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Laz Ulian Sol
The Solecism of Limitation
196
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Posted - 2013.09.15 23:50:00 -
[1] - Quote
I've been watching, hearing, and passively participating in planetary conquest for a long while now; and I feel that the competition and high level play it's meant to provoke are lost to the concept of farming and just purely "owning the most."
Now, I realize that pc is intended to be a risk investment with long term rewards for corporations; but, as pc stands now, it simply boils down to a one time tactical approach that once completed will end up with having to defend a district every now and then while it quietly farms you ISK. This is not an engaging tactical environment and, in contrast, is almost purely about owning farms and maybe trying to steal farms to make your total farm better.
So, I would like to offer my proposal on how to make planetary conquest more competitive and less automatic ISK farm. (Note: I've also taken notice of planet fight club and the other initiatives to make the game mode more about fighting...these concepts have helped to shape my presentation.)
I will start with a list of changes with explanation of the mechanics of each. After this list I will explain via personal thought experiment how the landscape of PC will change due to the listed changes along with perceived positives and negatives from the current state of PC.
Unless otherwise specified or mentioned all current rules, rates, and restrictions will remain the same as they are now in PC.
1. Clones will decay over time. A clone from the "Production Facility" and "Research Lab" will last for three days and a clone on a "Cargo Hub" will last four days. Clones will follow this chain of stages: New -> Decayed -> Biomass. In the unique case of the Cargo Hub, clones will have one additional stage before biomass: "Ruined." Clones will change state at the beginning of the reinforcement timer.
1b. Clones held on a district will be grouped by these specific tags of decay and can be sold or moved by group type. Clones retain their decay stage during movement to a new district. A "decayed" clone sent to a Cargo Hub will transition to "ruined" on the next day. A decayed clone sent to a Research Lab or Production Facility will transition to "biomass" on the next day. A "biomass" clone sent to any district will automatically biomass at the receiving districts reinforcement timer. A special case exists for "ruined" clones from a Cargo Hub. A "ruined" clone sent from a Cargo Hub to a facility other than another Cargo Hub will be treated as if it had the "biomass" tag and will be automatically biomassed at the reinforcement timer. See point 7 for restrictions on movement.
2. The price for clones, being manually sold or automatically biomassed, will change to reflect their rate of decay. A "new" clone will sell for 200,000 ISK. A "decayed" or "ruined" clone will sell for 150,000 ISK. A "biomass" clone will sell for 75,000 ISK or automatically biomass at reinforcement for 50,000 ISK. In the unique case of the production facility, a "new" clone will sell for 300,000 ISK if sold from this facility.
3. The rates for production of clones will change. The Research Lab will generate 50 new clones every day at the beginning of the reinforcement window. The Production Facility will generate 100 clones. The Cargo Hub will generate zero clones at reinforcement.
4. The amount of clones each facility can hold will also change. The Research Lab can hold a maximum of 300 clones. The Production Facility can hold 150 clones. The Cargo Hub can hold 450 clones.
5. If a district is filled with clones to its maximum, no new clones will be generated until there are empty storage spots. This applies to a district that contains no biomass tagged clones that is filled to maximum at it's reinforcement timer.
6. A new reward system based on surface infrastructure will be instated. Successfully defending a Production Facility will award a 7,000,000 ISK bonus to the corporation wallet. Successfully defending a Cargo Hub will award 15,000,000 ISK. Successfully defending a Research Lab will award 1,000,000 ISK.
7. It will be possible to move clones to and from a locked district. A district can only receive or send clones once a day except for the Cargo Hub. This means that if a district receives clones, it will not be able to receive any more clones or send clones until after the next reinforcement timer. If a district has sent clones, it will not be able to send any more clones or receive clones until after the next reinforcement timer. In the unique case of the Cargo Hub, it can receive clones twice a day but still only send once. So it is possible for the cargo hub to receive twice but if it sends once it will not be able to receive as the act of sending will cancel its receiving ability. |
Laz Ulian Sol
The Solecism of Limitation
196
|
Posted - 2013.09.15 23:50:00 -
[2] - Quote
Now that I've outlined the major points that would be changed, I'll now do my best to paint the general overview of how PC will function and play out.
