Kevall Longstride
DUST University
Ivy League
578
   |
Posted - 2013.10.16 23:29:00 -
[1] - Quote
Some are not going to happy about these changes because we've had a long period where a small number of corps have had a long time ISK farming and now they've pulled out and earned their money they are going to still have that greater financial clout already banked over those that come after them.
I understand that they might be upset but in the long run its going to be an irrelevance once the player market comes in and that ISK is redistributed by market forces. Also the money that will come into the game via Eve eventually will DWARF that already earned in Dust. So for that reason I'm not unduly concerned.
I can see definite pluses for this from the standpoint of the mercs that fight in PC, in so much as they will receive a greater proportion of ISK payout from the biomass directly from the payout mechanism of the game and not as payment from a corp wallet. Also less work to do for an accountant role user having to pay them from that wallet.
If a corp is worried about the financial hit they will get from the lower sale value of Clones to Genolution, they can simply raise the tax level. This however also brings in a certain level of risk as their best players may go another corp willing to tax them less. I'm in favour of a CEO, speaking as one, to have to take this into account in his/her decision as it brings with it consequence, which is what gaming in a single shard universe should be all about.
In terms of the Uni's current plans in PC I think it will be a positive for us in the long term. Our ambition has always been to help players to train in all aspects of the game, including PC. To that end we own 5 Districts and invite other corps to attack us in a pre arranged way so as that newer players can have a crack at PC without the stress of fighting for and possibly lose a district. Win or lose, the attacking corp agree's to not perform a follow on attack until our clone count is replenished on that district. This minimises the likelihood that we get cloned out of the ownership of a district. We also set in place rules of engagement for these battles so as to allow those players not highly skilled to play with cheap fits, again benefiting all.
This new higher payment mechanic means that it will hopefully encourage other corps to participate in our programme as It will allow their players to get a regular higher cheque once in a while without having to worry about the usual PC stresses that I mentioned earlier.
But as FoxFour mentioned in the OP, this work is necessary for the continued iteration of PC, a mechanic which from the outset, I personally had misgivings about. I'm looking forward very much as to the details of PC 2.0 once they are made known and how they pertain to the evolution of Faction Warfare in Dust, which I'm very much of the opinion is where the future of the Eve/Dust link lies.
Nearly all those involved in PC for any length of time know that there are problems with the mechanic as it allows a pretty much guaranteed ISK tap for those willing to specialise in it and make it easy to defend that tap without too much difficulty. It needs to be fixed and made ready for the inevitable expansion beyond Molden Heath into null-sec which in its current iteration isn't going to be possible. |
Kevall Longstride
DUST University
Ivy League
579
|
Posted - 2013.10.17 08:25:00 -
[2] - Quote
I may have been speculating a little in my earlier post as none of here have any clue as to what PC 2.0 is going to be like. I really hope that it's a complete re-working of it because the current iteration is just a ISK tap that isn't very fun to do anyway.
Those we're my original misgivings about the mechanic by the way when it was spoken about at Fanfest. It was obvious that all it would need is a certain level of co-operation between corps and alliances and all of a sudden we have a load of blue generating a load of ISK which couldn't be spent on anything. If player trading had come in before PC did then it would've worked as a market force acting on that player market. But it didn't and all PC has become is a grind which simply provides ISK and nothing to spend it on other than stuff that that is available to all in the market. It also wasn't going to be FUN.
For this to be actually worth something it needs a unique reward system, other than just ISK. If it is tied into Faction Warfare in some way, which is looking increasingly likely as being the case, then items such as officer suits and equipment tied to the faction your fighting for should be the reward. These can then be sold on the player market and destroyed in battle causing a fairly large ISK sink.
The player base is already starting to use the current PC mechanic as a replacment for the old corporation contract from Chromosome anyway for friendly arranged battles. It's original intended purpose as a war generation mechanic is dead because it offered nothing expect ISK. Any half decent player spending less ISK than they spend per match, can earn 1m+ ISK in an hour of pub play easily (if your not able to do this you really need to look at your spending. I have a video with tips for playing this game at a profit). Most veteran players have 50m+ in their personal wallet, ISK doesn't really provide any form of prestige anymore. Theres loads of it around. But officer suits and gear... if PC was the only way to get them to sell them on a player market or use in battle, then would be something to fight for.
Players like the shiney. |