Unify loot across PvP, PvE and Invasion

Suggestions Levelling and Economy
1

This suggestion involves reworking the loot across the whole game. It is not a total overhaul, just a retuning.

 

The goals of this suggestion are as follows:

  • Creating standardisation of loot available.
  • Creating “themes” for loot drops across all modes.
  • Making faction matter to loot drops across all modes.
  • Incorporating Invasion style crafting into PvP and PvE modes.

So, in no particular order:

 

Standardised Drop Tables:

All three modes, PvP, PvE and Invasion would use shared drop tables to determine what loot is used. These drop tables are determined on a sector by sector basis.

 

For PvP and PvE, a “sector” is a combination of both map and tier. As such, Blackwood Shipyard [T1] is a different sector to Blackwood Shipyard [T5].

 

Each sector can have multiple drop tables for multiple types of loot object; one table for ores, another for containers, etc. For PvP and PvE, when a loot marker is extracted the type of container is determined randomly and accessed.

 

Example drop tables include:

  • Ore Drops - primarily low-value raw materials that can be refined into parts for crafting. Some ores (like gold ore) are simple cash loot.
  • Pirate Drops - primarily low to mid level cash loot. May contain first-stage crafted components (metal blanks, etc).
  • Military Drops - mid level cash loot. Also contains first-stage and occasional second-stage crafted components. The equivalent of Mk II Upgrade Kits would be considered a Military Drops.
  • Faction Drops - mid-high level cash loot. Flavour text focuses on main races and factions. Loyalty drops included in this table. Equivalent of Mk IV upgrade kits also included in this drop table.
  • Precursor Drops - High cash, rare material or iridium drops. Essential components for Mk V upgrades included in this drop table, such as monocrystals.

The “purple” Loot Drop from PvE would use a unique drop table combining elements of Military, Faction and Precursor Drops.

 

Gold Standards should also be added to the drop tables as a Faction and/or Precursor level Drop. This is done for the purposes of monetisation; by giving players the means to earn GS from the start, they are more likely to become accustomed to spending it, which in turn encourages them to purchase additional GS. However, it also makes the resource available to those who do not wish to pay, ensuring that they have access to all the game’s content so long as they have the patience to grind for it. This reduces the feeling of “pay to win” game design within Star Conflict, producing a more positive community response.

 

Crafting Component Modification:

To allow for acquisition of parts in PvP and PvE, crafting requirements of ores and basic materials should be increased. However, in higher tier PvP and PvE, as well as higher ranked Invasion Sectors, multi-ore drops can be acquired.

 

Example: under the new system a Metal Blank might require 8 Vanadium Ore instead of 2. Rank 1 / Tier 1 modes include “Vanadium Dust” in their drops, giving a single Vanadium Ore. “Vanadium Ores” give 2-3, while “Dense Vanadium Chunks” give 4-6. The larger rewards are more common in higher Rank / Tier matches.

 

The overall goal is that pilots flying T3 and/or in Rank 7 Sectors should see no overall change in their rate of progress when crafting; Tier 1 / 2 and Rank 1 / 4 Sectors are slowed based on their rank, while Tier 4 / 5 and Rank 10 Sectors receive faster loot collection, and so superior rate of crafting progress.

 

Mk II / Mk IV Upgrade Kit Rework:

These features would be folded into the upgrade system used by invasion; players can either purchase Mk II with credits, or craft it using components recovered as loot. Likewise, Mk IV becomes an Iridium / Loot option.

 

The intent of this is to introduce the crafting system quickly to players; they should encounter it before leaving Tier 1. It also opens possibility for further conversion later down the line, such as adding cosmetic changes to the weapon models if Pirate parts are used.

 

This rework should not increase the overall cost of upgrading equipment. Ideally, it should decrease it slightly.

 

Mk III Crafting Options:

Mk III is currently used as a monetisation scheme. This is a poor choice; it unfairly hinders progress for the sake of trying to force people to pay real money to be competitive. As such, this emphasis on “pay to win” should be greatly decreased in favour of adding more free methods to progress with Mk III gear, and monetisation should be refocussed elsewhere.

 

To this end, Mk III upgrade kits should be possible to craft. However, in order to maintain the purpose of Loyalty, all Mk III kits require a faction-specific part that must be purchased with loyalty. Purchasing this part requires considerably less Loyalty than simply purchasing a completed upgrade kit. This gives players two free methods to acquire Mk III gear - pure loyalty, or loyalty and loot drop crafting. Likewise, the Faction components can be purchased with GS at a vastly reduced price compared to the GS upgrade kit. Once again, the importance is player choice and convenience.

 

Faction-based Loot [invasion]:

This tweak changes the nature of Loyalty Drops in Invasion. All Invasion drop tables that contain Intelligence as a possible drop will use a special formula to determine the nature of the drop. The further the drop is acquired from the home sector, the greater the potential value. The faction the loyalty applies to is always one of your home race’s factions.

 

For example: A Jericho player will only receive Tech or Raid Loyalty from Intel drops. Systems close to dock will only give small loyalty boosts, but loyalty obtained from neutral or enemy space will be much higher. The level of the sector and its Protection Rating also factors in, meaning the best possible loyalty loot for a Jericho pilot come from Rank 10 Dangerous Empire or Federation sectors.

