Ysh wrote:I think the game is close enough to permadeath at the present for you to be crying with this fit, no?
I'm defensive because everyone agrees that the current system is awful, but any solution offered is just "HEY BUT WHY CHANGE IT???" like I'm beating you up or something.
I feel like I'm beating my head on a brick wall and I'm sure the devs do too.
The game needs hit with a pretty big brick, and it's either Siege Overhaul, or Diplomacy Overhaul. Both require a few things:
- Death needs to not be the end-all be-all to every problem.
Example 1: Someone steals from you.
Rather than a retaliatory strike being to kill, let it be to maim. Retributory Strikes or some unique type of wound designed to maim instead of kill. Lower their stats temporarily, so they can't counterattack, but halt their progress and hurt their day-to-day life. Inflicting one would disperse the relevant crimes. The systems are all in place - scents, wounds, nidbanes etc - are all an excellent framework for something more.
Example 2: Someone attacks you, but you best them.
Same thing.
Standard resolution to this system is to kill them. You won the fight. They started it. If you kill them, nobody will come for you. If he lives, they might.
Secondary resolution is to walk off, consider it a victory and maybe nidbane them for the assault.
Maybe make Assault/Battery Nidbanes also inflict similar Retribution Wounds instead of aiming to kill. - Alt-Vaulting needs to be stopped, be changed, or be fixed.
Example 1: Your entire claim is wiped, sacked and burned. You were a dick-ass thief and got your comeuppance.
Good thing you had an alt with 9 pearls, 2 bars of gold and a pair of every type of ring to aid your swift recovery. This raid was basically a victimless crime.
Example 2: You raid a village only to find everything gone. They have no charterstone and to your knowledge there are no survivors.
All you manage to find are two offline hearthfires and you never find anything of value. I wonder what happened? - Alts in general need to be de-incentivized.
I can't give examples for this. You know exactly what I mean. There are too many events to which stats don't matter and proper griefing can happen as long as that alt has Yeomanry or Crime Skills. - Trade needs to be incentivized.
Right now, given a layer 5 mine hole and 1 of every crop, everyone will eventually have everything. Regionalized resources REALLY help this, but at the end of the day most either decay - and can't be traded for reasonably - or are never needed in absolute bulk. Here I'd suggest a few things.
A. More regional resources that each do additional things, but don't decay.
Hell, make some of them that can be used in unique dishes. Now that discovery tomes are a thing, you can't just say "but I don't want to trade for that, I haven't discovered it!!!" I really like regional resources, but they don't incentivize trade beyond salt. There's more to be had, here, certainly. Hopefully the developers take full advantage of the unique things that could be added using regional resources.
B. Higher tier versions of existing things.
Progession is great but it only pertains to quality. The only distinction between just getting steel, and having steel for a year is that it's probably way higher quality. There are no sidegrades and if there were, using existing materials, they'd all be just as attainable. Why not a larger Steel Crucible that takes some Brimstone to run? Why not a new beehive that uses some new regional resource to generate more honey? or wax? A loom with rare fibers built into it, to give a native %quality increase to things woven using it? All of these resources would be ripe for trade because not everyone would have them all, and all of them would be useful to someone.
C. Bridges.
Trade can only really happen on a large-scale using roads and wagons. This is already on the to-do list so I'm not going to elaborate and I'll just take in a deep breath and start screaming words at jorbtar once they're out.
Right now, there's no "Full-Circle" in the game. Things don't fuel eachother, there's nothing for villages to work towards once they've gotten a little of everything because there's never a need for diplomacy or trade. The only damage you could do to that now is to take something away - like jumping to violent conclusions and regionalizing silver and gold - or adding more to it, like more unique resources and building types. Otherwise, fightin' is the name of the game, independent dick-ass thiefs rule the wastelands because there's no incentive to rip off their heads or to come together as a group and range them to extinction, because 'I'm too busy mining right now to help him get his metal back.'
