DUST Search - Outreach: A Mercenary Planet

Sontie wrote:

I want to start at ideal and work backwards to practical and functional.

So, in an ideal world, outreach would have a merc corp rating system. graded from AAA to D, with a suggested contract cost per level.

Do ya'll like this idea and how would it work?

N = number of mercs you can field
G = average gear level of these mercs
1 = militia
3 = standard
5 = advanced
7 = proto
9 = officer
S = Average SP of these mercs
C = contract history (w/l ratio in contract battles only)

An A ranked corp would be able to field 32 players with proto gear and at least 7 mil sp with a w/l ratio of 3.0 (pulling numbers out of my ass)

(N*G + N*S)C=(32*8 + 32*7)3= 1440

And D would field 16 players with std gear and 3 mil sp with a W/L of 1 = 96

So if we set A at 1440...

AAA = 3000
AA = 2000
A = 1400
B = 700
C = 450
D = 100

I think with numbers like this, you could have a variety of corporations at high ranks, i.e. those with a lot of good plays and those with a small number of elite players.

We would have to set up a system to monitor the sponsored corporations, like have alts in their corp who can check up on them, make sure the numbers they give us are legit.

We will have to create modifiers for stuff like skill with A/V and how good they are with vehicles, though w/l ratio might take care of that.

Let's run PFBHz though this formula.

They can(would) field about 16 people I think, maybe 24. We will take 16 to be safe.
From their videos we know they run proto/officer gear so we will give them a score of 8 for gear.
Their average SP is probably around 6.5 mil (some with 7.5 some with 6 or less(rare))
Their win/loss ratio is like 18-24 or some god aweful number like that.

(16*8 + 16*6.5)18 = 4176
This would make them a very strong AAA ranked corporation, which would demand the highest price but all but guarantee success. If they started to lose more battles, they might drop down to an AA unless they increased their numbers or increase the quality of their mercs (gear and SP)


