MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unlocking

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Now that I would be okay with.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

I have added two more options.
I agree that it could imbalance the game. Still: commander customization would be nice. Even units customizing - if I prefer cheaper but weaker, or heavier but slower... Metagame may be nice. "If done right".
I am not 100% sure of the idea, hence I count on you - the experienced and likely smarter people - to help me clear my thoughts.

EDIT: DAMN!!! Turns out that addind a poll option clears the voting results :'(

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Yep. Ppl with the baseline com can still beat ppl with a heavily customised com just because it cost alot of resources to upgrade your com. Its not really a advantage but its fun to customise your com and be able to use tactics that where previously impossible.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

The only way something like this can work is if it turns the Commander into a kind of WC3 hero. I.e. he has different abilities which can be unlocked/researched in each game - flight, a more powerful D-gun etc. That might actually improve the game if done right since picking abilities would be part of overall strategy and the Commander is the one unit it's ok to micro.

But If it's part of some grinding metagame it would be awful. Even if it's only cosmetic. Newbies should have all the same options as pros. If you really want the game to be a digital skinner box, use your imagination and make it one yourself. Tell yourself you can only download custom commanders after you've played this and that many missions. Happy now?

Your suggestions seem to deal only with persistent grinding. Hence, I suppose, the blood-curdling term 'MMO Aspects'. And even a strategic commander skill tree system could easily turn out terrible. So I had to vote no.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Oh GAWD no. Its Real Time STRATEGY, not Real Time BETTERSTATSWIN.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Never said anything about that. Just custom commanders (possibly with modules you have to unlock) would be interesting. These modules ofc arent a free bonus ingame you still have to pay for them with resources.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

But are they permanent? Do you keep them after the match ends? If you do, then the resource cost is nothing in comparison.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Of course you always have to pay with them with resources. Paying for them once in one game isn't paying for them for subsequent games.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Nope i had more the idea of unlocking them with xp and then you can customise your com with some modules (like making a super eco com etc). Then ingame you still have to pay for each module (pretty much the way it works in zero k).

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Which is an okay-ish option. It does mean that people who have played longer have more options available to them - which detracts from the idea that the more skilled player should win.

If the upgrades purchased mid-game are very powerful, then you have bad players who have played for a long time rolling all over newer players. This isn't very healthy for the long-term prospects for the game.

If the upgrades purchased mid-game aren't very powerful, so that a new player stands a fair chance of winning, then upgrades may be useless to bother with. If there's a time to upgrade associated with each upgrade (as is the case in Sup1), then these upgrades may be a liability and hindrance. Imagine a new player who has earned one unlock, and is preparing to use it for the first time; standing still to produce the upgrade for a few minutes (again, using gameplay similar to Sup1) means he could be sniped by a cleverly anticipating opponent who will just bomb the crap out of the stationary commander.

There may be a very fine line of balance between overpowered and useless, but all-in-all, it's going to be nightmarish task to balance, and will result in a lot of heartache for players.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Zero k did a pretty nice job balancing it through. With a baseline com you can beat a heavily customised com and vice versa. Just the ppl with more unlocks have more options but it doesnt gives a real advantage.
Also to use the modules you put on your com in zero k you have to morph your com to the next level (each level giving some hp bonus and a bonus that depends on what chassis your com has). At the start of the game all coms are equal except for the chassis (eco, recon, combat or strike com).

However its really fun trying to 'design' your com and thinking up tactics/strategies for it.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Is it really fun and worth in the end? Do you want the dev team to waste their time balancing this little stuff instead of doing something better?

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

It will give a real advantage. Or, it won't; and then everyone will be asking why bother.

Is there persistence in what unlocks are available in Zero K?

I mean, if I start playing tonight, will I have access to every unlock that a year-old veteran will have? If I do, then everything is fine; because everyone has all the options from the onset.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

BIG NO This would damage the game, have you seen something like this in TA? NO...

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

No, no, no. Any kind of unlock system, even for achievments, makes people exploit the ranking system and changes gameplay unacceptably. The only thing people should be playing for is to have fun and to win. Not for any meta stuff.


Unlocks in a single player game are pacing. Unlocks in a multiplayer game is grind. unlocks in a competitive multiplayer game are ****. Tech trees are not unlocks, they're part of the game.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

What advantage would we get if we had to unlock stuff? We would get an incomplete game and would have to grind to complete it. This kind of stuff works for browser games where the motivation comes from the long term goals and the actual gameplay consists of simple clicking. When the focus is on the game itself people are gonna hate unlocking. Have a look at Tribes:Ascend. You have to grind to unlock all the classes. People do pointless stuff ingame to get XP.

Imagine a chess club where you have to play 100 games before you get the right to do special moves like castling or pawn promotion. As an alternative you can pay 10$ to unlock the special moves right now. Cheesy.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

No, no, no. All you will do is imbalance the game. Even if you don't, then when the veterans use a unit the newbies can't, they won't be able to imitate those builds, which will violate the most fundamental tenets of RTS.

No persistent gameplay unlocks/rewards/anything.

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

Any kind of purely visual stuff is fine.
Like for 1k Ladder wins your Commander gets to wear a badge or something.
Even so I think the dev's should spent their time on more important things.
Any actual "You need more wins before you may use Unit X" is totally gamebreaking and would me back of from this project entirely. Luckily I am very sure that Uber wont implement this kind of crap anyway

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

No !

Re: MMO Aspects such as levelling commander skills and unloc

No.

Even to the visual commander "upgrades," no.

The only visual upgrade I care to see on my commander is my Progenitor commander