Tuesday Post: Voyage Event Idea
Prime Lorca
✭✭✭✭✭
in The Bridge
This idea has been discussed before on the forum. Ideas have been pulled from TFA GTMET (DB - Do Better)'s thread. So thank you @[TFA] GTMET (DB - Do Better) for giving me the starting idea. I've fleshed it out a bit and named some things and tweaked some things with @Byloband 's help, so I'd like to thank him too. Now I would like to present our idea:
Temporal Survey Events
A Temporal Survey will be an exploration of the current state of the timelines. Captains will navigate space and time to report findings and correct attempts to change the timelines and restore them to the proper state. Here's how they will work in game terms:
1. In addition to running a regular voyage (for Daily Missions and resource generation purposes) players would also run a second "voyage" called a Temporal Survey. Crew used in Temporal Surveys will be locked out of voyages, shuttles, and story nodes.
2. Event crew during a Temporal Survey event will receive a 100% bonus to max and min proficiencies. Bonus crew will receive a 50% bonus to max and min proficiencies.
3. Temporal Surveys will work much like voyages. The fuel for Temporal Surveys will be called Time Crystals (as seen in Discovery). You will select two crew for each stat. There will be a bonus trait for each slot that awards bonus Time Crystals. Ships will have an amount of Time Crystals equivalent to their normal Anti Matter and will also have a bonus trait that gives bonus Time Crystals. Every 2 hours, captains will be faxed with an opportunity to restore the timelines to their proper state. These dilemmas will be called Restorations.
4. The first event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each dilemma. The second event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each Restoration. The third event crew will award 200 bonus Time Crystals. Captains may use any combination of the three event crew, including duplicates. Event crew beyond the third will get the normal bonus to proficiencies, but nothing further.
5. Before launching a Temporal Survey, players will be able to purchase Boons. Temporal Surveys will not drop anything except VP unless boons are purchased.
- Credit boon (100 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops credits at each Restoration
- Merit boon (100 dilitium): Temporal Survey drops merits at each Restoration
- Chroniton boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops chronitons at each Restoration
- Honor boon (1,500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops honor at each Restoration
- SR behold boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops a SR behold at 6 hours
- Event SR boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops random event SR at 8 hours
- Legendary behold boon (5,000 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops a legendary behold at 12 hours
- Event Legendary boon (6,000 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops event legendary at 14 hours
6. Players are also able to purchase Temporal Survey Revival tokens to extend their Temporal Surveys. Players will also be able to purchase an item for 50 dilithium to auto-resolve Restorations for one Temporal Survey.
7. Temporal Surveys will be recalled instantly when the captain recalls it. No cooldown like normal voyages because hey… it's time travel. When a Temporal Survey runs out of Time Crystals, the captain will be given the option to revive it for dilithium or a token or instantly recall it. Rewards will NOT be lost.
Temporal Survey Events
A Temporal Survey will be an exploration of the current state of the timelines. Captains will navigate space and time to report findings and correct attempts to change the timelines and restore them to the proper state. Here's how they will work in game terms:
1. In addition to running a regular voyage (for Daily Missions and resource generation purposes) players would also run a second "voyage" called a Temporal Survey. Crew used in Temporal Surveys will be locked out of voyages, shuttles, and story nodes.
2. Event crew during a Temporal Survey event will receive a 100% bonus to max and min proficiencies. Bonus crew will receive a 50% bonus to max and min proficiencies.
3. Temporal Surveys will work much like voyages. The fuel for Temporal Surveys will be called Time Crystals (as seen in Discovery). You will select two crew for each stat. There will be a bonus trait for each slot that awards bonus Time Crystals. Ships will have an amount of Time Crystals equivalent to their normal Anti Matter and will also have a bonus trait that gives bonus Time Crystals. Every 2 hours, captains will be faxed with an opportunity to restore the timelines to their proper state. These dilemmas will be called Restorations.
4. The first event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each dilemma. The second event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each Restoration. The third event crew will award 200 bonus Time Crystals. Captains may use any combination of the three event crew, including duplicates. Event crew beyond the third will get the normal bonus to proficiencies, but nothing further.
5. Before launching a Temporal Survey, players will be able to purchase Boons. Temporal Surveys will not drop anything except VP unless boons are purchased.
