What about those who are precious about their KD?

Proposal:
When joining a match you choose what gear to bring with you to the MCC (what, are you gonna bring your whole armory with you every time?), up to a certain limit of stuff. If you make the conscious action of leaving the battle, you could potentially lose some (or all) of the stuff you brought with you, which would then be split up among the winners (either your team or the enemy).
If you happen to get disconnected, you have until the battle actually ends to rejoin without penalty.
If you have to leave... well... don't fly what you can't afford to lose?
0.02isk

Rightio.

So some have raised the issue of matchmaking, problems with Scotty, issues with the games poor net code etc etc. By and large I agree with those concerns. I wouldn't expect such a punishment/ reward system to be implemented if there was technical problems preventing it from being fairly enforced.

So let's reframe the question or rather give it a different context.

If Rattati and the team managed to eliminate a lot of these problems to the point where match making and team size balancing issues were no longer relavant, rendering these concerns moot, how would you then feel about a punishment system in place. Quite a few games do have them, the League of Legends example given earlier being a good one. So it's not like it's without precedent.

A lot of the feedback has been centred on improving the carrot aspect. This is fine but there is a point where, the carrot gets so juicy that players will leave a match without hesitation if they don't think they'll get it. If we improve the carrot to that point then I think it only fair that an equally large and effective stick should be in place.

Now, over the years many claims have been made about Dust and how it was to be a game of consequence. That's the part that appealed to me to begin with. I'd grown bored of the experience that COD offered being as it was, just another rinse and repeat lobby shooter.

But because of the failings of previous leadership, Dust is getting dangerously close to being just another formulaic Lobby Game. And like those games there's no consequence to your actions.

Now if we got to the hypothetical situation of a #portdust514 becoming reality and with it a chance to fix these issues then how much better would the game be, in terms of its meta, if true consequence became part of it.

This is obviously a problem. And for those that stick to the end of a game it frankly annoys the hell out of them.

So chatting amongst the CPM about it, I had an idea and just wanted to bounce it off you all.

The main reason people leave is either the map, they don't like their chances against the opposition and want to protect their KDR.

As for the map, well as a Merc you're contracted to do a battle and it's a sign of bad faith if you back out. As for those those that want to go up against players that might present a challenge..... I personally don't have any time for that way of thinking.

So my idea is this. New Eden is all about consequences based on your choices. I want to add consequence to backing out of a contract.

Say there's a set number of times in day (DT-DT) that the game might allow you leave a battle. Things happen in RL. But after that number, your Merc is fined, heavily and direct from the wallet by CONCORD for cowardice. On top of that, your avatar in game is 'branded', showing you as a Merc that doesn't honour his/her contracts.

Removing the brand is easy. Complete a set number of matches from beginning to end.

But for the persistent offenders....

Their MU is boosted to the maximum level. They will be put up against the best players and have to take a hit to their precious KDR in order to return to the correct level. It'll also mean that they're kept separate from the rest of the player base until they learn the error of their ways.

Like I say, there's likely all sorts of problems with this idea that you'll point out to me but that's why I'm asking.

I want no part of this, lol. I will always appreciate the carrot over the stick when it comes to match leaving. I'm a firm believer that if players are leaving matches there is a fundamental reason as to why and that needs to be addressed long before penalizing match-leaving.