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So here's what I'm wondering, do you plan on fighters and other small one-man ships staying as the primary weapon-of-choice for almost all players, or are you intending to make it so that as characters get older and more advanced, they themselves advance to needing to use large ships most of the time?
It is just that I'm curious, I'm sure that either way however you guys decide to implement it, capships will be tons of fun and a great addition to the VO universe.
EDIT:
To those of you who have no say in the matter, please withhold your opinions of what you'd like to see until we get an answer :)
It is just that I'm curious, I'm sure that either way however you guys decide to implement it, capships will be tons of fun and a great addition to the VO universe.
EDIT:
To those of you who have no say in the matter, please withhold your opinions of what you'd like to see until we get an answer :)
[locked to make sure they do]
It is my hope/intent to build combat capships into a supportive and complimentary role to small fighters in the universe. The most simplistic example is providing a guild with a place to respawn and rearm when making a large-scale attack on a high-level "epic" type target (like, for instance, a capital-grade Leviathan, another guild, a destructible nation-related station, etc).
As the scope of the game increases and we add more dynamic content (in the forms of player-created/managed stations, or even simply "conquerable" fortifications and the like), I expect cap ships will also take on the role of true "heavy assault" vessels, with high powered weaponry necessary to attack the more valuable targets. So, you could say the primary intial role is that of the carrier, and the secondary emergent role is that of the battleship, but there's a great deal of ground in between the two.
Non-combative large scale ships (freighters, large transports, tankers, etc) have roles to fill both for individuals and groups. A big freighter could let a mining group acquire a great deal more ore before returning to a station. This would grow more important as potential "exploration" expansions and the like begin to appear.
Between combative and non-combative ships of this scale, there's also a lot of room for flexibility and multi-role ships of various configurations. Similar to what we have now in the small ship arena.
So, in answer to your question, I think that everyone will probably always have a small ship in VO, or be able to pilot one. Large ships won't replace small ones, they will augment the smaller classes. Cap ships are closer to the "end game" of high-level gameplay. Not that newbies won't be able to participate as well, but I mainly envision the larger ships to be used by groups of cooperative players with high-level goals.
As the scope of the game increases and we add more dynamic content (in the forms of player-created/managed stations, or even simply "conquerable" fortifications and the like), I expect cap ships will also take on the role of true "heavy assault" vessels, with high powered weaponry necessary to attack the more valuable targets. So, you could say the primary intial role is that of the carrier, and the secondary emergent role is that of the battleship, but there's a great deal of ground in between the two.
Non-combative large scale ships (freighters, large transports, tankers, etc) have roles to fill both for individuals and groups. A big freighter could let a mining group acquire a great deal more ore before returning to a station. This would grow more important as potential "exploration" expansions and the like begin to appear.
Between combative and non-combative ships of this scale, there's also a lot of room for flexibility and multi-role ships of various configurations. Similar to what we have now in the small ship arena.
So, in answer to your question, I think that everyone will probably always have a small ship in VO, or be able to pilot one. Large ships won't replace small ones, they will augment the smaller classes. Cap ships are closer to the "end game" of high-level gameplay. Not that newbies won't be able to participate as well, but I mainly envision the larger ships to be used by groups of cooperative players with high-level goals.
[response received, thread unlocked]
Good question, great answer.
That sounds very good the only thing im worried about is how long its going to take for it to come out. The game has allready been out for what, over a year? and there still no player owned capships. Stuff like playerowned stations etc... I cant imagine them coming soon.
How far away are player owned/controlled cap ships at this point? Does the new UI stuff include the interface to control the cap ship, or does that still need to be made? Is there anything else that needs to happen in order for player owned/controlled cap ships to be a reality?
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Also, with this new patch coming Wednesday, is the new hive stuff going to be spread throughout the entire universe, or is it still only going to be in Sedina?
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Also, with this new patch coming Wednesday, is the new hive stuff going to be spread throughout the entire universe, or is it still only going to be in Sedina?
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Thank you very much incarnate :)
We the players love to hear input from the devs!
We the players love to hear input from the devs!
sounds good incarnate
That sounds awesome. Will there be place for cap ships for people who go it alone?
Cap Ships should require a crew to be most effective, IMO.
Can't we have robots/automated systems? (Or can tumblemonster use his harem to man the turrets?)
Automated systems, if available, shouldn't be as effective as a player.
Then again, if flying solo on a capship means it undefended and so you must bring your pals around, that I like tons better.
Then again, if flying solo on a capship means it undefended and so you must bring your pals around, that I like tons better.
Yeah, automated should be worse than an actual player at the turret. But I understand that MOST of the time a full complement of like 6-10 players (?) would be needed to fully "man" all stations. At least on this new design.
I think that the only way you should be able to fire a larger capship's weapons is by a player manning the turret.
Perhaps in smaller ones(smaller than even the trident) you could make it fly and shoot a bit more like a fighter.
