Forums » Suggestions
Another idea for adv. combat mission or even group combat mission
The mission script should only say what basic types of bots need to be wasted, i.e. "please destroy 2 collector bots, 1 guardian bot, 1 assault" or "your group has to destroy 5 collector bots, 3 guardian bots, 5 assault bots and 3 transports"
Then the player decides, what kind of bot he is going for. If he's going for the harder bots, he'll earn more credits and more XP. At some point the message could state "Some of the bots where too low for your experience, adding 3 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-)
Or another suggestion: If the Group has 4 members, then the Mission info could show "Your group has to gain an additional combat level of 4000, light weapon experience of 6000, heavy weapon experience of 4000 and an trade experience of 5000"
Now the weakest of the group may go out in a bus for Orun collectors, killing orun collectors with a bus may give +40 XP light weapon, +10 XP heavy weapon, +20 XP combat. Collecting the scrap metal (and selling it at a station) would give trade XP (1 for scrap metal, 2 for aquean ore .... depends). If someone goes with a vulture + Tachyon MkII for Orun, he'll get +1XP light weapon).
The strongest of the group however may go for assaults in corvus sector, giving +600 or +800 XP light weapon. This has to be tweaked somehow. However, everyone has also to collect the scrap metal / ore the killed bots drop and sell it at a station for getting trade XP.
The mission is completed when ALL of the required XP points are collected; then everyone(!) of the group gets +4000 combat, +6000 light, +4000 heavy and +5000 trade.
If someone get killed then the limits would rise (i.e. "Someone of your group has been killed. Your group now needs to get 5000 XP combat, 4500 XP light wp....".
Both missions should be possible (i.e. Kill xx collectors, or gain yy XP).
Another modification would be, that, if someone destroys a bot not listed, an additional bot would be added to the list, i.e. "You destroyed a bot not on the list. Adding 9 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-) ok, you know what i mean?
This would make missions more challenging, i.e. go for aputech-17 but do not destroy its wingmen. Killing the wrong bots could also make the player (or the group!) a temporary KoS (temporary not for the sector but for a duation of time, i.e. 5 minutes)!
Let there be special missions, i.e. a 'bet' mission:
"Hello pilot. Our station commander got drunk and he's challenging you. He think you're not able to find and destroy a specific guardian in Azek system in the next 30 minutes. You have to pay 12000 if you accept. If you kill the guardian, you'll get paid 40000 credits back, and your combat XP would be increased by +5000. Do you accept?
So, if you're not going to accept this mission then a message appears "Whiner! XXX standing decreased (slightly?)."
If you accept, then a message shows:
"Yes, thats the spirit! Now move out, find and destroy *ApuTech-5 Guardian xx-yy1234-zz in Axia system. One of our observer bots will follow you and watch your steps. Do not loose it, and do not let it be destroyed! Countdown starts now. Good luck!"
This means, if you jump out of an sector while the observer is not below 1000m in range of you, he wont be able to follow you and instead return to the station. Bet has been lost.
YES. Need more ideas? Klick me to continue ;-)
Then the player decides, what kind of bot he is going for. If he's going for the harder bots, he'll earn more credits and more XP. At some point the message could state "Some of the bots where too low for your experience, adding 3 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-)
Or another suggestion: If the Group has 4 members, then the Mission info could show "Your group has to gain an additional combat level of 4000, light weapon experience of 6000, heavy weapon experience of 4000 and an trade experience of 5000"
Now the weakest of the group may go out in a bus for Orun collectors, killing orun collectors with a bus may give +40 XP light weapon, +10 XP heavy weapon, +20 XP combat. Collecting the scrap metal (and selling it at a station) would give trade XP (1 for scrap metal, 2 for aquean ore .... depends). If someone goes with a vulture + Tachyon MkII for Orun, he'll get +1XP light weapon).
The strongest of the group however may go for assaults in corvus sector, giving +600 or +800 XP light weapon. This has to be tweaked somehow. However, everyone has also to collect the scrap metal / ore the killed bots drop and sell it at a station for getting trade XP.
