mkint
121
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Posted - 2011.10.06 18:40:00 -
[1] - Quote
OP is right... the mission system needs to be brought up to date. Just not in the winter expansion. Maybe step by step over the next several expansions.
The way I envision it is creating "incursion style" variations of the existing missions with a "random mutation" factor. Some parts of the mission would be different every single time anybody does the mission, meaning nobody ever gets the exact same mission twice. The mutations could be random, or they could make sure that better ships/fittings/pilots have a more challenging mission and better income (also would allow missions to scale to fleet sizes.) Either way, mission mutation + incursion AI would add a lot of longevity to existing missions, and if done right, make it easy to add new content without a lot of dev time.
Of course, it should be a gradual implementation... start with one lvl 1 agent per faction switched to incursion agents, get feedback, and work up from there... done over the course of 2-3 years before all the lvl 4 agents are completely replaced.
I could also picture courier missions adding combat ambushes, and mining missions paying as much as actual mining.
But no, none of this should be done in Winter. For it to be done right, and to make EVE PVE a viable long term game, it needs some long term development.
Random thoughts: How cool would it be if at some point you kill a faction spawn, get a faction mod, from then on you start to regularly encounter the NPC you looted it from as he constantly tries to get it back... your own NPC arch nemesis. Or a salvage thief shows up in a frig, so the mission's frigs peel off or new ones spawn and start hunting him as a more viable target for their weapon systems (and yes, he should be able to successfully fight them off.) Or a mission where the goal is to muscle through a constantly respawning meat grinder (should you use a frig, or a battleship?) Or in Worlds Collide, you can get the two pirate factions to start fighting each other. Or you take a Thanatos into a mission, so it spawns a dread.
EVE's PVE has so much potential to be interesting and engaging, if it weren't just "fly here, kill that, dock, get a new mission, repeat ad nauseum." |