Topic: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

... and making them stronger, therefore increasing the difficulty and grind factor for newer players to get their research done.
Not that there are many new players around anymore.
Well thought. Did i miss something?

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Yes, they increased the drop rate for Elite mobs from farming from 50% up to 100% to 300%.

This will put more kernels onto the market from the masses of pve farmers, where observer kernels were just too 'good' to sell; and totally dissapointing to buy a 10M NIC observer kernel and get "No additional Research was gained".

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

This will just make observer kernels even more valuable I'd think. But this is also kind of pivotal on how much research you get out of elite kernels as compared to observers. Either way, I still feel sorry for indy guys who have to pay combat chars to find these.

Take the long way around back to square one
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Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

I would expect the kernel to be exactly the same as it's level, nothing special, what you gain is the additional volume of kernels.

Where this also comes in, 4th level is the highest light bot on alpha II, now the elite 5th level can spawn and drop 1 to 3 5th level kernels. While (3) 5th level kernels won't bring nearly the same % as an observer, it's also 3 differenet checks to the random table. So if you down to just a few tier 4 items, you can end up buring 20 observer kernels @ 200M NIC to finish it off, or you may be able to farm up or buy (50) 5th stars and accompish the same thing.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

http://youtu.be/a0DH3PnUztQ?t=10m38s

big_smile big_smile big_smile

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...


Undercover Navy Seals?


Arga wrote:

Yes, they increased the drop rate for Elite mobs from farming from 50% up to 100% to 300%.

This will put more kernels onto the market from the masses of pve farmers, where observer kernels were just too 'good' to sell; and totally dissapointing to buy a 10M NIC observer kernel and get "No additional Research was gained".

Of which "masses" are you speaking about? Maybe you misunderstood the new elite spawn thingie. They don't spawn of current/old/existing spawns ... but from new implemented spawns. These spawns are not static, have a spawn timer and they're some meters away from outposts or terminals. That's not bad - but a lot of people will think twice about going for them ... or simply sticking with static spawns (less travelling, less stupid cargo issues and so on). It's a nice addition but it won't compensate for 50% less Observer kernels = nerf to research for newer players.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Error wrote:

It's a nice addition but it won't compensate for 50% less Observer kernels = nerf to research for newer players.

If new players are using observer kernels they are wasting a lot of NIC. At most you get (1) item from each observer kernel. You can buy a lot of 3rd level assault kernels for 10M NIC, and if your farming observers, using them before you reach T4 research is wasteful. If observer kernels and/or NIC is so plentifu that new players can afford to burn them up on low level research, then this patch is probably overdue.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Arga wrote:
Error wrote:

It's a nice addition but it won't compensate for 50% less Observer kernels = nerf to research for newer players.

If new players are using observer kernels they are wasting a lot of NIC. At most you get (1) item from each observer kernel. You can buy a lot of 3rd level assault kernels for 10M NIC, and if your farming observers, using them before you reach T4 research is wasteful. If observer kernels and/or NIC is so plentifu that new players can afford to burn them up on low level research, then this patch is probably overdue.

Well, before you needed X observer kernels to get a certain research, now you still need X. The difference? The price of kernels will skyrocket, so obtaining that research will cost a lot more. Hence, it will be much more costly to finish all research.

Further, observer kernels have already been increasing dramatically in price over the last week, and now they'll spike even further...

On your other comment, the elite spawns might compensate to some extent, but if theese are indeed dynamic locations, I think it will far from compensate from this huge nerf.

9 (edited by Celebro 2011-08-26 00:26:50)

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

I suspect stealth kernal nerf, yet another uphill struggle for solo industrials , lets see how it goes. cool

RIP PERPETUUM

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

I believe that they are going to make more spawns like this, they just started with 3 per island.

This will generate more higher level kernels then could be farmed previously on alpha, simply because you could NEVER get a 4th level assault or a 5th level light bot. So from 0 to rare is a huge increase. Also the Alpha I NPC farmers will be getting level 3 assault and level 4 light kernels more often, because again the random spawn, not the elites, can be a 1-2 levels higher.

Its more probable that there were too many grand observer kernels being farmed for the rate the devs felt was appropriate for learning research that way. First the Artifact nerf, but then there were too many beta spawns still, to they had the choice of reducing them too, but they took the make it harder to kill AND reduce the kernel drop rate to make it less profitable to farm them, but still f'n dangerous.

