Join the new world

Wow, there’s a development for sure! Following on my critique/analysis of the last few editions of N x NE, the new rockets has much to recommend it from a game play perspective:
1. It soaks up some of the excess supply, a serious economic problem.
2. It opens up a new level of game for the advanced player.

Now, as always, don’t judge the effect of a change by the immediate aftermath.
Price shocks are working their way through the system and we’ll be a while moving to a new equilibrium.
Recognize this truth, however: In the long term, the relative costs of Q1 to Q6 weapons MUST reflect the differences in their component costs. Anything which doesn’t do that is a market blip.

The soaking up of excess supply is a temporary phenomenon. In the long term, higher level players will self-supply the components for their rockets, same as everything else. However, by making those components so numerous, we may be some time before that occurs, and this level of real demand for component parts may provide some floor to weapons and WRM prices.

On the actual matter of rockets, unless you are a truly advanced player, rockets are not a good investment. Instead, they are a way for a high-level player to have an effect while saving health (and thus health bars).
When you work through that calculation, you’ll see that for most people the rocket is not a wise nor practical purchase. However, the possibility for the high-level player, to drop 2 Million damage (yesterday’s rocket plus today’s) into a battle in a matter of seconds, well, that’s hard to ignore. Talk about your heavy hitters.

I think the limited appeal of rockets means it’s not a true market balancer over the long term, but given the huge numbers of components involved, who knows? It’s certainly a step in the right direction.


PS. I expect the number of components needed to build a rocket to be cut in half over time.
That will make rockets much more attractive to the high level player.


N x NE Volume 7, Number 1