The mission is completed when ALL of the required XP points are collected; then everyone(!) of the group gets +4000 combat, +6000 light, +4000 heavy and +5000 trade.
If someone get killed then the limits would rise (i.e. "Someone of your group has been killed. Your group now needs to get 5000 XP combat, 4500 XP light wp....".
Both missions should be possible (i.e. Kill xx collectors, or gain yy XP).
Another modification would be, that, if someone destroys a bot not listed, an additional bot would be added to the list, i.e. "You destroyed a bot not on the list. Adding 9 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-) ok, you know what i mean?
This would make missions more challenging, i.e. go for aputech-17 but do not destroy its wingmen. Killing the wrong bots could also make the player (or the group!) a temporary KoS (temporary not for the sector but for a duation of time, i.e. 5 minutes)!
Let there be special missions, i.e. a 'bet' mission:
"Hello pilot. Our station commander got drunk and he's challenging you. He think you're not able to find and destroy a specific guardian in Azek system in the next 30 minutes. You have to pay 12000 if you accept. If you kill the guardian, you'll get paid 40000 credits back, and your combat XP would be increased by +5000. Do you accept?
So, if you're not going to accept this mission then a message appears "Whiner! XXX standing decreased (slightly?)."
If you accept, then a message shows:
"Yes, thats the spirit! Now move out, find and destroy *ApuTech-5 Guardian xx-yy1234-zz in Axia system. One of our observer bots will follow you and watch your steps. Do not loose it, and do not let it be destroyed! Countdown starts now. Good luck!"
This means, if you jump out of an sector while the observer is not below 1000m in range of you, he wont be able to follow you and instead return to the station. Bet has been lost.
YES. Need more ideas? Klick me to continue ;-)
I like the your ideas about the group missions, but I think the major flaw is that unless we're talking über vets/aces here, the second type you mentioned is gonna take way too long to be viable. A good idea though. If tweaked appropriately, it could work very well.
Another good idea for combat missions would be, if a specified bot has to be destroyed by a specified group member, i.e. if you have a 'weak' member then the mission may give the instruction, that this group member has do destroy a specific (hard) bot.
Or the group misson can only be completed if ALL group members are together in the same sector.
Or the group misson can only be completed if ALL group members are together in the same sector.
A few quick points.
The XP gains you are suggesting are fairly high. Part of the thing that keeps someone coming back to a MMO is the need to "accomplish" something. A goal will keep people coming back, which means that leveling too fast causes problems in the long run. Instant gratification is nice, but you treasure something you worked for more.
<<<Another modification would be, that, if someone destroys a bot not listed, an additional bot would be added to the list, i.e. "You destroyed a bot not on the list. Adding 9 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-) ok, you know what i mean?
This would make missions more challenging, i.e. go for aputech-17 but do not destroy its wingmen. Killing the wrong bots could also make the player (or the group!) a temporary KoS (temporary not for the sector but for a duation of time, i.e. 5 minutes)!>>>
The only problem with this is that you HAVE to kill the wingmen to respawn the APU-17's there are several other bots where this is the case. If you cant kill the wingmen, the mission will become unfinishable.
The XP gains you are suggesting are fairly high. Part of the thing that keeps someone coming back to a MMO is the need to "accomplish" something. A goal will keep people coming back, which means that leveling too fast causes problems in the long run. Instant gratification is nice, but you treasure something you worked for more.
<<<Another modification would be, that, if someone destroys a bot not listed, an additional bot would be added to the list, i.e. "You destroyed a bot not on the list. Adding 9 Devus Guardians to your list" ;-) ok, you know what i mean?
This would make missions more challenging, i.e. go for aputech-17 but do not destroy its wingmen. Killing the wrong bots could also make the player (or the group!) a temporary KoS (temporary not for the sector but for a duation of time, i.e. 5 minutes)!>>>
The only problem with this is that you HAVE to kill the wingmen to respawn the APU-17's there are several other bots where this is the case. If you cant kill the wingmen, the mission will become unfinishable.
