• TM-PEN
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Topic: artifacting

Currently, you spend artifact scan charges to obtain clues in your artifact scan window. When you have sufficient clues, then you can combine them to find an artifact loot container.

It might take you three to six scans to pin down a container, but you certainly don't have an epic twenty or a hundred scans going all around the island to find a container. Also, you choose which artifact to pursue, but it's a choice without much consequence - the other possible choices are still there, and if you took decent notes, your clues regarding other artifacts are still valid.

Suppose that there were a new kind of artifact loot container, that contained a new kind of artifact scan charges. Then scans with these charges could reveal different artifacts than the original syntec charges. By repeating this technique, artifact scanning could achieve a treasure hunt feel. Players would need to spend their higher-level artifact scan charges carefully, because they're expensive (in player time and effort, the real foundational currency).

The point is - there is currently limited amount of player effort that can go into finding an artifact container. Consequently, the devs have a cap on how sweet the prize can be without disrupting the economy. Consequently, few people go out artifacting for long durations. Consequently, there are relatively few targets of opportunity roaming pvp islands.

Alternatively, don't put level N+1 artifact scan charges directly in level N artifact loot containers; put materials that are necessary to craft into level N+1 artifact scan charges in level N artifact loot containers. Then players need to do artifact scanning AND manufacturing in order to get to the end of the treasure hunt. Adding another material (noralgis, epriton, something dropped by npc bots) to the materials required to manufacture level N+1 artifact scans would add another activity to the list of activities required to get to the end of the treasure hunt.

TL;DR:
1. Add a dimension (perhaps named "depth"), orthogonal to existing "range", to artifact scan charges.
2. Make the means to obtain higher-depth artifact scan charges require lower-depth artifact scanning.
3. Randomize (completely or partially)  higher-depth artifact loot container locations when one is opened.

  • PHM
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Re: artifacting

-1

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  • O_O
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Re: artifacting

The issue of artifact hunting not really beingh deep or involving is correct. However the solution isn't improving anything nad just adds distractory complexity.

Some players claim to use R-50 purely because they don't like recharging. The NIC incentive to use appropriate charges can be pretty much ignored.

The information that you are given could also be presented better. For example if the artifact scan results would show how much you moved since the last scan things could go much smoother. The numbers should also show error bars indicating their accuracy. It would also be pretty good manners to instead of a pinpoint marker show range rings (ie a scan result of 75 would show up as acircle of radius 75). If someone is claiming that this is making things esier then one is admitting that the diffiuclty becomes fully from obscuring the provided information.

  • JOKE
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Re: artifacting

I like OPs idea, would bring more depth to discovery.

Rolafen good post, on allowing more information to be presented during your scans 'in a meaningful way'.

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  • TM-PEN
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Re: artifacting

As you point out, the infinite supply and relatively low nic price of even the 50k charges means that scanning well or badly doesn't much matter. Also, the short gap between starting and cashing out makes the player's experience of artifacting fairly monotonous.

Why do you believe "the solution isn't improving anything"?

For example, if you have one depth 3, range 30k charge, and one depth 3, range 10k charge, and two clues towards the next level artifact and three clues towards a cash-out artifact, and it isn't easy to go back and get more depth 3 charges without wasting your clues so far, then you (the player) have substantial choices. Try for a next level artifact or cash out? Using which range and location?

It's not obvious how to make artifacting substantially more difficult for the player without also requiring substantial additional programming. For example, suppose there were echoes or mirages so that you got several ranges for each artifact instead of just one. Then the player would have to figure out which one was real. This makes artifacting slightly more difficult, which is good. However, programming and tuning that mechanic so that it makes sense and can't be gamed and doesn't disrupt the new-player experience would be significant effort for the devs, which is bad.

The point is that (depending on how many levels there are) this makes artifacting to the last level almost arbitrarily difficult, for a near-constant amount of effort.

  • CAS
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Re: artifacting

I don't even play anymore and took a run in a PvP zone and scared the crap out of and could have easily killed 2 artifacting sequers ... So I think enough people still do it for long durations and there are PvP opportunities. I agree in perhaps a little more value in the loot containers but don't think the scanning method should change, other than the smaller the charge the greater the accuracy. All charges have the same accuracy, only the range is different currently.