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Post by MintDragon on Sept 27, 2017 4:02:28 GMT -5
The more I think about it, the more I like the concept of the 'surprise' of being able to visually see contacts that trigger arcs (by the invitation to start dialog with them when I check their services and offerings), and deciding whether to engage with them.
vs.
Landing on a planet and having to make a choice to engage in an arc that I might not ready for.
food for thought. and probably need to move the discussion to the RFE section.
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Post by Sinocelt on Sept 27, 2017 6:07:06 GMT -5
I think this is a good suggestion for both stories. They either need to give you more money along the way, or let you know up front that you're going to need some resources handy to get far enough in them. I think I started the Elsa story at 60k and was down to 40k when I hit the looping dialogue. I can see a lot of new players starting them as soon as they find them and running out of resources to complete them and not everyone will be so excited about putting another quarter in the machine and starting over. Yup. The more I think about it, the more I like the concept of the 'surprise' of being able to visually see contacts that trigger arcs (by the invitation to start dialog with them when I check their services and offerings), and deciding whether to engage with them. Indeed, it would be more logical if, when you reach a certain rep level with the spice merchant, she decides to broach the subject of Nikolai. (Because, let's face it: Why should you care at all about him otherwise? Why should you get so interested in a random dude that you'll accept missions just so you can meet him?) However, that would make it easy to never unlock the plot. Unless it simply gets unlocked with the first contact you have with whom you reach a certain rep level, instead of being tied to a specific contact. |
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Post by fallen on Sept 27, 2017 9:16:41 GMT -5
The more I think about it, the more I like the concept of the 'surprise' of being able to visually see contacts that trigger arcs (by the invitation to start dialog with them when I check their services and offerings), and deciding whether to engage with them. I don't think it is something we will be changing. In fact, lots more story events are coming that will trigger on landing. The starport is a hub of information, and during the time it takes to get docked, checked out, get registered with the port master -- lots of intel changes hands, rumors, Talents fire, and things happen. For STF, our goal is to put you in a world in motion. There is a lot going on and every arc has built in timers to complete itself, with or without your help. You have to choose what interests you and what you will pursue, because you won't be able to do everything. The moment you hear about Nik in the starport floor, the clock is ticking. I understand that is hard to see with 2 story arcs put on 2 auto starting contacts and the main storyline hidden. |
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Post by Sinocelt on Sept 27, 2017 9:32:54 GMT -5
OK. But try to give our captains a valid reason to get interested in Nik. After all, he's far from the only person in the universe to have been screwed over, so what makes it so special that we should take an active interest in him? (Yes, I know, I can ignore the hook, but I won't. I'll seize it, because I want to play, but it won't feel like a story hook, then, just the weakest of game hooks.)
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Post by fallen on Sept 27, 2017 9:59:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback. Definitely sticks out at the moment because its 50% of all story hooks in the game. Lol
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Post by contributor on Sept 27, 2017 10:38:48 GMT -5
Just wanted to reiterate that, it would be good to think about providing some rewards within the stories, so that captains can complete them without having a bunch of cash banked ahead of time.
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Post by Cory Trese on Sept 27, 2017 10:47:07 GMT -5
Reiteration received!
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Post by fallen on Sept 27, 2017 10:47:15 GMT -5
contributor - thanks for the feedback. Some stories will include cash rewards or special rewards, others will not. These stories will not appear at the beginning of the standard game, we have just plugged them in there for ease of testing.