Spellcast wrote:
>the only problem with this is that you HAVE to kill the
>wingmen to respawn the APU-17's there are several other bots
>where this is the case. If you cant kill the wingmen, the
>mission will become unfinishable.
No, you're wrong :)
Just use your ships in-system jumpdrive (and the WH) to move to other sectors with ApuTech-17 bots.
Eventually it could be possible, that the group leader (or the group member with the highest level) can kill every bot without group penalty...
>the only problem with this is that you HAVE to kill the
>wingmen to respawn the APU-17's there are several other bots
>where this is the case. If you cant kill the wingmen, the
>mission will become unfinishable.
No, you're wrong :)
Just use your ships in-system jumpdrive (and the WH) to move to other sectors with ApuTech-17 bots.
Eventually it could be possible, that the group leader (or the group member with the highest level) can kill every bot without group penalty...
No, you're wrong :)
Just use your ships in-system jumpdrive (and the WH) to move to other sectors with ApuTech-17 bots.
and what happens when the next mission list appears. I regularly get 6 and 7 APU-17's and 6 prosus assaults on my lists. I would have to travel across 4 systems to finish off 1 list, then fly to the other side of the galaxy to do the next list. or i would have to dock, end the mission, go back through and kill the rest of the groups, dock again, retake the mission and repeat. As far as game design goes, that seems like a major turnoff. However all this is moot, since it is unlikely that these missions as they are will make it into the final game. the game is supposed to hinge more on completing groups or "trees" of missions for various factions. once those are added i dont see any missions except the "beginners combat training" remaining.
Just use your ships in-system jumpdrive (and the WH) to move to other sectors with ApuTech-17 bots.
and what happens when the next mission list appears. I regularly get 6 and 7 APU-17's and 6 prosus assaults on my lists. I would have to travel across 4 systems to finish off 1 list, then fly to the other side of the galaxy to do the next list. or i would have to dock, end the mission, go back through and kill the rest of the groups, dock again, retake the mission and repeat. As far as game design goes, that seems like a major turnoff. However all this is moot, since it is unlikely that these missions as they are will make it into the final game. the game is supposed to hinge more on completing groups or "trees" of missions for various factions. once those are added i dont see any missions except the "beginners combat training" remaining.
Out of curiousity, why on earth would I NOT want to kill the wingmen? Or any other bot who happens to get in my way, for that matter? How would that improve anything - besides adding a (IMO) ridiculous and pointless challenge to missions, that is? Not to flame or anything - some of your ideas are interesting, and should be considered - but I for one like flying around and blowing things up (as a fighter pilot, I don't exactly have much else to do, do I?) and I wouldn't exactly be thrilled with the thought of being PENALIZED by killing MORE than what was required of me. I don't know, maybe other players are different, or maybe I missed something in your message. I guess I don't understand why one might want that. At least as long as this is a general purpose combat mission - if it were some specialized deal with higher rewards than a run-of-the-mill combat mission, I could see a place for it.
I like the ideas presented in the first three paragraphs - ESPECIALLY the suggestion to have a requirement to kill certain numbers of certain categories of bots rather than specific bots you have to track down - perhaps the mission success through XP gain could be a separate type of combat mission. However, I *don't* think a *combat* mission should require trading. Perhaps this could be integrated in a more general purpose type group mission where, say, 2 fighter pilots and 2 traders went out and did their thing, traders possibly chipping in with the combat if they get caught in an ion storm or two and fighters possibly chipping in with trade by picking up small amounts of cargo and whatnot.
The 'bet' mission concept sounds interesting, though the idea of having to put up with an observer type bot tagging along sounds like a bit of a nuisance... and I'm not sure how easy it would be to implement. Yes, the rewards probably would require some sort of risk or extra trouble to have to put up with, but maybe we could implement a larger penalty for mission failure? Cash and/or standing decrease?
*Edit* I also agree with Spellcast in that I definitely do NOT like having to fly across half the galaxy - universe - whatever - to track down the last bot on my list which is found nowhere near the REST of the bots on my list. When I take a _combat_ mission, I'd like it to involve more combat and less travel. If I wanted to fly back and forth, I'd probably do trade missions. Or something.
