» Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:17 pm
I think a good way to make PvP more solo friendly could be the restriction of groups depending on the CH stat of the Party Leader. The same formula of Fallout 2 would be enough: 1 companion = 2 CH. 2 companions = 4 CH. 5 companions = 10 CH. The leader would probrably be weakened by his massive charisma, forcing him to take supportive role in combat and mainly be a diplomat or a support character with repairs, first aid, etcetera. This would prevent ubber-groups and force some people to sacrifice some stats for other stats. Not all characters should be Rambo Super Mutants that shoot everyone with miniguns akimbo and fix all their problems by crushing them to a pulp with their enormous fists of fury.
Another thing that would help is the strengthening of support skills, example: A high level, end-game Doctor should be a healing master, capable of healing wounds, fixing radiation and poison, making medicinal drugs and making combat implants on himself and his partners with the proper equipament. AND gaining a good deal of money and influence in the process. Medics are very important, and in a dangerous wasteland, most professional medics would be stinkin' rich and influential. Taking about that... Weaking stimpaks, lessening their number and making them more expensive should help with this - If there was instant healiing for only some money everywhere, why would people ever need doctors? People would just whip up a stim or a rad-away and bam, its all good. Support medics should be good, necessary characters, including in a combat.
Another thing that could give solo characters some advantage are traps, trickery and destructible terrain. A guy with a rifle has bad chancces against FIVE guys with rifles on a straight-up firefight. But the dude with the rifle should be able to retreat, light a molotov cocktail and thrown it at the five guys running towards him, then fire his rifle on full-auto against the five while they flee and burn.
A sniper on the roof of a house is bad. And then one of your teammates comes to you and says "Hey, man, I got one of those Rocket-Propelled Grenades and a RPG Launcher, cover me with supressive fire, I'm going to shoot the house." Then blammo, he hits the house's foundations and the sniper falls into the house, with one or two bones broken. And a house set afire. With people trying to kill him on the outside.