- Credit boon (100 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops credits at each Restoration
- Merit boon (100 dilitium): Temporal Survey drops merits at each Restoration
- Chroniton boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops chronitons at each Restoration
- Honor boon (1,500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops honor at each Restoration
- SR behold boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops a SR behold at 6 hours
- Event SR boon (500 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops random event SR at 8 hours
- Legendary behold boon (5,000 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops a legendary behold at 12 hours
- Event Legendary boon (6,000 dilithium): Temporal Survey drops event legendary at 14 hours
6. Players are also able to purchase Temporal Survey Revival tokens to extend their Temporal Surveys. Players will also be able to purchase an item for 50 dilithium to auto-resolve Restorations for one Temporal Survey.
7. Temporal Surveys will be recalled instantly when the captain recalls it. No cooldown like normal voyages because hey… it's time travel. When a Temporal Survey runs out of Time Crystals, the captain will be given the option to revive it for dilithium or a token or instantly recall it. Rewards will NOT be lost.
Farewell 🖖
3
Comments
1. I chose proficiency bonuses to breathe new life into crew who really don't have much else going for them like Gangster Spock and Mademoiselle de Nine. Also, using such crew is a gamble and presents an opportunity to strategize using a more predictable versus a more risky approach.
2. Temporal Surveys will not drop resources without Boon purchases partly to monetize the event for DB and partly so players have to choose between the rewards of a voyage vs the rewards of competing in an event. Or pay to make up the difference. It is basically another resource management mechanic.
3. The Boon system has two purposes. First to monetize for DB and encourage this to actually become a thing. Second to actually discourage pay to win (p2w). The biggest rewards are at the 12 and 14 hour marks. By that point, the Temporal Survey is failing skill checks and missing the opportunity to gain VP by recalling and starting over. Even the whales will have to choose between winning the event and getting alternative rewards.
4. Along similar lines is the auto-resolve idea. Yes, you can auto resolve and sleep or live your life or whatever. But the cost there is when you start failing checks. You are giving up the opportunity to restart and get more VP per hour. The cost of this feature is low so monthly card players and VIP0 players who ration can afford it.
Can you start as many surveys as you like in a row or do you need a token to do so? If the latter - how are those tokens aquired?
If the VP earned were the same throughout all dilemmas then what is the point in longer travels given someone does not spend dil on the boons? If all players recall their survey directly after a dilemma how are ranks made if everyone does the same? Sounds like faction (=log in every 2 hours) to be successful, just without any bonus items, so everything depends on the depth of your roster.
Are the boons supposed to be per event or per individual survey? The prices for boons are very high and far beyond what I would spend for their value if they were due for each survey. If they were one-time-purchases for the entire event... not sure... still a lot of dil given that you have to again pay for extending the voyages up to 14 hours.
I basically ask out of curiosity to better understand the idea but overall I am not really a fan no matter the answers. It sounds like the ultimate PTW concept excluding newer players of ranks per design.
But maybe I got it all wrong and just missed the awesome part of it?
If I'm understanding this properly, it sounds like an event type similar to factions where a well established crew would be important to rank. In itself that does not bother me because I feel there should be some benefits for long-term players.
However, besides consistently resolving every 2 hours I'm having a hard time imagining how people could pursue a higher rank through hard work, rather than just the crew they've got before the event. Is it basically just clever crew selection for sending out the Temporal Survey, to try and squeeze out another 5 or 10 minutes more than another player? If that's the major difference, man that sounds like some brutal Voyage babysitting to squeeze out every last minute before recalling.
VP would progress up to 6 hours, then flatten. Basically, the "sweet spot" would be 6- to 8-hour surveys. I also chose the bonus to proficiencies to exaggerate the RNG factor to get different outcomes, which you note are necessary.
I hadn't thought of running multiple Temporal Surveys at a time. That might also create further separation. I'm open to arguments either way.
Similarly, the boons are open to adjustment. I was thinking per Temporal Survey. I think the costs for the SR and legendary drops are in line with buying packs. I didn't suggest how many chronitons or whatever would be earned at each Restoration. It would have to be something equitable, though.
Q: Are you suggesting that 'boons' can be purchased and then stored indefinitely until such time you want to use the 'boons' to swap for rewards during future Surveys, or do the 'boons' disappear when each Survey is complete?
The story element that I left out... Temporal Surveys would work like the Krenim Time Ship. Every time you fix something, it messes with something else. You never achieve the ideal state, but things do improve.
Boons would be selected before the Temporal Survey goes out and affects that individual survey only.
Every 2 hours, captains will be faxed with an opportunity to restore the timelines to their proper state. These dilemmas will be called Restorations.
and
The first event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each dilemma. The second event crew will grant a 2x bonus to VP awarded at each Restoration.
So there will be two kinds of dilemmas: a regular one and restoration?
