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Crazy Idea for Death Penalty

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
So I was sitting here thinking, "What would be a *meaningful* death penalty in STO?"

Emphasis on the word 'meaningful'. This is tricky. Arbitrary numbers don't mean a whole lot in an MMO. Taking away credits means nothing. Taking away experience gain means nothing. Damaging equipment means nothing. I mean, sure, you avoid those things when you can but if they happen, you don't really care all that much. The most you get is a little angry, but you shrug it off. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you don't go out of your way to really avoid it all that hard.

The realization of what a meaningful death penalty might look like hit me like this: What if, when you died, you had the chance of losing access to one of your bridge officers for a while? They're injured, they're in sickbay. Your doctor is working like mad to save the officer, so that officer's skills are inaccessable and they can't be taken in away teams.

If you wanted you could visit that officer in sickbay and see him, as well as the other nameless peons aboard your ship, stretched out while the medical staff scurries.

In this way, death in the game becomes something to be avoided. At the same time, it attaches you to the game, makes you feel more for your bridge officers than just being glorified pets.

Thoughts?

EDIT:

I had another interesting idea...

What if, if you were a science officer with points in the Doctor line, you could go down to sickbay and fix your officers up?

Not only that, you could beam to other people's ships and fix *their* officers up?

If you didn't, and you didn't have time/didn't want to find a player doctor, you could spend energy credits to replicate more medical supplies and get them up faster.

You kill two birds with one stone this way. The social people get to meet more people, get to rely on one another for more, injects some more MMO into the MMO. The asocial people get to contribute to keeping the Energy Credit valuable, also a necessity.

Food for thought I guess.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    just got to get this in... The DP is not changing. It is working as in tended and will remain so.

    Now, postulate your heart out :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Even though I'm not a real DP proponent, I could get behind this.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Ayenn wrote:
    just got to get this in... The DP is not changing. It is working as in tended and will remain so.

    Now, postulate your heart out :D

    Actually, you might want to read the following before you get too sure:

    http://www.incgamers.com/News/21015/star-trek-online-meaningful-death-penalty-needed--
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    How about just a penalty to Power Levels and Crew Regen...

    Something that wears off after a time, but otherwise would reduce the effectiveness of Zerging at the bad guys again and again.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    This is not a bad idea at all, OP. I like it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    innocuous9 wrote:
    So I was sitting here thinking, "What would be a *meaningful* death penalty in STO?"

    Emphasis on the word 'meaningful'. This is tricky. Arbitrary numbers don't mean a whole lot in an MMO. Taking away credits means nothing. Taking away experience gain means nothing. Damaging equipment means nothing. I mean, sure, you avoid those things when you can but if they happen, you don't really care all that much. The most you get is a little angry, but you shrug it off. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you don't go out of your way to really avoid it all that hard.

    The realization of what a meaningful death penalty might look like hit me like this: What if, when you died, you had the chance of losing access to one of your bridge officers for a while? They're injured, they're in sickbay. Your doctor is working like mad to save the officer, so that officer's skills are inaccessable and they can't be taken in away teams.

    If you wanted you could visit that officer in sickbay and see him, as well as the other nameless peons aboard your ship, stretched out while the medical staff scurries.

    In this way, death in the game becomes something to be avoided. At the same time, it attaches you to the game, makes you feel more for your bridge officers than just being glorified pets.

    Thoughts?


    I am definitely a proponent of a DP, but I agree that it has to be "meaningful" as you said. I do understand the reasons why there is not one currently in the game, but in my opinion (before I get flamed by all these different people, notice I said 'opinion') a well designed DP adds a lot of depth to a game. That being said, I like your idea a lot actually. Not only does it add a decent DP, it also adds more immersion to the game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Heh, I really like that idea! Yes, I think that would work for me. I'm already quite attached to my BOs, especially dear Lyana.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    How about just a penalty to Power Levels and Crew Regen...

    Something that wears off after a time, but otherwise would reduce the effectiveness of Zerging at the bad guys again and again.

    I said why in my OP. I'm looking for something new and different, something that doesn't involve decreasing numbers.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd like to see us have to hit up a starbase, or safe harbour of some kind when we've died, or else deal with a performance penalty (after all, I could just have a spare bridge officer, slot them in)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    It has been stated the current system will remain.

    Thread reported.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    It has been stated the current system will remain.

