
But then I started thinking about the repercussions of a long excursion time. I began to wonder if this is why the game feels so grindy, if everything is so monotonous, etc. Because we can spend hours and hours doing the same thing.
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-Traders will truck commodity01 to stationA and commodity02 to stationB, for hours. They'll get interdicted occasionally, but this in itself does not prevent them from continuing. The only thing limiting their excursion time is that they eventually burn out their route, but only if they work in big enough volumes.
-Combat players will fight and fight and fight forever at a CZ or crime sweep. Target, hit subsystem button seven times, pew pew powerplant. Spin, pop, +52k credits, target nearest hostile, repeat. They may bump someone or get attacked, but this in itself doesn't impose a hard limit on their excursion time - it's a minor inconvenience.
-Explorers can plot to a destination 350 jumps away, jump honk jump honk jump honk, then plot 350 jumps back. They see a high value thing and run over and scan it. The only real limit to their excursion length is their luck, their stupidity, and their patience. This is for the most out of the game's hands.
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I ask the following two questions:
Should there be more hard limits to how long you can do something in the game? Would this bring more movement and fluidity to the game? Should thermal weapons begin to 'burn out' and become less and less effective sometime after the thousandth shot? Should trader routes dry up faster or take longer to recover? Should scooped fuel wear down the FSD until it loses most of its range (this is also in the DDF)?
Would mechanics like these help more solidly define ships and their roles and identities? Would combat ships be combat ships because the way they were built greatly increased the length of time their thermal weapons would remain optimal? Would explorers be explorers because they had extremely robust engines that were resistant to wear and tear from lots of jumping?
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Thoughts?
.
Generally speaking, I see consumables doing two things, sometimes both:
Allows players to buy time and power (such as healing potions or food buffs)
Limits the excursion time (such as ammunition)
.
After X number of anacondas, we have to go back and rearm, because we've run out of chaff and SCBs or ammo or whatever. We have to return because we've only brought so much 'fight time' with us in our ship, and we've consumed it all.
-----------------------------------------
I was recently talking to someone in a thread about exploration. The OP was saying that smaller ships are having an easy time making it to Sag A*, which is among the most prestigious journeys in the galaxy. They argued this devalued larger ships. I don't think it devalues smaller ships. But... Doesn't it reduce the value of the Sag A* pilgrimage?
.
People say they stay out at a CZ for four hours and make millions. The profit per hour doesn't bother me one bit. What bothers me is they could spend four hours out in the stresses of heavy combat. They didn't take damage because of shields, and they didn't run out of ammo because of thermal weaponry.
...Is this okay? At first pass, I see nothing wrong with this. They choose boosters over chaff and pulse lasers over cannons. They built in a way that gives them an indefinite excursion time.
But then I started thinking about the repercussions of a long excursion time. I began to wonder if this is why the game feels so grindy, if everything is so monotonous, etc. Because we can spend hours and hours doing the same thing.
.
-Traders will truck commodity01 to stationA and commodity02 to stationB, for hours. They'll get interdicted occasionally, but this in itself does not prevent them from continuing. The only thing limiting their excursion time is that they eventually burn out their route, but only if they work in big enough volumes.
-Combat players will fight and fight and fight forever at a CZ or crime sweep. Target, hit subsystem button seven times, pew pew powerplant. Spin, pop, +52k credits, target nearest hostile, repeat. They may bump someone or get attacked, but this in itself doesn't impose a hard limit on their excursion time - it's a minor inconvenience.
-Explorers can plot to a destination 350 jumps away, jump honk jump honk jump honk, then plot 350 jumps back. They see a high value thing and run over and scan it. The only real limit to their excursion length is their luck, their stupidity, and their patience. This is for the most out of the game's hands.
.
I ask the following two questions:
Should there be more hard limits to how long you can do something in the game? Would this bring more movement and fluidity to the game? Should thermal weapons begin to 'burn out' and become less and less effective sometime after the thousandth shot? Should trader routes dry up faster or take longer to recover? Should scooped fuel wear down the FSD until it loses most of its range (this is also in the DDF)?
Would mechanics like these help more solidly define ships and their roles and identities? Would combat ships be combat ships because the way they were built greatly increased the length of time their thermal weapons would remain optimal? Would explorers be explorers because they had extremely robust engines that were resistant to wear and tear from lots of jumping?
.
Thoughts?
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