Insurance ?

I can completely agree with this. You are correct that if done too "hardcore" it'll be off putting to some. This is where different options of PvP would be great such as PvP PoI, Arena (where you wouldn't lose your stuff probably, such more to show prowess), dueling, guild battles, etc.

But this thread was about item insurance so again, quick answer... no thanks. =)

 

You can't have good PvM without the extremely rare possibility to find great items/resources. You can't have extremely rare items and use them without insurance. Let's face it, +5 longswords wont keep me PvMing for 12 years as it did in UO.

 

If items are cheap, and player made....

If a solid item system is implemented.....

When I die I'll just rez, recall home and put on another GM suit of leather.

I enjoyed the simple item system implemented in the UO BETA with +1, +2 weapons .

All my best items in UO currently are "cursed" so I cant insure them anyway.

If you put 20 hours or worse into crafting or getting mats for a superbly rare sword and you lose it because you die and theres no insurance system. I think thats absolute crap.

 

For crafting to be an every day event for this game and not just a one time thing, there MUST be item loss on death. Otherwise there is no way for items to leave the system.

Example, take my time and craft an Uber sword, if I never drop it, I have no reason except to sell it. Well after everyone has crafted the ONE Uber best sword, that they will NEVER lose, after a while the value of that Uber sword will drop, and the demand will be gone because everyone will have it.

I HATE item systems where you go raid bosses for that uber leet item trying to build a Legendary Set suit. What happens is once everyone has worked hard and is all suited up, and people want more to do, the devs just add a new tier of items that require you to go grind quests/resources to get the best suit again.

I rather have a system where instead of the developers creating a new Uber item every so often for us to grind for, we have item loss on death and we just constantly craft to replace current gear.

 

I dont consider it a full loot world if there is item insurance. Might as well just have a "full loot" world that involves a gold drop each time you die, and you keep all your stuff.

 

I totally agree with Bizmal no insurance just like the original UO. The same reason why I left as ell unfortunately.

 

It would likely make me leave the game never to return. The moment a game starts making me feel like I've just wasted my time I don't see it as worth playing anymore.

If there is no insurance, every item needs to be easily and cheapily replaceable; if there are items that take too much time or effort to get, there needs to be some kind of protection or insurance at least to those items.

 

What level of "aquireability difficulty" do you really mean with this? Are you talking about some strong rare loot item you found in the middle of some random dungeon? A weapon you've maintained and upgraded for the last week/month/year?
Its a slippery slope when you get to the little details of implimenting this kind of thing, make it too lenient and only the most foolhardy of players will ever lose something of real value, but make it too expensive and everywhere you will find an inexperienced player that will cry about the unfair advantage insurance gives to the most successful and wealthy.

I'm not exactly against having insurance in the game, but I would want it to be costly enough that it could never become the status quo in PvP...
Maybe if the cost of insurance on the an item would grow exponentially with each 'save' of the item that occurs; that way if durability doesnt eventually break the item, the cost of keeping it insured will balance the item in PvP.

 

It's exactly what I want. I'm not going to risk losing anything of real value; if I can't play without that risk, then I'm not going to play (or, rather, I will remain offline, where I will be able to use mods and cheats to nullify that risk).

If that risk only exists in PvP, it simply means that I will never, ever, give PvP (or at least the PvP modes where that risk exists) a chance.

 

The thrill and RISK that I might lose my items adds a level of excitement that I know I enjoy and I imagine others also.

I think to many games out there now days focus SOOOO much on grinding and building that uber perfect armor set that you never have a chance of losing and you plan to use forever. Only problem like I said before is, after a while everyone has all the same Uber gear and gets bored. This forces the devs to roll out a new top tier that people grind for, then get bored again, and the cycle keeps going.

I HOPE AND PRAY that the crafting system makes it so that I am not spending hours/days/weeks making a single set of armor that if I lose I will rage quite the game. I hope its like UO crafting (or even minecraft now days), where you farm resources and make SEVERAL sets of armor that you plan on replacing many times. THAT will help crafting be a very key part of every day life and not just a side hobby, and will help the economy not get inflated with masses of items that have no way of exiting the market.

 

Option 1: Full insurance and long grind periods for each episode. This approach is gear-oriented and rewards time investment. Prerequisites to PVP include obtaining a Hat of the Magi and a Sword of a Billion Truths. See modern UO and WoW for examples.

