33 replies to this topic

[GaussDragon]

Planetary League isn't as complicated as that wall of text may make it seem it is. Basically, the more planets you control, the more income your clan gets, which in turn, allows you to make jumps to attack other clans more frequently and at greater distances. Looking at the FAQ again for MWO, basically we have to select a faction then I think our individual clans, under a faction banner, operate as a sub-unit of the greater faction and we try and conquer the other ones. Mercenaries operate more independently I assume.

Here's the important parts:

1.1 Introduction
[indent]MechWarrior Leagues PlanetaryLeague delivers an environment that allows multiple units to interact with each other on a number of levels, including role-playing, online gaming, economics/trade, and resource management. This league is a culmination of many different ideas, coming from many different individuals, and in being so carries a broad appeal to both the casual gaming group, as well as the die-hard gamers.

PlanetaryLeague at MWL uses a derivative of the BattleTech planetary chart for representing the region of space units will do battle within. Some of this role playing will involve communications, while other aspects will involve two or more units getting online using MechWarrior gaming software to act out a battle, or series of battles. Unit Founders and Unit Leads are responsible for the management of their units' activities within the PlanetaryLeague.

The main gist of PlanetaryLeague is summed up in the following list:

• There are a fixed number of planets that can be controlled by Units.
  
• Each planet has a population, production factor, and Structures, all of which determine the number of C-Bills that a controlling Unit draws from a given planet on a daily basis.
  
• C-Bills are used to drop a team on a planet for battle, hire Mercenaries, and invest in Facilities.
  
• Each planet has a terrain type, which correlates to a set of MW4 game maps. Maps are selected randomly within that subset for each given battle.
  
• Any planet not in control by a unit is considered Unoccupied. The indigenous population of an Unoccupied planet have a random chance of hiring Mercenary Units to defend their planet.
  
• Each PlanetaryLeague battle fought results in varying C-Bill awards (salvage) to each unit.
  
• PlanetaryLeague does not run on set "cycles". It is designed as an ongoing saga, even though it has been stopped and restarted several times for various reasons.

[/indent]

1.2 Unit Types<a href="http://www.mechwarriorleagues.com/cgi-bin/leagues/rules.cgi?action=viewRules&ruleid=2#top" style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, 'Sans Serif'; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 255, 0); ">
[indent]Unit Types play a strong role in the organization of the PlanetaryLeague. A given unit's Type determines what actions it may take within the league. The automation software on the website will also adapt based on what type of unit is accessing it.

There are three types of unit; Empires, Mercenaries and Pirates. Any unit may play as one of these types. MWL PlanetaryLeague is not holding to strict interpretation of BattleTech lore. Each type of unit has various modifiers and behaviors associated with it. Only a Planetary Admin can change the type of a Unit.[/indent]
Empires
[indent]Empires are the planet-hoarding units of PlanetaryLeague. The main goal of an Empire is to gain planets, thereby gaining more revenue in C-Bills production. Empires may use their own members, or employ Mercenary Units, to play MechWarrior games in an attempt to take control of planets. If an Empire loses all of its planets, that unit has the option to become a Mercenary or Pirate unit. Empires may have 2 active attacks at any given time. Empires may have 3 active defenses against Assaults and Strikes, and 1 active defense against Pirate Raids. It is recommended that Empires have a minimum of 15 members on their rosters to cover the level of gaming activity required to maintain an Empire.[/indent]
Mercenaries
[indent]Mercenaries are guns-for-hire that Empires will employ to increase their range of coverage. Mercs can be hired to Assault enemy planets, Strike at a planet's Facilities, or to Garrison Empire-held planets. Mercenaries may have 3 active Assault or Strike contracts at one time, and are permitted unlimited Garrison contracts. Mercenary unit players drop as a unit - they do not combine forces with Empires to fight concurrently in the same battle. It is recommended that Mercenaries have a minimum of 12 members on their rosters to cover the level of gaming activity.[/indent]
Pirates
[indent]Pirate units play a vital, yet different role in the game. Pirates will Raid planets to steal C-Bills from Empires. It is recommended that Pirates have a minimum of 10 members on their rosters. Pirate raids will be randomized by the automation on Empire controlled planets. Pirates may have one active Raid at a time and once that battle is resolved, they may request another Raid from the automation.



1.5 Empire Economics

Income
[indent]Each planet has a Population, a Production Level, and Structures, which determines the number of C-Bills that an Empire draws from that planet on a daily basis. All C-Bills are generated on a daily basis by a batch job which is executed at 00:00 (Midnight) Eastern Time every day.[/indent]
Planet Status
[indent]Planets have several status levels that they operate at. Several status levels confer production modifiers to the C-Bill output of that planet.

• [color=red]Fortified[/color]
  When an attack is pending on a planet, resources are being diverted to supporting the war effort, and such a planet suffers a -50% loss of productivity
  
• [color=yellow]Rebuilding[/color]
  For one week after an attack is confirmed as completed, successful or not, a planet is rebuilding collateral damage. The planet suffers -25% production on C-Bills for its production level and population
  
• [color=green]Normal[/color]
  Once a planet is done Rebuilding, it moves into a Normal state of affairs, and remains in Normal status for two weeks
  
• [color=#00FFFF]Peaceful[/color]
  Having been subject to no aggression for the two weeks of Normal status, a planet moves into Peaceful status, and gains a 25% productivity bonus
  
• [color=orange]Anarchy[/color]
  Planets that have been neglected by their Empires will have a chance of falling into Anarchy. Such planets will produce zero (0) C-Bills while in this state. External events such as espionage or brainwashing may also cause a planet to fall into Anarchy.