I mean for balance purposes, requiring multiple players to make a capship powerful just sounds perfectly reasonable.
Perhaps in smaller ones(smaller than even the trident) you could make it fly and shoot a bit more like a fighter.
I mean for balance purposes, requiring multiple players to make a capship powerful just sounds perfectly reasonable.
I agree: Cap ships requiring a crew of players sounds perfectly reasonable. You could have a captain, an engineer (to repair turrets and other systems), a helmsman, fighter pilots, and gunners.
Although it would make sense to be part of a guild in order to man a cap ship, perhaps to accommodate people who like to "go it alone" cap ships could also be manned by a temporary group. That way at least the group leader has control over who is allowed to dock with the cap ship.
Also, I'd like to point out that we probably need at least a money and inventory reset before players have the option to buy or craft capital ships, due to the BP bug (and bounty harvesting). And I know some people feel very strongly about it, but if cap ships also require high license levels I think there should be an xp/level reset as well, since the xp gains from BP (and crackbotting) were also way out of whack.
Although it would make sense to be part of a guild in order to man a cap ship, perhaps to accommodate people who like to "go it alone" cap ships could also be manned by a temporary group. That way at least the group leader has control over who is allowed to dock with the cap ship.
Also, I'd like to point out that we probably need at least a money and inventory reset before players have the option to buy or craft capital ships, due to the BP bug (and bounty harvesting). And I know some people feel very strongly about it, but if cap ships also require high license levels I think there should be an xp/level reset as well, since the xp gains from BP (and crackbotting) were also way out of whack.
I agree, BP broke the level system. And has devalued money. We have 2 options that I can see:
1. Fix the BP missions. Then, reset everyone in levels and money. (Me no likie)
2. Fix the BP missions. Then, instead of a reset, just have the VO universe undergo hyper-inflation so that everything costs 10x more. When the playerbase has depleted their funds, then move the prices back to a normal amount.
And set the level requirements for capships to be a combined level of 40, 45, or 50. Somewhere around there.
Most of the high-level folks that were around before the CRAZY BP missions have around 8 trade and 5 mining at least, which should be enough to put them over the top. And the new folks who do nothing but BP and have levels like 12/12/12/0/0 (HA HA) are out of luck until they try some other things and get some mining and trading levels.
Do I sound elitist? I don't mean to.
1. Fix the BP missions. Then, reset everyone in levels and money. (Me no likie)
2. Fix the BP missions. Then, instead of a reset, just have the VO universe undergo hyper-inflation so that everything costs 10x more. When the playerbase has depleted their funds, then move the prices back to a normal amount.
And set the level requirements for capships to be a combined level of 40, 45, or 50. Somewhere around there.
Most of the high-level folks that were around before the CRAZY BP missions have around 8 trade and 5 mining at least, which should be enough to put them over the top. And the new folks who do nothing but BP and have levels like 12/12/12/0/0 (HA HA) are out of luck until they try some other things and get some mining and trading levels.
Do I sound elitist? I don't mean to.
how about us neutral UIT folks who never ever once participated in BP, and don't enjoy the massive lvl and money increase caused by it. Option 1 wouldnt be fun and option 2 would be equally unpleasant.
Yeah, I may be in the minority, but if I ever discover a bug that causes unfair gains, I immediately report it and I never exploit it. Guess it comes from being a beta tester, old habits die hard. Currently I have a little under a million credits, all earned from trading and bounties (earned, not farmed), and combat level 7 from the advanced combat mission (no crackbotting) and pks.
Option 2 would severely punish anyone who didn't exploit the BP bug.
Resets aren't the end of the world. I've lived through 2 and it's kinda fun when everyone is running around in busses, having buswars and leveling up together.
Option 2 would severely punish anyone who didn't exploit the BP bug.
Resets aren't the end of the world. I've lived through 2 and it's kinda fun when everyone is running around in busses, having buswars and leveling up together.
Just remember a power leveled n00b is still a n00b. So when BP is fixed and Mr. Power levs is running around in his 5 mil cap ship getting popped every 5 secs he will wish he had learned to fight the real ways.
Money won't last forever, he will have to learn to make a real living one day. Also factor in that most BP n00bs are big PvP fans and then take away the only way they know to make money, give them a week of PvPing the hard way and things will even back out. I see no reason to hurt those who have not BPed. And there is no way to tell who has BPed and who has not, or who has BPed and given money to a non-BPer and who has not. Things will work out in the long run.
Money won't last forever, he will have to learn to make a real living one day. Also factor in that most BP n00bs are big PvP fans and then take away the only way they know to make money, give them a week of PvPing the hard way and things will even back out. I see no reason to hurt those who have not BPed. And there is no way to tell who has BPed and who has not, or who has BPed and given money to a non-BPer and who has not. Things will work out in the long run.