Well...as in RealLife(tm), You always have to deal with the aftermath.... hangover, etc.... You kids out there might not think much of this, but any sane, family guy 30+ like myself knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about....
then, there are the long-term social effects... You immerse into a bigger and bigger hole of Reality Dysfunction. The surrounding world slowly but surely starts to pull away and stop communicating in an equal and level-headed manner, treating you more and more like a leper child, or a disease. While the paranoia engulfs you in its steelgrip...

Time for some really interesting PCG/Random shaders....

JoshParnell wrote:Sorry, this is probably too deep of a gameplay question for me. I need people to weigh in here. Resident gameplay think-tanks (you know who you are ), how can we properly balance this to make sure the player doesn't become OP by drinking coffee every five minutes during battle, then docking and sleeping for a week after it's over?

Perhaps more importantly, should we allow the player access to drugs other than caffeine? Cardamine? Death Sticks? Blue Pill, Mindflood, Frentix? I'm starting to smell an expansion pack here... LT: The Shadow Chemist

im all for spice.

i want to be able to jump from system to system without having to hire a navigator

Poet1960 wrote:Josh, will every ship, regardless of tech, capability or faction, have a working coffee pot?

Because...you know, staying up to the wee hours of the morning running a vast empire REQUIRES at least some caffeine. Take your time in answering.

I emphatically endorse this.

The good news is that, due to the nature of the game itself, I'm pretty sure that I will have coffee enough on any ship I'm in, with or without a supporting game mechanic. (Which I presume will not be there, I'm afraid.)

JoshParnell wrote:Resident gameplay think-tanks (you know who you are ), how can we properly balance this to make sure the player doesn't become OP by drinking coffee every five minutes during battle, then docking and sleeping for a week after it's over?

Well, the thing is that is the character we are talking about, not the player. I thought that player's overdoses of coffee are a given due to the very nature of this game.

JoshParnell wrote:Perhaps more importantly, should we allow the player access to drugs other than caffeine? Cardamine? Death Sticks? Blue Pill, Mindflood, Frentix? I'm starting to smell an expansion pack here... LT: The Shadow Chemist

If we are talking about the character here, not the player (an important distinction if you want to avoid prison ), you would be adding controversy to your game, which is an interesting tactic if you ask me, depending of how you handle it.

I have but one thing to add to this discussion -

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."

#coffeeonships

Having carefully considered my demands, I would like to refine them to state that I would like Yorkshire Tea. Other teas are available but this one is in my humble opinion the best.