Posts by Hubris

  • #1) get rid of "Boosters"

    The idea of boosters is cool, but if everyone is equally boosted, then you've added complication without really changing the basic power equation.


    Everyone has better shields and armor, so everyone has to use class 10 guns, so everyone has to have a power booster.


    It's only a matter of money to buy all this stuff and every regular player on CF has enough money to buy all of them. this means that regular players are all buffed up and the big losers in this power increase are New players who we really want to join and keep playing.


    I remember when I started. I was having a heck of a time surviving basic missions...everyone told me that "well, yeah, CF is really tough for new players". Some players kindly offered me cash or a loan so I could buy a top of the line fighter. Other's told me about the trick of flying into Custodian and working my way up to lvl 40 so I'd at least have a fighting chance.


    Eliminate the boosters and it wil still be a fair fight among the best players, but new players won't feel so outclassed and NPCs might actually be a threat again.

  • A few serious suggestions to stop "power escalation"

    Hey folks...I've been having a great time on CF and have been spending way too much time playing :D


    I've been playing & testing games for for over 20 years and I see something happening on CF that has been the death of other games. It may not happen to CF, but it's killed many games before. It's called "power escalation".


    Basically, each successive change to the game raises the power level. any of you that play board/war games or collectible card games, you know what I mean.


    In CF here's how I see it happened...


    The initial goal was to make NPCs tougher


    1) NPCs were all given bats and bots + shield regen...suddenly they were so tough to kill that only someone in a VHF with class 10 guns could kill them in less than 45 minutes. Now players could kill each other too easily


    2) SO, Shield boosters, armor boosters, power boosters were added to give players a chance to survive against each other...This made PVP last longer. Actually PVP lasted too long because everyone was using Bats and Bots...


    3) SO, an agreement was made that in PVP players wouldn't use Bats and Bots.


    4) Player ships are now so much better than NPC ships, that players either ignore NPCs or swat them like flies.


    5) So, now Marshal has suggested creating MK2 House fighters to give the NPCs a fighting chance.


    This is Power Escalation...we've increased everything, but in the long run we didn't solve the initial problem which was to make NPCs tougher.


    Let's face it, anyone with enough cash to outfit a top of the line fighter or freighter can completely ignore NPCs. Since acquiring cash is only a matter of time, eventually every player will have enough to buy the best of everything.


    I'm going to make a few suggestions in separate threads to invite discussion about each. CF is the best mod out there overall and I know there's a certain resistance to taking anything out, but I ask you to consider what I've said above and ask yourself if maybe the old adage "Less is More" would actually make sense.