Topic: Ideas on a new PvE island type
I thought it would be interesting to hear people's ideas on a new island type for PvE. A PvE-Beta so to speak.
I personally think it's important that PvE players can progress without being forced into PvP. By progress I mean the ability to mine Epriton, find heavy mech cortexes, build structures, gain stronger syndicate relations (missions), etc.
The biggest challenge in implementing something like this is balancing. A PvE-Beta would need to be tough. You couldn't go mine Epriton without at least the chance of being attacked by hostile NPCs.
The biggest risk on a PvE-Beta would be roaming groups of NPCs. In fact I would suggest only roaming spawns should be included. Mine fields under static spawns would be (is?) a major problem.
The other threat would be random invasions. I see invasions being started on the shore and moving inland. In this way it's either stop the invasion at the coast or risk it reaching player-built bases or active mining operations. Warnings would be given as to the general time and area to give people a chance to prepare.
Base building would only be allowed is specific area. Land titles would need to be purchased to build on. These build-able areas would be close to the coast and would be vulnerable to invasions.
Perhaps only one terminal could be built per area but other buildings could be built around it. It would be cool if you could, for example, built a Calibration Lab and have the ability to charge NIC for its use.
The idea is that despite it being PvE, you will need good defenses and co-operation to defeat invasions or risk losing your structures. If no one was there to stop the invasion it might even advance to other bases. This would encourage all island residents to help out in the invasion.
Even though I'm more inclined to PvE over PvP, it seems clear a PvE-Beta should have less reward than a normal beta. Even with invasions, a PvE island will become somewhat predictable with players able to counter NPCs effectively. On the other hand it's possible for a normal Beta to avoid a lot of large-scale battles through truces so in some ways the PvE-Beta might be tougher.
Epriton could be more scarce, missions might offer less relation increase, invasion-robots might offer less-than-normal loot - just some of the ways that could make the risk-reward similar to normal Betas.
Well those are my idea, anyone else interested in a PvE-Beta type island?
