Lots to dig through in this video about the many functions server blades will do. Also some discussion on being able to control NPCs
More on this AMA on the Star Citizen thread here.
More on this AMA on the Star Citizen thread here.
This is a big topic.the role of the Pioneer
As far as I know, orgs will be able to build entire bases. All you'll need is enough land to build the base (or bases) you want.This is a big topic.
Can orgs build entire bases?
If so, founding good territory and creating a forward base of operations is going to be a massive part of the game!
I do like the idea of carrying several along. It's also a thing where medium computers have 3 (?) blade slots right now, as least as shown in certain missions. So a DUR may have 6 slots available beyond stock configuration. OR it will come with a few blades probably with C grade software that support its intended function.With the blades, I hope you are able to have a few different types stored on your ship but not installed (so stored in a box), so you can chop and change them on the go. Obviously not just switch a button, but manually swapping them out.
So in my Freelancer DUR, I can have a scanning Blade in to help find jump points, then switch to a salvage Blade when I come across a crashed ship, pull the best bits with ease. And then switch again to the trade Blade, to find the best place to sell my new gear. Manually swapping them would (and should) take a bit of time, but should be worth the effort.
As for the agent smith idea, my personal view is it defeats the whole point of Star citizen! Making it so you have to eat and drink, travel from a ezhab across cities to your ship, creating a fully immersed universe. If you can 'jump' into an NPC on a ship instead... it seems to make it all a bit of a joke. Just my opinion.
In answer to one of your questions from the video.. What we call the Agent Smith feature seems to me to point toward an intense desire to have/force people play together. I'm at the point of calling it pathological.
Joined TEST to have the option of playing the game with others, and ESPECIALLY because those big shiny ships require others to be useful. One incident in the Org event this past weekend really makes the case - Yellow Team lost the Hammerhead in the first round. There were several factors but one was the need to have all the turrets manned.. having only half of them manned meant an ineffective defense and it died quickly.
The game is a long way from done or balanced, to be sure. But if multiplayer becomes the only way to achieve valuable results it will miss a great deal of play time from those who simply don't have the time/temperament/investment/interest or ability to pull together group play sessions.
First, I agree with you that the agent smith issue should not be allowed. That said, on your ship it should be it allowed.
Second, blades - the more blades they have the more blade options you have it flows away from the rock paper scissors analogy. You will have to sacrifice you some functionality for your build - mining ships are theoretically easy to take because their blade load out.
Trade database (or other functions that require a centralized database), should be "within" range... example way out in the verse... you should be outside the range of communication - an intersting idea would be communication hops... which CIG has already done with the communication arrays they have.
Not sure how it would contradict the whole death of a spaceman? Its not like Players gain skills or loose skills upon death and its not like the player who took over for a NPC is gaining or loosing anything. They would only have access to what the NPC had access to nothing more or less so its not like they would be able to show up with their player armor and weapons or ship. They would literately just jump into the body of the NPC and have what ever the NPC had, and when you leave you don't take anything with you. The ore you where mining stay with the NPC. The weapons and ship components you picked up stays with the NPC.My personal stance is that agent smithing shows their inability to create a proper AI and therefore is a proof that this game is a Scam.
XOXO Derek
honestly i'm fine with agent smithing,
in lets say 1 km range,
just to troubleshoot NPC or move them to a position. Everything else might contradict the whole "Death of the spacemen". I hope they will adress that topic more indepth soom.
With the blades, I hope you are able to have a few different types stored on your ship but not installed (so stored in a box), so you can chop and change them on the go. Obviously not just switch a button, but manually swapping them out.
So in my Freelancer DUR, I can have a scanning Blade in to help find jump points, then switch to a salvage Blade when I come across a crashed ship, pull the best bits with ease. And then switch again to the trade Blade, to find the best place to sell my new gear. Manually swapping them would (and should) take a bit of time, but should be worth the effort.
As for the agent smith idea, my personal view is it defeats the whole point of Star citizen! Making it so you have to eat and drink, travel from a ezhab across cities to your ship, creating a fully immersed universe. If you can 'jump' into an NPC on a ship instead... it seems to make it all a bit of a joke. Just my opinion.
Death of the spacemen means (to me) that you're attached to your character and you want to prevent him dying. Dying should be a big deal and not something you "shrug away" like in most video games.Not sure how it would contradict the whole death of a spaceman? Its not like Players gain skills or loose skills upon death and its not like the player who took over for a NPC is gaining or loosing anything. They would only have access to what the NPC had access to nothing more or less so its not like they would be able to show up with their player armor and weapons or ship. They would literately just jump into the body of the NPC and have what ever the NPC had, and when you leave you don't take anything with you. The ore you where mining stay with the NPC. The weapons and ship components you picked up stays with the NPC.
Chris Roberts said:I also feel that if everyone can be cloned easily, it fundamentally changes the structure of the universe. You now have a universe of immortal gods that can’t be killed. Death is just a financial and time inconvenience that has no further consequences. The life and death cycle of humanity is what has brought us our history, our need to “make a mark” in our time, to push forward. If I want a living, breathing universe that has a lot of the dynamics of a real world and is inspired by the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, immortality for all is problematic.
