13 replies to this topic

[James The Fox Dixon]

In part 1 of this series, we’ve talked about mission rewards and mech maintenance for the various faction types. In this part we will discuss the market, planetary production, and Loyalty Points. Loyalty points will provide a discount for purchasing items from the various Houses and factions.

In order for pilots to buy advanced technology that was destroyed during missions, certain planets will produce replacements as well as providing newer technology. Each planet would have a weekly production cap for each item, standard and advanced, that is available for sale to a pilot. This system would also be used for the availability of mechs and their variants. Using their earnings a pilot can customize his/her mech as they see fit, within the production capacity that is available.

Production would use the lore information regarding which planet produces what technology and mech variants. For example, Hesperus II produces ER PPCs and Steiner variants of the Victor, Black Jack, and Atlas. Hesperus II would produce 2,000 ER PPCs and 10 of each mech chassis in a single week. These items would be placed in the market place for sale at the price specified according to lore. Pilots can purchase these items either as upgrades to their existing equipment or replacing the upgrades that had been destroyed.

Loyalty points come into play at this point. Loyalty Points are set up in a similar fashion as the MRBC tier system that ranks a pilot’s standing with a House/Clan. Every pilot begins with a Private’s rating and works their way up. Each rank requires 50 Loyalty Points for ranks E1-E4, 75 points for E5-E9, 100 points for O1-O4, 150 points for O5-O7, 200 points for O8-10, and 250 points for O9-O13. In order to gain Loyalty Points, a player must complete Community Warfare missions for control over a planet. Each successful mission would add 1 point and a failed mission would subtract .5 of a point.

Each rank would provide a discount of 5% that starts with E2. Each rank above that will continue to accrue the discount as each rank discount is added together. Thus, an E4 ranked pilot with House Steiner would get a 15% discount to mechs and parts produced by House Steiner. Mercenary Corps and Lone Wolves are treated the same here due to their contracts from the House. However, there is a downside to House pilots as they will not be able to get a discount for parts and mechs produced by a rival faction with the sole exception being pilots for House Steiner and House Davion. Their bonus can be applied to the opposite House normally since they are now united as the Federated Commonwealth.

Mercenary units and Lone Wolves can gain Loyalty Points in the same manner as House pilots. The only difference is that Mercenary units and Lone Wolves can earn Loyalty Points for all of the Houses, but their standing increases at half the normal rate as a House pilot and decreases at the normal rate for mission failures. Thus, for each successful mission a Mercenary unit and Lone Wolf will earn .5 Loyalty Points for each successful mission and loses -.5 Loyalty Point for each failed mission.

Edited by James The Fox Dixon, 21 August 2013 - 07:03 AM.

[James The Fox Dixon]

Bump for discussion.

[James The Fox Dixon]

Bump for discussion.

[James The Fox Dixon]

Bump to keep this from getting buried and to generate discussion.

[dreadmenot]

This, and your first part are interesting, but I am not seeing much of an economy, still just a reward system. Also, this seems beyond the scope of what PGI is attempting to accomplish. Not that we shouldn't have the discussion, we need to.

Without clearly understanding the intent of the game, as the whole game has yet to be implemented, it is hard to see what we have to work with. I came across a post a few days ago where someone mentioned that THIS is the core game. We likely won't see significant changes in the short term, only additions that affect the core as it is now.

So far we have an online mech simulation with a basic reward system. How can the core game be altered by PGI to be more immersive (I think having the chance to lose something is equally exciting as it is to gain something), while still being friendly to new comers? I think bring those realms together will create a more interesting game with a wider draw.

As it is, I like blowing stuff up. Sooner or later I will get tired of just blowing stuff up.

[James The Fox Dixon]

dreadmenot, on 18 August 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

This, and your first part are interesting, but I am not seeing much of an economy, still just a reward system. Also, this seems beyond the scope of what PGI is attempting to accomplish. Not that we shouldn't have the discussion, we need to.