I like the ideas presented in the first three paragraphs - ESPECIALLY the suggestion to have a requirement to kill certain numbers of certain categories of bots rather than specific bots you have to track down - perhaps the mission success through XP gain could be a separate type of combat mission. However, I *don't* think a *combat* mission should require trading. Perhaps this could be integrated in a more general purpose type group mission where, say, 2 fighter pilots and 2 traders went out and did their thing, traders possibly chipping in with the combat if they get caught in an ion storm or two and fighters possibly chipping in with trade by picking up small amounts of cargo and whatnot.
The 'bet' mission concept sounds interesting, though the idea of having to put up with an observer type bot tagging along sounds like a bit of a nuisance... and I'm not sure how easy it would be to implement. Yes, the rewards probably would require some sort of risk or extra trouble to have to put up with, but maybe we could implement a larger penalty for mission failure? Cash and/or standing decrease?
*Edit* I also agree with Spellcast in that I definitely do NOT like having to fly across half the galaxy - universe - whatever - to track down the last bot on my list which is found nowhere near the REST of the bots on my list. When I take a _combat_ mission, I'd like it to involve more combat and less travel. If I wanted to fly back and forth, I'd probably do trade missions. Or something.
Well, ok 'Bored' and 'Spellcast'. My suggestions for missons may need tweaking as i said before. Perhaps we could agree to those Missions that you only have to kill bots that attack you (so its ok to kill the wingmen). As an example: If you're in the beginner combat mission and need to kill Dentek collectors, the easier Orun Collectors may attack you in these sectors BUT they loose interests on you if you shoot at another bot. So your Mission parameters could be:
1) Shot at Dentek Bots so Orun collectors loose interests
2) Kill Dentek bots
3) Do not Kill Orun Collectors as we're running low on supplies these Orun Collectors gets for us.
So for every Orun Collector you Kill, you may loose faction standing or some money.
If you're going to destroy the wingmen of ApuTech-17 then you have to pay money (You may (need to) pay by collecting and selling the Ore crates they drop. So get your damn group member with a cargo vesselt into the sector and collect those damn crates! :-)
And for the observer bot: For some of the 'Kill specified Bot'-Missions (or most of them) you may need to travel to unaligned or unmonitored space, so you may decide to take the observer bot with you, or your kill wont be noticed at all so you cant complete the 'Bet-Mission'.
These are suggestions that may need tweaking of course! :-)
*tweak* *tweak*
Oh: and btw:
I've seen a 'DenTek Observer' (or was it an Arun Observer? Some kind of Observer in any case) that was in company with a transport vesselt with some wingmen. As soon as i fired at the transport, i got the attention of all (Transport, Wingmen, Observer). The observer however didn't shoot at me but 'observed' me from a distance of ~100m i think. So i think this Observer-company mission will be easy to implement.
1) Shot at Dentek Bots so Orun collectors loose interests
2) Kill Dentek bots
3) Do not Kill Orun Collectors as we're running low on supplies these Orun Collectors gets for us.
So for every Orun Collector you Kill, you may loose faction standing or some money.
If you're going to destroy the wingmen of ApuTech-17 then you have to pay money (You may (need to) pay by collecting and selling the Ore crates they drop. So get your damn group member with a cargo vesselt into the sector and collect those damn crates! :-)
And for the observer bot: For some of the 'Kill specified Bot'-Missions (or most of them) you may need to travel to unaligned or unmonitored space, so you may decide to take the observer bot with you, or your kill wont be noticed at all so you cant complete the 'Bet-Mission'.
These are suggestions that may need tweaking of course! :-)
*tweak* *tweak*
Oh: and btw:
I've seen a 'DenTek Observer' (or was it an Arun Observer? Some kind of Observer in any case) that was in company with a transport vesselt with some wingmen. As soon as i fired at the transport, i got the attention of all (Transport, Wingmen, Observer). The observer however didn't shoot at me but 'observed' me from a distance of ~100m i think. So i think this Observer-company mission will be easy to implement.