wargolem
01-01-13, 20:45
First off, I'd like to say that I feel the community team is doing a great job at salvaging Neocron and we(the players) appreciate it. However I would like to make a few suggestions that myself and 10+ other people that are NC vets have discussed on how to make very easy changes to the game that would improve its quality.
Please /Sign my post if you agree.
The Economy:
Rare parts:
The problem here is that there are currently too many players with not enough supply of certain "vital" rare parts to supply them. I'm looking at you special forces. It seems that fire mobs drop certain RP's very often and others they barely drop at all.
The solution to the RP issue is very simple and very easy. Allow War bot hunting to be Viable again. My suggestion is to change warbots to:
Warbot 80/80 33% RP drop rate
Warbot Dreadnaught 90/90 50% RP drop rate [NEW MOB]
Warbot Titan 100/100 66% RP drop rate [UPDATED MOB]
This not only makes RP's more available but Warbots seem to drop the techs that the firemobs dont drop thus making both viable. Adding a 100/100 mob also makes warbot hunting more dangerous and challenging.
WoC Disks:
The drop rate being so low with the mobs spread out over the wasteland is a known issue. I dont suggest putting them back down into Ceres labs so they can be exploited however I do suggest that the drop rate be increased to around 5->7% so that people can reliably get one if they spend the time. WoC is such a vital stat for certain classes to be competitive now that the current state of affairs is unacceptable
MC5:
I know there are some revisions in MC5 coming in the next patch (thank god) but there is one thing I would like to add. Runners SHOULD NOT be allowed to enter MC5 with LE chips in. The reason I say this is because it will lead to all sorts of problems and constant camped DPS races. MC5 should be how it used to be (when done without exploiting) and the stronger team should take ownership of it via PvP
Money Sinks
Now The above changes are probably fairly simple and wouldn't take much dev time, this one however may take a little bit more hard coding. I suggest that the price of implant Gel and construction grease be increased 2 or 3 fold. HOWEVER I suggest that the amount used by all NON rare constructions and implants be reduced. Thus poking an MC5 chip back in might cost you 30k worth of lube a rare chip might cost 20k worth of lube. Building a rare gun might cost 30k of lube etc. The idea is to make the rich people pay more and leave the costs the same for the newer folks.
Quality of life Changes
There were many things that NC2 brought that in most peoples opinions made the game worse or less accessable to new players. I know the community team have already started to revert changes (like the evac of doy) but it would be beneficial to change more things.
Implants
The biggest issue here is that implants were changed to give things like 2.47 dex etc. This is a heap of steaming poo. All implants should be reverted back to how they were before. This not only makes them more newbie friendly (in terms of understanding them) but also makes them more useful. for instance, lets look at the old M.O.V.E.o.n and the old Marine vs the new ones.
New Marine:
STR:+1.90
TRA:+15.21
FOR:+9.51
PCR:+9.51
INT:-1.00
HCK:-5.02
Old Marine
STR:+5.00
CON:+5.00
M‑C:+5.00
H‑C:+5.00
TRA:+5.00
FOR:+10.00
HLT:+15.00
New M.O.V.E.O.N
CON:+3.95
TRA:+7.93
HLT:+7.93
END:+15.86
Old M.O.V.E.O.N
STR:+3.00
CON:+3.00
M‑C:+6.00
H‑C:+6.00
TRA:+6.00
FOR:+8.00
HLT:+18.00
There are two great examples of good chips turned into completely useless steaming piles of dog turd. I know there will be people that argue that the old chips were overpowered, but think of it this way, Everyone has access to the same items, so in PvP it would still be balanced. There is also is end game content that is so rediculously difficult right now that often it is exploited, The bonus stats may allow groups to do things more effectively but most importantly are easier to understand and easier for new players to grasp.
Character Models:
I think most people feel that the new character models are bad. Yes I know they have higher pixel counts but generally they look awful. the reasons I suggest this are
- The spy's are anorexic
- Tanks do not look like tanks
- PEs with the "bottom lip" bug
- Hair clipping or hair falling off (I know GMs work hard to fix this but they could be doing other things)
- No colour customisation anymore :(
- Odd character models like characters with female breasts and a bearded face
- Distinguishing between classes during PvP is difficult due to everyone looking much more similar than before (unless in pa)
I don't know how much work it would be but myself and many others really feel that the character models for the old characters were much better, although the new weapon models are slightly better in most cases so it would be good if we could keep those. It is however my belief that most people would trade the new weapon models to not have the bugs and issues with the new character models.
Safe areas
It is my feeling that PvP in Plaza 2 and Viarosso are a little bit ridiculous. The reasons I suggest this are:
- They are supposed to be the central and up market ares of the city respectively, and thus, it makes no sense and ruins the immersion of the game world
- It is a small part of the reason so many people are forced to keep there LE in for so long
- New players shouldn't be on their way to aggressors and be exposed to people rez ganking, belt hacking, zone line exploiting etc.
