Blackmoor's Money Suggestions

[blackmoor]

I feel like, at the very least, the option to steal more expensive weapons should be available to the dedicated pickpocket (as well as more money).

Lazymonk does make a good point in that stealing a bozar from the guard in F2 did seem a bit unfair. For me it resulted in save scumming to get a really good item, then selling it for enough money to buy my favorite weapon, the .223 pistol. But I strongly believe that that type of gameplay can be very fun if done in a fairer way - so for a person who invests a lot of points into pickpocket and stealth, they should have the option to steal heavier weaponry, and would be able to succeed in stealing it.

The same should go for money - as you become a better pickpocket, you are capable of stealing progressively more and more money from merchants that an ordinary thief couldn't get away with.

Currently I dislike the dynamic of filling up a bar and not being able to steal anymore, simply because it seems quite unrealistic. But I understand that something like it is necessary to prevent stealing from being either overpowered, or leading to save scumming.

I feel like a more reasonable approach, might be to allow the player to only steal a certain amount from the merchant (or other NPC). After that experience, the NPC will become more guarded, and his remaining items will be harder to steal. So only after you invest more points, will you have the option to steal those items available again, in addition to any larger items in his/her inventory. Since most characters will only have 4-5 items on them (where an item could also be a stack of money/ammo/etc.), I feel like this inventory categorization wouldn't take too much time.

Either way I hope Styg finds a way to incorporate an interesting but fair pickpocketing system into the game, which is hopefully a bit more realistic and allows for more progression as a pickpocket, so you could go back to older areas and still use the skill.

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I like the suggestions for improvement on money in general, certainly with the locked chests at least. Also I am all favor of more skill-related quests.

Money is definitely hard to come by. I'm not even sure what its like to play a character that doesn't invest as many points into barter with each new level; I shudder to think at how difficult it would be to even buy one or two repair kits. Thankfully now degradation rates are reduced so its probably not as hellish as I imagine

I agree completely.

Especially about the limitations of the suspicion bar. Ideally, the bar should reset itself after a certain period of time (maybe if you sleep and come back the next day). Since there is a very limited number of NPCs in the game and an even smaller amount of traders, this mechanic punishes players who invest skills in stealing unfairly. Hopefully Styg will find a way to balance these issues, while keeping the game challenging and fun.

The money system should be challenging, sure, but the more options and opportunities the better.

[Styg]

It's still possible to steal weapons and other heavy stuff, although its harder. You cannot steal equipped stuff or from the merchants inventories, though the latter might change in the future.

I really don't understand how you guys are so broke. I was able to gather more than enough money in each iteration of the game, even when the weapon degradation was very severe and I never invest into bartering skill.

[blackmoor]

It's still possible to steal weapons and other heavy stuff, although its harder. You cannot steal equipped stuff or from the merchants inventories, though the latter might change in the future.

Hello Styg. Good to hear you might be expanding the stealing system. Is there any chance that the suspicion bar might naturally fade over time? While suspicion is a good way to keep things balanced, but I think over time there should be forgiveness and a regeneration of items.

I really don't understand how you guys are so broke. I was able to gather more than enough money in each iteration of the game, even when the weapon degradation was very severe and I never invest into bartering skill.

I invest heavily in bartering, but selling a huge amount of loot only provides a few hundred credits, while buying a full stack of 50 bullets or full stack of 10 hypos costs a few thousand credits. I'm not saying the money system should be easy, please keep it challenging. But it's stacked heavily against the player and there should be more options and opportunities to make money. For players who like to shop, this is a seriously challenging aspect of the game.

[joejoefine]

Thanks for the reply . I guess I didn't realize it but you're right you can steal heavy weapons. I guess in the older system without the suspicion bar I never really had a chance to do that so it never really registered, and I haven't tried the new system yet. But if it works then that is basically what I was asking for; only I would tweak it in the way I described so that you can steal more later on. But this isn't because I need more money, just as a fun game play mechanic.

Also on the issue of money - for me personally, I only found it to be challenging at the beginning of the game (and this was when degradation rates were so high, and I couldn't really afford more than one repair kit).  But I think it is survivable, especially now with rates reduced. Certainly when you get into the mid to later stages of the game, there are so many opponents with great gear (especially energy weapons, although I know their costs have been reduced) that you can quickly amass a large sum of money, ammo, and medicinal supplies.

I guess one major thing I learned was that repairing a weapon or special piece of armor can provide a return that is greater than the price of buying a repair kit, and this works for multiple repairs. This was extremely useful to me, I'm kind of sad I had to go to the forums to discover it . This allowed me to buy back more repair kits, to the point where I would buy out all of the kits available and then spend the rest on ammo and stygian coins.

Also a good way to make a modest sum of money is to pick a bunch of mushrooms when you can (doesn't take too long), and also use the dog crates that are periodically restocked in the pens section of your base to capture more cave hoppers. You can sell them for a nice profit with good barter skill.

[blackmoor]

Also a good way to make a modest sum of money is to pick a bunch of mushrooms when you can (doesn't take too long), and also use the dog crates that are periodically restocked in the pens section of your base to capture more cave hoppers. You can sell them for a nice profit with good barter skill.

Oh! I'll have to try that. Up until now, I've exclusively made money by scavenging equipment and selling it in the starting city. But it sounds like selling cave hoppers is an unlimited revenue stream. Still, I stand by my suggestion to provide more financial opportunities for people who really want to pursue it.

And I'll just reiterate how much I agree with your idea to allow suspicion to fade over time.