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  • The last thread got out of hand

Vehicle Mechanic suggestions
The last thread got out of hand

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I have said this before, but personally I think the main issue with vehicle mechanic work is needing extremely high levels of skill to fully repair components. At the moment, your options if your vehicle is damaged -at all- are:

1. Find your usual PC mechanic, who can only repair parts to a 'barely damaged' state, at best;

2. Find a master PC mechanic, which are very few and far between;

3. Entrust your ride to an NPC mechanic, who will be able to fully fix it; or

4. Buy an entirely new part, which in the case of engines or transmission can be very expensive.

I think vehicle mechanics, for the sake of RP and player economy, should be reversed: light damage should be the easiest to repair, while horribly damaged parts need a master to salvage. This would stimulate the PC economy, allowing junior mechanics to take care of the small stuff while the pros are brought in for heavy damage. This would make it a lot easier to fix vehicles and thus damaging them would be more conducive to generating RP and profits for certain people.

Also, please change the failure message for component repair to something more generic. As funny as it is to imagine the phrase "There's nothing more I can do for this" being a mandatory part of mechanics training, I would prefer words not be pushed into my character's mouth.

By Trickyhottrev at Sep 6, 2019 8:19 AM
Agree with every suggestion here.

You shouldn't need to put a six months plus into making a skill viable for basic use, not useful, just viable. Because most people will want a that full repair, not just a repair up to minor damage.

Inverting the difficulties would massively help. As well as allowing minor damage to be repaired with only modest skill. (Essentially "That'll buff right out.")

And There's nothing more I can do for this, thread. So peace

By RheaGhe at Sep 6, 2019 9:05 AM
Problem with lowering the skill need for full repairs is - what do you need master mechanics for now?
By Marleen at Sep 6, 2019 9:40 AM
Repairing really damaged shit.

They aren't saying, just lower the skill for repair, they're saying invert the difficulties, so that repairing something that's say, hanging on by a thread, is much more difficult than buffing and popping the dents on a fender.

By RheaGhe at Sep 6, 2019 10:01 AM
Marleen,

They're saying to 'reverse' the current progression, which 100% makes sense. It's a lot easier to buff out some scratches than it is to weld a frame back together. This also incentivises fixing stuff sooner, as you can have a newer mech who works cheap handle those little dings and dents before you have to fork out a ton of flash for the pro to restore nearly destroyed items.

By RedSteelButterfly at Sep 6, 2019 12:32 PM
Makes sense to me, it's pretty weird the way it is now.
By Varolokkur at Sep 6, 2019 2:56 PM
Makes sense to me then, as long as it will still require tools etc, and maybe some other requirements so people won't just all become mechanics to buff their own cars. Can't be too easy to keep them pristine
By Marleen at Sep 6, 2019 3:02 PM
Something like newbie mechanic needs entire shop to fix a dent, and master mechanic can do those on the go with just a tool belt etc.
By Marleen at Sep 6, 2019 3:04 PM
Already requires a shop and a belt to do pretty much anything to a car.
By RheaGhe at Sep 6, 2019 3:06 PM
Sure and this would give another unique venue for master mechanic - out call repairs, within reason.
By Marleen at Sep 6, 2019 3:12 PM
If people want to develop basic proficiency with autos (or aeros) to maintain them, more power to them. I do not think that is something to be discouraged. In fact more people wanting to "do it themselves" leads to more tools being sold, more shops needing to be built and / or rented out, more fixers spending time sourcing tools and parts. It seems like a major win to me.

Not everyone needs or even wants to min-max the hell out of their characters to make them super good at one or two things. (Who am I kidding? Of course people do. I'm just living in a fantasy land. Don't shatter my illusion, damn it!)

By Hek at Sep 6, 2019 3:41 PM
My worry isn't as much lack of utility, but that then it can lead to a lot of people fixing their own stuff instead off reaching out to mechanics. Unsure if that's good or bad, or what's there overachieving design.
By Marleen at Sep 6, 2019 3:44 PM
As is, you need a decent amount of skill to repair at all. Lowish levels allow you to install and uninstall components, which makes sense. Simpler to learn how to switch out a fender than work out a dent.
By Trickyhottrev at Sep 6, 2019 3:50 PM
You can't fix a car by yourself.

I agree with everything in the OP 100%. Let a master mechanic charge good chy for salvaging really damaged parts because they're saving you a ton on replacements. No good mechanics around? You'll have to buy a new transmission chummer.

By Vera at Sep 6, 2019 3:51 PM
No reason they shouldn't for small little things, though what if lack of a shop was treated as a debuff, rather than a shop being a nerf?

Not in a shop you have permission to use? -21 UE (Or whatever, the number is arbitrary.) . That way you have to invest a little bit of time in order to maintain your own wheels.

By RedSteelButterfly at Sep 6, 2019 3:51 PM
mistyped. 'shop being an enabling feature'
By RedSteelButterfly at Sep 6, 2019 3:52 PM
Mobile mechanics or people who’s only job is to operate a tow truck, coupled with impaired driving for people who are drunk or using a drug that debuffs the stat(s) that governs driving making it more likely to wreck your car could maybe be a thing too.
By Grizzly666 at Sep 6, 2019 4:31 PM
The shops actually protect codedly employed mechanics. If you could do installs/repairs/etc without a shop, anyone with a skillsoft and the tools could just take care of it themselves.
By Crooknose at Sep 6, 2019 4:37 PM
It would be nice to be able to install/uninstall components without a garage. Think a simple jack you can use to change a tire. You should not be able to fix components without a garage, however.
By Trickyhottrev at Sep 6, 2019 4:38 PM
I don’t see the big deal if you want to spend that kind of money to do it yourself or to spend considerable amount less to let an actual mechanic do it.
By Grizzly666 at Sep 6, 2019 4:39 PM
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