- Pepper Park is supposed to be the semi lawless area where all the shadey happenings go on so it would make more sense to have the ganking there. (as in old days)
- Military base should be made a PvP zone once again as should TH
Also it must be noted that Cop bots right now are a bit of a joke. They more or less tickle people to death. Copbots need their old "Copbot rifle" back that ignored LoS and did scary damage.
New player Experience
I think Neocron would really benefit from having a proper tutorial in the MC5 zone to teach new players some of the basic game mechanics. I know this would be a huge amount of coding but I think it would really help new people get a basic grasp of the game. One of Neocron's problems is that it has always had a steep learning curve and this has never been alleviated by an intuitive tutorial. I have tried to get people into the game before and they are seriously turned off by the new player experience.
Remember graphics are not everything, look how well Minecraft and Terraria have done.
UI changes:
- Perhaps could we have a Debuff bar for Synaptic imparement to save us having to open the menus over and over to check its status
Class Balance
Now I don't profess to be extremely knowledgeable about class balance right now but I know some things are blindingly obvious and I will try and update this section as I continue to play the game.
APU
Right now there is an issue I believe with APUs not fullfilling there class roles. The reticle nerf, + the RoF nerf + the removal of HaB was just too much. I would suggest
- Rebalance Rate of fire of Fire apoc and Holy Lightning making them the highest overall Damage per second abilities in the game by a small margin of around 3%
- Add a Unholy poison beam with the same dps as holy lightning/fire apoc.
- Move holy Unprotection back to Apu with a long cast time (approximately 15 sec with good stats)
- New spell Holy Unabsorber for Apu with a long cast time (approximately 15 sec with good stats)
- Keep the reticle as it is now, it was too easy to exploit LoS
- Remove Holy Frostration
PE
- Increase the damage on SWAT backup pistol and SWAT rifle by a small percent but lock them to requiring Class: PE
- Remove the class requirement on Stealth activator 1 and lower requirements to Int 60
PPU
- Give PPU back Holy Frostration and allow it to slow a character by approximately 33%
- Remove Holy Unabsorber from the PPU
SPY
Tank
End Note
Thank you for reading my post and getting this far, as i'm sure you can appriciate it took a little while and I also had to ask around to get other peoples opinions and have a bit of a brainstorming session. This post is subject to change all the time so please dont quote it.
please could I ask DON'T make silly criticism, I would prefer people just read it over and didn't sign if they don't like my suggestions. However if you Do like my suggestions then please /Sign the post, Id appreciate your support.
Remember, people are coming back to Neocron due to what Neocron was, and what it could be, not because of what Neocron is right now.
Thanks again for your time and, keep up the good work community team!
Please /Sign my post if you agree.
The Economy:
Rare parts:
The problem here is that there are currently too many players with not enough supply of certain "vital" rare parts to supply them. I'm looking at you special forces. It seems that fire mobs drop certain RP's very often and others they barely drop at all.
The solution to the RP issue is very simple and very easy. Allow War bot hunting to be Viable again. My suggestion is to change warbots to:
Warbot 80/80 33% RP drop rate
Warbot Dreadnaught 90/90 50% RP drop rate [NEW MOB]
Warbot Titan 100/100 66% RP drop rate [UPDATED MOB]
This not only makes RP's more available but Warbots seem to drop the techs that the firemobs dont drop thus making both viable. Adding a 100/100 mob also makes warbot hunting more dangerous and challenging.
WoC Disks:
The drop rate being so low with the mobs spread out over the wasteland is a known issue. I dont suggest putting them back down into Ceres labs so they can be exploited however I do suggest that the drop rate be increased to around 5->7% so that people can reliably get one if they spend the time. WoC is such a vital stat for certain classes to be competitive now that the current state of affairs is unacceptable
MC5:
I know there are some revisions in MC5 coming in the next patch (thank god) but there is one thing I would like to add. Runners SHOULD NOT be allowed to enter MC5 with LE chips in. The reason I say this is because it will lead to all sorts of problems and constant camped DPS races. MC5 should be how it used to be (when done without exploiting) and the stronger team should take ownership of it via PvP
Money Sinks
Now The above changes are probably fairly simple and wouldn't take much dev time, this one however may take a little bit more hard coding. I suggest that the price of implant Gel and construction grease be increased 2 or 3 fold. HOWEVER I suggest that the amount used by all NON rare constructions and implants be reduced. Thus poking an MC5 chip back in might cost you 30k worth of lube a rare chip might cost 20k worth of lube. Building a rare gun might cost 30k of lube etc. The idea is to make the rich people pay more and leave the costs the same for the newer folks.
Quality of life Changes
There were many things that NC2 brought that in most peoples opinions made the game worse or less accessable to new players. I know the community team have already started to revert changes (like the evac of doy) but it would be beneficial to change more things.
Implants
The biggest issue here is that implants were changed to give things like 2.47 dex etc. This is a heap of steaming poo. All implants should be reverted back to how they were before. This not only makes them more newbie friendly (in terms of understanding them) but also makes them more useful. for instance, lets look at the old M.O.V.E.o.n and the old Marine vs the new ones.
