Cathy, on 16 February 2015 - 07:08 AM, said:
I never believed that it shouldn't be. But to do that, the entire loyalty system as is would have to be dumped, a new dynamic system created and a secondary economy based on deeds and player behavior would have to be installed on the moral codes of soldiery where the loyal and effective are rewarded one way, the mercs and... well... transient thugs of war get rewarded another.
A Loyalist should never have to worry about silly things like repairing and rearming his mech. Of course, he also is paid garbage. His loyalty and aligned philosophy and the satisfaction gained from pushing his master's, not employer's, agenda should form a large part of his reward. They also get the glamorous work and the easy work.
A Merc gets money, the dirty jobs and the quiet jobs that can be blamed on them because they are politically sensitive if not destructive to be done by someone with a reputation. See that's the key word. Mercs can have loyalty, but not a good reputation compared to loyalist troups. You can't send the 101st Airborne in to a politically dirty situation. You CAN send in a bunch of mercs to do black ops that can't be traced back to you.
The missions differ.
The pay differs
The roles differ.
You want to be a hero for a cause, go Loyalist. Get paid in celebratory adulation and crumbs from your master's table. Maybe some day after being a loyal retainer, you can sit at that same table.
Be a merc, and you will never be sung about, never get the easy jobs but always will be paid well because your love is for the money, not a cause. You will never sit in the hall of a king or queen but you will never be ruled by one either.
The problem is that this game, and PGI's thinking that we know of has been based around the all-mighty C-Bill. Nothing more. We have hints they're thinking bigger, a third currency known as Loyalty Points. But it's been set up wrong here. Now it's a contest to see how far you're willing to push a ball with your nose or how many pies you can eat. There is no going backwards, only fame, no infamy. Only rewards, no penalties. Just endless carrots that quickly lose their meaning and taste beyond what they may have in real monetary value or access to more CBills for in game toys.
No. This isn't how it should work if you want to create a dynamic, ever present incentive for both the loyalist and merc. A merc must receive the bulk of his rewards in CBills... UNTIL SUCH TIME.... as they prove a worthy and loyal retainer that can be trusted by time of service and effectiveness under command of a single faction, aka a 'de facto loyalist'.
Consider it like an Owner Operator for a trucker (something I know more than a fair bit about). They get paid more. They drive how they want to drive, and where they want to go. BUT... they also have full responsibility for keeping their operation running. You don't take jobs or don't do them well, you're done. Out of business. I work with a few drivers who used to be O/Os who had life deal them harsh breaks. Now they drive for a company doing shuttle work, building themselves back up to be an O/O again, or leave after a time to join a company as a company driver. All of them who enjoyed doing the O/O route will return to it at some point. The freedom and control is the thing.
That is a solid basis for what PGI needs to do with mercs. You fail and go broke, you find a faction to hire you on as a loyalist and allow you to fill up your coffers again till you can go O/O as a unit. That ability to fail, then pick yourself up again is critical for this whole system working.
On the other hand, you job flip and tick off all 10 employers out there... guess what? You're now a pirate. The ultimate freedom, and probably not doing the honest day's work to keep yourself fed and in Autocannon shells. This needs to be added for those players who want total freedom and have no problem with infamy and being hunted.
Oh but I could ramble on for so long on this.
The TL:DR of it all.
1. Fixed, un-losable loyalty points kill a whole third economy necessary for a true loyalty system that rewards honorable servitude. Gains for one faction should include losses from another. These LP rewards should be nearly unattainable by those who switch factions, have access to things made unpurchasable any other way.
2. Consider a trucker Owner/Operator form of risk/reward
3. There are three levels of loyalty and game style: Loyalist, Merc and Pirate. We need the factionless, deniable, always hunted criminal pirates to complete this system.
Edited by Kjudoon, 16 February 2015 - 05:51 PM.
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