Dimnishing Biome returns

[SirJodelstein]

Suggestion: Surface-based biome-specific experiments from a single celestial body should yield dimnishing returns. If I vist 4 biomes of a planet/moon, I should have learned enough about it to not really have a reaon to come back unless I have new experiments or want to be really thorough. As a starting point, I'd say about 75% of the available sciene from each body (per experiment) should be accessible from the first four biomes.

Reasoning: Currently, there is no real incencitive to ever visit other planets from a science/funds balancing standpoint. I can unlock the entire tech-tree without leaving Kerbins SOI with repetetive missions to the many biomes of Mun and Minmus. If the science rewards would start to drop significantly after maybe 3-4 biomes, the player would be encouraged to actualy explore other bodies, while keeping rovers/suborbital hops/landings at biome border-type mssions attractive. Bonus effect: This prevents the boring science gains from the KSC building biomes.

Notes:

- I know that this is not enough to fix the entire balancing problem of career mode. This is just a step into what is i feel is the right direction. Please don't discuss science labs, the repeating "free money/science" contracts "Science data from XYZ" etc. here.

- I am not suggesting increasing the value of the first experiments because I want to drain science from the system.

- Increasing endgame tech science costs does not prevent the problems described. Instead, it actually drives the player towards repeating missions to be able to purchase these techs.

- The biomes on Kerbin might be a problem for a seperate discussion. I want to be encouraged to visit the poles/deserts/mountains, but the "walk around KSC for science" situation is ridiculous. Let's focus this discussion on all the other non-Kerbin celestials.

- This is about surface-based science. Polar orbit satellites should still be more valuable than equatorial ones.

[Kaos]

The second biome can already give fewer science. Let us say for example that each biome gives 15% fewer science than the biome before. This will not be that much less in the first few, and very few when doing a lot of biomes but has no hard turnnig point at which the reduction starts.

Anyway, very good idea.

[KSK]

I see what you're saying but I think the biomes are OK at the moment. New players can grind out the science within Kerbin's SOE, perhaps doing a trip to Duna as a grand finale before going their own way with a fully unlocked tech tree. More experienced players can mix it up a bit and go interplanetary earlier. Just because you can complete the tech tree at the Mün / Minmus, there's nothing that says you have to.

As an example, my current Science mode game had a couple of self-imposed restrictions: 1) Build a space station in LKO before sending landing missions to the muns*. 2)No solo landings on other celestial bodies. It's been an interesting change of pace science-wise, I'm going to want a second trip to Minmus to unlock all the instrument goodies for my first Duna probes but I expect to get quite a lot of science there and at the other planets as launch windows open. Then it's going to be a full on infrastructure push to explore the Mun in style!

Just as an aside, I'm not sure I'd agree with "If I vist 4 biomes of a planet/moon, I should have learned enough about it to not really have a reaon to come back" either. The Apollo missions only scratched the surface of things we could learn about the Moon - if the funds and the political will for more missions had been there, I'm betting the geologists would have been all over those too.

*I had hoped to get the station in place before doing anything outside of LKO but that turned out to be a restriction too far - couldn't unlock the required techs without at least going to Munar orbit.

Edited June 21, 2015 by KSK