Feature Proposal - Linking R&D with mission (non-rep) set-equipment

shadowwraith

Throughout the game there are equipment set weapons that have no non-set variants to use with them and are hobbled with the one-per-ship restriction

i.e sets like

• Quantum Phase Catalyst
• Chronometric Calculations
• Entoiled Technology Set
• Krenim Temporal Manipulation
• Preserver Resonant Technologies Set

to name but a few.

What i propose is for non-set variants of these weapons to be unlocked for crafting after completing the mission through a selectable reward similar to the Admirality packs you get sometimes get in some missions.

pros

1. Not having the hassle of trying to mix & match different weapons with similar visual effects, the crafted variant would still have the same visual & sound fx as the set version.
   
2. They could craft and equip multiples of the weapon without the one-per-ship restriction (omni weapons would be craftable only if the set has no omni-version but still have the 1-per-ship restriction).
   
3. Since these are non-set items and don't count towards set-bonus unlock, the crafted weapons could be sold/bought on the exchange.
   
4. the player would still have to do the missions, get the relevant R&D skill levels and also farm for the materials needed to craft themselves, or buy them from the exchange.
   
5. the crafted versions could have the word Crafted (in red) in the corner of stat screen for the weapon to help differentiate from the set-version
   
6. You could now craft additional types of these weapons i.e beam-bank, cannon, dual cannon, quad heavy cannon etc where non of these were available in the sets, many sets don't have beam-banks for example and would allow the player to equip the crafted bank in fore and the set array in aft.
   
7. this would allow more themed builds
   
8. a possible extra could be in the form of a frequency crystal (sounds more scifi than a weapon dye) to change the colour(s) of the weapons visual fx (CRYPTIC: you could make money here by selling the frequency crystals in c-store or including them in lockboxes)

Cons

1. The crafted weapons would NOT count towards the set-item count and therefore would not be used to unlock the bonus for that set but still visually match the set version, the appropriate set items would still be needed to unlock the bonuses.
   
2. Can ONLY be crafted/bought (if from exchange) by players who have completed the relevant missions ON THAT CHARACTER, if they want it for other chars they would still have to go through the same process.
   
3. This would NOT apply to rep weapons since their non-set versions are already available in the rep store.
   

EDIT: added additional thoughts, omitted some of the ideas, added additional good ideas from other users

Addendum:

• expand current weapon standard, hybrid and special energy types such as proton, kinetic, dominion polaron, spiral wave and plasma disruptor, that currently only have 1 or 2 weapon versions, allowing more diversity and customization of builds
  
• recipes could be included in random drops or unlocked by obtaining a weapon of that type including those special ones in the lobi store such as elachi, plasmatic and corrosive plasma
  
• expand projectiles to include missile and cluster torpedo versions

neomodious

Other than the exchange limitations, this seems like a good idea.​​

shadowwraith

neomodious wrote: »

Other than the exchange limitations, this seems like a good idea.​​

yes i've had 2nd thoughts about that myself.

warpangel

Having more unlockable crafting recipes would make the system more desireable again. But no untradeables, that's lame. A good part of the appeal of unlockable recipes comes from being able to produce items for sale.

However, I would put the unlocks as a random drop rather than a selectable...like, after you've got the relevant set completed you'd get a chance to unlock one randomly selected weapon recipe of matching flavor each time you run the mission. Makes them more rare thus more desireable.

And for even more rare collectable...if you unlock all the space weapon recipes for a set, a chance to get matching ground weapon recipes too.

Another field that could really use expanding: proton weapons/tac consoles. Maybe tie them in to owning one or more DSD and/or the dyson rep weapon set with the Experimental Proton Weapon, or make them rare drops from the dyson rep random item boxes.

And speaking of, omnibeam/wideDHC recipe unlocks for rep weapons as rare drops in the random item boxes.

shadowwraith

warpangel wrote: »

Having more unlockable crafting recipes would make the system more desireable again. But no untradeables, that's lame. A good part of the appeal of unlockable recipes comes from being able to produce items for sale.

However, I would put the unlocks as a random drop rather than a selectable...like, after you've got the relevant set completed you'd get a chance to unlock one randomly selected weapon recipe of matching flavor each time you run the mission. Makes them more rare thus more desireable.

And for even more rare collectable...if you unlock all the space weapon recipes for a set, a chance to get matching ground weapon recipes too.

Another field that could really use expanding: proton weapons/tac consoles. Maybe tie them in to owning one or more DSD and/or the dyson rep weapon set with the Experimental Proton Weapon, or make them rare drops from the dyson rep random item boxes.

And speaking of, omnibeam/wideDHC recipe unlocks for rep weapons as rare drops in the random item boxes.

all good ideas, proton weapons only have 2 types cannon and dual cannon atm this would expand that greatly to other weapon types along with other types such as those tied to the lobi store such as Elachi weapons, this idea can also apply to projectiles as well (quantum missiles, cluster plasma torpedoes anyone?)

warpangel

shadowwraith#9264 wrote: »

warpangel wrote: »

Having more unlockable crafting recipes would make the system more desireable again. But no untradeables, that's lame. A good part of the appeal of unlockable recipes comes from being able to produce items for sale.

However, I would put the unlocks as a random drop rather than a selectable...like, after you've got the relevant set completed you'd get a chance to unlock one randomly selected weapon recipe of matching flavor each time you run the mission. Makes them more rare thus more desireable.

And for even more rare collectable...if you unlock all the space weapon recipes for a set, a chance to get matching ground weapon recipes too.

Another field that could really use expanding: proton weapons/tac consoles. Maybe tie them in to owning one or more DSD and/or the dyson rep weapon set with the Experimental Proton Weapon, or make them rare drops from the dyson rep random item boxes.

And speaking of, omnibeam/wideDHC recipe unlocks for rep weapons as rare drops in the random item boxes.

all good ideas, proton weapons only have 2 types cannon and dual cannon atm this would expand that greatly to other weapon types along with other types such as those tied to the lobi store such as Elachi weapons, this idea can also apply to projectiles as well (quantum missiles, cluster plasma torpedoes anyone?)

Theoretically, anything available as a mine could also be available as a cluster torp.