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Post by khearn on Sept 29, 2017 15:15:23 GMT -5
My second playthrough, I started the arc at stardate 211.9 (which seems like it should really be 211.09, since I later noticed it was 211.23). I got the rep up over 20 at 214.<something>, dashed off to pay off whats-his-name, but didn't have the cash available and by the time I had raised it, did the payoff, and got back, Nikolai had taken off. Hopefully without the death mark on his head, he'll do ok on his own. But I'm out $50K for nothing. Life's tough in the starlanes.  Maybe the clock should get extended a bit when you accept one of the 2 nikolai missions from Tuemette? If I had built up a few trading permits from a couple of factions, raising the cash would probably have been possible. but that game had very few early contacts that would give trading permits. And you can't raise cash very quickly just moving clothing, meds, and water purifiers around.  I think I'll try one more time I'll make sure I have enough cash before I start the story. Trying to build the rep and also raise the cash in 4 years isn't easy. I'm sure it's possible, but unlikely for someone to do it on the first try. |
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Post by Officer Genious on Sept 29, 2017 22:12:17 GMT -5
My second playthrough, I started the arc at stardate 211.9 (which seems like it should really be 211.09, since I later noticed it was 211.23). I got the rep up over 20 at 214.<something>, dashed off to pay off whats-his-name, but didn't have the cash available and by the time I had raised it, did the payoff, and got back, Nikolai had taken off. Hopefully without the death mark on his head, he'll do ok on his own. But I'm out $50K for nothing. Life's tough in the starlanes. Maybe the clock should get extended a bit when you accept one of the 2 nikolai missions from Tuemette? If I had built up a few trading permits from a couple of factions, raising the cash would probably have been possible. but that game had very few early contacts that would give trading permits. And you can't raise cash very quickly just moving clothing, meds, and water purifiers around. I think I'll try one more time I'll make sure I have enough cash before I start the story. Trying to build the rep and also raise the cash in 4 years isn't easy. I'm sure it's possible, but unlikely for someone to do it on the first try. I agree with this. It takes a fair amount of time to accumulate that much money. On the other hand, fallen did say that these missions don't appear at the start of the game... |
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Post by MintDragon on Sept 29, 2017 22:15:51 GMT -5
My second playthrough, I started the arc at stardate 211.9 (which seems like it should really be 211.09, since I later noticed it was 211.23). I got the rep up over 20 at 214.<something>, dashed off to pay off whats-his-name, but didn't have the cash available and by the time I had raised it, did the payoff, and got back, Nikolai had taken off. Hopefully without the death mark on his head, he'll do ok on his own. But I'm out $50K for nothing. Life's tough in the starlanes. Maybe the clock should get extended a bit when you accept one of the 2 nikolai missions from Tuemette? If I had built up a few trading permits from a couple of factions, raising the cash would probably have been possible. but that game had very few early contacts that would give trading permits. And you can't raise cash very quickly just moving clothing, meds, and water purifiers around. I think I'll try one more time I'll make sure I have enough cash before I start the story. Trying to build the rep and also raise the cash in 4 years isn't easy. I'm sure it's possible, but unlikely for someone to do it on the first try. I agree with this. It takes a fair amount of time to accumulate that much money. On the other hand, fallen did say that these missions don't appear at the start of the game... More than one way to skin a cat, tho... :-) There is a thread to discuss the Trader arc HERE and I approached it completely differently this time... |
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Post by fallen on Sept 29, 2017 22:42:55 GMT -5
Officer Genious - yes, these story arcs specifically would not appear in the first turns of the game. At 211.09, if you had 50K in the bank to spare, you'd be doing impressively well  khearn - very sorry about your 50K. After the update, I found this bug myself and fixed it. Once you've had success at either mission, Nik's timer extends immensely to give you time to get back. There was a story event in there trying to do this, but it had a typo! Also, as you've suggested, the timer gets a bump when you accept either mission for the next update. Clearly an area where we have to work hard to make things smooth and not terrible. We're dedicated to a story in motion that doesn't wait for you and will trundle on to the consequences, but it also has to recognize progress and give you more time generously, as the result you had is painful. Such useful feedback big +1
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Post by khearn on Oct 1, 2017 0:22:41 GMT -5
Finally managed to complete the Nikolai storyline and recruit him. I had over $100K when I first arrived at Tuemette's door, so everything went pretty smoothly. I got her rep up over 20, accepted the payoff mission, did the payoff, and got back with over half a year to spare this time.
One odd thing: I did the payoff mission, so the death mark should have been cleared, but after I recruited Nik, when we headed for orbit, he popped up in a conversation and warned me that there could still be trouble at some point because he still had the death mark and another bounty hunter might show up at some time. That seems appropriate if I had done the "fight the bounty hunter" mission, but not if I did the payoff mission.
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Post by fallen on Oct 1, 2017 0:54:02 GMT -5
Finally managed to complete the Nikolai storyline and recruit him. I had over $100K when I first arrived at Tuemette's door, so everything went pretty smoothly. I got her rep up over 20, accepted the payoff mission, did the payoff, and got back with over half a year to spare this time. One odd thing: I did the payoff mission, so the death mark should have been cleared, but after I recruited Nik, when we headed for orbit, he popped up in a conversation and warned me that there could still be trouble at some point because he still had the death mark and another bounty hunter might show up at some time. That seems appropriate if I had done the "fight the bounty hunter" mission, but not if I did the payoff mission. Ok ... I have fixed this bug too! If you settle with Adax, no warning and no repercussions. Heads up -- that is no idle warning from Nikolai. While that bug is at large, be sure to be ready for trouble down the line. (fixed in next if you settle) |
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Post by Sinocelt on Oct 1, 2017 1:17:59 GMT -5
So a storyline countdown won't start if you don't meet the contact, even if you land on their planet? If that's the case, I won't visit any of such contact until I'm comfortably in funds.
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