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Garrett Blacknova Codex Troopers 2204	Posted - 2013.03.29 18:40:00 - [1] - Quote I can see this working, but only under very specific circumstances. 1. The chosen planet must have NO inherent strategic value beyond the ISK value of owning districts. This means it can't be in a system that acts as a bottleneck for travel anywhere in the region. There needs to be another planet in the system, and there need to be available planets for conquest in all adjacent systems, unless the "empty" system leads nowhere. A lone planet could be viable in a "dead end" system, but placing a mercenary hub in such a location would reduce the practicality of approaching it in the first place, and remote or dead-end systems have an inherent value as soon as someone holds the route into them. 2. Clones produced by Outreach districts must be at least nominally restricted to Outreach. There are 3 ways this may happen. 2a. Corporations may hold territory in Outreach, but may not maintain a Research Lab, and may not hold territory within 2 jumps of Outreach. 2b. Corporations who hold Outreach must otherwise operate under a STRICT Merc-only policy. Not a single district may be held by Outreach Mercenaries as long as they hold a district on Outreach. 2c. Corporations who hold Outreach are forbidden to move clones from Outreach to other districts, whether to attack another Corporation or to reinforce their own districts on other worlds. 3. While an Outreach Alliance is a good idea, it couldn't function as the sole indicator of membership in the Outreach mercenary programme. The group needs to be open for ANYONE who wants to be involved in mercenary operations in Planetary Conquest. Obviously, a land-holding Corp that's part of a large Alliance should be eligible to use the merc services offered by Outreach, even if (depending how point 2 is handled) they may not be able to hold territory on Outreach. 4. Ideally, all SIs on the planet should be converted to Cargo Hubs (increased clone storage) to make the world minimally viable for staging attacks or as a profit centre, while providing the best defensive capabilities. This would make even claiming a "beachhead" single district on the world a challenging prospect.
Garrett Blacknova Codex Troopers 2237	Posted - 2013.03.30 01:07:00 - [2] - Quote Sontie wrote: I think I love you man. I already have a girlfriend, but that's sweet. Quote: #1 yes, a planet near the "core" would make more sense from a RP perspective, as it would be a business center planet, so that is what we would probably go for. But the planet chosen will depend not only on what planets are available and their locations, but what corporations are taking what planets. It would be a bad idea to ** off one of the top dogs at the very beginning. Also a very good point. Unless you can convince a strong corp to "donate" a planet to the cause if they manage to capture and hold 2 worlds in the same system relatively early on. Quote: #2 these are very good points you raised and must be contemplated further. 2a I assume this would keep the merc companies from using Outreach as a staging area? 2b I LIKE this idea the most. If you want to be a landholder, you must be representative of the ideals under which Outreach is founded. 2c I think all clones created should be sold and the profit taxed. 2b was my favourite as well, but the other options would basically be a way to reduce the viability of Outreach as a staging area. Quote: #3 this is why I don't want a full alliance. It might be necessary depending on what functionality we gain by creating an alliance to operate under. The whole point of being a true merc is to have relative freedom from the politics of alliances and whatnot, right? Good to know you're thinking of this one on the same terms I was. Quote:** #4 idk about that. If a landholder corp goes rogue, that would make it that much harder for us to take it from them. (the tax would pay for operations taken on a planet/organization wide scale like this) If a landholder wanted to go rogue, they'd be the ones in trouble. They lose their established allies, most merc Corps won't be willing to support them because they're disrupting the core of the mercenary business. They immediately make themselves a target for at least 9 Corporations, any of which can launch a 150-clone attack against their district while still maintaining 300 clones (plus production) against someone else's attempt to attack them. If the rogue Corp chooses to change SI, they not only put themselves 100 milliion out of pocket instantly, but also become an immediate target, AND they lose 1/3 of their defensive capabilities. And this point was an "ideal world" type suggestion, not something I think is necessary for the Outreach idea to work.
Garrett Blacknova Codex Troopers 2238	Posted - 2013.03.30 11:53:00 - [3] - Quote Sontie wrote: I want to start at ideal and work backwards to practical and functional. So, in an ideal world, outreach would have a merc corp rating system. graded from AAA to D, with a suggested contract cost per level. Do ya'll like this idea and how would it work? N = number of mercs you can field G = average gear level of these mercs 1 = militia 3 = standard 5 = advanced 7 = proto 9 = officer S = Average SP of these mercs C = contract history (w/l ratio in contract battles only) An A ranked corp would be able to field 32 players with proto gear and at least 7 mil sp with a w/l ratio of 3.0 (pulling numbers out of my ass) (NG + NS)C=(328 + 327)3= 1440 And D would field 16 players with std gear and 3 mil sp with a W/L of 1 = 96 So if we set A at 1440... AAA = 3000 AA = 2000 A = 1400 B = 700 C = 450 D = 100 I think with numbers like this, you could have a variety of corporations at high ranks, i.e. those with a lot of good plays and those with a small number of elite players. We would have to set up a system to monitor the sponsored corporations, like have alts in their corp who can check up on them, make sure the numbers they give us are legit. We will have to create modifiers for stuff like skill with A/V and how good they are with vehicles, though w/l ratio might take care of that. Let's run PFBHz though this formula. They can(would) field about 16 people I think, maybe 24. We will take 16 to be safe. From their videos we know they run proto/officer gear so we will give them a score of 8 for gear. Their average SP is probably around 6.5 mil (some with 7.5 some with 6 or less(rare)) Their win/loss ratio is like 18-24 or some god aweful number like that. (168 + 166.5)18 = 4176 This would make them a very strong AAA ranked corporation, which would demand the highest price but all but guarantee success. If they started to lose more battles, they might drop down to an AA unless they increased their numbers or increase the quality of their mercs (gear and SP) A few problems with this model. 1. You're not accounting for Corporations who are avoiding PC specifically because their own numbers are too low for even a single district to be viable. Mercenaries are VERY often going to be hired to "fill in the gaps" in a Corp's roster, not to provide the entire fighting force. 2. Unless you're supplying combatants for both sides, a Merc force won't be providing more than 13 members to a single battle. 16 players teams with 6 members per squad means at least 3 squads, meaning at least 3 Corp members to fill out the Squad Leader roles and call in the Mercs. Being able to supply more than 13 Mercs simultaneously shouldn't count for anything in a rating system. 3. The final step of the calculation is a multiplication of all your current working by the current Win/Loss ratio in contract battles. For a Corp's first contract, this will, by definition, be 0. Until they earn their first win, it's going to be 0. This means the total calculated result is simply thrown out in favour of them having a 0 rating for payment. How does it sound fair to give a Corp NOTHING for filling out all but 3 spots in your team?
Garrett Blacknova Codex Troopers 2525	Posted - 2013.04.16 18:20:00 - [4] - Quote Kitten Commander wrote: Nice idea but its something that will have to happen after the dust (pun intended) settles with PC. Stage 1 PC - The huge land grab where everyone is going to be in it for themselves and alliances stake their little happy homeworlds Stage 2 PC - Empire expansion. Alliances and corps begin to stretch their legs to expand upon their empires. Things are still quite chaotic as some may reach too far and could possibly have very bad consequences. Stage 3 PC - Borders begin to form as corps and their alliances solidify their holdings. More predictable as far as where battles happen. The Meta Game will truely take hold here. The best chance for this is probably going to be Stage 3. Especially when the DEVs open up more districts after everyone has had their fill of the original 250 and corps begin to take out contracts for battles where they are not looking to own the district after. I'm seconding this. Definitely better to wait and see how things happen, and set something like this up later.