Without clearly understanding the intent of the game, as the whole game has yet to be implemented, it is hard to see what we have to work with. I came across a post a few days ago where someone mentioned that THIS is the core game. We likely won't see significant changes in the short term, only additions that affect the core as it is now.

So far we have an online mech simulation with a basic reward system. How can the core game be altered by PGI to be more immersive (I think having the chance to lose something is equally exciting as it is to gain something), while still being friendly to new comers? I think bring those realms together will create a more interesting game with a wider draw.

As it is, I like blowing stuff up. Sooner or later I will get tired of just blowing stuff up.

The first part was all about rewards. This part is all about planetary production which is the economy.

[Johnny Z]

Just skimming this post I hope at least some of this is part of CW. CW having depth is good but a complicated mess is not. Just saying.

[James The Fox Dixon]

Johnny Z, on 19 August 2013 - 05:52 AM, said:

Just skimming this post I hope at least some of this is part of CW. CW having depth is good but a complicated mess is not. Just saying.

Oh this isn't the complex version. The complex version would have things like supply and demand, market share, etc... Creating an economy is not an easy task, but there are things that you can do to simplify certain things or not have them included. However, the developers have said that planets would have production and that the game would have Loyalty Points. This idea is the simple version of incorporating both of those things into a cohesive whole that also includes rewards, mech maintenance, etc...

[Johnny Z]

James The Fox Dixon, on 10 August 2013 - 07:22 AM, said:

In part 1 of this series, we’ve talked about mission rewards and mech maintenance for the various faction types. In this part we will discuss the market, planetary production, and Loyalty Points. Loyalty points will provide a discount for purchasing items from the various Houses and factions.

In order for pilots to buy advanced technology that was destroyed during missions, certain planets will produce replacements as well as providing newer technology. Each planet would have a weekly production cap for each item, standard and advanced, that is available for sale to a pilot. This system would also be used for the availability of mechs and their variants. Using their earnings a pilot can customize his/her mech as they see fit, within the production capacity that is available.

Production would use the lore information regarding which planet produces what technology and mech variants. For example, Hesperus II produces ER PPCs and Steiner variants of the Victor, Black Jack, and Atlas. Hesperus II would produce 2,000 ER PPCs and 10 of each mech chassis in a single week. These items would be placed in the market place for sale at the price specified according to lore. Pilots can purchase these items either as upgrades to their existing equipment or replacing the upgrades that had been destroyed.

Loyalty points come into play at this point. Loyalty Points are set up in a similar fashion as the MRBC tier system that ranks a pilot’s standing with a House. Every pilot begins with a Private’s rating and works their way up. Each rank requires 50 Loyalty Points for ranks E1-E4, 75 points for E5-E9, 100 points for O1-O4, 150 points for O5-O7, 200 points for O8-10, and 250 points for O9-O13. In order to gain Loyalty Points, a player must complete Community Warfare missions for control over a planet. Each successful mission would add 1 point and a failed mission would subtract .5 of a point.

Each rank would provide a discount of 5% that starts with E2. Each rank above that will continue to accrue the discount as each rank discount is added together. Thus, an E4 ranked pilot with House Steiner would get a 15% discount to mechs and parts produced by House Steiner. Mercenary Corps and Lone Wolves are treated the same here due to their contracts from the House. However, there is a downside to House pilots as they will not be able to get a discount for parts and mechs produced by a rival faction with the sole exception being pilots for House Steiner and House Davion. Their bonus can be applied to the opposite House normally since they are now united as the Federated Commonwealth.

Mercenary units and Lone Wolves can gain Loyalty Points in the same manner as House pilots. The only difference is that Mercenary units and Lone Wolves can earn Loyalty Points for all of the Houses, but their standing increases at half the normal rate as a House pilot and decreases twice the normal rate for mission failures. Thus, for each successful mission a Mercenary unit and Lone Wolf will earn .5 Loyalty Points for each successful mission and loses 1 Loyalty Point for each failed mission.

In fact this is very well done, and would be great to see added. Except the part where different planets produce different items.

