SOMBRA del MUERTE
The Exemplars
Top Men.
28
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Posted - 2014.02.24 16:43:00 -
[1] - Quote
I would love to see AI applied to a more openworld medium for the game. Of course certain contracts would be PVP ( humans only, no AI ) but right now I feel more like a jarhead ( no offense, thank you for your service ) than a mercenary. I get thrown into meat grinder after lobby meat grinder wherever Scotty tells me to go and don't have a way to properly fund any kind of real private enterprise.
I really like the idea of star system security level based "friendly" fire and AI settings with more diverse objectives and "business opportunities". If this creates farming situations, just make sure that particular mechanic strengthens the connection between EVE and Dust and scale the payouts and events when necessary to keep lobbies rolling.
If a squad of mercs could defend a rorqual ( or player deployed mining structure / fleet ) from AI pirates ( / opposing corp / combination therof ) for their Eve counterparts to get a marginal yield increase for their haul, we'd have OB's all day long.
Bug hunts, outpost defense (survival style), bounty missions ( for hard AI targets )... There's so much potential for this game's connection to New Eden!
 TLDR: The contract system should feel more like the kind of bill posting that a spacehardened hunterkiller would check for jobs. AI can help |
SOMBRA del MUERTE
The Exemplars
Top Men.
28
|
Posted - 2014.02.25 03:35:00 -
[2] - Quote
Ha! You're doin great Test, keep up the good example
It should be easy to tell (by contract) whether you might be facing AI or just meatberries; some would be like current contracts, PVP only; some where it's 4 human squads fighting AI, co-op; and some mixed where you may be helped or hindered by AI as you compete against another team. Another contract type may have no "teams" and mercs can ally or backstab as they are willing to risk to navigate AI (and maybe AI ally) infested territories hiding oddities and curios.
The AI difficulty should be tied to security level and standing like in EVE...
Run across a random patch of drones?
- take a contract and hunt them 'til you find their nest (where the really deadly drones are)
- kick them over while they're sleeping and laugh at their droid-moos
- wake them up and take bets with your squadmates on whether YOUR drones can take them
- camp them until some rat hunters come along, then gank the hunters 
Of course, if you pick the last one in high sec carebare land  , The local authorities will quickly escort you to a new clone
But the idea of the game getting more dangerous ( from AI and other players ) as you venture into lower security systems would REALLY give it a mercenary feel. The trick is making some sort of logistical system where it matters more how you fit in region of New Eden that you're in, and what sort of mercenary work there is to do there.
Right now, there is no context to the "contracts" that would make you choose one or another.
FW is getting closer, but in EVE you can move with a fleet and feel like you're gaining or losing territory as you move through systems. In Dust, currently, you just bounce around and fill lobbies  |