Okay, so the crux of the issue is starting to emerge here and it essentially comes down to pubstomps and poor matchmaking. With that in mind, it should be remembered that what we are currently playing will be a very small part of the eventual game and in the next 6 months (release is slated for summer 2013) everything will change massively.

When we have full EvE integration, there will be 3 security zones in which to play - hi-sec, low-sec and null-sec. The current version of pub games will likely be quite similar to hi-sec. High level experienced players will not be playing here much because the rewards will likely be quite limited. They will all be in low and null-sec fighting over territory against other high level players and corps.

As stated, I really don't think there needs to be any change because the isk rewards adequately take care of the meta level differences but to just make one point about what has now been suggested - if there is a difference in reward between meta levels (or gear types), would you only apply this to the suits? the weapons? the modules used? Do you see what I'm getting at here? It's not just about the suit.

@Tiluvo agreed - WP does need tweaking in general, especially rehacking objectives and hacking vehicles need WP reward.

I think that Meta Level could help with matchmaking. Basing matchmaking on say, SP's, doesn't really help because some people (like me) have a whole bunch of SP's that they haven't assigned to anything effectively making them the same challenge from week to week until they do. Basing it on Skill Levels is better, but it doesn't take into account how much ISK you've spent on your currently available fits.

But since we can choose our "Favorite" fit (which is curently being used to decide how you appear to other players while in the Warbarge), the system could take the Meta Level of your fit, combine it with your skill levels (as outlined in an earlier post), and come up with a Meta Level range that it would then use to match you with other players. If you feel that the matches it puts you in are unchallenging (or too much of a challenge), then you can simply pick a different fit as your "Favorite" and see where that puts you. It's a system that players can manipulate until they get the challenge level that they want.

I'd have this apply only to Instant Battles, leaving Corp Matches and FW to their own devices.

Okay, so the crux of the issue is starting to emerge here and it essentially comes down to pubstomps and poor matchmaking. With that in mind, it should be remembered that what we are currently playing will be a very small part of the eventual game and in the next 6 months (release is slated for summer 2013) everything will change massively.



When we have full EvE integration, there will be 3 security zones in which to play - hi-sec, low-sec and null-sec. The current version of pub games will likely be quite similar to hi-sec. High level experienced players will not be playing here much because the rewards will likely be quite limited. They will all be in low and null-sec fighting over territory against other high level players and corps.



As stated, I really don't think there needs to be any change because the isk rewards adequately take care of the meta level differences but to just make one point about what has now been suggested - if there is a difference in reward between meta levels (or gear types), would you only apply this to the suits? the weapons? the modules used? Do you see what I'm getting at here? It's not just about the suit.

Only problem here...what do you do when people are in squads outside of an individual game? The Meta/SP level system is great for determining rewards and I like it, but how would it place a squad of different leveled people?



For example, I am a squad leader with proto gear and huge amounts of SP but all three of my mates are newbs with starter fits. Does matchmaking set us up in a proto instant battle or a starter instant battle? Also, anyone could set their fav fit to a starter fit, get thrown into a lower Meta level match and then hit up a supply depot and switch to a proto fit.



Granted, switching to a proto fit would still effect their SP/ISK rewards. Also, I am aware that part of the algorithm involves total SP in addition to fit meta level. Theoretically, a guy with 5mil SP and a starter fit still won't be playing against newbies since his Meta/SP level would be too high.

Balancing this system correctly would be an absolute beast, fyi. Think about it. Okay, so one of the ideas here is to stop rewarding proto guys for going 31/1 in public games, right? To balance this so that actually happens you need to make the SP/ISK rewards SOOOO small for running a proto fit against starter fits that going 10/5 against other proto guys is better than going 31/1 against newbs. Not only that, you have to balance it so that going 31/1 in starter fits with 6mil SP is STILL worse than going 10/5 against other proto guys. You have to make it so that the hit you suffer for going proto against guys with 4 mil SP when you have 4 mil SP isn't ridiculous, since they should also be able to run proto at that skill level. It sounds like an absolute boondoggle to balance, is all I'm suggesting...



At the end of the day, I think a Meta/SP level WP system would do wonders to curtail (if not prevent) SOME pub-stomping since the big-wigs wouldn't get jack for contract rewards for owning newbies, but balancing a system like this seems like an arduous battle for the developers at best.

Ok people still don't seem to be grasping the fact that isk takes care of rewarding your for killing higher level geared players. WP does not need to do this too.

As for the matchmaking system - it doesn't work on just SP count, or even SP spend or meta-level. It's a pretty complex algorithm that produces a 'skill level'. There was a dev post recently explaining it better - I'll try to find the post to link for it.

Why do you instantly need to know whether you've killed a proto guy or a militia scrub? Why does not finding out at the end of the battle how much you've contributed satisfy?

I couldn't find the dev post but I've linked the wiki page for the system that is used.