How Death could be improved

One thing Funcom did improve on over previous games is the way they handled death. Save frequently and you don't stand a whole lot to lose, and regardless of saving, you never run the risk of losing a level. Though it works out fairly well, penalties upon death could be handled better, heres what I suggest:

Lose 50-80% of xp Since Last Save: Players should never, ever feel like they've played a game for hours or more just to lose it all. Unfortunately, this is the case quite often in Rubi-Ka. If you're grouped up and not making much money, all you've got to show for it is your xp gain. Don't take it all away upon death, just a large portion of it.

Increase Skill Reduction Timer by 3 to 20 Times: I do think penalty upon death should be fairly harsh, and really encourage people to find the best equipment/programs/implants for their level to make their character effective. Increasing the timer would in part make up for not losing 100% xp. Make people "sit out" a spell after death, they've just gone through a tramatic situation. Currently the skill loss means almost nothing, as you can be fully recovered by the time you make it back to your group.

Interesting ideas. Your statement on the skill reduction definitely holds up at lower levels, but as you get higher, you will find you have to wait for the recovery before even setting out to regroup, or you will just die again on your way back. With a 50% skill loss at skills of 500+ one becomes fairly useless during that recovery time in comparison to the critters one would have to pass in ones own hunting area.

It becomes even more exagerated when you put vehicles into the mix as many people only raise vehicle skills enough to be able to use that spiffy new vehicle and don't raise it beyond that directly.

True, I do agree the penalty becomes more severe at higher levels because it is a %. However, I believe the timer remains the same, maybe 5-10 minutes (have to time that next time)? I think it should be more along the lines of 30 minutes to an hour or more of game time. Really force people to sit out after dying. This is mainly to make up for not losing 100% xp (if it were changed), if it stays at full xp loss I'm not for increasing the timer. An increased timer is also a good way to get those powergamers to check out some of the other things Anarchy has to offer besides just combat, I'm all for more RP'ing. Not only that but it would make missions more critical to stay alive on the first time rather than die, try again, die, try again (life of an NT?).

Just an FYI here guys. There are people that only play this game 1-3 hours at a time. You know. People with jobs and families.

If getting lag killed or being forced to /terminate because you got stuck in the environment and can't move is going to make you have to "sit out for quite time" for up to an hour there are going to be a lot of people opting out.

Every game seems to have a group that wants Diablo 2 hardcore (1 life then delete ) rules and a group that wants Mario Brothers (press reset and continue) rules.

Lets stay in the middle somewhere and remember. If People can't log in and have some fun in a 1-3 hour stint then why should they log in?

As it is I find myself saying, "Dam it! I zoned you POS! why am I dead! I just lost 8000 exp and now have to wait another 3 minutes before I can even use a treatment kit!" This was at level 15 or so when MOBs were chain healing as a rule after 12.6 and my Trader wasn’t doing so well anymore. I wouldn't go back to finish the mission half the time and I would either walk away to do something else while I wait or just log off to play CS or DOD.

Sure. Greater Risk should equal greater reward but let it either be an option or keep the lowest common denominator in the range.

I thought Funcom implemented some insurance pills about 10 patches ago that could be used to save a % of your XP while you were hunting so you would not have to travel back and scan.

Can you still purchase these?

Meligant,

I think my idea works for people like you (and myself). I play a couple hours at a time (3 if I'm lucky and its the weekend). I'd take the longer skill reduction timer over the xp loss in a minute. So I play my usual couple hours stint, gain some xp, and end up dying when its about time for me to go. Bummer, but all is not lost, I've still made a fair amount of xp (though drastically reduced due to the death). Next time I have an opportunity to play I'll just have to do a few other things besides combat for a short time, no big deal. This is a good time to clean out my bank, do some shopping for better equipment, or just socialize with others maybe in the same predicament, RP a little. Death should hurt, bad, not nullify everything we've done in the recent past.

Really most people would not be affected by this, as far as game play needed to advance. The added time we must spend down and out would be time we would usually spend gaining back that xp we just lost, but in this case, you still keep enough xp that would be comparable to what you could gain back in that amount of time.

Tyveil,

Agreed. I don't mind the idea at all. I was just afraid when I heard 1 hour to recoup. I was like, "1 hour! What are they nutz!"

Of course, if they added more non-combat related things to do this could be minimized.

-Mini games / gambling halls near reclamation areas for time kills
-Theaters maybe?
- Challenge an NPC or another character to lawn darts

I wouldn't mind down time if there was more to fill it with =)

Death is one of the things that I like about this game that isn't broken. The death system here is the least penalizing of all MMORPG's and I'm very happy with it.

I don't see why it needs to be changed. if you go up a level you cannot lose that level. if you spend 4 hours out in the field without coming back to save and resupply and still haven't hit a new level. OH WELL. hehe. it happens.


AO's death system is great. ever played EQ? now that BLEW. have one or two bad mistakes or get stuck in a sucky team and you could drop a level or two! BLEAH!.

if you raise the death recovery time you will eventually bore your self out of the game, i dont want to sit for 20 minutes to wait for my skills to come back, and at higher lvl i think you allready have to wait long enough.

that longer time thing is NOT a good idea, sorry.

Whoa whoa whoa! Don't touch that timer! It's long enough for me as it is. I like the death system the way it is...I would much rather play for a long time and lose all my xp than lose some xp and sit for a long time. Hey - if they want - take the timer out - and make me drop a level when I die. I would be fine with that. Then I could take my level 46 down to a lvl 10 and just own everyone in PvP - hehehe...

If a group member is badly wounded with zero hps, why wouldnt a Doctor be able to do anything? Maybe, a Doc can bring along a portable clinic or 1st-Aid tent or something to maybe lessen the exp loss or treat the wounded team member so he doesnt end up at Reclaim Booth.

My point here is that I think for dying, you should be penalised harder with what you are limited to do after dying. It makes no sense to me why you should lose everything you worked up till that point. Seems to me a lot of you like it because it's a lot better system than some other MMORPG's (EQ in particular), and I don't dispute that fact. However, its got a lot of room for improvement.

I'm also not suggesting people be forced to sit around for an hour at a time doing nothing after death. I'm suggesting they shouldn't be able to jump right back into combat so soon. Maybe a doc (or MP) could have some type of program to bring back the skill loss quicker. Also more things to do with downtime would be nice, as Meligant posted.

Leave death alone.

It works fine exactly as it is. Forcing people to sit around long periods of time waiting for their skills to come back is a terrible idea.

Also, the experience loss penalty for death is really not that bad, especially as you can save at any time at an insurance terminal, and there are now multiple professions which can teleport your whole group to an insurance terminal.