Also what kind of RNG are you mentioning? As far as I know, skill values for voyages are just base + average proficiency, so it doesn't matter if you use a crew with 1000 base and 0 prof or a crew with 600 base and 400 average prof
Hmmm.....a Krenim voyage....i like the idea.
In an ideal world your galaxy map would then refresh to reflect the changes....opening up a chance to re-do past missions with different outcomes and reset certain factions / introduce new ones / delete others. Wow that would make it a very stratigic game
But DB staff would not have a life left if this was the case....they would have to be working on coding of the game 24/7.
Basically, Restorations replace dilemmas.
In a Temporal Survey, each skill check will have a set difficulty. The crew with that skill will add their base skill plus a random proficiency roll - this will create the randomness.
Firstly ... This is pretty much the case for all events bar Skirmish.
It is beneficial to have a wide selection of crew to choose from for each event and the more 5/5s you have the better you do ... i.e. the longer you've been playing the better you do ... this includes Galaxies, where to do well you need to at least be playing long enough to have a huge stockpile of resources if you're not going to spend cash.
Secondly ... no ... proficiency means that you only need a 1/x crew to get full benefit ... so my 1/5 Locutus will be just as good and the next person's 5/5 Locutus.
1. After half a year I can easily compete for 1500 in Factions and could also in Galaxies if I tried to (I just do not like it so I do not go for rank there). But in this concept later players always will stay behind and that will only change after several years of playing - if ever.
A sweet spot on 6 to 8 hours equals that out a bit though. That is a good idea.
2. What you point out is not quite Lorca's proposal but it is a nice idea. As there would be less incentive to buy the 100 dollar pack with the 2/5 event crew upfront this will not happen though.
That's how I thought it worked. If anyone knows the definitive answer on voyage skill checks, I would certainly welcome it.
I think the crew's voyage stats add the base to the average of the min and max proficiency as a way to condense the numbers and streamline voyage crew selection. Either way, that's my vision for Temporal Surveys.
Right now, if I want, I can get the bonus legendary in any event, and if I really try, I can reach top 100 in any event. (not every event, as I need time to resupply). Without spending DIL, it'll simply be impossible to keep up with your proposed event. And if I can't compete, why bother taking part? I'd just sit it out every time. And I'm pretty sure that having to skip events fairly regularly, it wouldn't take long for me to stop playing altogether.
I don't understand which mechanic I've paid out makes it pay to win. Can you point out which mechanic? I'm probably not seeing it because it's partly my creation.
I'll admit that it rewards long term players who have more developed crew, but I'm ok with that. Rewarding loyalty works in my book. I'm a little late in addressing @Synthetic Commander 's concerns, but that's my thinking.
6. Players are also able to purchase Temporal Survey Revival tokens to extend their Temporal Surveys. Players will also be able to purchase an item for 50 dilithium to auto-resolve Restorations for one Temporal Survey.
7. Temporal Surveys will be recalled instantly when the captain recalls it. No cooldown like normal voyages because hey… it's time travel. When a Temporal Survey runs out of Time Crystals, the captain will be given the option to revive it for dilithium or a token or instantly recall it. Rewards will NOT be lost.
VP would progress up to 6 hours, then flatten. Basically, the "sweet spot" would be 6- to 8-hour surveys. I also chose the bonus to proficiencies to exaggerate the RNG factor to get different outcomes, which you note are necessary.
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Basically, the first few hours are "ramp-up", meaning VP rewards in the first few hours of a voyage are less valuable than later hours, so extending voyages gains more points than restarting.
It's also very discouraging to get nothing when people who are paying are getting great benefits (e.g. legendary beholds). Compare it to the campaign - I don't get the legendary, but I do get the super-rare crew. The rewards aren't as good, but I still get omething.
Yes, the longer voyages can net larger amounts of VP, but you start failing skill checks. That helps to offset the ramp-up. Extending voyages actually hurts in terms of VP because you are failing those checks. If you're a whale and find those boons appealing, then you have to sacrifice VP from skill checks to keep going. Part of the strategy is to decide when the ramp-up gets more VP than prolonging the existing Temporal Survey.
Does that make sense, or am I missing something?
I will admit that this may be overly complicated. I hadn't considered that. But I fail to catch your drift, @(HGH)Apollo . This is an idea for a new event type. This is not in addition to or concurrent with the existing event structure. It's not an additional way to earn VP. It would be the only way to earn VP during the event. It would require 12 crew. That's equivalent to four 3-seat shuttles during a faction event. Does that speak to your concerns or am I misunderstanding?
Also, why are you treating bonus crew differently. If you want bonus crew to give VP, then they give VP. If you do or don't want them to stack, go with that. You don't need to treat the first two bonus crew one way and the third a different way.
