Well if something like this were implemented, clockworks activity would increase (and Arcade too) so I don't see why people should get free gear if they're just freeloading through levels.

I'd like to see this idea as an encouragement for Veterans to help out newer players with less-paying missions etc. It would help alleviate the boring grindyness about the game since the only two valid things to do now are run FSC, or if you have no energy, stand around in Haven and chat or stare at the auction house. If you had no energy, you could go "hey, let's go into the Arcade and play those new swarm levels" or something like "See how far we can go with just proto armor" etc.

Anyway, how would this work in solo for mats/equipment? Would they just not drop?

I'm thinking either that, or picking them up wouldn't receive them. Or perhaps a 90% chance of receiving materials and equipment drops, with a 10% chance that it will just disappear when you pick it up.

@Shamanala

Since your elevator fee is paid for, you'd recieve crowns as normal if tabbed: my idea doesn't change anything in parties of players who already have enough energy to do their run and have enough energy to go around all the party members

@Zeyez

revive price will stay at same, solo and on party? (probaly yes)

Yes you will be still forced to pay energy to revive. Otherwise you could just free revive and then give health to players who actually are paying for the level, resulting an an exploit.
Except that you don't have energy, that's why you're playing the levels for free lol. So if you die while running on empty, you're screwed ^_^ unless someone revives you. This will teach free players some patience :P

to get one boss token (if the boss give 3), running the entire mission, i need use, at least, 3 or 4 energy? or only if the guy spend 10 energy?

A boss token will be awarded for every level which was paid a full 10 energy to complete. (Plus the lobby/depth 14 bonus) So, a player starting from the Sovereign Slime lobby has 15 energy. They pay 10 energy on the first floor, but 5 energy on the second, then nothing to enter the boss. They get 2 tokens: (Assuming no energy revives were performed) one for the lobby, and one for the level they paid in full for.
Basil would work the same way: If you did not pay the full 10 energy to enter depth 3, 12, or 22 (In addition to the already existing pre-requisite that you had to have visited depth 2, 11, or 21 respectively) then his recipes would not show.

on OCH, i need use 10 energy to get the mask fragment?

For OCH, since the material is essentially a single token, 10 energy must be spent to enter the 5th level, as well as the already existing pre-requisite of needing to have visited the 4th level (duh, because the 5th level is restricted) otherwise the material will not appear (This doesn't actually differ much to what normally occurs: You can invite any bozo midway through the run, even right before the 5th level and he'll get the material)
Also, as I mentioned before, it is a mission, you must have previously completed it to gain this "free re-run" ability for it.

minerals, the same question

I'm wondering what to do about minerals, although their crown output is minuscule, (Securing the Camp mission doesn't consume energy and it gives 20 or more crowns) so I don't think that not blocking minerals as pickups would cause a big issue.

if someone wanna join one deployed party, he can join without spend/using reduced amount of energy? (exploitable, because this guy can revive everybody and leave)

You have an extremely good point here. What if, if a player joins a party without paying the full energy cost, his health is matched with the player who has the least health? Or, he gets his health filled proportionate to how much energy he spent entering the level (A player with a maximum health of 16 would start the level with 8 health if he only paid 5 energy) If he uses the elevator, the least he can start a level with is 3 bars (the same as people who are dead at the end of the last level)

@Terra-Necro

Imagine all the advanced players who don't die at all during levels and therefore don't revive. This idea basically punishes all skilled SK players.

That statement makes no sense. How are experienced players being punished?
If an experienced player is paying the full energy cost of a level, nothing changes from how the game already operates. If an experienced player is playing the level for free, they get nothing.
If a new player is paying the full energy cost of a level, nothing changes from how the game already operates. If a new player is playing the level for free, they get nothing.

If anything, the new player is punished (not really because they're freeloading in the first place), because they die more often, and if you die with no energy, you're a goner.

They technically aren't paying energy for the elevator per say.

Technically it's their elevator pass which is paying for it. (It is blue and does look like some sort of energy source)

This would only change how stuff operates in levels for those who normally wouldn't be able to enter the level due to lack of energy.