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At the round table Russ mentioned awareness of this problem and there were a couple of ideas that were tossed around by the player reps.
Having a continuing bonus loyalty reward was one. 5k cbills X rank per FW match as a bonus. Maybe 2k X rank per scouting match. Have it vest above rank 10 should encourage long term commitments. Maybe as part of Rank 11 rewards. This is a good start.
Intro new concept kind of Lore based. Political rank awards. Who would not want to be a lord, baron, director, etc. Political rank is earned in fixed increments say for each 150k loyalty points earned above rank 20. No top limit.
What happens when you earn a political rank award? The Pilot who earns it chooses a planet currently controlled by the faction they are loyal to. The pilots name is added to the planet details as having political rank on the planet. The rank can increase until the max political rank for a planet is reached. Pilots can choose to rank up a planet they are already a political leader of or choose a new planet and become a political leader there. There is no limit to the number of pilots that have political rank on a planet. It is just a list.
Each faction can have X say 5 for now political ranks with various titles like Baron, Earl, Jarl, prince, Director, Coordinator, etc. I am a casual lore player so diehards would be a better source of details of common political titles used in each faction.
Besides ego and lore why get political rank? Build it on top of the loyalty bonus. 5k for each award. Anyone who plays enough to get a 500k bonus per drop deserves it.
So that we do not get lords like in Braveheart with planets in each faction, when a pilot leaves a faction they lose all the political ranks in the faction and their names are forever stripped from the lists of each planet in the faction that they left. Leaving the faction is going merc or changing factions.
If a planet is taken by another faction that a pilot has political ranks on the ranks and their name in the list do not go away immediately. They still collect bonuses and have the rank so long as the other faction does not control the planet 7 days/ 21 in a row. At the start of the 22 play the political ranks of the pilots that are not in the controlling faction are stripped and lost. A pilot may keep any titles on planets they earned so long as the pilots new faction and the planet controlling faction are the same. This gives meaning to the political leaders of border planets and could be a factor in special events.
To add one more piece to this grand design any political leader can fund directly a defense/retake bonus for the planet they have political rights to, to encourage mercs and other loyalists to keep the planet safe. How this would work is the pilot has a screen to donate money to a defense fund and set a bonus level per pilot per drop but only if they win. Say 10k per pilot for 120k per drop. The donation was 12,000,000. That would work out to 100 winning drops before the fund would run out of money. At that point the bonus award would cease.
Earning an extra 100k per drop or more can give incentive to for the political leader to fund a defense. Several leaders may fund a planet so the bonus could be very high. Since 4 planets are chosen and could be lost the bonus works for all 4. There may different bonuses set up for each planet but for the cycle all 4 are summed to a single bonus for fighting on the side. This can mean a different bonus each voting cycle that can increase/decrease during the cycle as money is added or depleted from a defense/retake fund.
Pilots are members of units so having several members become political leaders of a planet gives the unit a reason to defend it more. Displaying the faction, unit and pilot name and political rank adds depth and meaning to the map. In the forums listing planets and political rank of the pilot who posted adds depth as well.
Everyone benefits from this additional layer, either through loyalty bonuses, bonuses chosen by political leader pilots, or by earning the political awards.
All the numbers are variables and just for demonstration purposes, they can change. This is a complex concept but adding depth to a game usually is. Build on it and make it better.
****** Added based on Feedback ******
I am weak on clan lore, clan motivation, and clan thinking. The design is more IS which is a defensive design. Hold and retake the planet. The clans are more offensive and conquest in nature. For clans what if instead of picking a planet their faction already owns they pick a planet not owned by the pilot's faction and the planet has to be captured within 7 days by the faction or the award is lost. During the 7 days the clan pilot gets the bonus and can increment up their awards. After the faction takes the planet then the rules that govern IS planets take over.
Edited by Weagles, 30 January 2017 - 05:40 AM.
