Those beta players don't have enough to run Madrugars with impunity in public matches, so dropsuits will be even riskier considering how easily they're destroyed compared to tanks.

And I did say dropsuits should cost the equivalent of tanks.

Is game winning gear restricted to those who have 10 mill SP or more, currently? Not really. Prototype assault suits can be acquired with less than 10 mill. But what about modules, the weapon, fitting upgrades? In practise, currently, game winning gear is certainly restricted to the people who have lots of SP, and/or those who run boosters.

All the problems you point out with my system are evident in the current system, and I seem to feel that my proposal will lessen the severity of these issues.

Newer players will be earning profit in public matches because they're running cheaper gear. The richest players may run prototype gear in pub matches but will play much more conservatively because of its cost. Most players will want to keep making profit, and hence will run less expensive prices.

What people argue the SP system does currently is provide a goal to reach, and this satisfaction of reaching a goal is what makes it better than my ISK-based progression system. Well, you've just proved this ISK system gives us a goal to reach too. New players will strive for a bigger wallet, to acquire the best gear. But why purchase it if you're going to lose it to some murder taxi?

I'm not saying you're wrong, far from it. I simply cannot see your point of view. Your arguments are failing to convince me, as much as I want them to. I know that a system developed by an inexperienced student, for that's what I am, surely cannot be more effective than that developed by CCP. But I have yet to have someone prove me absolutely wrong; I've found counter-arguments in everything thrown at this system.

Also I'll keep liking if you continue. :D

But constantly running them in public matches where they earn 300-400k will lead to disastrous hits to the wallet. And even so, if dropsuits were made to cost the same amount, then they'd lose ISK even faster if they wanted to run that kinda gear.

To be honest, I was hoping common sense would take over once the prices are in. There will always be some outliers and people who simply run protogear for the hell of it but much less than what's happening now.

Note that my suggestion meant having all items unlocked. Not only does this mean CCP can implement new items without forcing all players to groan at another SP sink, but now people will want to test out new things, try new play styles, and ISK will be distributed into many more fits than what we have now. I have about 7 variants of the same dropsuit, all of which I maintain because they're all useful in some situation. Imagine if you had access to all other dropsuits, all other weapons, all other modules. It'd be hard to resist not using them all.

But that's where specialisation with the alternative SP system kicks in. Players can choose a certain module (or module variant) to put SP into to make more effective, giving them an edge over other players.

And you guys might say, wait, if there's no SP to unlock things, then veterans with hundreds of billions of ISK can run tanks all day because they have no SP requirement from stopping them!

Yes, yes they can. But the inverse is true, and the whole enemy team can whip out AV which they don't need to put SP into to use.

So how will they balance market integration with the current system?

How will we solve the SP gap between vets and newbies?

How do we resolve protostomping?

How do we retain new players?

The answers to these questions, apparently, are simple. Implement matchmaking, you all say. Well then CCP has to make it clear that matchmaking is NOT what New Eden is all about! I joined because I wanted perpetual war, not perpetual matchmade games with people my own skill. War isn't matchmade.

So how else can we resolve these problems? If my problem is lack of experience, yours is too much! You have enough SP to be able to sit back and say "the SP system could use some consolidation" because whatever happens, you've got a fallback plan.

I'm thinking about the newbies who graduated from the Academy yesterday, who graduated today, who will graduate tomorrow, who are getting demolished because prototype gear is too bloody easy to run! Because the SP gap means even if players aren't protostomped, they're outplayed by the versatility of their opponents, who can counter any tactic they bring to bear simply by altering their gear to match it.

I'm thinking about where the SP system will take us in two years, or five years. How much starter SP will we give away for free by then to new players? How many respecs will we give out, after saying no more? How many skills have to become SP sinks for vets and unattainable goals for newbies?

What I actually mean when I say tanks and prototype/advanced dropsuit prices should be similar: technology wise, a dropsuit should be bloody advanced and that's where the cost comes from. For tanks, it's simply the sheer volume of material which goes into making the thing, and we have miners all over New Eden for that! Dropsuit designers, probably less so.

I'm trying to retain that essence of DUST 514 as One Universe//One War instead of Multiple Matchmade Categories//One War.

If players can access prototype gear now for cheap prices, once EVE ISK floods the market protostomping gets worse. I'm saying increase the price and remove the skill penalty BECAUSE it doesn't matter anymore! ISK matters! We're immortal mercenaries for god's sake, not monks training in remote monastaries, building up ki to unleash untold inner power. Make clones cost money, too. Make ammunition cost money. Make sights for your gun cost money.

No? But surely this is what they'll end up doing with SP eventually? Dividing skills further and further, making them more specific and more specific, but not lowering SP requirements, until newbies who simply want to have fun are met with a wall branded "LEARNING CURVE".

I'm trying in vain to find a solution to the dwindling player numbers on DUST. So please, PLEASE refrain from calling my ideas idiotic, because my keyboard warrior mode activates and walls of text appear. Unless you have a suitable alternative, BESIDES telling me to sit on my arse and wait for CCP to consolidate.

If prototype gear is made more accessible then there is sense of progress, which is what we want in an MMO-type game.

If perpetual war is limited to a certain game type, then it detracts from an MMO-type game.

Consolidating SP how you suggest we consolidate SP does mean new players get more toys, but also means vets get all the toys. Leans more towards a competitive FPS-type game.

So does encouraging an even playing field for a wider audience. Definitely sounds like an FPS-type game.

See what's happening here? Lets assume you're right and CCP chooses your path. It is a path of confusion. Are we an MMOFPS, an MMO, or an FPS? Because DUST is one of the first of its kind, and I don't think we know the answer to what it really is. I don't think CCP does. And I don't think your assessment clarifies the problem.

What I envisage DUST to be is what the trailers make it out to be. An FPS which is another window through which to view New Eden. And I believe making ISK important will help DUST reach that vision. That is my vyzion of the game. Oh, see what I did there?

So my proposal seeks to achieve this because no matter what happens, no matter what you tell me about my lack of experience, I know that protostomping won't stop unless you absolutely stomp down on the SP requirement for prototype specialised dropsuits. And if you do that, why not just take it a step further and make them expensive as hell to balance it out?

Then when EVE/DUST markets are integrated, you say prices won't matter. Then jack up the prices again, until the point that capsuleers must fund you to afford prototype gear. Then make PC more important in EVE by giving more ISK to capsuleers for districts. Then capsuleers fund mercenaries with that ISK. And mercenaries do what mercenaries do, and fight for the highest bidder. Sounds better than dumping hundreds of millions of ISK on a DUST corp to run prototype all day and roflstomp through pubs.

A bit less fluff, too.