+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Discovery Development (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Forum: Discovery Mod General Discussion (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+--- Thread: Let's Talk: Scientific Data (/showthread.php?tid=160520)
Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Sand_Spider - 04-27-2018
WALL-O-TEXT WARNING: There's a lot I have to say here. I've included a TL;DR section for those not wishing to deal with the whole thing. Voting is encouraged, either way!
So, despite the introduction of more and more ways to obtain Scientific Data (Sci-Data) as of late, the inflation of the credit price per unit of the stuff has been on the rise, and it's likely to go up even more as time goes on. This, combined with the fact that many players hoard Sci-Data, coupled with the fact that the Sci-Data rewards are not likely to have their Data cost reduced any time soon, isn't really helping the inflation situation.
Added to that, many players can't even attempt to obtain Sci-Data in the first place, since most of the events hosted by the admins take place during times that usually cater to those in European Timezones.
For all the reasons listed above, I am proposing the following:
Add Sci-Data drops to NPCs spawned by missions of level 30+ at the rate of 1 unit dropped per NPC.
As it stands, there are currently four ways to obtain Sci-Data.
1.) Attend PvE event. Problem: Lowest ping and highest B spam wins Data (Oh, and cloaked transports are also a thing. Because Greed).
2.) Find Derelict Base. Problem: Most bases are found by the same 1-2 people.
3.) Find randomly spawned Cultists. Problem: This requires a Cultist Staging Base in-system. As fate would have it, players have proven the desire to destroy all bases found ASAP rather than allowing them to persist in order to allow more NPCs spawning.
4.) Buy Data from other players. Problem: At a going rate of 6,000,000+ per unit, only the richest of players can afford large amounts of Data.
This leaves many players, old and new (including myself), unable to fathomably or even remotely dream of obtaining any amount of Sci-Data, as the sheer cost of the stuff simply isn't worth the end-rewards currently being offered.
Assuming I wanted to, say, buy a set of four FEUERBALL LF codes, let's also assume I pay 6,000,000 credits per unit of Sci-Data. This would mean my total credit cost for a set of light fighter guns (Not a capital vessel, but the smallest of ship classes) would run me 4.2 BILLION credits! But let's take that a step further: Let's say I want to buy a set of four ACROBATICS for the same going-rate of 6,000,000 credits per unit of Sci-Data. This would mean my total cost would be 12,000,000,000 credits. That's twelve. Billion.
Ridiculous? I'd say so. And that's ignoring the possibility of 7,000,000 credits per unit!
Please add Sci-Data to Mission NPCs. Even at a rate of 1 unit per NPC, it's still better than nothing, and the current players who happened to pay for their Sci-Data shouldn't be entirely too mad by such a prospect, especially considering the following:
Assume we destroy, on average, 10 NPCs per mission (Some missions may spawn more, some less). At a rate of 10 Sci-Data per mission, it would take me 70 missions to afford a set of FEUERBALLs, and 200 missions to afford a set of ACROBATICS. This ignores the possibility that I might get in over my head/get bad RNG and die every once every 10 missions. That would mean even more time spent farming + more missions. This also assumes I have the assistance of a 2nd player (Who may/may not want a cut of the Data), or I am somehow lucky enough not to be jumped by raiding players/die to NPCs while farming up between 70-200+ missions.
Yes, I realize that "Scientific Data" shouldn't realistically drop from random joe-shmoe NPCs of every faction. But I believe that offering an alternative, extremely time-consuming method for obtaining Sci-Data would be fair for players of ALL time zones. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to want a fair chance at obtaining this ultra-rare material is when it's dang near impossible for me to do so. And paying for the data out-of-pocket is out of the question with numbers like 6+ million per unit.
TL;DR:
Add Sci-Data to Mission NPCs. Drops will be 1 unit per NPC. This will allow server events to remain the primary source of large amounts of Sci-Data, with the benefit of allowing players from unpopular timezones (I.E. Most non-European countries) the chance to farm for Sci-Data a little bit at a time.
Assumption: 10 Sci-Data per mission = 70 missions for 4 FEUERBALLs, or 200 missions for 4 ACROBATICs, as two examples. That's a lot of missions.
