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.

Very cool, should always give us something to work on next.   One could go into a hopeless fight wearing good armor that has been around the block a few times rather than some shiny new piece that was just crafted.   Folks can put their low quality/durability items up for sale so crafters can remake them into something else. 

Great great idea, although I'm sure once that almighty weapon you've got starts losing its quality you're going to get pissed, but that's just how I like it.
I like it rough oh yeah oh yeah! <nevermind that.
The primary reason I can't wait to test/play/watch Earthrise is because of the innovative NEW ideas that I've been dying to see in MMO's for a very long time now, and the fact that you still realize that gameplay comes first. This is one of the examples of a good gameplay system. This system is simple, not too complicated like some might like, but it's great.

Good to see how it fits together. So it seems Quality is like the level, and durability is its progress. (Where it levels down in this case).  But will repairing it automatically make the quality lower, or will the quality drop by a percent so you get one or two repairs before its greatly noticeable?

I think some types of robot assistants can repair.

^{Source: QOTW 17-Nov-08}

I would imagine that outside of that crafters would be able to repair. And maybe some sort of a terminal/NPC?

I don't think you have to worry zorky. Repairing could be anything from npc's, specific nano items, to a specific field of crafting, meaning yeah, there would be many crafters under the repair field, meaning huzzah for them, they can repair their own weapon. 

Also, depending on the price, it could be just as efficient to find someone (or something) to do it for you.

I think that repairing items would be something that needs to be able to be done quickly and easily, so I hope that you don't have to track down certain specifics to get your stuff repaired, or wait in line for a player to fix em.

Oh yeah, cool. So it would still be tied to crafting as the robot will be created by the crafters. I wouldn't be against letting crafters control the repairing of items.



Ahh yeah I would want it to be convenient but at the same time I'd still want the work tied to a crafter in a contract type way (to add diversity to craftsmen). Maybe simple repairs can be handled with npcs/terminals and in some special situations the craftsmen will need to repair the item themselves but only seldom.

Im kinda scared at this quality durability thing mainly cause crafters in this game will be the number one thing to be *snip*

Well since crafted items will be better than looted ones anyway this would already make us number one to be. And concerning the decay options, i think it's the only way to go to have a solid player based economy. way to go earthrise you just got my subscription confirmed with this.