This borderlines "casting magic". I don't like it, even just replacing planetscanners and shipscanners, no. Those should be devices you have on your ship, in order to do a special task.

I like the current system, where if you don't have something on you, you'll have to go get it. What you bring to the fight, is what you have.

But giving the ability to suddenly cast things that we currently need to go and get if we don't already have it, makes the game just too easy. Magic, in itself, is supposed to make life easier.

This will also, depending on what gets replaced with skills, severely alter the gameplay, and toughness. I just can't agree, because I like how tough the game is, constantly a challange. Let's not make it easier by adding such "skills" instead of items.

Edit: And, to the long-time playing players in the game, this will just make it even easier for them. For the new players, it will remove the "Okay, what do I need in order to do this" concept, something that personally I loved.

Doesn't really make sense to remove scanners and make them into skills...I mean how would go about scanning a ship or planet without a scanner? Turn into Superman and use your X-ray vision?

i dont like it... it reeks of magic!

Or scanners become a standard inbuilt on ships and you need nuerotraining to know how to access them and make them function?

The reason why I specifically suggested scanners is because it is something that could be reasonably assumed to be part of the basic hardware on your ship. Sure, you can install some upgraded scanner like the ENIAC to let you scan for more advanced commodities, but shitty mid level scanners like the planet scanner x, y, z, etc. don't really add anything to the game besides a useless drop in the loot tables.

Another candidate item that I had considered to convert to a skill would be something like an afterburner. Basically in real life an afterburner just means you dump a whole lot of extra fuel in to go really fast, so to have it as a consumable tweak doesn't really make a lot of sense. Perhaps it could be converted to a skill that costs energy instead - maybe with a cooldown for balance purposes. Afterburner bonuses could even be added as a new stat for engines. Anyways these are just ideas, nothing is for certain, I'm just looking for feedback and new ideas from the players.

this is ungodly. i would love this. however i dislike the rest of the topic so far

I'm all for clearing the drop tables of a lot of nearly useless things.

Having something simple like scanners being built into a ship makes sense, but in terms of gameplay, I think it works if and only if you need to equip an item for more advanced scans like the eniac. There should still be some sort of cost to hull if nothing else, for have that capability.

As for this being a skill sink for endgame players, I don't really see this working for that. Mid-level players need to scan too.

Afterburners alone make sense to be incorporated into engines as a boost with a cooldown, as long as other tweaks are left alone and this has a significant effect on energy regen for the duration of a boost. Even then, being fundamentally unlimited seems a bit problematic to me.

*edit* afterthought, if the "built-in scanners" had a power as a function of one's radar, then I think I could get on board with this.

Going further on what I said earlier, it would be really cool if 1] every 5 levels of seer, you could microwarp a little bit further.

Same thing for micro-warp capbilities, maybe warping an additional 100 distane per level.

no to burners, just because i know everyone will be spamming like crazy if they can.

Reading is fun!

I don't know... Honestly I liked the game because there was no "easy way".

But if you guys aren't going too much farther than scanners, basic scanners to be upgraded with ENIACs and whatnot like you said, then I guess fine.

But like, even with the afterburner idea of yours, I thought "oh, that is so cool" and then realized "of course it is, it would make my life as SD even easier." I know that's just an idea, but you see how I react against something new, some "magic" based skill, even something this simple. So I'm pretty wishy washy about it, but I still don't exactly understand if this is neccessary, or would make things better, as I feel it would just make things easier, for better or worse I don't know.

But no magic missle. Please for the love of god.

When I first read this topic I was like, "OMGYAY, something to spend my SP on! And some removing crap from drop tables! Hooray!"

But then I actually considered some of this stuff.

As Jagur pointed out:

This is the first thing I thought as I went over this in my head. Removing scanners from the game and replacing them with a skill would create an SP sink not only for higher level players, but middies who build bases and also need to drop SP into Class and Core skills. This could potentially cause a devide: "Level your skills or build bases. It's too hard to do both!"

I also have to agree with Gamepro:

"Casting magic" rather defeats the technological aspect of SS. For me, this game is all about combining "gear" with "skills and classes" and your own personal "skills" to come up with something that works for you. While not removing the "gear" aspect, this would rather limit it.


However, I can agree with certain abilities of certain items being unlocked through the use of skills. The afterburner idea, for instance could add a bit more tactical thinking to the game. Such things as adding a skill that boosts your shield regen for a short time at the cost of energy with a cooldown attatched, or the same for electricity at the cost of shield, or a boost in speed at the cost of energy.

Little things added as abilities to items through skills I can agree with.

Replacing items like planet/credit/ship scanners with skills I cannot agree with.

If this implemented, make it so seers get bonuses to Planet, Ship, and Base Scanners. They are recon after all?



Although, I reall have to agree with sybir here.

The only bonus I see to this being implemented is not doing a 10 Level DG and only getting a Planet Scanner Z.

Time Warp

ooh, i know! just take out all the planet scanner xyz's to clear the loot tables!! know why this works? cuz armada planet scanner is better imo anyways.... any objections? put em in an ai base if you really want to, but they are absolutely not worth getting as a drop ever ever ever ever ever ever.

I like Z's better than armada planetscanners >.>