EDIT: Made a new post in response to some ideas thrown about in response to this idea. Read the OP first and then check here: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/66409#comment-547263
Hopefully anything that you felt was wrong has been addressed there. I am going to work on fixing up this OP as soon as I can.
This isn't one of those threads saying to get rid of the Energy system, so don't worry about that. I actually quite like the Energy system and how it limits playtime. It makes it so that you make sure that Energy counts while not letting you while away endless hours playing a single game. Though as we all know there are some problems with the current system among other things, so I'm here to propose an idea. Or to be more accurate an overhaul.
One of my main goals is to nerf how universally useful Crystal Energy is, while making Mist Energy and also Mist Tanks more useful and obtainable.
I'll try to be as brief as possible while still attempting to give a clear picture on what I'm talking about. Please, read ALL the points before picking this apart. I'm suggesting all of these things together because that's how they work. Together, not separately.
If you don't think something wouldn't work, please think about it in the context of having all of these implemented at the same time before flaming it to ashes.
Here we go:
1. Mist Energy still recharges naturally over a period of ~20 hours.
This mechanic is good in many ways in that it makes players plan ahead of time how they're going to go about their day. Some may say that it regenerates too slowly, but there will be ways of fixing that as I'll elaborate later on...
2. While in the Clockworks, Mist Energy is drained not by elevator usage (usually), but by just being in the Clockworks.
Energy would drain at a rate of about 1 Energy per minute. It encourages faster movement through the Clockworks and I think something like this would work better in the setting than the current system. Having it drain just by being in the Clockworks emphasizes how dangerous the world you're delving into is as it drains the very energy from your Knight. Further adding onto that, maybe the reason for this is the mysterious Swarm, which lends itself to more expansion on the story.
Plus, it allows for more variations in how levels play and lends to a few more ideas for level design and story.
A few examples:
- Certain areas wouldn't drain Energy at all. These areas would be on the surface of Cradle and above, possibly opening up new areas to explore and giving the option to travel around to various locations such as the Skylark, the Rescue Camp, and a new dungeon-type level, Cradle's Axis (the golden semi-circle around Cradle.) While the Axis wouldn't drain your Energy by being there, it would be dangerously hard. Beyond Danger Mission hard.
- Shadow Lairs would drain Energy faster due to the nature of the Swarm. This makes them even more dangerous than they were. Especially if you add in a crippling negative effect for running out of energy...
- Safe zones in dungeons where Energy isn't lost (starting area, certain arenas, lengthy bosses if need be, etc.) and Drain zones as well. Could lead to multiple paths in levels where one may be shorter, but drains energy faster, another is a normal path that drains at the usual rate, while still another may be a no-drain zone, but have significantly more dangerous enemies (maybe even leading to the reintroduction of the Tortodrone)
NOTE: Boss level elevators would still take some amount of energy to use. This is to keep them from being easily farmed over and over again. They would cost even more if you try the boss via Mission to keep the balance of Energy cost vs. reward.
ANOTHER NOTE: If the benefit of not having an elevator cost is too great, tack a SMALL price onto them. Of course this would require a lot of testing that I couldn't accomplish, but I'm sure OOO could.
3. Once out of Energy, your Knight is in a weakened state, dealing lower damage, taking more damage, and moving slower. Eventually you'll start to lose health as well if you don't return to the surface.
Since the elevators (probably) don't burn up any Energy, what's stopping players from staying in the Clockworks all day long? The threat of exhaustion of course! Burning out all of your energy leaves your Knight highly vulnerable to the threats of the Clockworks, making it more beneficial to probably head back topside and save yourself from losing a certain new item... (more on that new item in a bit)
4. The Energy drain will NOT effect Crystal Energy.
We don't want people to start accidentally burning their hard earned dosh. That's just heartless. However...
5. Crystal Energy can't even be used for the same purposes as Mist anymore and the same goes for Mist.
"BLASPHEMY!" you cry, but hear me out on this. Crystal Energy is still mainly used for crafting and extra monetary exchanges that don't use Crowns, but they can't be used for revives and other things in the Clockworks. If you want to do more adventuring than usual or feel you may need some extra Energy down in the Clockworks, Crystal Energy CAN be compressed into a Mist Tank for you. This will require a payment in Crowns however and maybe some various materials.
If you do try to use CE for those purposes in a last ditch effort or something, it will cost you DOUBLE the amount that it would take for Mist. That means you need to do a lot of forward planning if you delve into the Clockworks. You don't want to carry in CE with you into the Clockworks just to accidentally lose some of it and then have to buy more, so plot ahead!
Seeing as I'm aiming to bring Mist Tanks into regular use, let's add on to that...
6. Enemies can drop Energy fragments, allowing Knights to regain lost Energy if they can overcome their adversaries in a timely manner and make it back to Haven in one piece.
