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A Review - Difficulty Slider and Death Penalty

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Since most people will not go to Tribble, or scroll down past this section (it's where all the drama is after all), I will give my review of both systems so people don't freak out and /slash and /emoragequit without knowing how it works.

Difficulty Slider

Three settings:
Normal - Same as it is now, no injuries gained.
Advanced - Stuff is marginally harder to kill in space. Seems to hit the same as Normal, more shield and hull hit points though. Injuries can be accrued. Can be cured either at a major spaceport or from looted hypos/components. Minor wounds heal automagically in 30 minutes. On the ground, better have your crew equipped with Mk II shields and armor.
Elite - Stuff in space still seems pretty manageable at any rank, though lower level players will have a very long fight on their hands due to the toughness of shields/hull of enemy ships. On the ground target high profile enemies first, like Swordsman, Munitions Officer and Targ Handler. More serious wounds have a higher chance of appearing if you get incapped.

Injuries

Three levels of injuries, minor don't impact performance of ship or captain/BO. Next level of severity is only a minor "debuff" but they can stack. Last level of severity can be debilitating especially when you have 2x Cracked Ribs and 1x Internal Bleeding lol.

You can heal injuries using looted and purchased hypos, or by visiting the Chief of Medicine at a major starbase. Wounds cost 100EC, 800 EC and 1600EC to cure for each one, and you have to cure the least severe first.

Ships can be repaired in the same fashion - visit the Chief of Engineering at a major starbase, or use looted or purchased Components. I honestly haven't had any ship injuries so I can't comment on how they affect you. I just don't get overwhelmed in space combat.

In Summary,

Decent system, the tweaks made in the last week seem to be an improvement on the elite level for ground missions and STFs. Loot drops for me haven't increased at all, and should be looked at some more for a little tweak here and there until the devs find the sweet spot. People who do not want to opt in just need to choose the Normal setting and they will not accrue injuries. People who want to feel immersion in my opinion are getting it. At least the ground injury names are immersive. It's not a system I would have chosen to use, but it works and serves its purpose and I for one can live with that.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Awesome info.

    bumping for awesomeness
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    DeWitt_LSF wrote:
    Since most people will not go to Tribble, or scroll down past this section (it's where all the drama is after all), I will give my review of both systems so people don't freak out and /slash and /emoragequit without knowing how it works.

    Heh. I do keep seeing posts from people complaining about Aid the Planet missions and not being able to replicate the commodities and how they skip them because they don't want to go back to a base to buy the items.

    It's disheartening.

    Thanks for your post.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Left out the word NOT in one sentence, reason for the edit. Glad this was helpful. As far as commodities those should be on the replicators again in the next patch (Friday?) so unless somebody is strapped for cash there's no reason to skip the Aid The Planet missions anymore.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    DeWitt_LSF wrote:
    Since most people will not go to Tribble

    Once upon a time in another game, I got in on the closed beta testing of a new update. It was great. Until the update went live and and everyone was all excited about trying out the new stuff... which was already 'old stuff' to me.
    DeWitt_LSF wrote:
    or scroll down past this section

    "Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon, lads."

    Thanks, though, for the review.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    How many points do I get for recognizing your reference to An American Werewolf in London?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I can't believe they removed the DP from Normal mode. what a cop-out!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    I can't believe they removed the DP from Normal mode. what a cop-out!

    Well what do you expect, they said it would be optional, and when they went back on that there was uproar. I know, I uproared myself. No dev at any company can put out that something will be added to the game in a specific way and then go back on that without somesort of player dissent. That's why most game companies are very vague with details on upcoming content or game additions. Honestly, by them going back and fulfilling their original "promise" (used loosely, because written word by a dev is most likely to be intepreted as such) they are showing they really are listening to the playerbase and going with their wishes/demands.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    LMAO
    I still don't know where the slider is. The DP has meant nothing to me yet!
    I'm such a damn newb.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    DeWitt_LSF wrote:
    Well what do you expect, they said it would be optional, and when they went back on that there was uproar. I know, I uproared myself. No dev at any company can put out that something will be added to the game in a specific way and then go back on that without somesort of player dissent. That's why most game companies are very vague with details on upcoming content or game additions. Honestly, by them going back and fulfilling their original "promise" (used loosely, because written word by a dev is most likely to be intepreted as such) they are showing they really are listening to the playerbase and going with their wishes/demands.

    nobody promised anything. they never said "we promise" they just said something and changed their mind. fact is, people who only want to play on normal are now robbed of this cool gameplay immersive feature thanks to some vocal forum whiners.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Okay, so that's the stick. Where's the carrot? If I get better gear for completing a mission at a higher difficulty then I'm 100% on board with any challenge they'll throw at me. But if a higher difficulty is just going to make the painfully dull PVE missions longer without any resulting material gains then what purpose does it serve? If I'm not being rewarded for working harder then I'll stick to ezmode and continue to get the PVE borefest out of the way as fast as possible, thank you very much.

    In summation, I'm up for a challenge, but only if it's:
    a) fun, or
    b) more profitable than the leisurely alternative.
    Since PVE isn't all that fun, they better make it more profitable.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Restyoneck wrote: »
    LMAO
    I still don't know where the slider is. The DP has meant nothing to me yet!
    I'm such a damn newb.

    Press J for your mission journal.. look at drop down boxes at bottom of screen.. your difficulty slider is there.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Zaroph wrote: »
    nobody promised anything. they never said "we promise" they just said something and changed their mind. fact is, people who only want to play on normal are now robbed of this cool gameplay immersive feature thanks to some vocal forum whiners.

    True nobody said "we promise the death penalty will be optional". They said simply that it would be optional. Most MMO forum lurkers will interpret that as a promise whether intended or not. Had they said they were still debating making it mandatory and then decided, it wouldn't have been such a big issue.

    Don't interpret my insistence they follow through on making it optional as weakness or carebearishness (is that a word?). I like the difficulty slider and while at lower levels when cash is still scarce the DP is a pain, I don't have a problem with how they finally implemented it. I do disagree with those of you wanting to inflict your style of gameplay on others though.
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