Should there be a hardcore mode? If so, what would the rules/content be?

I like the broken ship idea and I'm a huge fan of hardcore modes. Once you go hardcore you either rage quit the mode after you can't handle a death or you never go back to being a softie. It certainly is a much more intense experience when any fall or platform you place can be your last.

 

I already see a big hole with this plan. Everyone is talking about vanity items for hardcore players.

You never let hardcore players mix with softcore beyond social interaction. It defeats the purpose. You'll have hardcore players transferring over gear and resources from softcore, making the hardcore content trivial.

Giving bonus content/items to hardcore players just adds incentive for software players to cheese it up or even cheat it up on hardcore anyway. Let the reward for hardcore be the challenge itself and nothing more.

For a real hardcore experience, it needs to be a server setting also. A hardcore server that keeps character files (rather than the clients) to prevent and pulling in items from other servers would create the full experience.

 

The current norm with hardcore characters is that they have their own inventory that can't be transferred to softcore, and can only associate with other hardcore characters anyway. So abuse/exploitation wouldn't be an issue.

 

I'm really hoping they look into these ideas for hardcore mode. If they take the lazy developer's way out by just simply increasing the health and damage of aliens and the number of hostiles, I'm going to rage so hard.

 

I played terraria exclusively on hardcore but my friends 1 by 1 died and switched to softcore eventually. I had no qualms playing with their softies on my hardcore character.I never transfered over gear I didn't earn myself on that mode nor did I use houses / gardens I didn't build myself on hardcore, but if you do want to that's your choice. This game has no leaderboards / ladders or any competitiveness so I see no point in limiting who you can play with.

There are going to be people who play hardcore but still back up their character files and that's their choice. Just let people play how they want to. At one point or another there's going to be people who alt-f4 the game to save their characters. Again that's fine if that's how you want to play if you don't want to have the thrill of true man mode and never leave the game and live with all consequences, but that isn't for everyone neither is being only to interact with only other hardcores.

 

This. Hardcore is a one life to live option. It should not change content or difficulty outside of that. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have to build or repair my ship at the start and have the start be more challenging, but that isn't something I would restrict to a game mode where death means starting all over. Everything else should their own adjustable settings. The more control the better.

 

Hmm. I'm not actually sure about the broken ship vs. working ship thing. I don't feel that Hardcore mode should alter the essence of the story, that seems sorta sssilly. You could make it so that when selecting Hardcore mode the chances of you landing in an isolated system is higher, so fuel costs are high. But hardcore is generally a difficulty setting, and difficulty settings don't alter story lines. And maybe your meters going down constantly isn't a good thing, but them being affected more quickly than in normal modes sseemss good.

I'm also not sure how I feel about extra item content for hardcore players. Providing extra content for them seems unfair to other players who can't/won't play hardcore. It's rewarding someone for going out of their way to make things difficult and punishing those who didn't, in a sense. I'd hate to see an item in hardcore that I think looked beautiful, only to never be able to gain access to it because I'm a klutz and die easily. So I can't agree with even extra vanity items for Hardcore players.

Never leave players out of content because they cannot/won't use a certain difficulty. Everyone should be able to enjoy the full content of any game without being forced into a certain play style.

 

No no no, I think you took it out of context a little. Most of the people agree that limiting content to one mode or another is silly. All we're suggesting is to add a broken ship to ALL modes, not just Hardcore. It doesn't ruin the story they implemented thus far, you still "escape from whatever", but in addition to that your ship is damaged. Very easy to implement, as I see it.

With that logic, however, I can't agree with. If you're better at something - there should be rewards for that (especially if they don't ruin the game for other people, like vanity items).
If you can't beat the last boss for example, but it drops a hat that looks cool, do you think you should still just get it, because you simply want it? What's the point in achieving ANYTHING then? How about people who won't get that reward on a basis that you wouldn't be able to get it and it doesn't exist because of it? That's just silly...