    Thread reported.

    Seriously? You didn't read my link two posts down I take it.

    But... seriously? Thread reported? 0_0
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    innocuous9 wrote:
    Seriously? You didn't read my link two posts down I take it.

    But... seriously? Thread reported? 0_0

    Jamaicans. What can ya do?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd like to see us have to hit up a starbase, or safe harbour of some kind when we've died, or else deal with a performance penalty (after all, I could just have a spare bridge officer, slot them in)

    I think slotting in a spare bridge officer would actually be a plus in this system. Give all your officers a chance at the seats, as it were. Make you level all of them, keep them all equipped. Shuffle your tactics about a bit.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Your idea is not crazy. Its brilliant.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I think this idea has a lot of merit.

    Obviously, in a ground mission the injured BO would have to be in the away team. Although there's less logical reason for it, I'd suggest that in space the injured BO would have to be assigned to one of the seats.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    ZenBrillig wrote:
    I think this idea has a lot of merit.

    Obviously, in a ground mission the injured BO would have to be in the away team. Although there's less logical reason for it, I'd suggest that in space the injured BO would have to be assigned to one of the seats.

    Mmm, maybe not so much less logical reason. How many times did we see that in the shows? The consoles blew up and injured somebody! Happened all the time. Obviously if you're not at a console that has less chance of happening.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd /yawn and swap in clone #1138-thx to take her place while she regenerated, but I applaud the OP for his effort. Probably more effort or thought than Cryptic put into most of the game design.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd /yawn and swap in clone #1138-thx to take her place while she regenerated, but I applaud the OP for his effort. Probably more effort or thought than Cryptic put into most of the game design.

    Except that you'd need to spend the points to have said clone trained up. Also, once you have multiple officers injured, things could start to pile up rather quickly.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd like to see us have to hit up a starbase, or safe harbour of some kind when we've died, or else deal with a performance penalty (after all, I could just have a spare bridge officer, slot them in)

    And then watch the sub numbers dry up in a hurry. Adding further hassles and time sinks that are not quest related is a sure way to kill your game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I think we should be able to literally crash our ships in to enemy ships to cause major damage, this could work as a "last breath" attempt to take out an opponent.

    It would cause your and the target ship to become disabled, maybe could move very slow. Very weak.
    It could not be useful to use "too early" since your ship would also become weak and disabled you would be a sitting duck, so it wouldn't be really over-used or exploited.

    Just an idea though, silly I know.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I had another interesting idea...

    What if, if you were a science officer with points in the Doctor line, you could go down to sickbay and fix your officers up?

    Not only that, you could beam to other people's ships and fix *their* officers up?

    If you didn't, and you didn't have time/didn't want to find a player doctor, you could spend energy credits to replicate more medical supplies and get them up faster.

    You kill two birds with one stone this way. The social people get to meet more people, get to rely on one another for more, injects some more MMO into the MMO. The asocial people get to contribute to keeping the Energy Credit valuable, also a necessity.

    Food for thought I guess.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    innocuous9 wrote:
    So I was sitting here thinking, "What would be a *meaningful* death penalty in STO?"

    Emphasis on the word 'meaningful'. This is tricky. Arbitrary numbers don't mean a whole lot in an MMO. Taking away credits means nothing. Taking away experience gain means nothing. Damaging equipment means nothing. I mean, sure, you avoid those things when you can but if they happen, you don't really care all that much. The most you get is a little angry, but you shrug it off. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you don't go out of your way to really avoid it all that hard.

    The realization of what a meaningful death penalty might look like hit me like this: What if, when you died, you had the chance of losing access to one of your bridge officers for a while? They're injured, they're in sickbay. Your doctor is working like mad to save the officer, so that officer's skills are inaccessable and they can't be taken in away teams.

    If you wanted you could visit that officer in sickbay and see him, as well as the other nameless peons aboard your ship, stretched out while the medical staff scurries.

    In this way, death in the game becomes something to be avoided. At the same time, it attaches you to the game, makes you feel more for your bridge officers than just being glorified pets.

    Thoughts?

    While not a supporter of a DP i would get behind this sort of thing. It's the meaningless time sink or exp loss that does nothing but set your progress back that stinks to high heaven and does nothing to alter the zerger players mentality.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Salexander wrote:
    And then watch the sub numbers dry up in a hurry. Adding further hassles and time sinks that are not quest related is a sure way to kill your game.

