Random Casualty
Refugee
2.0 is a technical mixed bag of mostly heavy handed mechanics that went over like a wet fart. The Storm mechanics bring gameplay to a screeching halt. Biome badge is a quick set of quests that are super annoying and make the storm effect be the only thing that matters.
Then the other weird part that makes 2.0 bad is the mastery set of perks. They aren't a bad idea, but the implementation makes it way too easy to abuse them. The mastery perks make the game too easy! But lets not get rid of them, just alter the way you get them to support the game.
So rework what the biomes do to players. When you hit your first trader, he warns the player that wandering into <next biome> is dangerous, but he knows a way to make it less so. Either the trader offers quests or guides you to another NPC in the same compound that gives quests on how to mitigate the debuffs the other biome gives. NPC gives quests to gather supplies and rewards techniques to lower the intensity of the debuffs.
Example would be for the Burnt Biome to give the "smoke inhalation" debuff which causes a reduction in stamina regen. "Smoke" debuff that limits visibility. "soot" debuff that increases item wear, and "burnout" that actually causes damage if it reaches 100%. The NPC in the previous biome gives 4 quests to mitigate these debuffs. The quests require gathering materials to learn a technique. Sometimes the NPC admits he just wanted the materials and the technique doesn't use them.
There will be one main debuff in each zone that does damage, and learning the technique to mitigate it buys you more time before you take damage. Each biome has ways to lower the debuff percentage. You take zero damage until the debuff hits 100% and then you start taking damage every few seconds. Being inside of a building naturally protects from each biome debuff. Being in a vehicle halves the amount of debuff you build. Taking biome specific meds buys short term protection.
The Storms should be less deadly, more focused on annoyance. Debuffs build faster during a storm. Debuffs wear off slower during a storm. Vehicles still work during a storm, but are more prone to veering off course (more stable if you drive slower) and they take damage while moving. Traveling through a storm should feel bad, but not to the point you refuse to move at all.
Vehicles should have 1 set of mods introduced to prevent them from taking storm damage for burnt/desert, snow and wasteland. In my opinion any mod made for desert should double up on burnt, and don't introduce the protective mods until desert is reached. Make them available from either Bobby or through another NPC. Then make a set of mods to protect the players in 4x4 drop in t6 loot. Not a schematic, just the mod. I wouldn't make the protection mod work for all vehicles because the 4x4 is the only one you could potentially seal and protect the passengers.
And now lets swing back to the Mastery perks. Instead of being able to buy them with skill points, make it an entire system of dropped rewards for end-game loot. You get 3-8 Manuscript Fragments in each t6 loot chest. Each player gets 3 Manuscript Fragments for each T6 quest they perform. Add recipes to the T6 quest rewards that let a player craft each of the Mastery Perks. Which recipes you get offered are affected by the number of points you have in each perk line. As you learn recipes they get removed from the list of possible rewards. Hopefully this make the end-game feel more meaningful.
Then the other weird part that makes 2.0 bad is the mastery set of perks. They aren't a bad idea, but the implementation makes it way too easy to abuse them. The mastery perks make the game too easy! But lets not get rid of them, just alter the way you get them to support the game.
So rework what the biomes do to players. When you hit your first trader, he warns the player that wandering into <next biome> is dangerous, but he knows a way to make it less so. Either the trader offers quests or guides you to another NPC in the same compound that gives quests on how to mitigate the debuffs the other biome gives. NPC gives quests to gather supplies and rewards techniques to lower the intensity of the debuffs.
Example would be for the Burnt Biome to give the "smoke inhalation" debuff which causes a reduction in stamina regen. "Smoke" debuff that limits visibility. "soot" debuff that increases item wear, and "burnout" that actually causes damage if it reaches 100%. The NPC in the previous biome gives 4 quests to mitigate these debuffs. The quests require gathering materials to learn a technique. Sometimes the NPC admits he just wanted the materials and the technique doesn't use them.
There will be one main debuff in each zone that does damage, and learning the technique to mitigate it buys you more time before you take damage. Each biome has ways to lower the debuff percentage. You take zero damage until the debuff hits 100% and then you start taking damage every few seconds. Being inside of a building naturally protects from each biome debuff. Being in a vehicle halves the amount of debuff you build. Taking biome specific meds buys short term protection.
The Storms should be less deadly, more focused on annoyance. Debuffs build faster during a storm. Debuffs wear off slower during a storm. Vehicles still work during a storm, but are more prone to veering off course (more stable if you drive slower) and they take damage while moving. Traveling through a storm should feel bad, but not to the point you refuse to move at all.
Vehicles should have 1 set of mods introduced to prevent them from taking storm damage for burnt/desert, snow and wasteland. In my opinion any mod made for desert should double up on burnt, and don't introduce the protective mods until desert is reached. Make them available from either Bobby or through another NPC. Then make a set of mods to protect the players in 4x4 drop in t6 loot. Not a schematic, just the mod. I wouldn't make the protection mod work for all vehicles because the 4x4 is the only one you could potentially seal and protect the passengers.
And now lets swing back to the Mastery perks. Instead of being able to buy them with skill points, make it an entire system of dropped rewards for end-game loot. You get 3-8 Manuscript Fragments in each t6 loot chest. Each player gets 3 Manuscript Fragments for each T6 quest they perform. Add recipes to the T6 quest rewards that let a player craft each of the Mastery Perks. Which recipes you get offered are affected by the number of points you have in each perk line. As you learn recipes they get removed from the list of possible rewards. Hopefully this make the end-game feel more meaningful.