Razzmatazz

I get that prices based on how many of an item are available is a feature lots of people want, but it sounds like that's really complicated. I'd be more than happy with a trader system that simply limits the items for sale to those sold by players without dynamically adjusting price based on how many of that item are available.

Thanks for the info, monkeynutz. Maybe we're operating from different definitions, but I'd say that players explaining why they view a feature as detrimental to the game counts as constructive criticism. It'd be one thing if people just said "this sucks, I hate it." But it's another thing entirely when people provide detailed reasons for their positions. Or so I thought.

I've played on servers with lock grinding and safe hacking, used those features more than they were used against me, and still found it to be overall detrimental to the experience. Pardon me for posting some constructive criticism in the "Constructive Criticism" forum. I didn't realize that was frowned upon.

Useful to know, thanks!

Well that's a relief to hear! I was under the impression that it was on by default based on previous replies.

If something is on by default, most servers will keep it on. There's no reason something should be imbalanced by default.

A dismissive "it can be turned off" doesn't really address the imbalance issues I raised. I wished you didn't have grinding when I was playing on your Malden server. Since it was part of a group of servers which all had grinding, I didn't see the point in requesting that it be removed. So consider this whole thread a retroactive complaint.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't thermal scanners lootable-only by default (I know it's different on your servers)? By default, that makes the "price" of a thermal scanner hard to pin down, but the semi-scarcity requires players to be judicious in their use of thermal scanners. Because each scanner has limited uses, and there are a limited number of scanners, you have to target which doors you want to scan based on knowing when the base owner is around. That's HUGELY different than if players can just buy as many batteries as they need to get through doors without any regard to who the base owner is or if they've used the base in the last fifteen minutes (or five hours for that matter). If thermal scanners will remain loot-only by default, adding in grinding is a huge, and very unbalanced, departure.

I think we're saying the same thing here? The fact that the base owner had to be online and use the base within the last 15 minutes is critical. That makes it impractical to just go around scanning doors with reckless abandon (which is what grinding essentially allows).

The fact that thermal scanner use is tied to a window during which the base owner is online and using the base is a pretty critical distinction.

If lock grinding takes longer than breaching charges but costs less, then it will still be embraced by groups with an excess of time. If it takes longer and costs more, then what's the point of adding it? Also, in the implementations I've seen, grinding can be sped up be having multiple people grind at the same time. A similar implementation would greatly favor large groups who play frequently. BaroN, yes, thanks for that clarification. Since most servers go with the default Exile settings, how about making lock grinding and safe hacking off by default? That way, they can easily be turned on by the servers that want to, but it's not part of the game by default.

The changelog indicates that door lock grinding and safe hacking will be introduced in 1.0.4. Assuming the implementation is similar to the mods added on Exile servers currently out in the wild, this is a bad idea. Regarding grinding, there are already two ways to get through locked doors: breaching charges and thermal scanners. With grinders, it won't matter if you went to the trouble of reinforcing your doors to metal or concrete, someone can just grind through the locks. Grinding punishes you for having doors. That encourages players to put solid walls in front of their doors when they're not online, stacking an absurd series of doors, and other such things to guard against grinding attacks. The most common reason for adding safe hacking is that "breaching bases doesn't get you anything because everyone keeps their gear securely in safes." But that completely ignores the fact that thermal scanners are a thing. If you have the patience to stake out your target and collect some codes, it's actually quite easy to rob someone blind. However, none of that patience is necessary with the combination of grinders and safe hacking. One very important aspect of thermal scanners is that the target and the thief must be online at or near the same time. With lock grinding and safe hacking, it's not necessary for the breaching party to know whose base they're breaching or for the victim(s) to have been online at any point recently. That's a pretty important distinction, and helps keep the power imbalance from becoming too pronounced for groups that spend a ton of time in the game and groups that play less frequently.

Wow, looks like I'm a dummy. I've been playing this mod for over two years, and I somehow thought a can opener was required to cook canned food. Sort of weird that a sealed can requires a cooking pot to heat up, though.

As currently implemented, the can opener requirements for canned food are nonsensical. A can can have two states, opened or sealed. However, you need a can opener to do ALL of the following: (1) eat raw food; (2) cook raw food; and (3) eat cooked food. The first one makes sense, but the second two don't. If you've already opened the can to cook it, why do you need a can opener to eat the cooked food? The inventory image for cooked canned food items clearly show the can as open, so why is a can opener required again to eat it?

Sounds pretty awesome!