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Petition: Equal prices for all dropsuits

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Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 179	Posted - 2013.10.22 01:17:00 - [1] - Quote Both Basic frame suits and Commando suits should have the same ISK prices as other suits, within each tier. Why does an ADV basic frame heavy dropsuit, for example, cost as much as entire ADV Sentinel fitting, weapon and all? Let's see some +1's if you agree. Here are what I perceive as the purposes basic frames serve from a game design perspective, and how the current pricing interacts with those purposes: Diversifying the suit selection Once you've skilled into both basic frames and a 'matching' specialization, you can 'trade in' your suit specilization bonus in exchange for a slightly varied slot layout. For example, some heavies will run a basic heavy frame so they can fit more damage modules, but they lose some tank (i.e., low slots) and their reload bonus in the process. I'd say current pricing hurts fitting diversity...basic frames are already worse than their corresponding specialist suits, in that they get no role or racial bonuses. The heavy frame + damage mods example I provided above is the only basic frame-based fitting I've seen anyone actually recommend on the forums. Simplifying the NPE (New Player Experience) At present, we have five specializations: Assault, Logi, Sentinel, Commando, and Scout. Presumably, we'll get a sixth in the not-too-distant future when the Pilot suit comes out. Perhaps there will be more, eventually. Offering only three options to new players as they start drilling into the skill tree may help prevent new players from being overwhelmed. Frankly, I'm skeptical about the value of this proposition, but I suppose it's possible that it helps more than it hinders. I can't imagine that it improves the new player experience to force the players with the smallest bank accounts to pay absurdly inflated prices for gear - this is the opposite of how everything else works in the game's economy. SP sink The unpleasant reality of free-to-play games is that they have to include 'pain points' to monetize. Gamasutra has many articles on this subject...here's one with links to others if you're curious. Every skill is essentially 'pain' that we can ease by buying and using SP boosters. Putting an SP buffer in front the specialist suits (which is what we all actually want) increases the demand for boosters, and thereby, Dust's revenue. This is the only thing that seems to explain the current pricing. It makes the pain of the slogging through basic frames on the way to specializations more intense. Generally, CCP seems to have tread pretty carefully in their attempts to keep free-to-play monetization from adversely effecting gameplay, but in this case, that seems to be what's going on. If this is the case, kindly stop it. As far as the Commando suit goes, I've read that CCP has a history of 'pre-nerfing' new game content to avoid creating FOTMs. If that's the case, judging from both the Commando's reputation here in the forums and how rarely I see them in-game, I think we're safe from a flood of Commandos. I have no other ideas as to why they cost what they do. Anyone else?
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 180	Posted - 2013.10.22 01:30:00 - [2] - Quote Rogatien Merc wrote: Disagree. /shrug Why? Do you just not care, because you don't run basics or commandos, or do you actually see something beneficial that I didn't mention about the current pricing?
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 180	Posted - 2013.10.22 01:52:00 - [3] - Quote 21yrOld Knight wrote: I don't agree with your idea. Mainly because all suits have different roles which means that the death ratios are different. This is one of the main reasons why scout suits are so cheap because they die fast. Scouts aren't cheap right now, though - they're the same as every other specialization. STD scouts cost 3,000, the same as STD Assault and STD Logi and STD Sentinel. The ADV suits for all those roles cost 8,000, and the PRO all cost 57,690 (Well, the ADV sentinel is mysteriously more expensive than the other ADV suits, but I'm guessing that's in error) The only specialization suits that are priced differently are the Commandos. If I recall correctly, what you're suggesting WAS the case during open beta - heavy suits were more expensive across the board. With the Uprising release, they set the four original roles equal, with the exception I noted above.
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 183	Posted - 2013.10.22 12:12:00 - [4] - Quote Rogatien Merc wrote: \So no I don't think reducing the broader skillpoint requirements of the game is a good idea. Thanks for taking the time to elaborate - I think I see where you're coming from. I don't know your personal ISK situation, but I suspect that your (and players' in general) ability to run basic frames as part of 'typical' play may be restricted when and if FW turns into the ISK sink the devs are hoping for. At that point, the current pricing will put more of a strain on fitting diversity than it is now. In any case, I quoted the above because I'm not sure how that lines up with my suggestion - I'm not recommending changing any skill requirements. I can see how you might assert that making players stuck at the basic frame level struggle with fewer drawbacks is, in a sense, a nerf to that SP requirement...is that what you mean?
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 183	Posted - 2013.10.22 18:17:00 - [5] - Quote Rogatien Merc wrote: your bullet under "SP Sink" has sort of a negative vibe which is where my comment in that area was coming from. if misunderstood, then nevermind Yeah, I do think that part just feels like mindless grinding right now, and I guess that came through in my tone, but that's really at the root of my suggestion in the first place...if the basic frames came down to the same price, I'd feel like those SP were a more worthy investment in something I could use for fitting flexibility. I guess this all stems out of the fact that my main goal while playing isn't KDR, wins, or WP...it's a growing pile of ISKies ;)
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 183	Posted - 2013.10.22 18:19:00 - [6] - Quote Chunky Munkey wrote: Commandos need an isk reduction, and a buff in general. Scouts need to be made more durable/survivable before their isk cost is levelled out. The rest: TL;DR This is the second response that seems to imply Scouts suits are currently cheaper than others...not sure if I'm misreading, or if people are really under that impression. In any case, they're not...they're the same as Assaults, Logis, and Sentinels, and the basic light frame is more expensive than the basic medium frame. But, yeah, Scouts need some love.
Gorra Snell the unholy legion of darkstar DARKSTAR ARMY 192	Posted - 2013.10.23 16:06:00 - [7] - Quote Cosgar wrote: I've been telling new players to just skip them. Since the modifier and prerequisite changes, you can get a standard specialty suit right off the bat. All you need is enough ISK. Do you mean with a fresh character? Putting your starting SP all (or mostly) into a suit to get through the basics and into the specialized?

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