Well Armand, it's funny you bring that up because I've recently been thinking about the upgrade system in Final Fantasy XIII, which makes no sense at all.

Seriously, how do 36 lizard tails, a bottle of 'enigmatic fluid,' two particle accelerators and a claw make my sword better? SO I got to thinking.

The obviousest way to "upgrade" or your weapons would be through A to B purchases: spend money to improve. But there's no personalization there, just a straight track. What if you'd rather your gun had range instead of stopping power?

So then you get upgrades+personalization: spend money to improve and customize. We see this in the second two STALKER games, and it managed pretty well, but I still felt the options were too thin.

But what if you want a personal hand in the mechanics of it? Well, then we can look at KOTOR: the various crystals that upgraded your lightsaber. There was true strategy (but no obvious right and wrong) in choosing which ones you applied. I loved it, but again, it could have gone even deeper if it'd chosen to.

So then you get to hands-on customization: a big, big tree of bonuses, drawbacks, compatibilities and incompatibilities, tweaks, mods, adjustments and so forth. BIG tree. Apply some sort of minigame - not an annoying one but a good one - to the action of applying these changes. Like... sawing off the barrel of a shotgun widens the buckshot pattern, which brings various benefits and drawbacks, etc. Where do you saw? How sawed-off do we want this thing? Should we modify it to use a different gauge of ammo for whatever reason? Maybe we should add a recoil compensator, since the thing's obviously for close encounters. Also swap out the traditional stock for a pistol grip. And wouldn't it be sweet if I could replace the regular loading system with a revolving action? etc etc etc

Things like duct tape would play a part, as would hard chrome plating. I like the idea of a weapon (in games like those we're discussing) being an extension of oneself, growing as you grow. And, of course, replacing it should be a difficult decision, because all weapons have personality. Some people get along better with certain personalities, simple as that.

Did that make any sense?

This avatar marks my return to the cockpit. Soon. It also rather looks like Bannon from World in Conflict who I've adopted as a spiritual advisor.

The Metal Age took me at least four years to finish, through a couple of new rigs, etc, easily the game with the most elapsed time (that I actually finished).  The final mission took over a year of effort alone and it was the switch from CRT to LCD monitor that posed the most problems. So hang in there.