For Salt wrote:
Meh, the stats was an example. The point is that a lower tech guy can work both ways for very powerful gear.
High Tech, or High Tier.
We already have a tier system for ruins. Why not expand that further? Ex. Mz Rumble is a higher tier Mz Thunder, but Thunder, Strike, and Rumble are all T18.
A player will work more or less the same effort to get to a piece of gear as good as a T3 Oly Gear.
For Enkelin wrote:
If you spent about 500b finishing off that new set of T3 Oly Gear and your new Zeus Throne+, then someone following a more tiered path would also spend around 500b to get a high end FC ship for T18.
The other person would probably not build modules, but rather obtain gear through ruins, dging, and building. As well as the usual things like Dement, DModules(and below), Crystals, etc.
But the advantage is that a high tier guy will get to his piece potentially a lot faster due to skipping the need to get higher tech skills. But on the other hand, the "total" potential of the highest tiers of T21 are actually better, and higher tech non built/dropped items can be modded.
You'll be a bit better off stat wise, but if he started at the same time you did, he'll be done a bit faster(like a month or so).
The tier system would support upgrades and upgrade items(ships) more due to the nature of the gear, having to upgrade them a lot. Tech system is less so, but would(if jeff get off his lazy butt and code) do so as well.
The highest tier of both systems are neurobound. Ships of the tier system being one time and neurobound, if possible on the NB.
Most ruins are placed/should be placed within the tier system, while most dropped/built items should be if not already are in the tech system.
"Why?", is the biggest question for this.
1. The new skill point allocation for tech skills encourage this already. The skills more or less cost more than before, making it to ones advantage to use better gear before increasing your tech. The pinnacle would be to stop increasing the tech at one point, in favor of straight up increasing the tier.
2. This gives a vast uncharted region for content. We're talking about enough content to satisfy the playerbase for up to a decade. But without the massive testing phases and code times that are required for similarly sized expansions.
3. Compared to most other things, like AEM's new zone, this is relatively easy to add. Most of the work gets done by the balance sheet. Only need to manually add missions and balance the construction costs so a low tier item isn't going to cost 45 dem, 1800 ada, and 2400 DM in the same upgrade.
4. This is the biggest part. It gives unparalleled versatility in setups and playstyles. This gets people hooked. The ability to play to where you want to play instead of how the game tells you to play. This would allow JeffL to finally use without shame or doubt the phrase "Sandbox Game" for an MMO.
5. Wouldn't you like seeing a T17-T19 sniper in a fight smiting enemy ships left and right as good as Beelzebub's sniper? Assuming someone goes that far of course.
