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Skills Benefits, Energy Replenishment ... and MORE!!
Slickjack
Registered Users 4 Posts
Skills Benefits:
As our avatars improve in skills (Dramatic, Comedic, Heroic, etc.) we should see an improvement in the Energy/Completion ratio for the various actions involved in performing a project. Instead, the energy cost remains constant as does the project completion rate. As an example, in an Action Movie at least one studio requires ten energy points to perform the "Take Cover" action. The reward is ten little blue stars which accumulate toward the completion of the project and the Star Value of the avatar's performance. Generally, an action costs x number of energy points and provides an equal number of little blue stars. This is the case whether the avatar's skill rating is 0 or 5. This can be easily changed to provide more little blue stars as the skill level increases and reflect the real world fact that a skilled actor (or any kind of worker, really) can perform a task faster and better than an unskilled worker can perform the same task. Our avatars deserve to benefit from the skills they have earned by having a better Energy/Completion ratio as their skills improve and especially when the skills have been mastered.
This should also apply to dating. The Romantic skill is the least productive ("Get Close" or "Pull Out Chair" actions) of the dating choices. My experience is that liquor is quicker.
Energy Replenishment:
While probably everyone who reads this forum has undoubtedly wanted some way to replenish his avatar's energy faster, the only offered solution I've seen (I confess, I may have missed some others) is to reduce the elapsed time interval from five minutes to something like three minutes. While the exact amount of reduction is open to discussion the question is really one of how such a reduction would affect GLU's revenue stream. While I can't imagine many players are buying stars in order to convert them to energy, I can't imagine it amounts to very many. An alternative would be to increase the random chance that tapping on an object will result in an Energy Bolt. (I refer to the process as molesting pigeons, regardless of the actual object being tapped.) The whole business of molesting pigeons can get extremely tedious when one is trying to accumulate 34 Energy Points. As far as I can tell, the whole tapping on objects operation seems to result in about a 10% return of Energy Bolts to pigeons molested. This random value could be be increased as the avatar's level increases so that one need not allocate the better part of an hour to recovering Energy.
Support of Other Suggestions:
Many of the suggestions I've seen here have met with my wholehearted approval. These include but are not limited to:
1) Customization of spousal wardrobe, accessories, hairstyle, etc.
2) Plus one (spouse, fiancee, significant other) at Star Awards.
3) Co-star recieves some benefit from appearance.
4) Experience Bar shows how much needed to next level.
5) Use the Theatre more; Premieres, Red Carpet Events, Benefits, etc.
6) Option to purchase pets with in game money instead of Stars. Like the Pomeranian.
Far too many female NPC's wear leg warmers! In LA! During a Santa Ana! When temperatures are likely in excess of 101F. Besides, leg warmers haven't been in style for thirty years!
- sj
As our avatars improve in skills (Dramatic, Comedic, Heroic, etc.) we should see an improvement in the Energy/Completion ratio for the various actions involved in performing a project. Instead, the energy cost remains constant as does the project completion rate. As an example, in an Action Movie at least one studio requires ten energy points to perform the "Take Cover" action. The reward is ten little blue stars which accumulate toward the completion of the project and the Star Value of the avatar's performance. Generally, an action costs x number of energy points and provides an equal number of little blue stars. This is the case whether the avatar's skill rating is 0 or 5. This can be easily changed to provide more little blue stars as the skill level increases and reflect the real world fact that a skilled actor (or any kind of worker, really) can perform a task faster and better than an unskilled worker can perform the same task. Our avatars deserve to benefit from the skills they have earned by having a better Energy/Completion ratio as their skills improve and especially when the skills have been mastered.
This should also apply to dating. The Romantic skill is the least productive ("Get Close" or "Pull Out Chair" actions) of the dating choices. My experience is that liquor is quicker.
Energy Replenishment:
While probably everyone who reads this forum has undoubtedly wanted some way to replenish his avatar's energy faster, the only offered solution I've seen (I confess, I may have missed some others) is to reduce the elapsed time interval from five minutes to something like three minutes. While the exact amount of reduction is open to discussion the question is really one of how such a reduction would affect GLU's revenue stream. While I can't imagine many players are buying stars in order to convert them to energy, I can't imagine it amounts to very many. An alternative would be to increase the random chance that tapping on an object will result in an Energy Bolt. (I refer to the process as molesting pigeons, regardless of the actual object being tapped.) The whole business of molesting pigeons can get extremely tedious when one is trying to accumulate 34 Energy Points. As far as I can tell, the whole tapping on objects operation seems to result in about a 10% return of Energy Bolts to pigeons molested. This random value could be be increased as the avatar's level increases so that one need not allocate the better part of an hour to recovering Energy.
Support of Other Suggestions:
Many of the suggestions I've seen here have met with my wholehearted approval. These include but are not limited to:
1) Customization of spousal wardrobe, accessories, hairstyle, etc.
2) Plus one (spouse, fiancee, significant other) at Star Awards.
3) Co-star recieves some benefit from appearance.
4) Experience Bar shows how much needed to next level.
5) Use the Theatre more; Premieres, Red Carpet Events, Benefits, etc.
6) Option to purchase pets with in game money instead of Stars. Like the Pomeranian.
Far too many female NPC's wear leg warmers! In LA! During a Santa Ana! When temperatures are likely in excess of 101F. Besides, leg warmers haven't been in style for thirty years!
- sj
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Comments
yeah same here, I had to reread your energy suggestions xD I think it is pretty nifty as well :]
Shiro,
Sorry if my writing is a bit dense. The resurrected ideas should seem familiar to you as some of them came from your posts!
The basic idea of the "Skill Benefits" section is that your star or starlet (avatar) improves in ability during the game and that improvement should be reflected in the results of the avatar's actions in completing a project. As the avatar (your starlet or star) masters a skill (Dramatic, Romantic, Heroic, etc.) the avatar should be able to complete a project faster and better than a mere neophyte would complete the same project.
Let's say you're making a Romance movie. You stare off into the sunset for 12 energy cost. The result is a little bit of experience, somewhat more cash, and 12 little blue stars which are accumulated in colouring in the five larger stars in the bottom left of your screen and will eventually mark the completion of filming and the stellar or less than stellar acting turn of your avatar. As the game now stands, you get 12 little blue stars for staring into the sunset the first time you ever make a Romance film. When you've completed level five of the Romantic achievement and mastered the skill, you still receive the same 12 little blue stars for staring into the sunset. This simply makes no sense! By the time you've mastered a skill, you should be better and more efficient in successfully completing actions than you were the very first time you stared into a sunset. The way to mark your avatar's increased ability is to increase the little blue stars generated by the completed action.
While there is certainly room for discussion about just how much the number of little blue stars should be increased, I suggest that a mastered skill should result in a 50% increase in the little blue stars generated by a completed action. So, having completed Romantic level 5, staring into the sunset would result in 18 little blue stars rather than the 12 little blue stars a raw rookie at Romance movies would receive. Similarly, maxing out the Film Tech achievement would mean 3 little blue stars for a lighting check as opposed to 2 little blue stars, etc.
The end result is that you would complete a project at less energy cost as your skills increase. This only makes sense.
- sj
Haha I understand it xD Thanks for making it even more clear though
It's a great idea for sure! It does make sense, and would add a whole lot more to the gameplay :]
it would help a little if the amount of stars gets increased
ZBJ101