DUST Search - Its time for a legit solution to AFKing

A'Real Fury wrote:

To the OP this is not aimed at you but my answer after reading about soutions on several different threads.

I have been thinking about it for a couple of minutes, off and on, and my solutions and opinions are as follows.

Most solutions seem to be reduce passive SP gains in battle and increase active SP gains from WP.

1. Why does everybody who comes up with a solution start with reducing passive sp gain in battle?
2. Why should active sp be based of the WP you gain?

This simply punishes new players and average players who do not gain 500 WP in every match or even on average throughout the day etc. it will only result in the majority of players falling behind the elite or better than average players at an even faster rate. If you were having problems reaching the cap before this would render it almost impossible.

If you are concerned with player retention, especially new players, then this is an awful solution. How many new or low SP level players are gaining high WP in each game. In fact it is likely that on average they are probably getting less than 300 WP per game. Based on some of the solutions I have heard would result in these low WP players earning between 1-3k SP per game while those who normally earn 1-2k WP would be earning 5-10k SP per game.

This means new or average players would need to play even longer before they had a decent amount of SP invested resulting in an even greater grind even though they are putting in the same hours playing the game.

My solution would be to keep the current battle SP calculation as a base I.e. 5 SP per second you are in battle and 1 SP per WP, I believe, and then add an additional multiplier which is based on actions but not on WP for example you join a squad, you damage an enemy but you do not have to get an assist, you start a hack but you stop for whatever reason -death- before completing it. These actions increase your active SP gains but are not dependent on earning WP but are based on being actively involved.

The max SP you can gain from these actions should be equal to but not exceed what you could gain from passive battle SP i.e. say you gained 4000 SP for time in battle and 1000 SP, from the 1000 WP you earned, then active actions SP would be capped at 3000 SP. 4000 - 1000 = 3000.

This possible solution would result in an active player having the ability to earn double what an AFKer could earn but would not punish new, bad or average players for not earning lots of WP. At least they will earn something from shooting and hitting reds or trying to hack even if it does not result in a kill or a successful hack. The more they try the greater the amount of active SP they can earn. It also means that you do not feel like you being punished because you are not an above average player earning lots of WP per game and with the fact that you are still earning 5 SP per second means you are still earning a decent amount of SP per game.

The psychology behind this is simple if there is a chance of earning twice the amount of SP in a battle by taking part rather than going AFK most players would start to feel like they are loosing out. Whereas simply swapping SP earned per second with WP would decimate the exiting player base and destroy any chance of growth from new players sticking around apart from a few high skilled FPS players.

We already warn new players to expect numerous deaths for few kills and limited WP earned. To then change the battle SP system to one that significantly favours the vets and ensures the top players the ability to earn 3-5 times more SP in each battle and even worse ensures that low WP players earn minuscule amounts of SP has the power to kill this game.


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RECON BY FIRE Ancient Exiles Negative-Feedback 234	Posted - 2013.08.07 19:01:00 - [1] - Quote With the miserable attempt at punishing AFKers with this most recent SP event being an obvious failure, it is time to start discussing legitimate ways to end the AFKing. First and foremost, the frontrunner of the problem besides this game not being very fun, is that we are given more SP for doing nothing than we are for doing something; 5 SP per second and 1 SP per WP in a match. So why should we play when our efforts in game are barely rewarded? As already stated the game isn't very fun at the moment, so what do I have to gain by playing? Instead SP gains should be flipped the other way around as well as multiplied. We should gain between 10 and 20 SP per WP and around 1 to 5 SP per second in a game. Under these gains noobs should still find the gains that will help to get them in the gear they need to be in (lets face it, if you cant make 500 WP a game you shouldn't be worried about better gear, it wont help) as well as allow players that perform well to hit their cap quicker and make the game feel less grindy and more enjoyable. Also, why AFK if I can gain five to ten times as much SP by playing? The second thing is really the biggest problem, but also already well known to CCP. The game right out sucks at this moment. Funky hit detection, inconsistent aiming mechanics, weapons balancing that is nowhere near finished, etc. Feel free to generally discuss this topic so I can post an appropriate thread in the Feedback forum at a later date.
RECON BY FIRE Ancient Exiles Negative-Feedback 238	Posted - 2013.08.08 13:47:00 - [2] - Quote A'Real Fury wrote: To the OP this is not aimed at you but my answer after reading about soutions on several different threads. I have been thinking about it for a couple of minutes, off and on, and my solutions and opinions are as follows. Most solutions seem to be reduce passive SP gains in battle and increase active SP gains from WP. 1. Why does everybody who comes up with a solution start with reducing passive sp gain in battle? 2. Why should active sp be based of the WP you gain? This simply punishes new players and average players who do not gain 500 WP in every match or even on average throughout the day etc. it will only result in the majority of players falling behind the elite or better than average players at an even faster rate. If you were having problems reaching the cap before this would render it almost impossible. If you are concerned with player retention, especially new players, then this is an awful solution. How many new or low SP level players are gaining high WP in each game. In fact it is likely that on average they are probably getting less than 300 WP per game. Based on some of the solutions I have heard would result in these low WP players earning between 1-3k SP per game while those who normally earn 1-2k WP would be earning 5-10k SP per game. This means new or average players would need to play even longer before they had a decent amount of SP invested resulting in an even greater grind even though they are putting in the same hours playing the game. My solution would be to keep the current battle SP calculation as a base I.e. 5 SP per second you are in battle and 1 SP per WP, I believe, and then add an additional multiplier which is based on actions but not on WP for example you join a squad, you damage an enemy but you do not have to get an assist, you start a hack but you stop for whatever reason -death- before completing it. These actions increase your active SP gains but are not dependent on earning WP but are based on being actively involved. The max SP you can gain from these actions should be equal to but not exceed what you could gain from passive battle SP i.e. say you gained 4000 SP for time in battle and 1000 SP, from the 1000 WP you earned, then active actions SP would be capped at 3000 SP. 4000 - 1000 = 3000. This possible solution would result in an active player having the ability to earn double what an AFKer could earn but would not punish new, bad or average players for not earning lots of WP. At least they will earn something from shooting and hitting reds or trying to hack even if it does not result in a kill or a successful hack. The more they try the greater the amount of active SP they can earn. It also means that you do not feel like you being punished because you are not an above average player earning lots of WP per game and with the fact that you are still earning 5 SP per second means you are still earning a decent amount of SP per game. The psychology behind this is simple if there is a chance of earning twice the amount of SP in a battle by taking part rather than going AFK most players would start to feel like they are loosing out. Whereas simply swapping SP earned per second with WP would decimate the exiting player base and destroy any chance of growth from new players sticking around apart from a few high skilled FPS players. We already warn new players to expect numerous deaths for few kills and limited WP earned. To then change the battle SP system to one that significantly favours the vets and ensures the top players the ability to earn 3-5 times more SP in each battle and even worse ensures that low WP players earn minuscule amounts of SP has the power to kill this game. So your solution is to punish everybody by giving them less SP than they earn now while still giving people a way to AFK?