Hello!

Today's question is provided by newer community member Invisible, with original question taken from here.
 
Invisible wants to know about the decay system, so let's check out that question.
 
And here's what our developers had to say:
In order to create a vibrant and balanced economy based on constant supply and demand, Earthrise will feature items that take damage and wear off through extended use, and players will often have to plan one step ahead for inventory. Almost every item created in the game will feature two very important properties - Durability and Quality. Durability measures the structural integrity of an item; as it gets used for its function (weapons strike or fire ammo, armors take damage, vehicles and mecha take damage and/or cross distances, devices are used, etc.), Durability is lowered. As Durability reaches low numbers, item properties will take into account certain penalties although items won't exactly weaken to the point where they become useless until they reach zero Durability. These penalties will cover the basic functions of the item - less damage from weapons, less protection from armor, slower vehicles, etc. Durability can be raised using tools, but as Durability is raised the item's Quality drops. Quality is a measure of quality of components used in the crafting process. Quality can never be regained - break an item too many times and repair won't do much anymore. As Quality drops, the item will receive penalties (penalties for Durability and Quality are cumulative, so beware!) and also the item's maximum Durability will lower. This creates two-fold effect - repair item too often and the item will require frequent repairs to properly support. So while high-quality items may keep you running for up to a month of gameplay or even longer, completely worn out equipment may break for a day or two of gameplay.

Thanks for the great question, and we'll see you all next week!
~ m.

Wow, pair this with:

and we're going to need some very efficient crafters and some very good gatherers to create items that will last. Its definitely going to be a very interesting economy possibly tiered into highest quality items made from scratch from the highest quality resources and then lower tiers based on lower quality materials and recycled components.


So melee weapons and, possibly, maybe, one can hope, butt strikes or bayonet strikes with ranged weapons, please?

This sounds great because as an aspiring crafter the things I craft will always be in demand either by my guild or just to sell for profit. No more of the idea that once I get my super duper weapon thats it. It will need to be acquired several times if you hope to always have one and use one. This brings in a much better and more realistic (because things do eventually break in real life) economy in my mind and adds more to the endgame experience.

Great system.. I thought I have seen it before in a game.. but can't remember which one.


But definatly, nice! Maybe this system creates a even more active economy then EvE Online!

*walks away, drooling*

Nice. Will repairs be the job of a craftsman?

Im kinda scared at this quality durability thing mainly cause crafters in this game will be the number one thing to be cause you constantly need to repair your items I hope money will be easy to come by so you can pay for this and insurance of your inventory

Hmm.. while I agree with the durability loss and eventual loss of the weapon/armor/mech, I find the quality loss to be over the top. It seems like an unneeded mechanic. I believe you should just be able to repair a certain number of times before the item has to go rather than the item losing its effectiveness each time you repair... seems redundent, most will replace their stuff at the first interval of quality loss anyway. I know you're looking for players to constantly involve themselves with crafters, but this may have us coming back -too- often. Don't want to spend more time in a crafter's shop than the battlefield.

Not a lot different from SWG.

High end playing requires high end items, which means items with top quality. Diminishing quality ensures that high end players will change their weapons more frequently, so it creates a bigger item turnaround, which is healthier for the economy.

I imagine that quality won't drop as drasticly as durability, which means that an item should last you for quite a while.