 

Additional Thoughts:

The following are small concepts that increase variety and value for players, aiming to both increase enjoyment of the game and provide greater value to players who invest in the title.

 

  • “Sensor Sweeps” at the end of PvP / PvE that give clues as to the type of loot you will receive. These are not precise, but rather a ballpark (ie: “probable ore drop”, “probable container”, “probable military cashe”, etc). Sensor Sweeps never tell you if the drop is a Faction or Precursor Drop - only what type of common loot you will get if it turns out to be common. Sensor Sweeps are purchased with credits, but players with a License always get a free one for their first loot extraction. Cost of the Sensor Sweep scales with Tier.
  • Margin of Victory can cause a minor increase in the value of loot generated. In other words, the more the winning team wins by, the more likely they are to get better loot. This rewards teams who win big and encourages players to learn to play well and focus on objectives, not personal performance.
2

Don’t forget the option to store credit loot in the armory instead of simply autoselling. Also include the option to bring crafting and credit loot into invasion.

Devs won’t listen so why you make wall of text? I’ve given up on making suggestions. Now I’m just adding tidbits of input on other peoples suggestions.

3

I like. A lot.  :fed012:

4

you put a lot of thought into your idea. I support it and hope the devs implement this. 01212.png

5

1 thing is important. Don’t force me to play Invasion in order to upgrade 20 modules. I understand and i don’t mind the weapons MK5 upgrades. But really don’t want to farm for all the modules. With a slim “chance to drop” on module upgrade schematics. At least with the weapons i know that if i farm for a week, i get the necessary crystals and the few components needed for the upgrade, and the evil is done.

 

Don’t assume please that everyone will want to spend weeks searching for the Target Painter mk5 upgrade kit for example. Some of us play this game instead of other games because you can do quick, fun matches.

 

Please, if it’s a random drop for upgrade schematics, make them drop in PvP also, don’t force your player base to do Invasion. Not more than it’s necessary anyway. The dailies are enough.

6

I must say that JasanQuinn explains wonderfully, what I was about to explain. Thanks to you, I do not need to create a topic of this kind anymore.

There is so much improvements to be done, but I fear nobody takes our topics seriously, if not at all. I just hope that we are not writing in vain here, because from what I’ve seen, no developers ever responded on our forums to at least give us some feedback. I just hope you did not waste your time for this, like the others did.

 

Anyway, again, very good job. I also think that mk V upgrades could be earned a bit differently to ease the pressure from farming.

However, we got no such tree as a Faction loyalty progression tree. It’s not exactly connected to loyalty vouchers, but it affects their amount.

I will write more about this in a next topic soon.

 

As for the loot: I can farm all day in Invasion and I  can be happy, if I get ore or some plates.

                       The rest I get is junk, composed of credits.

                       Cargo convoys must carry more than just 2 cargo containers. It’s so ridiculous now and mostly you just get credits from it.

                      

There should be multiple types of cargo convoys. Standard design, like we have now. That convoy would carry mid-level items.

Lightly armored with more engines for extra speed, but with less endurant hull. It would carry low level items.

Heavily armored. That one would have more hull, plus a shield generator. It would move slower than the rest of the convoys, but it can take 3 times more punishment than the standard one, plus it’s equipped with active shields for some extra protection.

Also, if you destroy a convoy, it must drop at least 6-12 items instead of 2 and the loot must be relatively good, depends on the escort types and the purpose of this convoy. It’s route.

For example, if you would be a pirate, you can bribe someone to acquire manifest of all current convoys routes and thus you can even know what type of cargo will they be carrying.

This game also needs stardate and real day time in game as well. This implementation would really help. It’s a simple one.

Scanners, each type of ships should have a scanner of some kind, which can scan and detect for anomalies, distress calls, scans cargo on other ships, etc.

Map should have some sort of navigation, but not just compass. Like specific and detailed coordinates, If you spot some loot, you can mark it and just tell the coordinates to get it.

 

However, like I said. In order for this to happen, Invasion mode must expand and implement some new sort of system or interface.

You should be able to join factions like Pirates as well, bounty hunters, smugglers, police enforcers, explorers, nomads, etc…

Pirates would kill AI pilots or real pilots for some deed done against them or you would need to sabotage a scanner, mining station and so on.

Bounty hunters should be able to choose bounty contracts, from easy one to difficult ones and depending on the outcome, the reward should be appropriate.

Smugglers should be able to provide you with the rares of loot or blueprints, but for a hefty price.

 

Karma system is not yet fully implemented, but I hope it works like some sort of Reputation system. Your deeds reflect your personality, who will trust you, who will hunt you and so on…

In fact, faction loyalty tree could be just another name for Reputation.

 

Also, you should be able to construct a device, which can enable you to enter the alien womhole. It’s just illogical, that you can’t enter it, but you can get to Unknown Space from the warpgate.

 

So many ideas, but if no one reads them or take them seriously, I really don’t need to be here.

