Can everyone please read this, idk, set it as your signature or something tape it to your butt so people see it and go like "oh yeah right."
durability is for immersion in an rpg durability is not fun durability does not balance anything it immerses you
in a survival game, it is used for balance
this isn't a survival game
hahaha :P Never quite thought of it in that wording, but that's a good way to put it.
Doesn't mean we can't evolve it to be more 'fun,' though. There've been some good suggestions on how to add to it to both improve quality of life and make it more nuanced and feel like it has some importance and strategic.
Going back to the chest thing:
Originally Posted by chocolate
Originally Posted by Mikus
I actually don't disagree with you - as with the repair and identify mechanics, I find I'm trying to work within the (IMO somewhat artificial) limitations the devs seem to have placed on the gameplay. And the definition of fragility would be tricky if the "breakage" mechanic is intended to be a real penalty, as (for example) a super-valuable magical weapon in a chest shouldn't break (unless that +200 Axe of Heavenly Doom is actually made of balsa wood), while a possibly cheap potion might - rendering it not much of a penalty after all, especially at higher levels. I guess I'm just trying to understand and justify why people want these kinds of "immersive" things in the game in the first place.
I don't think it would be so bad for any potion of any level to always have a chance to be broken if you're smashing things. They are made of glass, so, ya kno.
And it's just the genre. rpg literally stands for role playing game, so the game should be developed to get the player into that role, the role of their character existing in a fantasy world. Immersion is a delicate balance and it's far too easy to break. It just hinges on making the player feel like they can be punished fairly for their actions, but also rewarded fairly.
The punishment of noise and the possibility of breaking potions from smashing things is fair, and when a player who is new to the game smashes a chest with a gigantic hammer and then finds the ground covered in healing potion, they can only sigh and say "Yeah that's my fault." And this kind of thing immerses them in the game, makes them realize that the game is watching them and willing to punish or reward their actions in it, makes them act more like their character would.
And back to the free mobile repairs, this isn't fair. This feels like we don't need the game world anymore, we're fine on our own, we have magical god hammers. Players stop acting like their character would and start acting like they're playing a video game instead of role playing in a fantasy world.
I totally agree with this, but there are limits to game balance In this case, it's more of a question: Should mechanical balance precede RP value, or should RP value precede mechanical balance?
Most times, I'm of the former group. In this case, I lean more towards the later cause I don't like the idea of abusing bashing things. Just like how I don't like the idea of abusing CC cause of the new armor system 100% chance after armor is gone.
How about if they included more fragile but powerful unique items in the loot around the game? Such as the stone sword from game one, but not as bad as 1/1 Durability.
Example: A glass, elven long sword with mystical enchantments? Some flavor fluff in the description could could be: "Made more as a piece of art to challenge their skills, than for any practical purpose, this weapon is a true masterwork of the ages. It's fragile nature does not diminish it's sharp edge or the abilities it was granted, however."
Furthermore, items like that would require more upkeep and thus a much closer watch on durability and repairing. The exchange would be for the power inherent in the item.
This means players could be rewarded for increasing crafting skills so they can maintain such a weapon and that they'd have to choose if the cost of maintaining such a weapon was worth it (1) & whether or not the risk of bashing open a box and loosing out on such a unique item was worth it (2).
It's a more nuanced approach than the whole sale 'break some of the loot inside' thing and it can be fit in using RP smoothly. It'd also be rare enough to make some players blame themselves without missing too much or make those who invest in lockpicking feel rewarded for their efforts with special stuff.
In this case, it's more of a question: Should mechanical balance precede RP value, or should RP value precede mechanical balance?
