Skihids wrote:If you want to base price off average ISK destroyed things are going to get very expensive for HAVs and proto suits.
Let's say a tank averages 15 suit kills and 0.5 tank kills (since tanks pretty much only die to tanks).
Let's further estimate an average suit price of 40k ISK.
That gives us:
T = ( 15 x 40k ) + 0.5 T
T - 0.5 T = ( 15 x 40k )
0.5 T = 600k ISK
T = 1.2M ISK
Hey, that's what tanks used to cost! And I came up with that honestly (no reverse calculations).
So there you go MLT HAVs should cost 1.2M ISK again.
They will all reach an equilibrium eventually. If tanks go up to 1.2M then fewer people will use them, and only the best tankers would be on the field. The amount of ISK destroyed would drop as a result. Eventually balance would be achieved, and that would be a reasonable price.
This is a very fair way to price things. Consider it this way: let's say there was a very powerful dropsuit released that was immune to 90% of enemy fire, and it averaged 2Million ISK worth of stuff destroyed for each death. If you priced it cheaply, the only sane thing for a corp looking to inflict maximum economic hardship on another corp (and lets be clear, wars in New Eden are fought and won with ISK far more than with skill) would be to field those in every engagement with your enemy. You would eventually bleed them out financially. It would have to be balanced based on he cost of what it deals and not on the feasibility of being affordable to run 24/7.
Proto suits shouldn't be affordable to run all day, every day. They should be saved up for and used when the situation merits it. Big alliances in EVE don't pull out the Super Caps for small/meaningless engagements for a reason. They only do so when the risk/ISK ratio is reasonable. You don't hear EVE pilots whining that it's unaffordable to run expensive ships. You may have to mine, haul, run missions, trade, manufacture, etc. to support your Heavy Assault Cruiser PvP habit. There's nothing wrong with that. It forces you to value your ship as a real asset that took hard work to earn. It forces you to play smart and defensive. This is what makes DUST unique and fun. If tanks and dropships are cheap and disposable that can easily be run 24/7, then you can afford to be very reckless and aggressive with them. The game looses the sense of value, and combat feels cheap and spammy, instead of strategic with a high emphasis on loss aversion and self-preservation. This is the only FPS I've ever played where people try to retreat, and care a lot about avoiding losses. Combat is much more meaningful and interesting as a result.
The ISK DESTROYED / TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS LOST is a reasonable metric to find balance. I have no idea what that would be for tanks or dropships, but it is a fair way to balance the price.