Map-making is done (for now), so a round (or two) of playtesting of what’s available is on the plate before more story-events go in.
I’ve been thinking about the ECN meter as well. It’s one thing for encounters in areas accessible in the demo to be cancelled with no cost whatsoever. If a player grinds bounties, they can probably cancel tier 2 enemies without cost at some point. Teir 3 enemies? Well, I suppose it could be possible for a player to grind bounties enough to be able to cancel those without cost eventually!
However, I’m not sure if the level of the enemy, by itself, is enough of an indicator as to the cost of cancellation. The idea in my head is to allow a note-tag that can be read to act as a cost. Level can still be used, but, if the note-tag is there, that would take priority.
The question would then become what the ECN of those harder enemies should be so that it would still feel “fair”? Though, what “fair” might mean can be tricky, onto itself. An ECN cost of 5 might be significant in the beginning of the game. However, as the party gains levels, and raises their max ECN, that cost might not be as significant?
To wit, the maximum the ECN gauge can possibly go is 50. The party’s maximum level, at least in the context of this game, is also 50. In this most extreme case, let’s say the level of this enemy is 50, or that custom cost variable is 50. The cost, in either case, would return as a “1”. This might make mathematical sense, but, you know, it should probably be a lot, lot higher? Like, maybe that would be a “5”, I dunno, I’m just pulling numbers out of my head.