I know I would love a Pirate faction that allows the use of any mech as well as unsanctioned modifications(Pseudo omnimech-lite). But you can't control a planet. Or just use of any mech, no planet control, but a reputation rank system that has no cap. So every X amount of rep you get a pattern of rewards that are random cockpit items(stolen swag), cbills(emphasis here), and MC. This would be for smaller units, or those that don't have the type of time to commit like a loyalist. Then you can break loyalty with minimal consequences because pirate. The high end would be going through the cycle rewards and you get paid better on personal performance rather than flat rewards. So if you do well, you can earn a ton of bank. But if you don't, even if your team wins you wouldn't get a whole lot. No guarantees like a loyalist or merc, but if you pull off MVP on a winning side... The downside is that is it very dependent on personal skill. Plus you can go anywhere, help anyone, etc. Perhaps limit it to attacking only to emulate the the distrust and hit and run nature of pirates. If you do a full 12man pirate drop then that territory goes to the attacker.
The flip side is th freelancers. Basically merc-lite. You can come in and help anyone, anytime, anywhere. Should have better rewards than quickplay.
Then theres mercs. You have a reward to fall back on if you don't do stellar, not as high as loyalist still, but personal play will offset it. Then you have contracts where you can go around still etc etc. Should earn some faction rep on the side too, but not as much as loyalists. They go where the money is to help balance populations. Then within the merc faction you get rewards for leaderboard placement. They can hold planets as well. The drawback here is that you have to adapt to the change in station.
So why do merc vs pirate or loyalist? VS Pirates you can attack, defend, get consistent income and bigger rank rewards. VS Loyalist you get variety in opponents and don't require the massive time investment.
Loyalists need a revamp. No rank cap, and a reason for staying and completing the long haul to get to max rank and beyond. Also rewards for staying with them along the way. I've seen mention of faction-specific variants. That would be awesome. Rank 5 for Kurita and get a DRG-5N(K) with a rep bonus and kurita paint job for example. Base rewards would be the highest, with an emphasis on things like assists in-game. The drawback here is time-investment and that you don't want to break loyalty.
tl;dr
Pirates:
- Massive Cbill rewards for skilled pilots but need to pull high match scores
- No base rewards, but bonuses to things like salvage
- Any mech
- Assist anyone in attacking
- Can't hold planets
- Cycle of loyalty rewards(items, cbills, mc)
- No penalty for becoming a merc, but more difficult to become a loyalist
Freelancers:
- Quickplay+, substanntially bigger cbill rewards.
Mercs:
- Moderate rewards from contracts dependent on population saturation
- Must 'follow the money'
- Can hold planets
- Separate reward tree for the unit itself
- Leaderboard rewards
Loyalist:
- Massive reward trees
- Large base rewards
- Loyalty rewards(like paints that give bonuses as well as special mech variants) based on time with faction(perhaps X amount of MC every week/month you're in?) and rank progression milestones(say every 5 you get a faction-specific mech of increasing tonnage)
- Can hold planets, bonus to planetary rewards
- Separate reward tree for the unit itself, bigger bonuses, but harder to get/larger time investment
Pirates would be the most lucrative risk vs reward, but you need to do well. Minimal time investment for modest rewards. For veterans that either don't haev the time, or just want to cut a bloodyswathe across the galaxy.
Freelancers are there to increase the FP population. As incentive to choose FP over QP they get bigger rewards. This is for beginers to dive into FP.
Mercs get a good amount of base rewards for modest time investment to that faction, but will eventually cycle out to a new one. Need to be adaptive. Basically Loyalist-lite in base ranks/rewards but players and units are rewarded from their leaderboard rankings as well as unit rank levels.
Loyalists get massive rewards and all sorts of goodies, but you're locked in(save for a massive penalty) but the long haul rewards are great and unique. You will get the highest amount of average income, both cbills and mc if you're taking/holding planets, and unique goodies. This is for any skill level that wants immersion into the community.
4
Baulven, on 15 June 2016 - 12:10 PM, said:
) that Mercs should "survive" on contract payments and salvage, just as in the Lore (and real life).
)
