Rare/Special Persistent Items - Usable as well as Tradeable

[JackDeadman]

This is probably an idea already and more comprehensively discussed before, however it could be interesting to have the concept of unique/rare items (weapons, modules etc) manufactured by high-tech/military systems in limited numbers. The idea that such items would be persistent, useable and a tradeable commodity.

Such items could have generally better than normal stats than their base item, except perhaps having a balancing flaw in one or more stats (for example, weapons that are generally more powerful but suffer high heat output and increased vulnerability to damage)

For example. the "BFG 3000" - a pimped up plasma accelerator for example, which say is 10% better (+10% damage, +10% fire rate, +10% ammo, -10% power draw ...) than a regular PA, and gimbled (but say has a higher than normal heat signature). Or advanced shields that are stronger than normal, recharge quicker, use less power etc. Prototype FSDs that have a greater than normal jump range and quicker cool down, but more liable to potentially malfunction

These items should be rare & hard to find, and also moved around the galaxy as a special commodity in a similar way to normal rares trading. These items should have a persistent presence and exist in limited numbers.

As a player:

• If i am lucky, I could find one of these being sold at a station/outpost for a premium price
• These could also be found floating in space as a salvegable item, and used or sold by someone who finds them
• If I manage to destroy an opponent who had one of these, I may find it floating in space ready for salvage
• Salvaged items of this type could very well be badly damaged and need an expensive repair before being useful.
• You could sell damaged ones but at a lower price than a working one
• If an item of this type is sold at a station then it becomes part of the commodity market inventory ready for purchase (perhaps after some time, to allow for testing and refurbishment), or perhaps there could be a dedicated "boutique market" for these special items available via Contacts similar to Black Markets, but more widely available than those (and legal!)
• If I, as a player, get destroyed with one of these in my possession then there should be a reasonable risk that it is dropped with the remains of my original ship, ready for someone to salvage. I would not be able to buy it back on insurance in this case.
• If I do get lucky and the insurance company find the item while processing an insurance claim, it could be severely damaged and require an (optional) expensive premium repair to get it working again payable as part of the insurance claim costs.
• If i choose not to repair the item during an insurance claim, perhaps a small scrapage credit would be applied to lower the insurance claim cost to buy back a new ship.
• Items that are destroyed, or scrapped instead of repaired in an insurance claim are gone, but perhaps at some later time a new limited production run may take place in a system that manufactures such items and so the number of such items in existence is kept to an expected level.
• If i choose to scrap such an item during an insurance claim, I can expect the relevant weapon/module to replaced with the most basic/cheapest item of the relevant type (insurance not going to cover anything but the basics). Its possible a small fee could be added to claim cost for the purchase of a suitable replacement item.

From a gameplay perspective:

• Potentially this idea could be extended to rare "Artefacts" - perhaps alien-origin tech that can or has been adapted to work with human tech (super-compact exotic plasma accelerator type of weapon of unknown origin, that fits a C1 slot on an eagle, but punches like a C3 anyone?)
• Possibly due to the exotic nature of some of these items, they degrade over time without regular maintenance/repair.
• Repairing these items could be difficult and specialised - perhaps the regular repair shops at many starports and outposts can get them back working to 70% of the items capability. 100% repair could require finding specialised repair facilities.
• Stations that can produce items of specialised nature like this could only do so if enough rare/exotic materials are available. There could be occasional production runs that can only take place after players take part in trading the required resources?
• For some item types such as weapons and shields, it could be interesting to have modified visual/audio effects when using these items so it is apparent to other players that there is someone with a desirable toy that the player might like to acquire ... dead pilots have no need of such items, after all! For example purple lasers instead of red? Shields that fluoresce green instead of blue when hit? Yellow exotic "plasma balls of death".
• Traders and others could get to ship these things around the galaxy for premium prices, similar to Rares. NPC traders would also move them around as well.
• Limited supply, distributed widely, would mean they are not easy to find.
• GalNet could be used to announce the availability of certain items in nearby systems?
• Ability to find these as salvage in space, or as a "loot drop" from a destroyed ship gives various player types a new opportunity to acquire interesting items either to use or trade.
• Players who use these items (weapons, modules) need to take care of themselves so they can keep the benefits of the special items.
• Players who have these items run a real risk of losing them and/or facing extortionate repair fees to get them working again after losing at combat.
• Players who find themselves in financial difficulty have the option of selling off their prized possession at a reasonable price.
• Players who store a ship with such items installed could be taking a risk. When such a ship is taken out of storage, there could be a small (5% ?) chance that their item has been stolen. Anarchy systems are likely to have a significantly higher (20% ?) chance of theft from stored ships.

No idea if such a scheme would ever be viable and implemented, but it could be interesting.

 

[GMac]

I get where you're coming from but I think this sounds too likely to result in players buying a leestian shield hat of magical impenetrability. or something like that...

 

[JackDeadman]

yes, it does add some variation to the current balance. But say there are only 100 "advanced shield" modules in existence in the galaxy at any one time. Not many players are going to have them. If such a player then gets taken out by a wing of powerful ships there could be a 50/50 chance that the shield module is dropped as salvegable loot ready to be picked up (but perhaps needing an expensive repair before its usable)

Now the player who has been previously flying around feeling all smug with their "super-shield of awesomeness" now finds themselves staring at the insurance claim screen and with a notice saying their shield module was lost in action, and with an added cost to buy basic shields for their replacement ship. The screams of "nooooooooooooo[expletive][badwords]!!!" may be heard from a long way away, but that is part of the deal with possessing these special items. A lesson in learning to take care of your nice toys, because once you break or lose them, they may not be replaceable

edit: in a similar way to car insurance, such specialised modifications could be considered as uninsurable modifications. No guarantee of like-for-like replacement for such specialised items is made in your insurance policy. Ideally there should be some notification before you purchase, and/or when you fit such an item to explicitly inform the player that the item cannot be insured, and that it is used at the players own risk.