Alien Lifeform Death Suggestion - Residue
MaxPower
Join Date: 2013-09-08 Member: 187992Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Join Date: 2013-09-08 Member: 187992Members, Reinforced - Shadow
What if dying as a higher alien lifeform (Lerk, Fade, or Onos) awarded back a small refund of resources, or made a small pile/pool of resources (residue) that you or other Aliens could pick up? This could be time based.
The idea:
An alien player begins evolving into a Lerk (20 resources spent). The player emerges from their egg, coated in a layer of residue (resources necessary for the transformation, but leftover once the evolution is complete). The residue lasts for 5 minutes, starting somewhere around 50% of the cost to evolve. In this case, the residue is worth 10 resources immediately after evolving. With each passing minute, 10% of the original 50% has dripped off.
The Lerk dies, for example:
1 minute after evolving: 10 res
2 minutes after evolving: 8 res
3 minutes after evolving: 6 res
4 minutes after evolving: 4 res
5 minutes after evolving: 2 res
6 minutes or more after evolving: 0 res, all of the residue has dripped off.
50% resources at 5 minutes is just a straightforward example. The amount of residue and how long it lasts needs to be tweaked for balance purposes, and could even have different formulae per lifeform. If a straight refund is still unbalanced, perhaps a physical pool or pile of biomass left on the ground for a short time after a higher lifeform dies would serve as a better alternative. Flamethrowers could destroy it, creating a similar form of gameplay of dropped weapons to gorge bile, simultaneously increasing the value and versatility of the flamethrower.
The purpose of this idea is alleviate the higher levels of punishment for new players dying immediately as higher lifeforms, and make bad luck a little more tolerable for all players.
The idea:
An alien player begins evolving into a Lerk (20 resources spent). The player emerges from their egg, coated in a layer of residue (resources necessary for the transformation, but leftover once the evolution is complete). The residue lasts for 5 minutes, starting somewhere around 50% of the cost to evolve. In this case, the residue is worth 10 resources immediately after evolving. With each passing minute, 10% of the original 50% has dripped off.
The Lerk dies, for example:
1 minute after evolving: 10 res
2 minutes after evolving: 8 res
3 minutes after evolving: 6 res
4 minutes after evolving: 4 res
5 minutes after evolving: 2 res
6 minutes or more after evolving: 0 res, all of the residue has dripped off.
50% resources at 5 minutes is just a straightforward example. The amount of residue and how long it lasts needs to be tweaked for balance purposes, and could even have different formulae per lifeform. If a straight refund is still unbalanced, perhaps a physical pool or pile of biomass left on the ground for a short time after a higher lifeform dies would serve as a better alternative. Flamethrowers could destroy it, creating a similar form of gameplay of dropped weapons to gorge bile, simultaneously increasing the value and versatility of the flamethrower.
The purpose of this idea is alleviate the higher levels of punishment for new players dying immediately as higher lifeforms, and make bad luck a little more tolerable for all players.
Comments
Marine got the medpack nerf.
Plus I dont like the idea.
It makes kamikaze tactics less dangerous.
Secondary: Make bad luck a little more tolerable for all players.
If the timing of my post has offended you, I am sorry. If I had suggested this 2 weeks ago, prior to patch 294, would it have been more reasonable?
True, but can't the same be said for marines dropping their weapons on death? Do you believe that gameplay feature should be removed? That's fine if that's what you believe, but I like the idea that someone has a chance at benefiting from my demise. (Note: I excluded the Gorge from my initial suggestion, and still do.)
For something that would essentially dumb down the game.
I do think it's worth it, as the good players will live long enough that the change won't affect them, and it only helps out the unskilled/new, or really unlucky players. It makes the higher lifeforms more accessible to them, and when they're finally good enough to stay alive for a while, it's no longer a buff.
I do not believe a substantial re-balance would be needed, either. Perhaps the 50% resources at 5 minutes is a rookie-only server setting, and all other servers run at a lower rate. Maybe 33% resources at 3 minutes would better suit more competitive play, and League matches could disable it.
You say skilled players won't use it. I am a skilled player, and yes, I do flash more often than I would like. If I knew I could get a partial refund I would play more aggressive because I could. I am a lot more effective when I play aggressive.
And this would also further increase the difficulty gap at lvl5 when rookie status ends.
I think it's part of the game and the fun having to be careful with your lifeform.
What would help more imo is that when reaching level 5, rookies are notified with a popup to try out a hive challenge so they know about it and can try to improve on their own if they want to.