Options 2: No insurance, no excessive grinds, and minimal item-based advantages. This approach is skill-oriented and rewards risk-taking. Prerequisites to pvp include obtaining multiple disposable sets of cheap armor, and practicing combat a lot. See Mortal Online and Darkfail.

Option 2 definitely sounds more compelling, but looking at MO and DF reminds us of the problems with this approach. I'm all for no insurance, less item-based advantages, and less grinding, but to stay afloat in the 2013 gaming world, the game can't be too hardcore for players like Silent Strider (not to say that the "I shouldn't have to take any risks ever" mindset isn't extreme).

 

Thats a very strong statement there, it shows your determination to never lose.
I was considering "Insurance" as a game mechanic for the game in general, and making the case that it would heavily impact PvP if handled improperly.
I don't think it should be designed as something meant specifically to counter PvP risk (although that would likely be its primary function - development vs meta is always like that).

For example... an item with Insurance on it would be saved from a stealing attempt or from getting looted after death, but also possibly from PvE traps that may target an item's durability in attempt to destory it.

I think its naive to assume that a solo player might never experience item loss, even if they were playing the game completely in SPO.

 

I really dont know much about SOA atm but i found my old server handled this pretty well. it was AOS with no insurance. it took 10 minutes to hunt the gear necessary to pvp with meaning the cost of pvp was extremely cheap, i used to buy a suit of armor for 2k.

The cheap cost of pvp encouraged everyone to try without being terrified of losing a weeks work and supported the economy, good players still used runic gear and died less, but were reluctant to pvp in the best gear available, this meant that pvp was more balanced as newer players werent priced out of pvp.

As has been said, the big appeal of UO was the element of freedom and risk. adding insurance in my experience made the game horribly inbalanced in favor of vets and nulled the thrill of pvp

TL;DR - No insurance, cheap as chips pvp gear instead.

 

Please, no insurance. They're already leaning towards not having any bound items either, so I find it unlikely that they will implement insurance.

 

Not exactly. What I dislike is not losing; it's being punished for losing.

In fact, I prefer games that are atrociously hard but have no penalties for failing (apart from losing the time spent in the attempt). A game that I always win on my first or second attempt is truly boring. Heck, I often add extra restrictions on how I play just to make games more challenging, such as restarting from the last save point in the Arkham games if I ever take a single hit (i.e., in those games I play as if I didn't have a health bar at all).

 

I would loot as the item should have value and to prevent an enemy from picking their sword back up and jumping straight back into combat.

 

Very interesting that you mention Mincraft. I think we could learn from it. It is a great example of what a sandbox style approach to gaming can offer.

 

Blessed items in UO were rare and exspensive, people that used them in PvP were often scoffed at. I came into posession of a Blessed Vanq Katana, I was actually to embarrased to use it . If I remember correctly, even blessed items decayed over time. I think I would echo what you say that if there were very rare 'insured' items that gave a moderate advantage in PvP then I wouldn't have an issue with it, as long as it was seen as something of a rare item/status symbol and not the norm. After all, rare items were very important to the economy. I don't think blessed weapons actually took much away from the game because they were so rare but insurance did! I can't come up with an argument for implementing a blessed item system apart from adding something rare to the economy. I feel like I could spend all day ranting about why insurance and no loot should not be implemented.

 

I think Richard has spoken of items having a lifespan. You can keep on repairing and using the same item to a point that it's not reasonable to repair the item due to the higher costs, or it'll be impossible to repair it. Then you have to decide whether you'll hang up the sword (your dear Rat Slicer) on your wall, or perhaps recycle the materials. So if we are to lose any item we use sooner or later, perhaps we won't be so deeply attached to the stuff we craft or find.

I think it'd be good if we didn't have items that are so valuable, that someone couldn't use them. Hopefully the weaponry, armor, anything that we use that decays and suffers from wear and tear will eventually be broken and given a new life in reforging or reusing the materials or parts of them! So I hope we won't have a need for insurance.

 

No please.
I'd like to see items change hands(avoiding all pvp debate). For any scenario in general, but it'd be cool if say a really hard monster killed me and looted my shield. Well not only to get my revenge, but to get my shield back I HAVE to kill him! Like a double incentive.