Poll: Weapon degradation - yes or no?

[endtherapture]

I think one of the best things they did in Skyrim was to remove weapon degradation from the game. It's so annoying and just is another annoying thing to worry about, especially when you've got mythical weapons just degrading after 1 dungeon run like they're made of sticks and glue. It was horrible to see it return in Kingdoms of Amalur.

It can have it's place in games like Fallout but I hate it in fantasy games.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Well...swords and other bladed weapons actually do dull very quickly when used for their intended purpose.

That being said, I reaaaally hate weapon/armor durability. It just turns it into busy work, where you have to go to town and hit 'Repair all' all the dang time.

 

[shrekfan246]

I think one word summarily answers the question:

Blech.

Honestly, being a long-time player of World of Warcraft, it doesn't really bother me all that much, but I've never really seen it used in such a way that it actually added depth to the game. The most harmless, tedious examples of it include games like Fallout or WoW, where it basically amounts to you needing the resources to hit the 'Repair' button every so often. But in the worst cases, when they actually try to make something out of it, you get a game like The Cursed Crusade where your weapon breaks on you in the middle of a sword-fight and you can't find another one to replace it with so you're just cracking people upside the head with the hilt and/or broken blade of a weapon.

 

[Esotera]

I think it would be hilarious if they added in random gun jams or a mechanic where it overheats if you fire more than 30 rounds per minute into something like Halo for example. I think weapon degradation can work as long as you remember the mechanic is there, and you don't wonder half an hour down the line why your sword is doing nothing against the big bad boss...

 

[omega 616]

I think in games that have it, it's a little over the top.

I know games are meant to simulate real life but not be an exact copy, somethings have to be done for game play sake etc but still ...

I can understand a sword getting dull after smashing into plate steel 50 times but if I'm playing a zombie game and I slay 50 zombies with a meat clever, shouldn't that clever still be good? Firstly, rotten meat can't be that solid! Secondly this is a tool that is designed to cut through meat, I know you see guys in slaughter houses constantly sharpening there knives but that is for precision.

Dead island was a prime example.

What I am taking an age to say is, have weapon degradation but make it last at least twice as long. Add in a mechanic where a clever doesn't just snap in half and gets absorbed into the floor ... make it do less damage as it dulls or make it look like Kenpachi's blade (from bleach), make it turn from a katana into a thin steel bar or something.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I don't mind it, as long as they don't go overboard with the degradation rate. Despite my love of System Shock 2, I've always felt that the game went way overboard with how fast guns break. The weapons in Dead Island broke down insanely fast, too.

 

[Scrustle]

When I first came across the mechanic in Morrorwind I was taken back by it. Seemed like needless busywork that made the game much harder than it needed to be, but I quickly got used to it.

I don't really have any feelings about it any more. I can totally get why people think it is just busywork, but I don't really find it to be a problem. Never really played a game where it was an annoyance, apart from maybe in Morrowind before I understood how to use it properly. It doesn't really require need much attention either. Repair kits or whatever is needed always seem to be plentiful. I guess the only problem with it is that it can be a bit of a drain on money, but I've never found a game where I felt like I was having to spend an unfair amount on them.

I could take it or leave it. Doesn't make a single bit of difference to me.

 

[Toxic Sniper]

Depends on how fast they degrade and why they degrade. Dark Soul has fairly slow weapon degradation and cheap, fast, plentiful repairs, so the main way weapon degradation affects the game is by balancing powerful abilities of certain weapons. It'd be kinda silly if you could use the Moonlight Greatsword's laser slash or the Obsidian Greatsword's aoe fire attack as many times as you wanted. A simulator like Skyrim also seems like a decent place for weapon degradation; it adds to the realism when you have to go to a blacksmith after a particularly harsh battle and ask for repairs or diy at a forge, and it encourages the player to use more different kind of weapons.

The problem with weapon degradation is when it becomes oppressive. It should be something to think about, but my first concern should almost never be "OHMYGOD MY KATANA IS 2 POINTS AWAY FROM BREAKING AND IF I DON'T REPAIR IT IT'S GONNA BREAK FOREVER!" because that distracts from the game instead of adding to it.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm in the middle about it, because while it works for some games, it does not for others, not at all.