The NPC is still tied to a player account being the ship captain the NPC is servicing on. While the player who Agent Smithed into the NPC might not have a crimestat applied to their actions the captain of the ship the NPC was on will in fact be impacted. The other thing is that these NPC's are going to be crew members on multicrew ships and so the captain is going to have more incentive on what actions they are willing to take given the resources involved. Loosing ships and all of the gear and NPC's on a ship will have a large costs and one I imagine most players will shy away from until the game economy stagnates. So its not immortality for all, it still requires players with their char on those ships. Can a single player on an Idris have 20 NPC's that are then agent smithed. Its speculatively possible. From an outside perspective would fighting this Idris be any different if it had players in their char or controlling NPC's? I currently do not see it being any different. Controlling an NPC has no crimestat impact on you but neither does the heroic actions or reputation performed by the NPC you control have any impact on your chars rep. You want to get those high level bounty missions you still have to go out with your char and grind the rep. Jumping on your friends Idris as an Agent Smith is not going to help you progress forward with that. And your friend best trust you as shooting your gun at the police force is not going to make him any friends.Death of the spacemen means (to me) that you're attached to your character and you want to prevent him dying. Dying should be a big deal and not something you "shrug away" like in most video games.
If you can agent smith into an NPC your character can sit at home while jumping into disposable NPC and not risking his own life.
Lets say you're one of the rare species called griefer. And you decide you want to shoot noobs without risking crimestat ... you see where this is going?
here is quote from DoaS:
Death of a Spaceman - Roberts Space Industries | Follow the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42
Roberts Space Industries is the official go-to website for all news about Star Citizen and Squadron 42. It also hosts the online store for game items and merch, as well as all the community tools used by our fans.robertsspaceindustries.com
which could be an agent smithed NPC unless let me quote myselfThe NPC is still tied to a player account being the ship captain the NPC is servicing on. While the player who Agent Smithed into the NPC might not have a crimestat applied to their actions the captain of the ship the NPC was on will in fact be impacted.
what prevents a player to hop into NPC and be the captain trillion kilometres away?pewbaca said:in lets say 1 km range,
The other thing is that these NPC's are going to be crew members on multicrew ships and so the captain is going to have more incentive on what actions they are willing to take given the resources involved. Loosing ships and all of the gear and NPC's on a ship will have a large costs and one I imagine most players will shy away from until the game economy stagnates.
Christos Robertos said:Death is just a financial and time inconvenience that has no further consequences.
So its not immortality for all, it still requires players with their char on those ships.
pewbaca said:in lets say 1 km range,
because its a perfect tool (if unlimited) for griefers who don't want their main char to die. Or make him deal with the reputation hit. Or go to prison. or ...So I ask you. How does Agent Smith break with death of a spaceman?
Well it could become a major annoyance if you have to stay around in the hospital for a couple of hours (like in prison)The second part is from a game perspective how impactful is having your current char die? True you have to go back to the char creation screen and roll a new look, you could also possibly loose some or all of your rep. But otherwise all of your ships and cash will still be yours and you are still free to go out and do anything you like. From a game play perspective has minimal impact on your ability to play and it was already mentioned that rolling a new char wouldn't be a total wipe of rep/crimestat as they don't want players to abuse it. I know they want to give some weight to death but currently the only weight is bragging rights about the age of your char and its accomplishments. Both are not impacted by the use or not of Agent Smith.
I can see this being the end of some major Orgs. Leader of an Org allows a trusted member to Agent Smith, member acting on behalf of the other Org offs the leader. Treachery, infamy!The NPC is still tied to a player account being the ship captain the NPC is servicing on. While the player who Agent Smithed into the NPC might not have a crimestat applied to their actions the captain of the ship the NPC was on will in fact be impacted. The other thing is that these NPC's are going to be crew members on multicrew ships and so the captain is going to have more incentive on what actions they are willing to take given the resources involved. Loosing ships and all of the gear and NPC's on a ship will have a large costs and one I imagine most players will shy away from until the game economy stagnates. So its not immortality for all, it still requires players with their char on those ships. Can a single player on an Idris have 20 NPC's that are then agent smithed. Its speculatively possible. From an outside perspective would fighting this Idris be any different if it had players in their char or controlling NPC's? I currently do not see it being any different. Controlling an NPC has no crimestat impact on you but neither does the heroic actions or reputation performed by the NPC you control have any impact on your chars rep. You want to get those high level bounty missions you still have to go out with your char and grind the rep. Jumping on your friends Idris as an Agent Smith is not going to help you progress forward with that. And your friend best trust you as shooting your gun at the police force is not going to make him any friends.
So I ask you. How does Agent Smith break with death of a spaceman?
The second part is from a game perspective how impactful is having your current char die? True you have to go back to the char creation screen and roll a new look, you could also possibly loose some or all of your rep. But otherwise all of your ships and cash will still be yours and you are still free to go out and do anything you like. From a game play perspective has minimal impact on your ability to play and it was already mentioned that rolling a new char wouldn't be a total wipe of rep/crimestat as they don't want players to abuse it. I know they want to give some weight to death but currently the only weight is bragging rights about the age of your char and its accomplishments. Both are not impacted by the use or not of Agent Smith.