It was the same arguement with the 50% drop rate on normal bots too. The message is clearly that T4 is the 'top end' equipment and will be so for a long time still, and there are just too many producers getting access to them. If someone like me actually reaches the end of the tree, me as in Alpha-dwelling carebear, before the next tiers of modules become available, then the research was too easy.

It's a choice here, and they'll probably do this too, if T4 starts getting to easy to obtain, they'll nerf the norgalis again. Dev's will find a way to keep it rare, they have to, at least until there is another set of stuff to get.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

I suggest observers were nerfed because of big corps were able to farm them and make some stockpiles. With new stuff incoming in future (up to destroyers), this action may prevent any kind of insta-get that stuff.

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Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Arga wrote:

This will generate more higher level kernels then could be farmed previously on alpha, simply because you could NEVER get a 4th level assault or a 5th level light bot.

Not quite accurate: there is at least one static spawn in Hershfield consisting of 3x T4A (Pelistal) bots.
Furthermore the sporadic spawning high tier roams of T4 bots of all kinds on Alpha II islands as another source (light, assault, mech, hmech).
Last but not least you can get all kinds of kernels by doing artifact scans ... even on alpha islands.
The fact that Observer kernels give a big boost in research isn't the problem ... the low player population is. Right now only a few people are looking "serious" for Observer kernels. Imagine the hughe demand of high lvl kernels if we had a wealthier playerbase. Many more industrialists trying to get their hands on (limited available) Observer kernels. Their impact on research would be spread across all these players.
Not a big problem.
Another problem might be occur: killing Observers is now a less tasty way of income. Sure the prices for kernels will raise but i doubt that they'll double. Therefore it's less profitable to go out there and kill them ... leading to the situation that the average life span of an Observer will raise a bit too -> slightly decrease of kernel supply.

And on a side note: Artifact scanning got nerfed again (material changes in T1 mods a few weeks ago was another small nerf).

Overall the nerf is still hitting newer player/small corps majorly. Exactly what the game doesn't need in my humble opinion:/

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

I popped four observer 2 artifacts on one island inwithin an hour. The grand mechs lock at 300-350m. They are very easy to kill. Now it differentiates between superior mech and grand mechs.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Alfredson wrote:

I popped four observer 2 artifacts on one island inwithin an hour. The grand mechs lock at 300-350m. They are very easy to kill. Now it differentiates between superior mech and grand mechs.

4?! You lucky ... Alf. I got only 1 on 2 islands ... and no kernel. Until now i didn't recognize a difference to before the patch. But then again: i killed only 1 GO (Artemis). He started to target at 350m and lost the lock at maybe 380m. Shooting range was almost as far as locking range ... and good damage.

Another thing i recognized: a lot of spawns have changed in their quality. Lots of T4Mechs now on Alpha II islands available (i guess they're static with chance of an elite NPC?). Or does the elite NPC thingie only applies to roaming spawns? I'm confused.

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Elite NPCs only spawn at random spawns (3 spot / island), and random spawns aren't roaming spawns.

"Rock is OP. Paper is okay." - Scissors

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

Ok then you changed the quality of normal/static spawns.
Hmm.
I don't get the bigger picture. Nerfing Observers (and their research) but adding pure T4 Mech spawns on Alpha II islands? It was possible to complete the T4 research (for combat related technology) even on alpha islands before the patch ... it wasn't easy, expensive and took quite a bit of efford. But doable.  Now it's just farming/grinding static spawns. No one will ever set foot on a beta island for T4Mechs+ kernels.
Of course it's a view from an ant:P

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

ONLY GRAND OBSERVERS WERE NERFED BECAUSE THEY'RE MUCH EASIER AND DROP THE SAME KERNELS!

Re: Observer Kernel drop chance down to 50% ...

That makes sense, the G-Observer didn't get any harder then when it was introduced 3 months ago, but players now have 3 mo more EP. The same will happen with the S-Observer, where high EP players will again be able to solo them.

Error- Thanks, I wasn't aware there there T4A spawns on Alpha II! The roaming spawns aren't farmable, same with the artifacts. That is the kernels/hour isn't any fixed amount.

The other factor at work here, is there's simply less NIC floating around. With lower population, there's less market sales, so mid-level PTypers have less income to spend on kernels. Really I'm kind of shocked, considering what Lucius/Purgatory were paying for GO kernels, that anyone that wasn't at that PT level would be able to afford to use them. But as I pointed out there too, the devs don't want just everyone making T4 goods, which is why they keep nerfing research. They're probably watching the stats on how many players are completing the trees, and if it gets too prevalent, they'll either add in another rare component (cough isotope) to T4 or reduce norgalis yeilds.