This post has alot of thought put into it, but just off hand it would be nice to see the planets more like:

1 homeworld, +10% loyalty, +5% creds and mechs points.
1 factory world +10% mechs points, +5% creds
1 Core world +10% creds, +5% loyalty

The numbers could be totally off, but just adding to your ideas about the planets quickly.

[Tyrnea Smurf]

A lot of the planet by planet economy system you mention reminds me of MechWarrior 1, where you had a basic faction map of all the worlds of the Inner Sphere that you could 'travel' to. Once on that planet what was available in terms of mechs to buy and their cost varied (both purchase and repair rates), by both the planet itself (if it was a industrial center planet or not) and if a battle had happened there recently (which effected what mechs were for sale, I recall fighting on a world, after returning to the planet I launched the mission from, traveling to the planet of the mission and the half repaired Warhammer I fought was sitting waiting to be purchased). The major problem I see trying that in a real time mmo setup is the ability to abuse by botted accounts who camp a planet to buy up the 10 chassis produced by planet xyz because that's the in demand 'uber' chassis of the then current meta. or weapon, or equipment ect. Only way that would be mitigated is if you are totally locking off any possibility of a interactive player economy where players can trade, buy and sell ect with each other.

[James The Fox Dixon]

Tyrnea Smurf, on 19 August 2013 - 05:46 PM, said:

A lot of the planet by planet economy system you mention reminds me of MechWarrior 1, where you had a basic faction map of all the worlds of the Inner Sphere that you could 'travel' to. Once on that planet what was available in terms of mechs to buy and their cost varied (both purchase and repair rates), by both the planet itself (if it was a industrial center planet or not) and if a battle had happened there recently (which effected what mechs were for sale, I recall fighting on a world, after returning to the planet I launched the mission from, traveling to the planet of the mission and the half repaired Warhammer I fought was sitting waiting to be purchased). The major problem I see trying that in a real time mmo setup is the ability to abuse by botted accounts who camp a planet to buy up the 10 chassis produced by planet xyz because that's the in demand 'uber' chassis of the then current meta. or weapon, or equipment ect. Only way that would be mitigated is if you are totally locking off any possibility of a interactive player economy where players can trade, buy and sell ect with each other.

Actually, there are a couple of things that prohibit it. First, you have to have open mechbays. Secondly, there is no trading between players. I worked off of those assumptions since there hasn't been an indication that mech bays will be sold for C-Bills and the developers have said nothing about player trading as we currently don't have it.

Edited by James The Fox Dixon, 19 August 2013 - 05:54 PM.

[James The Fox Dixon]

I altered the first post to add in Clans as part of the meta-economy.

[Spirit of the Wolf]

I like most of it, except what I've noted below.
Not so sure I like how Lone Wolves and Mercenaries gain 0.5 for a win and -1.0 for a loss. I'm fine with gaining at half the rate, but why not just halve the entire thing? Why not just make 0.5 for a win and -0.25 for a loss? (Alternatively, have all house points accrue separately, and if you complete a mission for one house, it goes up. That said, if you complete a mission against a house, your points with them go down. It's a balancing act, see? You could make one house totally hate you, and end up offering a bounty against you, but you could, in return for that, use them as your 'punching bag house', and only take missions against them, very slowly racking up points with the other houses.)

[James The Fox Dixon]

Spirit of the Wolf, on 20 August 2013 - 07:27 PM, said:

I like most of it, except what I've noted below.
Not so sure I like how Lone Wolves and Mercenaries gain 0.5 for a win and -1.0 for a loss. I'm fine with gaining at half the rate, but why not just halve the entire thing? Why not just make 0.5 for a win and -0.25 for a loss? (Alternatively, have all house points accrue separately, and if you complete a mission for one house, it goes up. That said, if you complete a mission against a house, your points with them go down. It's a balancing act, see? You could make one house totally hate you, and end up offering a bounty against you, but you could, in return for that, use them as your 'punching bag house', and only take missions against them, very slowly racking up points with the other houses.)

I altered the values as you suggested. The other idea of them having to do a balancing act, I'm not to sure about it.