New Marine:
STR:+1.90
TRA:+15.21
FOR:+9.51
PCR:+9.51
INT:-1.00
HCK:-5.02
Old Marine
STR:+5.00
CON:+5.00
M‑C:+5.00
H‑C:+5.00
TRA:+5.00
FOR:+10.00
HLT:+15.00
New M.O.V.E.O.N
CON:+3.95
TRA:+7.93
HLT:+7.93
END:+15.86
Old M.O.V.E.O.N
STR:+3.00
CON:+3.00
M‑C:+6.00
H‑C:+6.00
TRA:+6.00
FOR:+8.00
HLT:+18.00
There are two great examples of good chips turned into completely useless steaming piles of dog turd. I know there will be people that argue that the old chips were overpowered, but think of it this way, Everyone has access to the same items, so in PvP it would still be balanced. There is also is end game content that is so rediculously difficult right now that often it is exploited, The bonus stats may allow groups to do things more effectively but most importantly are easier to understand and easier for new players to grasp.
Character Models:
I think most people feel that the new character models are bad. Yes I know they have higher pixel counts but generally they look awful. the reasons I suggest this are
- The spy's are anorexic
- Tanks do not look like tanks
- PEs with the "bottom lip" bug
- Hair clipping or hair falling off (I know GMs work hard to fix this but they could be doing other things)
- No colour customisation anymore :(
- Odd character models like characters with female breasts and a bearded face
- Distinguishing between classes during PvP is difficult due to everyone looking much more similar than before (unless in pa)
I don't know how much work it would be but myself and many others really feel that the character models for the old characters were much better, although the new weapon models are slightly better in most cases so it would be good if we could keep those. It is however my belief that most people would trade the new weapon models to not have the bugs and issues with the new character models.
Safe areas
It is my feeling that PvP in Plaza 2 and Viarosso are a little bit ridiculous. The reasons I suggest this are:
- They are supposed to be the central and up market ares of the city respectively, and thus, it makes no sense and ruins the immersion of the game world
- It is a small part of the reason so many people are forced to keep there LE in for so long
- New players shouldn't be on their way to aggressors and be exposed to people rez ganking, belt hacking, zone line exploiting etc.
- Pepper Park is supposed to be the semi lawless area where all the shadey happenings go on so it would make more sense to have the ganking there. (as in old days)
- Military base should be made a PvP zone once again as should TH
Also it must be noted that Cop bots right now are a bit of a joke. They more or less tickle people to death. Copbots need their old "Copbot rifle" back that ignored LoS and did scary damage.
New player Experience
I think Neocron would really benefit from having a proper tutorial in the MC5 zone to teach new players some of the basic game mechanics. I know this would be a huge amount of coding but I think it would really help new people get a basic grasp of the game. One of Neocron's problems is that it has always had a steep learning curve and this has never been alleviated by an intuitive tutorial. I have tried to get people into the game before and they are seriously turned off by the new player experience.
Remember graphics are not everything, look how well Minecraft and Terraria have done.
UI changes:
- Perhaps could we have a Debuff bar for Synaptic imparement to save us having to open the menus over and over to check its status
Class Balance
Now I don't profess to be extremely knowledgeable about class balance right now but I know some things are blindingly obvious and I will try and update this section as I continue to play the game.
APU
Right now there is an issue I believe with APUs not fullfilling there class roles. The reticle nerf, + the RoF nerf + the removal of HaB was just too much. I would suggest
- Rebalance Rate of fire of Fire apoc and Holy Lightning making them the highest overall Damage per second abilities in the game by a small margin of around 3%
- Add a Unholy poison beam with the same dps as holy lightning/fire apoc.
- Move holy Unprotection back to Apu with a long cast time (approximately 15 sec with good stats)
- New spell Holy Unabsorber for Apu with a long cast time (approximately 15 sec with good stats)
- Keep the reticle as it is now, it was too easy to exploit LoS
- Remove Holy Frostration
PE
- Increase the damage on SWAT backup pistol and SWAT rifle by a small percent but lock them to requiring Class: PE
- Remove the class requirement on Stealth activator 1 and lower requirements to Int 60
PPU
- Give PPU back Holy Frostration and allow it to slow a character by approximately 33%
- Remove Holy Unabsorber from the PPU
SPY
Tank
End Note
Thank you for reading my post and getting this far, as i'm sure you can appriciate it took a little while and I also had to ask around to get other peoples opinions and have a bit of a brainstorming session. This post is subject to change all the time so please dont quote it.
please could I ask DON'T make silly criticism, I would prefer people just read it over and didn't sign if they don't like my suggestions. However if you Do like my suggestions then please /Sign the post, Id appreciate your support.
Remember, people are coming back to Neocron due to what Neocron was, and what it could be, not because of what Neocron is right now.
Thanks again for your time and, keep up the good work community team!