Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BonhommeCarnaval]

When a ship gets hit wit the nerfbat (like the Aurora in 0.52), it would be cool if the full game had a blueprint or a few hulls of a ship called Prototype Aurora. It would have pre-nerf stats, be extremely hard to acquire and its description would explain the lore behind it. "Because of the limited availability of high tech components, the initial Aurora variant was discontinued in favor of one with weaker shields, which were deemed sufficient and allowed the Tri-Tachyon to produce the Aurora in much greater numbers."

This would give some players an extra goal (acquiring their favorite pre-nerf ship, or collecting all Prototype hulls), and would cater to the early alpha-stage Starfarer players' nostalgia by allowing them to field their former ships/setups.

[BillyRueben]

If a ship got nerfed, it got nerfed for a reason. Why would they put that ship back in to the game with its original stats?

As far as adding in ships that have better than normal stats, I'm on the fence about it. It's a cool idea, but I like being able to see an Eagle in game and know what to expect, rather than having to guess if it is a super powered version of one.

[BonhommeCarnaval]

If a ship got nerfed, it got nerfed for a reason. Why would they put that ship back in to the game with its original stats?

As far as adding in ships that have better than normal stats, I'm on the fence about it. It's a cool idea, but I like being able to see an Eagle in game and know what to expect, rather than having to guess if it is a super powered version of one.

I imagine you didn't read the part where I said "be extremely hard to acquire". In other words, you wouldn't run into them when fighting NPC fleets, they would probably be unique. By the way, this isn't an MMO. Ships get nerfed when they're too powerful for how easy they are to acquire, because otherwise they make the game too easy and make other options unappealing. They aren't nerfed so that your victim's feelings don't get hurt, since you're only fighting NPCs 100% of the time. If adding a prototype version is fun, I don't see why not. If the prototype Aurora (just an example) is about as hard to acquire as 5 Paragons, then it won't affect the game's progression.

The 0.51 Aurora was too cost efficient, an extremely hard to acquire Prototype Aurora would not have that problem.

[Vandala]

As far as adding in ships that have better than normal stats, I'm on the fence about it. It's a cool idea, but I like being able to see an Eagle in game and know what to expect, rather than having to guess if it is a super powered version of one.

I agree.

Doesn't matter how hard a ship is to acquire, players will eventual end up with one or multiple different ones and build a whole fleet of them and game balance will be out the window.

[BonhommeCarnaval]

You can fix the "whole fleet of Prototype ships" problem by making them unique. Make it so you acquire a hull, not a blueprint. Even without that limitation, if someone has the resources to build either 10 Prototype Auroras or 50 Paragons for the same price, the game balance was no longer a factor either way. The 50 Paragons are much stronger.

[Vandala]

Even so, you end up with a fleet of prototype ships, just not the same ship.

Also, the 10 prototypes are still more effective then the 50 paragons, you can't take 50 paragons into battle at the same time, right now 4 is about the standard limit.

[Temjin]

If you're so upset about the (VERY slight) Aurora nerf, mod in the stats of the old one.

Or, just fly it as it is; you're unlikely to notice too much of a difference.

[TJJ]

I kind of like the idea that the game might keep some of it's nuances from alpha/beta. In a very subtle non-balance breaking way of course.

There's nothing wrong with incorporating the history & experiences of the players & devs during the pre/alpha/beta into the game's lore; a meta-lore if you will.

[BonhommeCarnaval]

If you're so upset about the (VERY slight) Aurora nerf, mod in the stats of the old one.

Or, just fly it as it is; you're unlikely to notice too much of a difference.

This isn't about the Aurora, it's only being used as an example. You could have a prototype Tempest with pre-nerf speed too, and a prototype Conquest with pre-nerf shield efficiency.

[Zapier]

I kind of like the idea that the game might keep some of it's nuances from alpha/beta. In a very subtle non-balance breaking way of course.

There's nothing wrong with incorporating the history & experiences of the players & devs during the pre/alpha/beta into the game's lore; a meta-lore if you will.

I can understand wanting something like this... but there aren't many ways I can think of being able to do so in a lore fashion. Taking the above discussion of prototype ships for example... why would people have a prototype that's stronger... only to make the ones everyone uses weaker. Prototypes tend to be unique (either through actual design and layout or system capabilities) or weaker (because it's a prototype!). So, if you're going to include "earlier" ships as prototypes, it's only fair that you would need to include all types from all ships, not just the favorites... and then this leads to lots of variations that are unnecessary and just make people struggle to get that one right prototype... if it is even worth getting.

The only decent way to keep it in later versions of the game would be to literally include it in game lore and ship histories... taking the Aurora... you might include in the ship description or the codex about how it used to have a better shield generator but possibly due to design flaws it was unable to sustain such a shield, etc. etc. That would be the subtle nuances that testers could recognize and appreciate without having to possibly affect game balance.

[Emailformygames]

If you're so upset about the (VERY slight) Aurora nerf, mod in the stats of the old one.

Or, just fly it as it is; you're unlikely to notice too much of a difference.

This isn't about the Aurora, it's only being used as an example. You could have a prototype Tempest with pre-nerf speed too, and a prototype Conquest with pre-nerf shield efficiency.

Can I have a prototype Thunder wing except with 500 more armor per ship, 4000 more hull per ship, 300 more combat speed, 2 heavy bomb bays and a tachyon lance that has no flux generation?  K thanks.

Or can I just get that in a new capitol ship?  w/e works....

[Thaago]

Unique ships with higher stats may be fun but I don't think that has anything to do with what the stats were in a previous version of the game.

I know that you will be able to get variants that use more OP than a standard model (some allready exist) - the idea being that a really really good ship designer (possibly us after RPG elements) put together the equipment in a good way.

[harperrb]

I really like the idea of tying the process of game balance and development into the story line itself.  Using the factual design changes to reflect in the fictional macro-simmed world adds an interesting layer of depth beyond, "a lasher."  And have it work both ways, that is, ships that have weaker historical designs should also be reflected in the world creation process. The result is a varied and diverse range of ships that tell a story of the factual game development (and feedback) and the fictional in-game history.

If you want (need) to have an explanation of why ships would get worse over time, there are plenty found in world history. Usually associated with over-blown design budgets, added (unintentional) mechanical flaws, and changing efficiency standards. One could imagine that in this world of varied technology levels, that some are lost, where others are gained.

[Cryten]

Id rather see the game make progress myself rather then spend time reminscing about a particular test build.

[Temjin]

Id rather see the game make progress myself rather then spend time reminscing about a particular test build.

This.