Urizen
05.11.2010, 07:25
A wonderful collection of issues and opinins on items and upgrades, enjoy!
Upgrading requires but does not consume cubits. So if I have say 1000 cubits and I've got 3 items that require 1000 cubits + Tylium to upgrade I could upgrade all three because the transaction only consumes my tylium.
If you don't have enough Cubits for the upgrade it just tells you such and asks if you want to buy more cubits but it doesn't actually tell you how many cubits it will cost for the upgrade.
You can upgrade an item regardless of your skill level as long as you have the cubit and tylium required.
Upgrades themselves do very very little. I'm aware that hte idea is for paying players to not have a massive edge over the casuals but the advantages of upgrading items is so miniscule as to not be worth it. The values for some items should be re-evaluated.
Can't say much about the cost to benefit ratios because I have no idea how much cubits will cost but based on the current 2500 cubits a day it isn't that great. You're better off buying the next level of ship then upgrading your gear.
Some itesm can be upgraded but add nothing to item proformance like the mineral scanner.
In some cases the items themselves are worthless. Max energy storage for example is not nearly as useful as quicker energy recharge although the energy recharge items even with a few upgrades do very little. Gyro stabilization does nothing at all. FTL range upgrades for strike craft add very little. They don't really give you enough range even with two installed to skip a jump you might have to make without them installed over long distance traveled. The auto-pilot module is not nearly as effective as just holding down the right mouse key over your target.
Computer items don't have a distinction between slight medium and heavy but you can't mix and match computer items with ships. A light computer item will only fight in a light craft, medium with medium and heavy with heavy.
Weapon ranges are pretty similar. It's not that hard to get in close and use the higher damage items and with the speed of strike craft you won't get that many extra shots off before they can close the gap. DPS is all that matters.
Weapon energy costs might be worth looking at. A basic Viper/Scythe can't handle firing two autocannons continusly let alone a third or even a missile launcher. The Viper I can understand if it's expected to do diving runs but the scythe has enough weapon arc coverage for energy to be an issue and I'm willling to bet the larger ships will have the same problem. It wouldn't be that bad if energy recharge items did more.
I don't see any real difference in missile weapons with the exception of the Nova which claerly does more damage at a serious range cost but all the other launchers depending on class do the same damage, fire at the same rate but one has more range over the other. The descriptions say one is more maneuverable but I don't see any real difference.All the missiles seem prettly slow in both speed and turning.
The biggest issue I have right now has to be the lack of variety. Two weapon types and an option of short medium and long (and short being the clear winner). Mix it up a a bit. Beyond range and damage there is accuracy, fire rates, energy use per shot. Firing arcs, lock on times. Area effect missiles that spit out bomblets. Thermite rounds that burn thrugh the hull and do damage over time. Or whatever else. Variety is nice, especially in online games, because nobody really wants to run around with the same thing as everyone else.
Upgrading requires but does not consume cubits. So if I have say 1000 cubits and I've got 3 items that require 1000 cubits + Tylium to upgrade I could upgrade all three because the transaction only consumes my tylium.
If you don't have enough Cubits for the upgrade it just tells you such and asks if you want to buy more cubits but it doesn't actually tell you how many cubits it will cost for the upgrade.
You can upgrade an item regardless of your skill level as long as you have the cubit and tylium required.
Upgrades themselves do very very little. I'm aware that hte idea is for paying players to not have a massive edge over the casuals but the advantages of upgrading items is so miniscule as to not be worth it. The values for some items should be re-evaluated.
Can't say much about the cost to benefit ratios because I have no idea how much cubits will cost but based on the current 2500 cubits a day it isn't that great. You're better off buying the next level of ship then upgrading your gear.
Some itesm can be upgraded but add nothing to item proformance like the mineral scanner.
In some cases the items themselves are worthless. Max energy storage for example is not nearly as useful as quicker energy recharge although the energy recharge items even with a few upgrades do very little. Gyro stabilization does nothing at all. FTL range upgrades for strike craft add very little. They don't really give you enough range even with two installed to skip a jump you might have to make without them installed over long distance traveled. The auto-pilot module is not nearly as effective as just holding down the right mouse key over your target.
Computer items don't have a distinction between slight medium and heavy but you can't mix and match computer items with ships. A light computer item will only fight in a light craft, medium with medium and heavy with heavy.
Weapon ranges are pretty similar. It's not that hard to get in close and use the higher damage items and with the speed of strike craft you won't get that many extra shots off before they can close the gap. DPS is all that matters.
Weapon energy costs might be worth looking at. A basic Viper/Scythe can't handle firing two autocannons continusly let alone a third or even a missile launcher. The Viper I can understand if it's expected to do diving runs but the scythe has enough weapon arc coverage for energy to be an issue and I'm willling to bet the larger ships will have the same problem. It wouldn't be that bad if energy recharge items did more.
I don't see any real difference in missile weapons with the exception of the Nova which claerly does more damage at a serious range cost but all the other launchers depending on class do the same damage, fire at the same rate but one has more range over the other. The descriptions say one is more maneuverable but I don't see any real difference.All the missiles seem prettly slow in both speed and turning.
The biggest issue I have right now has to be the lack of variety. Two weapon types and an option of short medium and long (and short being the clear winner). Mix it up a a bit. Beyond range and damage there is accuracy, fire rates, energy use per shot. Firing arcs, lock on times. Area effect missiles that spit out bomblets. Thermite rounds that burn thrugh the hull and do damage over time. Or whatever else. Variety is nice, especially in online games, because nobody really wants to run around with the same thing as everyone else.