Grinding for Superior Brains is a poor design choice and how to improve it

Greetings fellow Starbounders,

I have been a long time backer for Starbound but first time poster and I want to address something I believe to be an example of frustrating game design in the game which purely revolves around RNG.



Spending time using the extractor to kill enemies to randomly find a superior brain simply isn't fun. The first time I did it, I was lucky and managed to get it in about 7-8 kills and as such, it didn't present itself as much of a problem.

After the wipe however, I have so far killed 97 monsters with this blasted extractor on a new character and my 98th kill was a superior brain and instead of relief I came to a very bitter conclusion... this was not fun or welcome.

I understand the appeal of using random drops from creatures to add unique and interesting pieces of content like rare weapons and shields in videogames but when it is a required mechanic to progress forward, it is dull padding to artifically lengthen a videogame experience and believe it should be changed, the question is, how would you do it?

Would you keep the RNG based mechanic and perhaps add the ability to craft a superior brain from a bunch of inferior brains? discuss.

 

Maybe make it so only some mobs drop it, but with a much higher chance, like the mini bosses that glow red or civilized towns people.

 

Jeez, 98? I got it on my 4th. I had no idea how lucky that was until just now. 98 is insane!

 

I like that idea, I'd probably remove the RNG altogether if it was a certain drop from a mini-boss.

It makes sense to have them drop from townsfolk since they appear to be capable of building complex structures and systems.

 

I definitely like this idea.

Extracting ape brains sounds funny! And it has sense

 

It'd be nice if crappy brains were useful for something. Even just food. They'd be funny snacks. I wouldn't feel like it was a waste of time, then.

 

It makes sense to me that a sentient creature should drop the Superior Brain. IMO, it should be changed so that only sentient NPCs (the six normal races, plus the bandits) drop the item instead of mobs.

 

I have yet to get one from pre wipe and post wipe so..... i wish it was 98 for me lol.

 

Wow. I am seriously dreading that quest on my new run now, lol.

 

haha, yeah, well im sure u r luckier than me so its no problem, last time i just got my friend to find one for me xD

 

No, that's the problem. I have TERRIBLE luck in these situations. Getting it on the 4th kill last time guarantees me a 400 this time

 

I think the problem is that luck is such a major factor in the first place.

I mean, finding ores and techs themselves have a varying degree of luck involved but generally they come with exploration and that is interesting and fun to do whereas killing the same enemies over and over simply isn't.

 

Yeah, lol, I totally expected it to suck, then I got it right away, and was like, Oh, that wasn't bad at all. Now I'm scared

 

I've gotten multiple superior brains from birds. Always and only from birds. I've never had to grind past 10 brains.

 

Could always make it to where crafting together like 10-20 inferior brains makes a superior brain.

That way, if someones lucky they'll get it, but if they aren't, they don't need to grind.

 

That also gives a reason for inferior brains to exist in the first place, I don't believe they currently serve any purpose but to spread misery.

 

Yep, they just sit there in your inventory. laughing. keeping track. making sure you know how many things you killed with that terrible weapon.

 

Yeah i got onto 60-70 inferior brains before giving up on it for a while. The drop rate is terrible for them, I like the idea of having some tougher monsters having a higher chance of dropping the superior brains, and it'd be nice if there was a use for inferior brains, even if it was to make cosmetic items like a brain hat or a brain in a jar.

 

I got it on my 2nd ._.

 

Was the first brain that dropped for my first char, had no idea there was an inferior brain until the second char. Hundred-ish enemies sounds about right for that time around. I don't really get why it's necessary, the other summons don't require additional unique items, yet the robot requires a litany of parts and the usage of items to get an ingredient for a part you only need one of. Seems like they could just remove it altogether without affecting the game much.