Bryan Ekman, on 08 February 2013 - 11:55 AM, said:
A: Interesting idea, anything is possible.
Here is my Official Suggestion. I would very much like a way to boost the C-Bill output of my favorite Mechs, in a way similar to the Hero Mechs.
I have a set of Founders Mechs that get a 25% C-bill boost, and Hero Mechs are available that give a 30% C-bill boost, but that creates a situation where I feel somewhat discouraged from using my other Mechs whenever I'm trying to save up some C-Bills for my next purchase. Yes, I can use Premium Time to increase my earnings, but I then still feel obligated to use my Hero/Founders Mechs in order to take full advantage of the increased earnings.
I'm suggesting that we be given an option to throw MC at the regular Mechs to anoint them with a permanent C-Bill boost, like a Hero Mech, just not as much of a boost because it's not an actual Hero.
Since "Hero Mechs" are supposed to be infamously powerful forces to be reckoned-with, I believe that any kind of upgrades to your non-Hero Mechs should only be possible after "Mastering" and unlocking the additional Module Slot for the variant in question. That prerequisite would make sure that only seasoned warriors are passing themselves off as genuine hot shots who deserve a bigger paycheck ;-) Basically, I think once the additional Module Slot is unlocked, the user may be presented with a menu option to Upgrade their Mech for (let's arbitrarily say) 1,000 MC and receive a permanent 10% C-bill increase for each match played... or something like that.
Think of it as not just Mastering your Mech; You're Bounty Mastering it! There ya go... you Master your Mech with XP, then you use MC and bribe some folks to upgrade your Mech to Bounty Master and increase your c-Bill earnings.
Prices/payouts are negotiable... but I think you get my drift. What do people here think? Community comments are welcome, please post away!
(edit - Poll away, too!)
Here's a visual to represent my idea, where unlocking the Cash Out skill for 1,000 MC would grant you a 10% C-Bill Boost [or something like that].
Of course, this idea wouldn't go in until after UI 2.0, but this is just a visual.
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Editwo: w00t, lots of feedback on this!
Several points have been brought up in the thread recently, so I will take a shot at the soapbox:
- Perhaps a different name might be a good thing... since this idea is related to nothing more than getting paid more C-Bills, it can't be earned through Skill, alone, and it can only happen after you Master a Mech, then the name of this function can be changed from "Heroizing" to something that sounds more financial; like achieving "Bounty Master" status.
-The Proposed Idea is to grant a smaller C-Bill Boost than a Hero Mech because the regular Mechs are really just that... Regular. Providing a way to give them a huge C-Bill Boost would not only detract from the Values of genuine Hero Mechs, but it would make this idea too expensive (I anticipate Paying Players will want to "Heroize" any/every Mech they wind-up Mastering and unlocking the Module Slot on because you only unlock those 21,500 point Slots on Mechs that you intend on using heavily)
-This particular idea is not related to subscription models or anything like that because that discussion is more regarding how Premium Time is implemented and stuff like that. My idea, here, is a stand-alone concept related to improving the per-match C-Bill output of individual Mechs by purchasing Mech-specific upgrades. Suggestions regarding subscriptions and stuff would be a different topic of conversation than this thread.
-I would not, at this time, involve the movement of Hardpoints with this idea because I am presenting a non-combat-related performance boost... in this case, it performs better at raking in C-Bills. Once you begin to allow customization of hardpoints, you get into a situation where every single variant has to be combed-over by the Devs to make lists of allowed/disallowed hardpoint configurations based on how they affect combat performance... which would require tons of testing... that would have to be part of a different Suggestion Thread.
-I am suggesting that this cost MC and not be available with C-Bills because it's an End-Game feature that would reward people for continuing to spend more money on the game after they have already spent a significant amount of time and resources into the Leveling of that Mech. It would give Paying Players an option to make their Mastery Experience more worthwhile and improve the productivity of their Favorite Mechs. This is similar to the idea of paid Premium Time; you can't buy C-Bill boosts with C-Bills.
-More than 1 person has suggested a Scaled System. This may be an option, but as my idea as presented required spending MC to gain a C-Bill boost, a scaled system would require multiple MC expenditures to scale the ladder, and eventually cause regular Mechs to approach the economic value of Hero Mechs. For one, any scaled system would have to assume that you can't upgrade to a full "Hero mech Bonus" and for two, it'd have to be affordable. I am not attempting to propose a way to make Regular Mechs as valuable as Hero Mechs... that would be inappropriate, I think, as it may conflict with the purpose of Hero Mechs as created by the game staff. Also, I want to make it easy, simple, and affordable for folks to Heroize numerous Mechs in their Mechbay. A scaled system might be better for a different game Suggestion, such as something that has to do with unlocking things with XP or stuff like that. My idea, in this thread, is for a simple Pay-for-Cbill-Boost scheme to supplement your Premium Time, or for when you want to grind for c-bills using something that's not a bonafide Hero Mech.
-Since this is Paid-Content, it might be cool if "Heroizing" your Mech came with some kind of blingbling cockpit item such as a money clip, or hanging Gold Chains...
Edited by Prosperity Park, 27 June 2013 - 06:38 PM.