Ways to improve Kubrows, from actual gameplay, to breeding and management:

[Enig]

To start off, all sentinels and kubrow fall off in effectiveness in light of the Carrier with its Vacuum ability. With that out of the way, we can talk about how Kubrow gameplay could see an improvement. What I will outline here will not only seek to refine the Kubrow mechanics but will also most likely spur many players to engage in Kubrow breeding, which would ultimately make people spend more plat on Stasis, Incubation Rushing, Kubrow Eggs, Kubrow Cosmetics, Colors, etc.

• Kubrows (specifically the Chesa breed) should have their own invisible inventory while on a mission, soaking up loot they run near to be delivered when arriving back within proximity of the player.

The Problem: The Chesa is too slow at delivering loot back to the player, and should fulfill this function passively whilst doing its main job, which is assisting the player.

Reasoning for this recommendation: Compared to the Carrier, there is no reason to take a Chesa, this can fix that easily. Maybe the Chesa will even have a local vacuum on itself, so it can soak up items in a large radius while it is attacking enemies before returning to the player.

• Separate the incubation and stasis/kennel functions of the incubator to allow for incubation and Kubrow use/management simultaneously.

The Problem: A Kubrow owner is much less likely to invest time into his or her kennel of Kubrow through breeding if they are unable to use the animals they love so much due to the current gameplay-restricting nature of the incubator.

Reasoning for this recommendation: During incubation of an egg, you are barred from using any of your other Kubrow, stopping you from feeling motivated or attached to your Kubrow breeding hobby. Even while a Kubrow is maturing, that is 2-3 days of waiting on a single Kubrow to mature before you can even use your other fully upgraded stock of Kubrow.

• Attach Kubrow reactor and forma upgrades to the Collar unit or another modular system, maybe separated by breed to give a need for players to own and upgrade multiple collars.

The Problem: The current breeding environment deters users from spending reactors and forma to upgrade a Kubrow before they've found the perfect Kubrow of their dreams, if they ever even reach that point due to the restrictive nature of the incubator/kennel-stasis.

Reasoning for this recommendation: Attaching reactors and forma to the collars (of which there could be different collars for different breeds), would free up player motivation, knowing they want to go farm or buy more eggs and stasis slots to breed and DNA imprint their stock of Kubrow until they find the ones they love of each breed. Individual Kubrow progression could stay, how that would be managed I don't know, but I'm sure the designers at DE will think of something creative.

If you have your own recommendations or thoughts on my above points, please feel free to chime in. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. I love my Kubrow, and I want to love them even more. I want a reason to use them and breed them (at the same time, please!), but in the massive shadow cast by the Carrier, the Kubrow isn't left with much sunlight to play and thrive.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Enig
Typo

[Enig]

Anyone else have any input or ideas?  Any DE employees have feedback as to future plans or anything here that was already discussed and turned down for certain reasons?

[Haxwell]

Something I posted in another thread.

"I agree with this post. Expand one segment of the orbiter. Give me the ability to install MULTIPLE incubator segments. Give me the ability to build and install a PLAY ROOM of some sort. How cool would it be to have a room where all your kubrows are hangin out and playing with eachother. This would give DE COUNTLESS more reasons to release plat-only content in the form of kubrow toys, structures, etc. I've also always hated this. That I cannot set different kubrows for different loadouts. If I want to bring a huras in for some stealth play, I cannot simply assign it to a stealth loadout. I have to go put my current kubrow in stasis, take the huras out, rush the recovery. This is tedious and can be so much more fluid.

I confess half the reason why i would like this to be added is because your kubrow looks SO BORED AND LONELY in the little 2 x 2 segment they're stuffed into. With the addition of a communal area for all your kubrows and multiple incubators and extended orbiter compartments you can build specifically devoted to kubrows, IMAGINE THE DEPTH THIS COULD BRING TO KUBROW BREEDING. The possibilities are only as endless as your imagination."

[(PSN)ElZilcho]

I think breeding could be given a more controlled feeling.

Kubrows are, more or less, genetically engineered. That's why they need the stabilizers, isn't it? Why don't we get to engineer them? I'd like multiple imprint slots. You want a big dog, you get a big imprint and put it in the body size slot. You want a lotus pattern, you get a lotus patterned imprint and put it in the fur pattern slot, etc. You could have six or eight different traits that players collect different imprints for to engineer their ideal space pupper. You can still do random incubations, which will be a source of imprints for players to mix, match, or trade and people will need as many as it takes to fill up a "dog generator" so there will be plenty of traffic.

 

On 4/5/2016 at 8:39 PM, Enig said:

Attaching reactors and forma to the collars

Love this idea too. I spent so long trying to get a huras with the traits I wanted and am just sitting around waiting for a) DE to fix dogs being visible to enemies while under the effects of invisiblity and b) the day they introduce some new natural pattern that I like more than lotus so I can forever regret the forma I put into this one. Be nice if I could just swap the collar over.

[Insizer]

Not gonna lie OP, this post is very well set up (all i can complain about is not having vertical space between the end of one "reason for recommendation" and the next recommendation) and has good ideas.

I can't really add much though, i use sentinels for reasons that kubrows, by their nature, ignore. I guess letting one see the type and sex of a kubrow right after they hatch, before you name them. I'd love to give them witty names regarding their type (ex: Mr./Mrs. Steal Ur Gun, Shield Mule, Cujo, Lvl 30 Large Feral Chihuahua, Klepto's Best Friend, Swiper, Ninja Doge) rather than giving them a person's name or calling them Fluffbutt or some other generic dog name.

[Enig]

Maybe DE can give a response to this.  

[UnguidedCloth]

What would be cool is if they added a research lab for Kubrows and those new cat things we are getting, where we could research dominant and recessive traits, analyse genetic patterns or what not. If it could become something an entire Clan could get in on, it could blow the potential of Kubrow breeding wide open. It would take a lot of work, but I think an overhaul for the companions mechanic would be pretty sweet.