[Desirsar]

Well, not the one thing. I think the only place it failed for me was engine performance if you didn't own Deep Blue. Anyway...

I was talking with Jumpgate players about what I was looking for in an MMO when I was dying for a game to play and sick of WoW after having only resubscribed for a week, and one of the key points for me is item crafting. Especially so in a game like Jumpgate, where player mining and production is a fairly key element of the game, I think the game could attract and keep a lot of players that it might not otherwise, even if the game offered no protections seen in traditional PvE-only MMOs, if it had a crafting system as complex and flexible as Auto Assault's. It would be based on the current mining and production system we have now, but the ability to reverse engineer and potentially upgrade items in small quantities would add an element to the game that Jumpgate has always been missing.

(Yes, this is just one more thing that us non-joystick owning, non-PvP pilots would do when not circle mining in freighters. Obviously, it would have to be designed such that it is in the interest of players to at least hire someone to make custom equipment even if they weren't interested in the process themselves, but not overpowering to the point that it would be required.)

[Desirsar]

Crap, can't edit or delete my own post. Meant to put this in the suggestions forum. (I thought I was in there when I created the thread, not sure how I got it here.)

[Jump]

It's there now.

[Zaltys]

I like the idea of a good crafting system, etc, but it does make me worry a bit, too - just from memories of the old arties. A fully tricked out arti tensy in the hands of a good pilot was practically unkillable, and I think that in a game that is supposed to be skill based it is immensely frustrating to get killed purely by virtue of the fact that the other pilot has a better ship.

With that, said, such a system could be excellent if implemented correctly: that is, as toys for the rich that aren't necessarily worth the money, but are still helpful. This could give abused merchants the chance to fight back against hardcore PvPers by virtue of being able to afford better ships, but only if they're willing to shell out a lot of money. It should be remembered when creating these items that even as little as a 5v speed boost is a very significant performance improvement - I'd hate to see a return of the old overpowered arties in another guise.

[Desirsar]

You could make the greater increases from crafted items apply to functions that are still skill based - small increases to damage or fire rate would only be useful if you can actually aim them, and you could find ways to make any benefit come with a price in some other area. (Heck, you could even make it so a "perfect" set of them would result in a fraction of the increase in every stat, but like the trash artifacts of Jumpgate now that aren't worth the slot or cost.)

I think more what I'm going for is not a way to create a single overpowering ship when equipped entirely with crafted modules, but to allow for a larger variety of what equipment is available in each slot to every ship. This would be in addition to a system of production that would keep the economy minded people interested most of the time, in addition to attracting players that pick up games just for the crafting system and go along with whatever genre and play style it happens to have...

[netburnr]

Base crafting around support equipment.... See my thread on about different types of modx slots....

So instead of TRI creating the new cloaking device, it would be player made.

[GrimGriz]

Tell me...in Auto Assault, did the equipment and vehicles get better the higher you got in level?