So my suggestion is not so much an addition, as it is a revamp or deletion of parts of the game. Having a game that is Tier based is like following every single other RPG out there, by implanting a level system. IF you need to have a level system, there is absolutely no reason to hide it in "Tiers", just go ahead and add an XP bar and level buffs and give yourself and all enemies level progress, it will be much easier to manage and balance. HOWEVER I for one do not think that this is what the Devs or anyone else really wanted, this is an indie game with so much potential and so many ways to try out and play with new stuff with it's already huge fanbase. So I am asking, why are you playing it safe? Why not just take every nutty crazyass idea you have and put it in, trial and error. All I see at the moment is playing it safe and sticking to some what common place RPG guidelines. tl:dr - The Tier system is archaic, please take more risks! Now to my contribution, one should never badmouth a system without suggestions, that would serve no purpose other than to be yet another useless critic. Idea 1: Keep the Tier system, but make it flat so as to move in rings in the universe instead of steps Make the whole kill a boss, Tier up system different requiring more effort, like finding the boss and having to fight the boss on his environmental turf Drop the whole Tier based building system, let all items in each tier get unlocked with the Tier, or spread it out to having to discover blueprints for part of it or even most of it Make resources spread out more, so as to encourage mining on different planets to get resources that or more common to this or this planet tl:dr - Make the Tier system flat instead of vertical and let the player choose what to build Idea 2: Throw the entire Tier system in the trash and make all items and monster on the same "level" Variate weapons in damage, speed and the like to make weapons good for special things or "classes" Variate armour in strengths, weaknesses and bonuses and make different armours better for different environments and "classes" As for the building system, let most people start with a random assortment as well as basic needed items to build and the rest spread out in blueprints to find/buy Bosses become a bonus instead of a need, giving exotic and rare blueprint drops and items as well as some crafting materials tl:dr - Make the game Tierless and more of an adapt as you go game, containing both mining, exploring and fighting but without a strict set of rules
I agree that there are so many alternatives to the current linear progression the game is offering, and I'd love to see them choose the road less traveled. Sad thing is, there are still many people out there playing this game that want to keep a level of "progression", which means a tier system of some kind. [Sort of offtopic rant about adventure and dungeons] You know what kind of game I loved? Megaman. No leveling up, no forcing you down a set path, and no different tiers of items. You go where you want in the game, sometimes even backtrack to explore areas that you couldn't before. It gave you a feeling of self growth as you played. Now... that series has sadly fallen into the casual gamer crowd's level of difficulty, but I still like that in some versions of the game, you can opt for a harder or easier experience, that DOESN'T just give enemies more health and harder hits. It would actually add/remove those instakill spikes to levels, making jumps harder to pull off. Oh man, do you remember in that one release of megamanX (forget which exactly) where even though you could get a suit that made you immune to the spikes, there was an area that you simply couldn't reach with that armor, and that area was almost entirely covered in the things, forcing you to use an air-based agility suit to accurately time mid-air dashes as you're falling full speed to progress through the spikes to an ultimate item?! Such skills you had to have. [/Sort of offtopic rant about adventure and dungeons] But I digress.. this is sandbox, lol. At the very least, I can make a dungeon like that by modding the game (which I'm very tempted to do, but will wait 'till at least Stage 2 of the roadmap) for people who will appreciate the challenge. I only brought that up since they already have some dungeons in the game that appear to require jump skills in order to reach the end chest. Once these dungeons are locked down from the player breaking their blocks until finishing the course, I think many people would like to see longer dungeons of said type, perhaps with checkpoints where you can activate a console after so many trials to open a shortcut door to your current point. That way we can have much longer dungeons without too many people feeling they're too difficult. I vote for idea 2, being this is a sandbox, and I feel the player should have just as many options of progression as their are grains of sand in said box. Perhaps have worlds with abundant ore already claimed by factions that will attack visitors on sight, in order to protect their mining operation, with patrollers all across the planet. I mean, there's so many ways you can balance a system without the tiers. If someone's more into adventuring and combat scenarios, they can choose to get their ores exclusively from these planets, where they have to take down the current "owners" before being able to take the massive amount of raw materials. Or if someone chooses that they like to mine, they can set up on an uncharted/unclaimed planet to set up a mining operation of their own. Being that underground events have decent loot as well, miners will still be able to find things just as adventurers do. Heck, there's no one to stop you from doing both! [/rant]
Both ideas are pretty good. Personally, I can't say which one is better at the moment. I have to think about it However, it just depends on how the developers design the universe, assuming that they will in any case delete the sectors: mixing things up completely or, like they did before the patch, using threat levels to guide us through the game. [But why not both (well yeah that would be too much work)? A "storyline mode", guided with tiers and a "free mode" just releasing you into the universe.]
Whichever method they choose, I just hope they limit the player's ability to reach endgame too quickly while at the same time not forcing a grind upon the player. Give them something to do while they progress. I think that's the real problem people face. As it stands now, the only thing the have to do in the game is progress... which means mining, which is the same as grinding for resources. We can already see something like this in the game already with Matter Blocks. They're optional, but they're only found in a certain dungeon. Not the best approach progression-wise, IMO, but a method nonetheless. I fail to see why they couldn't come up with something equally clever for progression through the game to ease the pain of "Dammit, I need more iron *sigh* back to mining"
yeah i dont like the sector idea ... i think it should be back to that 1-100 thing but be all in 1 massive universe ... and i think it should be set by more than just mob hardness and more on environmental stuff i would love to see more enviroments like 0 atmosphere etc where u have to make sealed areas to survive in u have a suit that needs repairs at start that once u do repair can allow you to survive on the surface id also like some kind of scanning device that shows u a map of the surface and u can transport to a point by clicking a target to a area and hitting a button later this can be upgraded to scan under ground and detect things and allow some limited penetration with the transporter etc
