Union118 wrote:Byron Triefletcher wrote:Why not use PC as a way to solve this problem naturally? Structure it such that lower value systems are unattractive to high level players (proto/captain), but offer benefits/rewards that are meaningful for young players, while higher value systems are structured to entice captains/protos and be out of reach for the average noob?
Made properly accessible and appropriately structured, PC could become a naturally 'tiered' solution that magnetizes everyone away from pubs and toward it, not unlike the tiering that naturally occurs in EVE between high-sec and low-sec systems.
If you can think of such a system id like to hear it but i think is easier said than done.
Well, sure, most things are [more easily said than done]. And I admit, I'm more of a 'broad strokes' kind of guy, but I'll take a crack at it.
Here's the basic idea: Those protos that are lining up to smash Doms? I want them to think
"why the hell would I bring a proto suit to that dom pub? It's simply not worth it."So why is it currently worth it for them? What are they after? ISK? K:D padding? Control/bonuses/perks/bragging rights/special ****?
Find their reward system, then find a natural, organic way to balance (read: reduce) it.If they're after ISK: It simply should not be profitable to take a proto squad int oa match against a bunch of militia nubs. You shouldn't expect even a decent ISK payout from such an endeavor. A couple ideas here:
1) Make match ISK rewards DIRECTLY MATCH in-game efforts.
2) Make ISK rewards relevant to per-kill match-ups (e.g., an ADV kill is worth more than a STANDARD kill, etc.)
3) Reduce per-kill ISK reward for multiple kills on the same scrub (kill#1=2(ISK), kill#2=1(ISK), kill#3=.5(ISK), etc.).
If they're after K:D: There's gotta be another type of ranking system that become more valuable to them than the K:D. Most modern FPS's have ELO/Rankings/Skill Rating systems. If this exists, make it more prominent. If it doesn't, implement it. A few ideas here:
1) Ranks: Create race specific military ranks granted as a skill-based reward system. Grant unique rank-based suits/skins/vehicles/equipment/etc. to show off your skills.
2) Tiers: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver: What tier are you, based on your performance? Create tier-bling to sit next to your name on killboards, leaderboards, lobbies, etc.
3) Score: Even if it's just a raw number system, a ranking score could replace the less informative K:D. Obviously, more advanced kills are worth more than noob kills, so they affect (or don't affect) your Score accordingly.
If they're after other ****: Well, this one's easiest. FW and PC make certain rewards available that simply aren't available through pubs. This is currently implemented, so just analyze the data to see if it's having the effect you're after (i.e., increasing FW/PC matches and increasing net gudfights), and if not, adjust multipliers accordingly.
Speaking of PC: Disclaimer: I don't even play PC yet. I'm talking out of my ass. But it seems to me that if you took
Molden Heath and applied value multipliers to each system (i.e., each system is actually WORTH a different amount to own), and perhaps even subdivisions on a district by district basis (in EVE, these system's values tend to be roughly inversely proportionate to their security rating), you create districts that are highly valuable, and district which are hardly worth fighting over.
The principle is simple: if the investment cost of dumping high value resources into attacking/defending a system is higher than that system's output value, then I will not dump high value resources into that system. I will, instead, throw low value assets (read standard/advanced suits) at that system.Two really basic, organic ways to implement variable district values and PC risk/reward analysis could be based on 1) planetary composition/valuable material availability (some districts are richer manufacturing hubs than others), and 2) logistical deployment costs (it's more difficult/expensive to get quality equipment all the way out to the front lines from the manufacturing rich center systems, for example, so I'll only do it when the district I'm fighting for justifies the cost).
Plus you implement some of the ideas up above as a force multiplier.
I really think the above tools are more than you need. And that's just me, some *******, spitballing ideas on a Tuesday morning, with nary an original thought. These are all tools successfully implemented in other games. Guys whose job this is already know everything I've said, plus probably have 20 other super good ideas on their belt. I really think it's not a matter of finding "such a system", as you say. The systems are there; it's just a matter of picking the ones that are truest to the spirit of Dust (I tried to list my ideas in that order, btw). Then you just find the right multipliers/scalars to apply to each of them, to get the results you're after - but I'll leave that to the dudes with math degrees and statistical analysis algorithms or some ****.
TL;DR, I guess: You asked for some ideas about a system that could hamper proto stomping; there are PLENTY of such ideas, and I've listed a few.
Dust has something really special with it's New Eden background, and the FW and PC dynamics. That's what it's doing
right. It could use some improvement in implementing modern FPS gameplay elements like those above, which are the way you craft what we're all really after.
Gudfights.