HOW MUCH?! (In game Store prices rant)
- Thread starter Knarf
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It just seems like whether you get chiseled selling loot but have low operating costs or you get rich selling loot but have high operating costs you wind up in the same place. The designers' intent is to make it hard to accumulate c-bills.
Expounding on that,
To paraphrase the Devs this is Battletech, not Merchanttech.
They wanted you to have to play the game and fight for your c-bills. Not find a buy low sell high method.
5 parts, unequipped mechs, and no rare salvage make a world of difference on the economics. Can also shift payouts to stingy salvage if you feel like you are still getting too much loot.
I am currently running with 5 parts, but I think I prefer 3 parts and stingy salvage.
I am currently running with 5 parts, but I think I prefer 3 parts and stingy salvage.
Slaps
“This baby can fit 200 gigawatts of laser death in it. Only got 67000 pulses on the dash.”
To quote someone on this forum, that’s for the expansion:
Battletech 2: Clan Diamond Shark Mech Tycoon
So, for those saying, basically, that I am playing "easy mode"; well it IS my very first time playing this game and am playing on the default settings.
And I did NOT say that my trade-in should be worth full retail. (The welded car analogy was awesome though. LOL) All I said is that it should be worth more than 29% of retail. I think that 50% would be ideal.
And I did NOT say that my trade-in should be worth full retail. (The welded car analogy was awesome though. LOL) All I said is that it should be worth more than 29% of retail. I think that 50% would be ideal.
It comes down to balancing the game economy. If mechs can be sold for half their value there is no reason to take anything but salvage for pay. Any assembled mech would be worth at least a million c-bills, way more than the regular payouts.
It seems odd, but it makes the game economy work. So far, I haven't seen a good suggestion that would work better.
It seems odd, but it makes the game economy work. So far, I haven't seen a good suggestion that would work better.
It's not worth 29%. If you see the price for a full battlemech (as opposed to 3 parts of salvage), you will see that mech prices are pretty close to equipment prices.. in other words, you sell for ~10% of what you would buy it for.
Have I gotten spoiled by the mod? I thought a headshot mech dropped however many parts you had the setting for, the issue was just having enough salvage picks to collect them all.
As far as I'm aware of, taking the head (or incapaciting a pilot) without destroying any other components should net you 3 parts. That makes increasing the number of parts a way of increasing the difficulty since you would no longer be able to net a new mech with a single lucky shot.
6 episodes in to my new Flashpoint Campaign...
Done about 20+ missions....
Still not built my first mech...
The 8 part life is the thug life...
Done about 20+ missions....
Still not built my first mech...
The 8 part life is the thug life...
When I first started playing I shared the view of the OP, but now I believe that the shop is quite well balanced. I think that HSB sees salvage as the main way the player obtains new equipment - you do not build your lance by buying on the market. The current shop complements salvage well enough, by:
- Allowing you to complete a mech for which you already have multiple parts. It is expensive, but you are paying a premium to avoid being subject to RNG and to get a shiny new toy immediately.
- Getting some rare weapons (++ and +++) to enhance your lance.
- Allowing you to quickly obtain a key resource you are lacking (e.g., a new LRM20 for a damaged missile boat). This is useful especially in the early game.
- Getting something of value for all the "chaff" you get on the battlefield.
I’ve always thought that salvage should be better balanced. The whole game is designed around c-bills, yet there is no difference between salvaging a headshot Mech versus 3 heat sinks?
While I agree that salvaging should be better then buying for game play reasons, currently there isn’t an interesting decision when selecting salvage. Except for extremely rare situations, always take the Mech parts. They are worth the most as a new mech for use or sale, and there is no downside to choosing/collecting them.
Edit: to propose a solution instead of just whining, I’ve pondered whether it would make sense for each salvage item to take as many salvage “slots” as the item takes in the Mech bay. With Mech parts taking 4 or 5 slots.
My concern is that this would end up with the player having even more heat sinks and medium lasers than they do now. Granted, those are at least lower C-Bill items.
The other solution is to put a tonnage limit on what the Argo can hold. That seems like a big change though...
While I agree that salvaging should be better then buying for game play reasons, currently there isn’t an interesting decision when selecting salvage. Except for extremely rare situations, always take the Mech parts. They are worth the most as a new mech for use or sale, and there is no downside to choosing/collecting them.
Edit: to propose a solution instead of just whining, I’ve pondered whether it would make sense for each salvage item to take as many salvage “slots” as the item takes in the Mech bay. With Mech parts taking 4 or 5 slots.
My concern is that this would end up with the player having even more heat sinks and medium lasers than they do now. Granted, those are at least lower C-Bill items.
The other solution is to put a tonnage limit on what the Argo can hold. That seems like a big change though...
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I'm planning to mod my next run to eliminate the random salvage, so I only get the 0-7 picked parts. I expect this to make the stores and cash payment a lot more important.
Are you going to tweak the store rare item availability? There’s a few things I don’t think I’ve ever seen in store (++ Damage AC/10s and Medium Lasers for instance).
@Pode interesting. I would think the way to make the stores more important would just be to always take the maximum cbill payment and live with whatever minimal salvage you get. Also, before modding, try the custom difficulty settings:
- Set 'Salvage' to 'Stingy'
- Set 'Contract Payment' to 'Stingy'
- Enable 'No Rare Salvage'
So rare that I have 250+ just sitting around and backwater bandits have companies of assaults...
If that is true, then... fail.
IMHO, all these settings do is slightly delay the inevitable result of having enough hardware and cash to take on a Successor State. Because there is no such thing as a true "economy" in almost every computer game regardless of genre or type due to the fact that NOTHING ever wears out. Outside of battle damage, gun barrels never need to be replaced, capacitors never swell and leak, optics never crack or degrade, 1 ton of ammo actually equals unlimited ammo and armor miraculously reappears. An economy implies an ongoing exchange, but when items are around forever there isn't any exchange just stockpiling.