If you make this a normal voyage then players aren't being forced to tie up crew on both this and a voyage. It's just like a faction event. During the event you're event shuttles generate VP and take the place of normal shuttles. So during this event the voyage earns VP in addition to normal voyage stuff and takes the place of your normal voyage.
That also eliminates the need for your boon system which is turning everyone off. Your voyage earns normal rewards just like faction event shuttles earn normal rewards. DB can still monetize the event with instant recall just like they monetize faction events with instant complete.
Other ideas I would suggest for tweaking this once you trim it back to a voyage event. Make the event crew bonus be a more interesting trade-off. Do you want to use event crew with worse stats for VP, or your normal best voyage crew to last longer. If you can find the right balance it becomes a more interesting crew selection process than either faction or skirmish events.
Yeah, you’re right, I just looked into code of the voyage estimator tool, proficiency indeed is used for skill value rolls (average prof across all crew that have the skill that is checked). Basically, skill value for checks increases by 1260 every hour, if the value of the crew (base + rolled prof) is greater than this value - than it’s a pass
Edit: actually the algorithm is a little bit complicated to get quick understanding, maybe still there’s no actual RNG rolls. I’ll check it more thoroughly when I have time.
Why not:
Have the event start and the player has a number of temporal crystals to start off with (like intel) and the player can launch as many Temporal Surveys as they can afford. Ships and crew bonuses then can reduce the cost to the player of a Survey as they boost them. Each crystal represents x number of minutes of the Survey.
A player can also add a skill boost to each crew slot, and maybe a 2x reward to the ship itself.
VP is generated in the reverse of how AM is lost in regular voyages, so a successful encounter gives, say, 300 VP, a failure reduces your total by 50 VP.
Every Resolution will give a VP bonus and Unprocessed Temporal Crystals, as well as either extra temporal crystals, extra VP or an across-the-board skill boost that lasts until the next Resolution (so increasing successful encounters and VP)
When the Survey hits a Resolution a player has an hour to resolve it, if they don't it is automatically resolved for them.
In addition to VP, the Survey also accrues Unprocessed Temporal Crystals - which allows for the creation of a new Starbase Room to process them and pass them out to the fleet. Each room increase speeds up the processing and return %age of crystals.
Temporal crystals also accrue over time, like intel, but aren't available from missions. Temporal crystals, processed and unprocessed, are available to buy in packs for dil during the event.
Once you run out of crystals, your Survey is over - no tokens/dil to extend, you just send out another one.
I chose to make the event crew add VP and Time Crystals because older players and whales would probably not use the event SR's or 1/5 legendaries otherwise. Event crew would have to get pretty significant bonuses to be relevant. I wanted to get away from the base race that has been defining the game, so I thought of a way to bring back proficiencies. Maybe there's a better way to do that, and I'm absolutely open to hear it.
@(HGH)Apollo , you might be right about dilithium costs. I considered my proposal to be an opening bid in that regard. Suggestions are welcome in that as in everything else.
@Vesmer , I thank you for your investigation into the mechanics of voyages and look forward to your assessment.
@furyd , you have some great thoughts on VP generation, involving the starbases, and especially the 1-hour timer on resolutions. Thank you for that input!
Pretty cool idea though!
And if you don't respond to the fax, the game will send a 9-1-1 page back to the 90's when you had that pager.
I saw the typo too. But wasn't sure if I should say anything.
So proficiency indeed is used in a normal way in voyages. For every skill its value is in the range [sum( base + min prof)..sum(base + max prof)]. Simple example: suppose there’s two crew members, one has base 400 and prof 100-300, another one has base 400 and prof 200-400. Value range will be 1100-1500.
During hazards (in every period of 9 min 20 sec there’s 6 hazards and 18 activities) random chosen value from the range for the chosen skill (I guess everyone knows what are the chances for it to be primary, secondary or other, but anyway: 35/25/10 %) is tested against skill test value, which is 1260 for 1st hour, 2520 for 2nd hour and so on
Amen!
I think one of the games biggest issues though is that it can be a rut - do your dailies, do an event every week... It's all very much boxed in content.
If something new is added then, before long, it'll quickly become old due to the regimented way the game is designed.
Just look at Megas, when first dropped they were an exciting new way of doing things, now they're on a consistent track of month on, month off.
They've been assimilated. Same with Campaigns. There needs to be a change, add a bit of spontaneity. Campaigns were perfect for that, but now they're just an every-four-weeks grind.
There's a grand bit of irony that Q is front-and-centre of the game, when the current nature of the game is the exact same thing he rails against!