The overall intent was to make farming and fighting opposing spectrums of management while making them both profitable.
With the changes listed production facilities become the most profitable for people wanting to sell and make the most ISK from selling clones; however, they are the hardest to defend at only holding 150 clones so they also award corps who are good at fighting. Because of the decay rate and the fact a full district will not make passive ISK income this type of district will not be good for farming.
The research lab is meant to be a medium between the fighting and farming, yet it's primary intent is to be the choice for corporations wanting to passively farm. It's low clone generation rate mean that it cannot be immediately profitable and safe from attack at all times unless supported by another facility.
The cargo hub is meant to be a means of invading and support. Because it has a clone generation rate of zero, it will absolutely rely on a production facility or research lab to keep itself alive. The most immediate case is that since a research lab has 50 naturally and a production facility has 100 clones generated it becomes easy to realize that 50 clones can be sent from a production facility to the cargo hub at every reinforcement.
With the cargo hubs ability to receive twice in a day, it can receive and store many clones for adequate defense, and in times of trouble send these clones to districts that need them as it can keep the clones alive for one extra day.
Furthermore, due to it's lack of clone generation, a cargo hub rewards successful defense with a large payout, meaning if you get attacked at a cargo hub you'll make more money per fight than by selling reasonable amounts of clones at other facilities.
I believe with this setup, corporations confident in their ability will focus on cargo hubs with few production facilities and little to no research labs. It's means they will be able to farm good fights that they know they can win and also means that an attacking corporation will have to consider the consequences of a loss...giving the defense a free 15mil
Corporations who are interested in farming and a few fights will focus on production and research with little to no cargo hubs.
Overall because of the 150 natural level that most of the facilities will have, districts will change hands a lot more often; but with the ability to send clones from other districts during an attack research labs will have a better chance of survival and cargo hubs have a very large chance of survival as long as a corporation actively manages their assets.
Finally, I believe that PC should be about good fights. Right now it's about a long siege to take another persons farm and ultimately their is little risk involved for a corp with loads of ISK to burn and plenty of districts to farm. Holding a district should be a privilege given through skill and planning. Right now there is very little planning ahead and the game is hugely based on who can hold out longer with deeper pockets.
Now that I've gotten all that out, I would absolutely appreciate hearing your thoughts on my changes, how PC is doing right now, and any better ideas you have. I'm not gonna sit here and say I am the perfect answer to everything ever...that would be very silly and bad...I know there are holes in this idea and it speeds up the pace of PC to ludicrous speed.
Please reply with your comments and insight, if you disagree please tell us why...not just "that's stupid, I don't like it." Let's have a discussion.
Thanks for reading :D |
Laz Ulian Sol
The Solecism of Limitation
196
|
Posted - 2013.09.16 17:27:00 -
[3] - Quote
Aw man, page three'd with only one reply and yet quite a few views... Maybe I should have added a TL;DNR |
Laz Ulian Sol
The Solecism of Limitation
196
|
Posted - 2013.09.17 18:53:00 -
[4] - Quote
Shijima Kuraimaru wrote:Sounds interesting yet it doesn't touch on anything to give incentive to Eve pilots to supply tactical support.
As it stands now, any pilot supplying tactical support assumes only risk with no reward. Chance getting your ship blown out of the sky on the chance that you might see a few names come up on your damage feed, if the damage feed is even on. No ISK, no salvage, nothing. That's why hardly any Eve pilots supply tactical strikes.
Yeah, it occurred to me while I was working through the points that there still wasn't a major way to bring eve pilots into the environment. I had some passing thoughts that maybe clone sales could be sold directly to eve pilots and that the prices could be determined by eve. Another thought I had was that eve pilots could earn ISK equal to what they destroy via their strike; but the ISK in dust is much weaker compared to the ISK of eve so it would be a pitiful gain really.
Of course the installations on the surface should obviously influence planetary interaction in meaningful ways; but I don't have an extended knowledge on how basic planetary interaction works (no one ever explained it to me in detail).
I decided to focus on the pure dust side of the system since that's what I know and with the recent focus on dust balance it made sense to keep it dust side. I'll look into PI in eve and maybe in the future I'll make a more all encompassing suggestion if PC still doesn't change for the better in the next few months. |
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