[Suggestion] make augments more attractive, useful

[rhaining]

[I posted this on getsatisfaction.com. I'm not sure what would work best for the devs and for the community to get visibility for suggestions. Folks in the community, if you like this suggestion, please upvote it here! https://getsatisfaction.com/ftlgame/top ... used?rfm=1 .]

I don't use most augments. From my conversations on various FTL fora, I can confirm that the same is true for many other players. This is sad, because there's a lot of great content we just plain don't use. The reasons for this are (a) you can often get more value out of the augment by selling it and (b) you can only have 3, so you need to sell or toss the ones that aren't absolutely the greatest. In addition, the fact that only non-stacking augs are (in effect) automatically sold whereas others must be thrown away compounds the problem.

Here are some ways to handle augments that I think would be more interesting:

* Option A: There's no limit to the number of augments you can have. Augments may or may not stack, but I'm leaning against any stacking, it's just a Boolean set of which augments do you have and which do you not have. Augments can never be sold or broken down for scrap, they can only be added to your ship or thrown away (or not purchased in the first place). This would encourage folks to actually use and take advantage of the full breadth of augments. It would also make augments in stores more tempting when you know they won't crowd out other augments.

* Option B: Augments can be stored in cargo, just like weapons and drones. This way, if you find a 4th augment, you can store it if you have space -- or you can space it if you don't have space. Augments all have rectangular icons just like weapons and drones. You can put any 3 augments into your augment slots that you want, but if you equip more than 1 of a type that doesn't stack, the 2nd one is grayed out and inactive (but it does let you store it). Augments are never broken down automatically, you have to go to a store if you want to sell them.

* Option C (can stand alone, or can combine with option B, or possibly with option A): your crew can break down any item for scrap -- weapons, drones, and augments -- any time it is safe. You only get 25% of the purchase price (aka 50% of the sale price), but at least you don't have to throw stuff into space, and, you can scrap something immediately if you're in super need right now. Lanius crew members have the ability to scrap any piece of equipment at any time for 50% of the purchase price (aka full sale price), obviating the need to visit shops to sell entirely.

[English Narwhal]

A) You posted this in Technical Support and Bugs. This is not a technical support related issue, nor is it a bug.
B) The point of having only three augmentation slots is to make it more challenging- inspiring more tough decisions.
C) A condescending tone about programming in the game isn't going to get you anywhere- saying that 'all you have to do is...' is subconsciously (or consciously) telling people to be more hostile.

[rhaining]

I appreciate your response, thank you.

It wasn't clear to me where to post suggestions. Given that the devs use GetSatisfcation to track both bugs and suggestions, I assumed this forum would also be for both bugs and suggestions. My apologies to the devs and the community if this was incorrect! Please do tell me where suggestions should be posted and I'll happily post this suggestion there.

I understand the point of having limited augs, and gameplay balancing scarcity in general. I'm also delighted with the level of challenge this game provides. I'm just sad that there are so many great augs that just plain don't make the cut, at least for me, and for many other players whose opinions I've read online. As a huge fan of the game, I wanted to contribute my suggestion. I'm under no illusion it will be used, just wanted to make it. I believe it could be even more fun if there was more possibility to try out more augments, and I believe this could be done w/o upsetting the excellent game balance already in place. At least on hard mode, scrap is extremely scarce, so even if I could save and use every augment, I'd still be tempted to sell most of them just for the money alone. But if space were not also constrained, maybe I'd hold on to more of them and thus experience a wider variety of customized ships.

As for your C point about condescension, I don't fully understand where this is coming from. You're not directly quoting me, and I certainly didn't intend or feel any condescension. (I suppose *any* suggestion for how to improve this awesome game -- literally one of my favorite games of all time -- is the height of hubris, so could be considered condescending!) I'm very glad you said this, though, because if my post came across that way to you, it might well come across that way to others. I sincerely apologize if anything about my post was offensive! I hope and trust it won't be taken that way.

[rhaining]

I just noticed that the original title of this forum post might have sounded condescending. It was titled "make augments attractive, useful". I've retitled it to be (hopefully) less offensive while still conveying a brief summary of what the post is about.