These new Energy fragments are essentially small shards of Crystal Energy. However, they're too tiny to be used on their own and need to be compressed into a Mist Tank before they can be used. Further more, should you not be able to revive and have to return to Haven after falling, you lose ALL gathered fragments.
Granted this would either be a rare drop or require a LOT of fragments to constitute a single tank of Energy, but it gives players an incentive to battle all the denizens of the Clockworks. It also makes players think more about picking their fights. If an enemy takes more time than the possible Energy it might provide or is too risky to fight in the first place, it may actually be more beneficial to just skip it. But that allure of extra Energy may be a bit too much to resist...
If kept at the right drop rate/collection rate, stronger Knights wouldn't be able to farm for Energy because they would lose more Energy than they would gain in the process. Or they could just sell them and use the Crowns for accessories and whatnot.
Now before I forget about these (again), Elevator Passes! If the whole Energy drain turns out to work too well and make elevator costs a thing of the past, what use do they serve now? Aside from boss runs, what am I supposed to do with this thing?!
I'm glad you asked!
7. There will be a new kind of elevator (or to be more accurate a Spiral Order escape pod Macgyvered into an elevator/rocket drop pod.) These "elevators" will bypass the level rotations of the Clockworks and allow you to choose your destination for ~10 Energy.
From what I can tell by the forums and other players that I've met, Passes are mostly used for boss runs, so why not add an incentive to go through the Arcade? If you could hit all the profitable levels in any given Gate, you could walk away with more Crowns than if you had done a boss run. Plus it would be a hell of a lot more exciting than running through the same level over and over.
You could also add in some occasional special levels that are outside the Clockwork rotation with rare enemies and items only accessible through these special elevators. Hell, even some level modifiers (no energy drain, increased heat, Crown, drop rate, etc.) that get randomly assigned to levels and players with passes could chery-pick their way to victory so to speak.
ADDITIONAL IDEAS:
These aren't a part of my overall idea, but could be fun to mess with nonetheless.
The ability to Overcharge you Knight by giving them too much Mist Energy.
Say when you use a Mist Tank, there's some left over Energy that just gets wasted. Sad, right? Not anymore! Ascend your Knight into a temporary state of badassery with that extra Energy! Faster movement! Swifter and harder hitting strikes! Quicker charges! More prismatic glow! All this could be yours for a grievous or intentional math error!
This would only be a temporary buff and would burn that extra energy fast. Your Knight will go back to normal once the excess is burned off and you're back at 100 Mist again, but this would add a new dimension to fighting enemies. Imagine the possibilities with boss fights if you could let loose with a ridiculous amount of burst damage! Imagine if that were the quickest way through their ridiculous defenses! Imagine possible armor that could be created to boost this ability! Oh the possiblities!
Add Mission levels to the Clockworks.
What do I mean by that? Just pull the missions out from the Missions menu and throw them into level rotations in the Clockworks. It'll make ventures into the Clockworks more exciting if things actually "happened" along the way. Plus it could add incentive to use the new elevators to selectively go to these missions... or go around them. Whatever spins your snipe.
If done in the right way, it could lead to the revival of the Arcade, since you can get the same out of it should you go this way or that. Hell, it could be worked on even further and you only select the Mission from the menu. You have to get to the Mission area yourself to progress the story.
To make it easier, a level could just be marked "Mission" and should you have a Mission selected, it would play that Mission. Otherwise it may generate a level with a random Mission-like goal or play a Mission that you have already beaten.
Elevator Pass-only areas.
This probably isn't the best idea at all, but it is something to consider. Make certain areas off limits to people without Passes, similar to the Shadow Lairs. These areas wouldn't offer that much more, maybe some unique materials or something like that. Just something more for the players who put their own money toward the game.
And that's not to say that Freebies can't tag along should they join up with a player with a pass. Just a thought.
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WELP.
That's my proposal. With proper Energy fragment drops and pricing of Mist Tank production, CE prices could drop dramatically finally with a good Crown sink. New content for both players who pay and those who don't/can't, while offering just a bit more to those that do pay. Putting more attention to diversifying the Arcade from the Missions. As well as lowering costs on the bosses should you visit them through the Arcade and not the Mission menu. A bunch of new mechanics and areas to think about.
To be honest, I was going to make a big fancy illustration to go along with it to better explain some of the smaller points along with some concepts for the new elements, but I can't see taking that much time to make something like that. Not if OOO barely listens to us much anymore. I just wanted to get this idea out in the open and hear your feedback on it.
And please remember that all of this is supposed to work together. Some of the individual ideas may be able to stand on their own, but for the most part a lot of these rely on the mechanics introduced by the other ideas. I've thought about a lot of these over for a long while trying to work out every little kink that I could, but I can only see this from my own perspective. It helps to have other people point out problems that I missed and to help build on these ideas.
I look forward to your input!
uuuugg....not more energy removal threads. I'll read this then create a real reply.
EDIT: o.o not what I expected. It's late here so I'll come back tomorrow. Promise!