Side benefit: Farming for Sci-Data from missions will either A: Force a 2nd player to log to safely hold Sci-Data, or B: The mission farmer will hold it all on their farming ship, which will attract opposing raiders, which in turn promotes server activity. In case A, the 2nd player will likely want their own cut of the Sci-Data, which leads to more farming, which leads to more vulnerability while fighting NPCs, which means more opportunities for raiding parties.
End benefit: More Sci-Data on the server, current hoarders shouldn't be too irritated, because this source is extremely tedious/time-consuming compared to regular server events, with the added benefit of hoarders also having the capability of hoarding even more Sci-Data without impacting the rest of the server.
Thoughts, concerns, opinions?
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Corile - 04-27-2018
No because inflation.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Jessitrescott - 04-27-2018
Sci Data's where made to be rare and be afforded only by the game veterans, it was also made to be a money sink. They're doing that job excellently.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Thunderer - 04-27-2018
Missions were intended to drop cap codes. The chance was supposed to be about 1% or less. However, some programming stuff behaved unpredictably, so this was scrapped.
The first day this was introduced, you would get one or two codes a mission. Can this be reverted, but in a way that you get 1 or 2 sci data a mission? If a code is worth 100 or 200 sci data, this is still like 1% drop, except that it's not screwed by computer language at its liking.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Reddy - 04-27-2018
a general battleship mission (40+) may spawn 15-20 cruisers, 10 cruisers 3 battleships, 6 bs or any number of such combos. with the right loadout its not difficult to kill 60-100 NPCs in an hour.
if they drop 1 sci data per NPC then you can see the problem, there will be scidata farmers everywhere.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Sand_Spider - 04-27-2018
(04-27-2018, 07:11 PM)Jessitrescott Wrote: Sci Data's where made to be rare and be afforded only by the game veterans, it was also made to be a money sink. They're doing that job excellently.
But why should it remain a "veterans only" toy? I'm a veteran, and I can't even reliably afford the stuff. It can still remain a money sink at a rate of 1 unit per NPC. It's still going to take someone a long, boring time to farm up that much Sci-Data.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Corile - 04-27-2018
(04-27-2018, 07:14 PM)Sand_Spider Wrote: It can still remain a money sink at a rate of 1 unit per NPC
no
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Kazinsal - 04-27-2018
I agree that the going rate for scidata is a bit ridiculous. However it's ridiculous for a reason -- you get what are theoretically incredible rewards out of it.
I don't agree with the premise that scidata is intended to be a money sink because a money sink by definition removes money from the multiplayer economy. If scidata were purchasable from an NPC vendor at an incredibly high rate, then it would be a money sink, but it's only purchasable from other players, which means money never leaves the multiplayer economy.
Scidata reminds me of bitcoin in an odd way, except scidata isn't damaging the economy or the ecology so it's okay to just HODL.
e: It also concerns me that the mission code drops thing was bungled so hard. Everything in Freelancer is a floating point value. You can just divide and multiply numbers to decrease and increase chances respectively.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Sombs - 04-27-2018
With a 5k transport, I make 13 million credits in 17 minutes on a very cheap route. Other people do ore trading and get thrice the amount of money in the same time or a bit more. Just to give some numbers here.
RE: Let's Talk: Scientific Data - Nerva Regis - 04-27-2018
(04-27-2018, 07:17 PM)Kazinsal Wrote: I agree that the going rate for scidata is a bit ridiculous. However it's ridiculous for a reason -- you get what are theoretically incredible rewards out of it.
I don't agree with the premise that scidata is intended to be a money sink because a money sink by definition removes money from the multiplayer economy. If scidata were purchasable from an NPC vendor at an incredibly high rate, then it would be a money sink, but it's only purchasable from other players, which means money never leaves the multiplayer economy.
Scidata reminds me of bitcoin in an odd way, except scidata isn't damaging the economy or the ecology so it's okay to just HODL.
The Midnight Runner used to sell Sci-data for 5 mil, like 4-6 cap codes.
Also - ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Cap Code drops back!