Sorry for very long post again...No, really.I simply can't explain it in few words!Read from
green line if you don't want to read this all.
This is no combat nerfing... this is balancing combat to be more interesting - to have more classes with various roles in battles, not just main force and sneak scouts as now.
Make an aim for combat different?
Right now it's: Eliminate enemy's team and anyone else who came to wrong place at wrong time.
Of couse they will use powerbuilds, 4 types of weapon (best SG, best EW, best BG and best throwing), etc.
What they will do:
See enemy, kill him, then again kill and kill and kill, when people on one side will end it's win.
What reason? Town Control... if you kill enemy's gang, town thinks that you're cool and you're becoming town controller.
What can be changed?
As example Gecko:
They coming there, shooting at everything that moves that has a name above. It's like ghouls asked them to purify thier land from other players and they will be happy and you'll control town?
Why not make TC quest-like, with roles and not only stupid eliminating everything that moves? It can be done like that:
1) Gang max of 5 players, 10vs10 isn't fallout + you'll understand later why there must be not so many players + it'll allow small gangs without alliances participate at this, because agan you'll read later that number of players in teams locked and others can't join, so there will be no help and fair number vs number fight.
2) Thier leader must be party leader (have atleast 5 CH), I hope devs will make that you can take only 1 drug at a time of only one type, so mentats will give only 2 CH and it means while mentats in effect leader can't take any other drugs and anyway must have atleast 3 base CH, or there will be less than 5 members and it'll be very very hard, or with the same eat-drugs-as-much-as-you-want system then there will be no CH based characters, and TC will simply require there x2 mentats if all 5 characters will have 1 CH.
3) You talk to Harold or whoever else, I don't know, it's roleplayers/quest-makes should think about it, he/she/it asks you and your followers to repair something at reactor because it's again broken, as always.
4) You're going to reactor and there your last hope to refuse to complete this quest or else there will be no way back, you talk to ghoul on reception, say everything you been asked to do, etc. Since now you can't leave area, untill you complete quest or die or something even worse.
Reactor should become restricted area, so noone can go past reception room if he isn't participant of quest.
Aim of quest:
Come to ghoul in other part of reactor, ask him to give you mega-tool-to-repair-some-stuff-so-ghouls-will-be-happy, on the half way to him something will happen with reactor and all doors will stuck. You'll need lockpicker with electronic lockpick (which isn't implemented, but it can be, because it exist in fallout) to open doors, or use traps skill for dynamite and explode doors or use science skill on terminal to slice system and open rooms. That ghoul will be crazy so one of characters must make succesful speech skill check or else he will say that he'll not give that damned thing to anyone then he'll mumble something about damned humans who came to thier reactor and because of humans something had broken again and then ghouls become hostile to you, so you'll have to use your combat skills to eliminate them.
5) After obtaining that tool or whatever you must make your way through all reactor to other part where you need to put/use that thing on something that broken and very need for ghouls being happy (no, it's not TV set with porn movie, but who knows).
6) All that time from 1) to 5) there will be another gang, some other ghoul who don't want to see other ghouls very happy says to them (other gang) to kill that humans who want to make ghouls happy at reactor.
There will be:
Atleast 2 terminals, every command will require science check to operate or else terminal will shut down for 20 seconds.
Commands like:
observe room #X (almost all rooms at reactor, except for essential rooms where are terminals, electricity thing and a room with broken thing that makes ghouls happy)
- after observing room you'll see this room on your screen with all ghouls/players/sneaking players there.
- [science check] you can open/lock doors at this room for like 30 seconds, locked doors can be opened only with explosive or electronic lockpick with normal traps/lockpick skills, terminal will be unavaible for 20 seconds after this command.
- [science check] you can remove radiation protection in that room for 20 seconds, so everyone except for ghouls will take high dose of radiation from reactor, if these players forgot to take some rad-x/away, then they have big problems.
There will be 1 or more electricity generator that supplies terminal, using repair skill on it with succeful check will shut down all terminals on 1 minute, regardless of succeful check or not, you'll get cooldown on repair skill for like 2 minutes.
With mines impletemnted (and adequte guards at guarded towns) traps skill will be really usefull there 'cause of corridors and small space to lay/spot/disarm mines.
Sneak skill is good because there're few (max 5) players, assassinating one of them will make real advantage, especially if this gang have only one specialist in one skill, so killing scientist means they can't use terminal, killing repairman means you can use terminal and they can't block it, killing trapper means you can lay mines and they will suffer much of this, etc.
So, now about 2nd gang:
1) You're going to some ghoul who don't want other ghouls being happy.
2) You're walking in reactor, lying to reception ghoul that you're here to help these guy (speech skill check)
2a) Speech check succeful: Ghoul believes you, they're not hostile to you.
2b) Speech check failed: Ghoul shouts on all map your name (who talked to him and failed speech skill) and everything he thinks about you and your parents, so other gang can hear it and know that 2nd gang failed. Ghouls become hostile to 2nd gang.
3) 2nd gang starts from other room, 1st gang can't wait 2nd gang there, because till 2nd gang take part, 1st gang can't talk to crazy ghoul, and if noone will come to participate, then 1st gang only need to talk to crazy ghoul, (kill ghouls, if speech check failed), and bring that thing to broken thing that makes all ghouls happy.
4) Now, after all doors shut because of ...something happened to reactor or may be that thing that makes all ghouls happy. And 2nd gang must eliminate all member(s) of 1st gang.
There 5 max members, they can be combat skill+needed skill variation, so he plays 1 role, or 2-3 skills in one, but bad in combat (gecko-TC-non-combat-powerbuild) with lockpick repair and science tagged.
1 sitting in terminal room to support allies with cameras to see where are enemies and see sneakers.
2nd protects 1st.
3rd sitting at generator to shut both terminals if they hostile gang will do something bad.
4th protects 3rd.
5th going to bring that thing to repair ghoul-happy-maker thing.
or 1st and 3rd sitting without protection and 3 other guys are going to do main job killing everything on sight or going to capture and keep both terminals to remove possibility to control rooms, but also they must capture and keep generator, 5 people isn't enough, so they will need to think what to do, or they all 5 can just be powerbuilds and kill everything on sight, the only problem that 1 terminal or mines of locked doors may kill them all.
Skills used at this TC:
all combat skills (to kill...)
repair (very useful, counter science)
science (almost essential)
traps (depends on what will be implemented)
speech (optional, but will make it much easier)
sneak can be useful
That's just an example, and you don't need to make battles more various, just leave it as it is at Fallout but make main aim of player interation not "just kill them all with these guns", but something else, it'll take alot time, and even if it'll be in FOnline someday, you won't see that soon. Balancing weapon can be done after making gameplay interesting at all.