2 hours ago, RipClaw said:The question is, what would be a fair reward for the amount of effort it takes to clear a T5 POI? At the start of A21, the quest rewards for T4, T5 and T6 were no better than T3. People were complaining. No one was motivated to do higher quests.
I suspect the "Clearing a T5 POI" or "Quest/Dungeon" paradigm TFP have created, is its own worst enemy. Why should there be a reward other than the XP and loot the T5 provided for clearing it? Maybe the only reward is trader reputation bonus for cheaper and better Trader items. Maybe the reward is a Flare Gun and flare to call in a Supply Drop. Maybe the reward is parts to a radio to make contact with the outside world to organize a rescue (to move the story mode along.)
Where the balance point should be to make the majority of players happy, who knows? I will say that my current no trader play though has been one of the more enjoyable ones. Looting when, where, and how much is quite liberating, opposed to grinding out trader quests ad nauseum to outpace the progression.
That's why I like a mission/barter system. I choose the reward (not rewards or loot table) and gets tasks assigned. e.g. want a Chem Station then three T4 clears, two T5 clears, nnn resources, and some dukes (Regardless of level). Want a T5 Steel club then...
Arguably finding the balance point is just as difficult (or more so) but I suspect players may enjoy the approach more as they have some agency against RNG and to fill the holes in their character's development. Then again with the amount of mods out there to make the relative easy 7d2d game, easier and faster, I may be way off base.