 

I will quote a well known saying: "With great risk comes great rewards." that is the essence of Hardcore mode.

We shouldn't just be given everything in the world on a silver platter If you were really ambitious and saw something super awesome equipped to a player, wouldn't you be more determined to get it? Yeah, it's a carrot on a stick type thing, but I find it like Minecraft - Instead of playing Survival mode, I go and try Creative mode and I get bored easily and quit because I have everything in my disposal without having earned it, rather than putting in the hard yards to assemble my great creation by farming everything.

Each to our own right

 

The first thing that came to mind in regards to players who go out of their way to prevent consequences (no dignity at all!), was the annoying childhood friend meme.

 

Ultimately, the key to ensuring major success and longevity in a game is to cater to as many niches as possible within the confines of what your game is about.

-Casual sandbox/creative niche players
-PvP oriented niche players
-Hardcore mode oriented niche players

^There are 3 niches already, and providing content to cater for each over a long period of time seems good to me, and gives variety for any of each niche to try out other play styles and get content that may only be earned from each niche playstyle That pretty much multiplies the amount of time you'd potentially invest in this game IF YOU WANT TO.

I'd most certainly play to get unique and exclusive rewards to show off my endeavours. Plus, there's just something about end game Hardcore 1 life only PvP that excites me.

 

Exactly this! Players who take the difficult path should ultimately be rewarded more. With Jun's logic, it would be like paying every employee the same salary despite some actually achieving much more than the other.

 

I probably would not play it, but variety is good so I am all for putting a HC mode in the game

 

Jun just seems like a casual player who could be intimidated by punishment, completely understandable.

 

You don't know punishment until die on Eve Online.

...

*shudders*

 

No.
Yes.
Maybe.
Maybe.

Though I would wait until all the mechanics are released before I make a hardcore mode, just to see what there is to mess with.

 

Try getting to level 60 in Diablo 3 Hardcore Inferno difficulty (Mainly solo on Master 5), and dying one boss before the final boss. I was very temperamental after that happened..

EDIT: Oh, and Xcom: Enemy Unknown (Ironman mode). That is a glutton for punishment. I lost 3 Colonels in 1 attack turn by a huge mech. I was really late game too. I never played that save again.

 

Mechanics being completely nailed down before implimenting hardcore mode is definitely logical.

 

Try grinding Inferno act 1 on hardcore for weeks just to be killed entering act 2 because of client crash. That's a deinstall moment for sure.

 

Ah, if that's the case then it could be a welcome change if the devs decide to do so. Not sure about it being "easy to implement" though, codes seem like a fickle mistress.

Haha, now I think you're the one to take me far out of context. The thing I can't agree with is limiting content, any kind of content, to a very specific game difficulty. The reward for being better should be quicker access to content, not different content. In any difficulty a player is still going to have to work for their drops and materials. I'm not suggesting we be given what we want on a silver platter at all. What I can't agree with is saying "the only way to get this drop is to beat this monster that you'll only ever see in hardcore mode." That's what seems unfair to me. The ability to access content should be in all difficulties.

I said never to leave players out of content because they refuse to/cannot play a certain difficulty level, not "give them everything b/c why not."

I'm afraid you've also taken me out of context. Again, I'm not insinuating that we be handed everything on a silver platter, rather that we can all access the content eventually on differing difficulties without being forced to play the game a certain way.

I also don't believe your minecraft analogy to be very fitting. Creative isn't a difficulty, it's a completely seperate game mode for people who specifically want to build. It also provides access to blocks you wouldn't be able to get in survival because one of it's main uses is to create maps, often maps that will be used in some sort of minigame. Its uses and purposes are completely different from playing survival. Trying to build a map from scratch on survival is a death sentence, both for your character and your sanity.

I'd also like to ask you not to make assumptions on my character. I would especially like to ask you not to categorize me, I don't go by either label and certainly don't appreciate being shoehorned into either.