So, developers, we would like an acknowledgment next time, if you read a post or some sort of message, so we can know what you read and consider.

Feedback and communication is essential. You wrote that yourself. I just hope that English forum will be essential on the same level, like the Russian one is.

 

Thank you.

7

The idea of this update is to ensure everything in Invasion can be obtained in PvP and PvE. All that changes is the rate of acquisition.

Or, to put it another way, if you want Synergy then PvP is the best choice; PvE is the best for credits; Invasion is best for crafting components. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t earn these things in other modes.

8

The idea of this update is to ensure everything in Invasion can be obtained in PvP and PvE. All that changes is the rate of acquisition.

Or, to put it another way, if you want Synergy then PvP is the best choice; PvE is the best for credits; Invasion is best for crafting components. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t earn these things in other modes.

 

Yes pls. +1

9

For monetization, acquiring +3% synergy versions actually was a good idea. Many of the GS sinks in this game actually are not very clever and rather make users complain. Players should not feel they are asked to pay. They should feel, paying up gives them a reward.

 

Another good trick would be to have premium accounts having the ability to influence their chance of which favour of loot they rather prefer increased, since going after Jasans table, there would be different types of lootdrops with equal value; in such a case, your prefered type would get a higher chance of appearing.

This would increase the viability of premium accounts, which is always a better income than microtransactions only.

 

Also this way, people who don’t want millions of raw materials can focus on what items they really search for. And it provides good statistics, of which loot drop groups could need some additions.

 

I like the idea.

10

I’d just like to add one suggestion if I may, Jasan. What do you think of the possibility of swapping Mk3 and MK4 upgrade paths? Essentially, Mk4 becomes the Voucher/GS upgrade option while Mk3 becomes Artifacts/Upgrade Kit.

 

This makes the monetization option at the “endpoint” (quotes used because of new Mk5 stuff) rather than the midpoint. Also, the stat upgrade from Mk4 is much less than any of the other upgrades, also making it less pay to win.

11

I’d just like to add one suggestion if I may, Jasan. What do you think of the possibility of swapping Mk3 and MK4 upgrade paths? Essentially, Mk4 becomes the Voucher/GS upgrade option while Mk3 becomes Artifacts/Upgrade Kit.

 

This makes the monetization option at the “endpoint” (quotes used because of new Mk5 stuff) rather than the midpoint. Also, the stat upgrade from Mk4 is much less than any of the other upgrades, also making it less pay to win.

 

…Or (correct me if I’m wrong I don’t recall seeing any) add blue upgrade kits. We have a green kit, we have a purple kit, but blue is only loyalty or GS. Add some blue kits and lessen the green and even purple kit drops.

12

The endpoint is supposed to be a drop, so that you cannot call it pay2win, since otherwise it would mean we have to pay GS or grind to get the final version.

(Mk5 however seems to be carefully chosen and i do not believe every item will get an Mk5 version;)

 

i don’t know if its wise if Mk4 would be the pay for option either.

 

the old approach was by offering golden Mk3’s for higher prices; those items now serve a +3% bonus on synergy. why they did not keep that option alive, i am not sure, but possibly, to reduce p2w mentality again (so at least you have to get it to green first). basicly not a bad idea.

when you start the game, this makes sense, since credits are really an issue until you establish a good T3 foothold.

however it also meant, the old system of easily getting Mk3’s if you have enough influence in terms of contracts got changed into a new sort of grind, to make it harder to reach Mk3 quickly.

 

Green items served as a filler, since they had almost blue-like features (military), but with the reduction of 5 marks to 4, the jump between mk1 and mk2, mk2 and mk3 got a bit out of balance; while i cannot believe many people will actually fly with blue items today, since the purple step is usually concluded way before you get them to mk3, so its actually a jump from mk2 to mk4.

 

Back then however fully purple ships were not as common, and not as important; but as this game gets more competitive, it gets more important. having a ship fully green and a ship fully purple is like flying two different ships.

 

So I think, I would rather rebalance item values, so that green, blue and purple are closer together in terms of values, to make fully green fits still competitive enough.

 

Another idea would be to include tier upgrade crafting for items. make a blue T4 out of a purple T3 e.g.

 

Imho I would rather reintroduce GS based +3% synergy mk3s, and remove the GS step by adding another second way to get Mk3’s instead.

 

 

…Or (correct me if I’m wrong I don’t recall seeing any) add blue upgrade kits. We have a green kit, we have a purple kit, but blue is only loyalty or GS. Add some blue kits and lessen the green and even purple kit drops.

 

for example like this. or crafting. which however is still grind, because there is no real trade option for crafting materials.

13

another historic fact is that the downsides of items also scaled up once, so basicly, having a green lightweight hull was better than having a purple one, which made fitting a bit more colored. not saying this was a good system, i am glad they got rid of that.

14

Mark rebalancing is a different topic, but I agree progression of tech is kind of screwed up right now. We could do with rolling everything back - Mk I to old Mk I, Mk II to old Mk II, Mk III to old Military, Mk IV to old Mk III, Mk V to old Mk IV. This would make a ship’s base stats matter more, thus making things a little less crazy.