All status levels are changed based on a daily batch job which is executed at 00:00 (Midnight) Eastern Time every day. Any changes in Planet Status will be included in the following batch job and the waiting period will begin at that point, with the exception of Fortified which occurs immediately upon the issuance of an attack.[/indent]
Planet Productivity
[indent]Each planet on the MechWarrior Leagues map started off the league with a certain Production Level. There are three production levels (1, 2, and 3), each level increasing the income and defensibility of a planet. There are two ways the Production Level of a planet can be changed:

• Empires may invest in Technology Centers on their planets in order to accrue Technology Points (TPs). TPs can then be used to increase the Production Level of a planet one factor, not to exceed 3. It requires one hundred (100) TPs to increase the Production Level of a planet by one factor.
  
• Weekly random planetary events occur, of which the rarest may increase or decrease the Production Level of the planet.

[/indent][/indent]

[Tweaks]

Humm, I don't know... Not all players will be part of a Merc Corp, in fact, I think (but I may be wrong) there will be more players that prefer to play solo (like me) than players who want to be competitive in player-controller Merc Corps. How would that system work for those people?

[Cyttorak]

While the idea of a dynamic economy has some attraction for the extra detail/immersion it gives, the devs may decide that it takes attention away from what they want the direction of the game to be: mech combat.

[Cattra Kell]

Tweaks, on 03 December 2011 - 02:15 PM, said:

Humm, I don't know... Not all players will be part of a Merc Corp, in fact, I think (but I may be wrong) there will be more players that prefer to play solo (like me) than players who want to be competitive in player-controller Merc Corps. How would that system work for those people?

Simple, by Merc Corps trying to mess each other over in the market by lowering prices like in the case I state above, you get the benefit of low prices for goods.

Edited by Cattra Kell, 03 December 2011 - 02:36 PM.

[Omega59er]

The word "economy" in a game makes me laugh. Why do we call it an economy? It's hilarious.

[Tweaks]

Cattra Kell, on 03 December 2011 - 02:36 PM, said:

Simple, by Merc Corps trying to mess each other over in the market by lowering prices like in the case I state above, you get the benefit of low prices for goods.

Not sure I like the fact that as a solo mercenary player (not in a Merc Corp), I would be dependent on other Merc Corps to set market prices? Doesn't seem like a fair system to me...

[Cattra Kell]

Tweaks, on 03 December 2011 - 02:52 PM, said:

Not sure I like the fact that as a solo mercenary player (not in a Merc Corp), I would be dependent on other Merc Corps to set market prices? Doesn't seem like a fair system to me...

I'm not saying fully dependent, you could always go (and I am still assuming here) some sort of NPC store I guess.

[Tweaks]

Cattra Kell, on 03 December 2011 - 02:54 PM, said:

I'm not saying fully dependent, you could always go (and I am still assuming here) some sort of NPC store I guess.

As long as the NPC store has the same stuff available in it.

[GaussDragon]

omega5-9er, on 03 December 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

The word "economy" in a game makes me laugh. Why do we call it an economy? It's hilarious.

For lack of a better one?

[Uziell]

Steiner has the best economy. just sayin. lol

[Redburn]

How about being able to insure my mechs against loss and/or damage? Or maybe, given a reserve of cash, be able to help underwrite another unit - or start my own insurance companion the side. I can see a market for that.

[Omega59er]

GaussDragon, on 03 December 2011 - 03:14 PM, said:

For lack of a better one?

How about, "Prices." Revolutionary I know.
And economy suggests a system in constant flux. Up and down. That's not in a game. It's either set prices the developers create to balance the game, or an auction hall system where D-bag players just raise the price higher and higher.

[Haeso]

Prices only get higher when inflation occurs or when a single entity controls the entire stock of a given item. That's remarkably similar to a real economy... And if any sort of salvage system is in, you have a large sink to control that same economy and prevent inflation or control it.

[GaussDragon]

omega5-9er, on 06 December 2011 - 01:31 AM, said:

How about, "Prices." Revolutionary I know.

A price is an output, not a behaviour, therefore it probably isn't adequate to explain the going-ons of the entire market. <- That's probably the word you're looking for instead.

Quote

And economy suggests a system in constant flux. Up and down. That's not in a game. It's either set prices the developers create to balance the game, or an auction hall system where D-bag players just raise the price higher and higher.

It's both. Developers use what are called "faucets/taps" and "sinks" to control the amount of money or goods that they put in, and take out of the economy. The closest approximation is to a printing press IRL. While it does increase inflation, there are positive outcomes in that it It helps increase the absolute level of money/goods which helps facilitate trade, liquidity and of course, price discovery. The auction hall is simply a secondary market if you can consider the faucets a quasi-primary market that creates money/goods. The auction house helps facilitate price discovery, which is quite a fundamental concept.

Price discovery - http://en.wikipedia....Price_discovery
Taps and sinks - http://massively.joy...ks-and-faucets/

Edited by GaussDragon, 06 December 2011 - 09:08 AM.