    You're right, after all, World of Warcraft forces you to run back from the nearest graveyard and their sub numbers are...

    oh, wait. D'OH!

    You were saying?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    sceme wrote: »
    I think we should be able to literally crash our ships in to enemy ships to cause major damage, this could work as a "last breath" attempt to take out an opponent.

    It would cause your and the target ship to become disabled, maybe could move very slow. Very weak.
    It could not be useful to use "too early" since your ship would also become weak and disabled you would be a sitting duck, so it wouldn't be really over-used or exploited.

    Just an idea though, silly I know.

    There is actually a "Ramming Speed" ability you gain in later levels. From what I hear, it's a suicide maneuver really but can do massive damage.

    That said, I do support an idea for something meaningful.

    I wouldn't worry too much about the guy who keeps "reporting" threads. Whatever floats his boat. Mods will sort it all out anyway as a report doesn't equal a ban/lock.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Salexander wrote:
    And then watch the sub numbers dry up in a hurry. Adding further hassles and time sinks that are not quest related is a sure way to kill your game.

    Abraisive, but alongside the point I'm trying to make with this.

    Hassles and time sinks are not the way I do business and I don't think any game developer should either.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Refreshing my topic for the morning rush. Anyone have new ideas to add?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    innocuous9 wrote:
    Refreshing my topic for the morning rush. Anyone have new ideas to add?

    I don't have a new idea but I would like to say that your idea is very good, I'm not a big fan of DP's but I think I would support your ideas here. Good post mate :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    If you're going to make a death penalty then make it so your character loses their command completely and you have to roll another character. Anything less than completely killing off the character is just another annoying, time-sinking, setback.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Here is a thought...

    the game is instanced up to ridiculous levels which essentially gives Cryptic the ability to lock out people from instances with a simple toggle.

    If you die within any given instance then you cannot get back into it for say the next half hour or something like that.

    It will definitely force people to work as a team and try to watch each others back shield quarter.

    Mind you for this to happen there has to be a few things that get fixed first.

    NPC zerg spawn camping has to stop, PVP ballance needs to be attained and cruiser's need to start turning just a smidge faster so they can bring the front arc within range of the team mate that needs a fix.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    innocuous9 wrote:
    So I was sitting here thinking, "What would be a *meaningful* death penalty in STO?"

    Emphasis on the word 'meaningful'. This is tricky. Arbitrary numbers don't mean a whole lot in an MMO. Taking away credits means nothing. Taking away experience gain means nothing. Damaging equipment means nothing. I mean, sure, you avoid those things when you can but if they happen, you don't really care all that much. The most you get is a little angry, but you shrug it off. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you don't go out of your way to really avoid it all that hard.

    The realization of what a meaningful death penalty might look like hit me like this: What if, when you died, you had the chance of losing access to one of your bridge officers for a while? They're injured, they're in sickbay. Your doctor is working like mad to save the officer, so that officer's skills are inaccessable and they can't be taken in away teams.

    If you wanted you could visit that officer in sickbay and see him, as well as the other nameless peons aboard your ship, stretched out while the medical staff scurries.

    In this way, death in the game becomes something to be avoided. At the same time, it attaches you to the game, makes you feel more for your bridge officers than just being glorified pets.

    Thoughts?

    EDIT:

    I had another interesting idea...

    What if, if you were a science officer with points in the Doctor line, you could go down to sickbay and fix your officers up?

    Not only that, you could beam to other people's ships and fix *their* officers up?

    If you didn't, and you didn't have time/didn't want to find a player doctor, you could spend energy credits to replicate more medical supplies and get them up faster.

    You kill two birds with one stone this way. The social people get to meet more people, get to rely on one another for more, injects some more MMO into the MMO. The asocial people get to contribute to keeping the Energy Credit valuable, also a necessity.

    Food for thought I guess.

    You mean I'd have to spend some of the 30,000 bridge officer points I've accrued and make an exact clone of my current bridge offiier that goes offline?

    What else am I going to do with all those points? I've already completely redone all my BO's once, and I still have 30k points.

    Just a minor annoyance while I run over to the exchange and buy me one with the money I have nothing to spend on and train it up.

    So, back to a 'it's a minor annoyance to fly to either borg space or earthdock' death penalty. Sounds pointless.
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