[GrimGriz]

Ok, so they've made it clear that there is going to be loot and crafting, but I have to pose the question...if that is true, how is it possible that skill will still be the determining factor in combat if there is to be meaningful loot?

[netburnr]

Because meaningful loot is not going to be PvP oriented?

Grim has aquired the super duper flux killing gun level 9872398, with magical autoaim powers.

Tada!

[Liet]

Oh god, I hope combat isn't gear-based....

[SingleShot]

I got the epic FF.

Burns for 2hours and is reusable. And is -50,000 mass to my ship.

[Wild_Bill]

...as long as it pretty much conforms to current arty equipment rules, i.e. hard to come by and goes away with a pod ride, I just can't imagine it will be all that balance altering. Now if it's cheap, level 10's of every faction can have 4 of them, THEN I could see a problem..

[vorlon31]

Working/broken equipment that can be collected, repaired, used or sold would be best as loot I think, along with scrap metals, cpu's, electronics and other ship making components to be collected following combat with AI shipping and or pvp encounters (where atries could be added to the mix).

Recycling.. its the future :-)

[Badger]

I like the concept of salvage. Obviously it has to be balanced, but looted items can just be "different" not better or worse.

[Liet]

If it's the same stats with a recolored graphic, there's not much point, is there?

[xerout]

Originally Posted by Wild_Bill

...as long as it pretty much conforms to current arty equipment rules, i.e. hard to come by and goes away with a pod ride, I just can't imagine it will be all that balance altering. Now if it's cheap, level 10's of every faction can have 4 of them, THEN I could see a problem..

/agree. There can be a good loot system that gives an advantage without undermining skill based PvP (and by that I mean actual pilot skill not "earned" in game skills). Arties are a very good example of aquiring advantages that tipped the balance of power in combat among evenly matched opponents but didn't tip it enough to make someone better than an opponent with naturally superior skills.

Xerout

[netburnr]

I like the idea of being able to shoot someone to the brink of explosion, but actullay board the ship and collect "parts" or "fuel" or "money" from the ship before making it go kablewy. This is an aspect of Escape Velocity that I thought was pretty fun, and could add a little depth to Jumpgate Evolution.

That said, in EV there was only a slight chance you could actually board the ship, most of the time it would say "you set off the self distruct" and the ship would blow up instead. It didnt hurt you, you just didn't get anything for your time.

Instead of that, how about if you disable a ship, you can fly up to it with displacers and start stealing its equipment? Or you can fly up to it with a tractor beam of some sorts, drag it back to a station, and then sell the ship for some money?

[SingleShot]

Originally Posted by xerout

/agree. There can be a good loot system that gives an advantage without undermining skill based PvP (and by that I mean actual pilot skill not "earned" in game skills). Arties are a very good example of aquiring advantages that tipped the balance of power in combat among evenly matched opponents but didn't tip it enough to make someone better than an opponent with naturally superior skills.

Xerout

Uh, certain specific arti ships were extremely unbalancing, with their only saving grace being that there were relatively few of them.


I remember flying with looney when he went 82-0 before getting killed by a lag whore. And most of this was genuine fighting in a hardly-the-best ship, not some JoCool-style civ ripping.

[GrimGriz]

Still, they've talked about multiple types of loot and ways to acquire it...I find it pretty daunting task of having more than a few arties worth using without taking away the majority of the skill factor in pvp.

In fact, even if most of the loot is used in crafting, one of the major reasons to craft is to make better than standard fair weapons and armor...so it'll be interesting to see how they manage that...though, they haven't said that they AREN'T going with the level = better thing...and since that's typical in MMOs they very well might....in which case skill is secondary anyway.

[Wild_Bill]

um GG, I just can't see ND doing anything that would cancel out the "skill based PvP" this game is based around. It's the major factor separating Jumpgate from everything else. You have to actually have skill if you are going to excell at combat, or docking or hauling or mining or much of anything else. Yes, certain artys or better equipment can help you achieve your own maximum potential, but if you can't hit the side of the barn then the best gun in the world is useless to you or anyone else. There are plenty of excellent PvPers who could go out in "gheto rigs" and still beat more than half the folks they fly against. I just don't see ND changing it that much if any. Loot, craft turret or arty, skill will always be the major determinent.