Wyke Mossari
Staner Industries
   |
Posted - 2010.06.29 17:31:00 -
[1]
Mindless repetitive clicking is tedious, boring and ultimately counter productive as the limiting factor. It will just attract macros that squeeze out real players.
Eve is fundamentally a strategy game, not some mindless twitch fest. Therefore the difficulty and challenge in PI should be in devising successful strategies of production and competing with other players and not some torturous ordeal by mouse.
I support attention/action on this issue, however I'm not keen on grouping.
I think a more dynamic approach that relies and thinking and less on mundane repetitive clicking.
I think the best option would be to change the way extractors work and make them much more like processors. They are started and they automatically continue. Players attend them, review and tune them on an on going but ad-hoc basis. They start at the best extraction rate, but over time their extraction rate deteriorates. This would be in line with the current extraction cycles rates. So for example: They start at the top rate for 30 mins, drop to the second rate for 5 hours, then the 23 hour rate and finally the 96 hour rate. A player can attend to them and resurvey at the top rate but that is entirely optional.
Technically this should be quite easy to implement, especially compared to UI changes needed for grouping.
At a later stage the ability to vary the production up or down by running missions, a little like with Research Points and entirely optional, but necessary for the most efficient production.
e.g.
Foreman: "The machinery is worn out. We need mechanical parts to fix it and get it back to 100% efficiency" Extractor efficiency reduced by 10% until until supplied.
Foreman: "The workers are unhappy at being on this forgotten forsake rock and production is suffering (-10% etc). If you supply "Tabacco|Spirit|Dancing Girls" I'm sure their moral will improve.
Have some 'missions' that fix reduced efficiency and some that boost efficiency.
Foreman: "The machinery is badly designed. We can modify it with X units of robotics and get it upto 110% efficiency"
Foreman: If you can offer the working an incentive bonus (Consumer Electronics for the rec room) I sure I can get efficiency up to 110%.
etc.
|