 

[Genocidicles]

No.

It never adds anything more to a game than a constant, niggling annoyance. It's just another little chore to attend to whenever your back in a town or whatever in the game, like restocking on potions and ammunition.

 

[Elfgore]

Depends on the game

Fallout 3 and NV do weapon repair very well as it is quite easy to repair things even with low repair skills. Also the fact all you have to do is find another copy of the weapon you wish to repair makes it quite easy to do quick fixes without stopping by a town.

Oblivion did this terribly. You had to level up your repair skill to fix anything and you had to scavenge or buy repair hammers which take up alot of inventory space. Skyrim did a good move removing weapon degration from the game, even if it is a little unrealistic.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I'd say, most of the time, no. If it is done right and adds more to the game, sure. I remember it was fine in the STALKER games and added more to them, and the misfire and jamming effects were awesome, too. Dead Island, however, it seems like after four hits the weapon was completely broken. Or in Fallout 3 they seemed to degrade rather quickly. I know for a fact that I've put at least 1,000 rounds through my AK and there was only one misfire (oddly with the person who had never fired a gun before, so I'm wondering if she somehow had something to do with it).

 

[viking97]

It can work if the goal is to make you not rely on a few weapons, but in most games I don't care much for it.

 

[Scrustle]

The problem with weapon degradation is when it becomes oppressive. It should be something to think about, but my first concern should almost never be "OHMYGOD MY KATANA IS 2 POINTS AWAY FROM BREAKING AND IF I DON'T REPAIR IT IT'S GONNA BREAK FOREVER!" because that distracts from the game instead of adding to it.

That's a good point. I didn't think of that. If a weapon breaks forever if it reaches 0 then that's just unfair. At most it should be unusable, or do very little or no damage, but to permanently lose it is just ridiculous. I shouldn't be too afraid to use my most useful equipment because if I use it too much it'll be gone forever. That's a massive dick move.

 

[Toxic Sniper]

It won't break forever. You can just fix it right back up. Also repair powders, if it bothers you that much.

I know. I wasn't actually talking about Dark Souls. Dark Souls is pretty damn forgiving when it comes to weapon degradation (Outside of Crystal Weapons, but that's the entire point of Crystal Weapons).

I was just trying to think of a plausible generic game situation where a weapon is about to break or something.

 

[Vern5]

Personal upkeep (weapon and armor repairs, eating and sleep, etc.) is very important to games that have you amassing massive amounts of wealth from plundering dungeons.

1. While it seems like busy work, it can help with roleplay aspects.
2. Having to spend money and time on personal upkeep gives value to your ever-expanding coin purse.
3. Many open world games (especially Elder Scrolls games) end up with the player having massive amounts of money, far more than they will ever know what to do with. Having to constantly spend money on yourself mitigates the OP value of your invincible wallet.

Yes, there are problems with personal upkeep systems. For example, not being able to repair your equipment or even feed yourself while you're in the middle of adventuring is a problem; you shouldn't need to backtrack for any reason that isn't explicitly dire.

 

[WoW Killer]

I've seen games that make it work.

There's an old MMO called Neocron that had perma-degradation. Your weapon would start off at 120/120, then through use go down to like 53/120 or something when you would start to think about repairing it. But then through the repair skill you'd take it back up to 118/118 or something, so the max durability goes down each time you repair it. What made it work was that everything was craftable and scavanged, and the whole economy was set up around nothing lasting forever. If it was just a case of you getting all the best gear then leaving it at that, the whole game wouldn't quite have worked the same. It also added somewhat of a death penalty, as whenever you died your implants would fall out and take a bit of damage; same deal, they can be repaired, but eventually they're going to break. And of course, someone with a high repair skill (who could repair your gear without it taking as much perma-damage) had their own little niche market.

Think of it more like the tools in Minecraft; that Diamond Pickaxe might be pretty expensive, enough that you cherish it and use it sparingly, but when it does break it's not exactly the end of the world because you'll be able to make another one.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

In an RPG[small]*[/small] or an action game it's bullshit, but I really wish more survival horror games would use it. It would help to deter combat, yet give you the option if you were cornered.

[small]*I felt it worked in Dark Souls, though.[/small]