23 replies to this topic

[Ruar]

I've only been playing the game for a few months, but I know that having the 400exp rebuy cost is a bad idea.

First there is the fact that putting such a cost onto rebuying skills is a direct impingement of experimenting with different builds. Yesterday I changed my mech build around four times based on advice from the forums. I spent somewhere around 14million c-bills buying engines and modules. I didn't have to spend a single bit of exp to make those changes though. At the end of the changes I still have 14million c-bills worth of equipment and modules in my inventory even if I'm not using them.

Under the proposed 400exp buy back I wouldn't have made those changes because I know in the end I'd have a net loss for trying out new things. I'm being punished for doing one of the core concepts in the BT universe.

Second is the fact that if you are going to charge me extra exp for changing builds then I'm not going to want to buy new mechs. Why would I when I know the process of swapping out different builds to get one just right is going to force an even longer grind.

Third is the fact that if tweaking mech builds isn't fun then how long before I get bored with the game? Right now I know if I don't like a mech I can try a few different playstyles until I get the right fit. It's going to cost some c-bills but any equipment I buy will be there in the future. Charge me 400exp every time I flip back and forth between builds and I'm just not going to tweak. Which means the mechs won't fit right. Which means there's no point in buying new mechs. Which means I'll just stop playing.



Solution- If you want to figure out a way to drain exp and put some kind of grind into the game then do it in such a way that the players don't feel like they are losing. Right now I have nearly 200k exp on my favorite mech sitting there doing nothing. What would be awesome is if I could convert that 200k exp into medium mech exp at a 60% conversion rate. So I click some buttons and move 120k exp into a general pool I can use for any medium mech. At a 40% conversion rate I can move it into any other class pool. So I'd end up with 80k exp I could put into the other lines. Then if I want to do a 100% conversion you could charge c-bills or MC.

This would be a good way of putting in a way to drain exp while still giving the players something they don't currently have. That's called a win-win.

[Kelenas]

This kind of complaint assumes you won't play your mastered mech at all and that you'll need to fully respect at any point. If you've played 10 or 20 games with a skill set up you'll have ample xp leftover to make any realistic amount of changes. Especially with the weapon trees combined you won't often find yourself respecing more than a few points.

[Skribs]

I'm more upset about the initial skill-up C-Bill cost than I am about this.

[Ruar]

Skribs, on 23 February 2017 - 07:56 PM, said:

I'm more upset about the initial skill-up C-Bill cost than I am about this.

I see that cost as buying modules so it's not that upsetting to me. I can see there being a cost to initial purchase of skills and such, but having to rebuy them anytime I want to swap things around is infuriating.

[soapyfrog]

The xp thing really is unfortunate, because it discourages experimenting as you level, punishing you with extra grind if you do that.

There is no good reason for it. That xp has no use other than gxp conversion after mastery is meaningless. PGI could have chosen to have xp stop accumulating at mastery, replacing it with a fraction of the value in gxp; then no one would think about it.

It is simply a time penalty.

[Davegt27]

what the OP says is what I do constantly

I had 200 mil C-bills last week and it went down to 180 very quickly
I had and idea to max out the speed of the CN9D tried it one match then changed it back

I just tried the 2 LB10X build on the shadow hawk and I am changing it back after 2 drops

its hard to say anything without it looking like your complaining so lets just get the skill tree done and over with

maybe PGI can work on something fun

[NeoCodex]

I agree with the OP. I don't want this XP tax when changing builds either. You pay an XP fee everytime you want to change a build and use the quirks for it. No thanks. Why PGI?

Make it a small cbill fee instead. But very small! Main nodes are too expensive already..

[Davegt27]

just since my last post I installed an AC20 then 2 UAC5's on my Shadow Hawk

at a cost of about 8 mil C-Bils but at the end I still have the modules I bought so I can
use them on other Mechs

[Rizn Nuke]

Davegt27, on 24 February 2017 - 07:53 AM, said:

just since my last post I installed an AC20 then 2 UAC5's on my Shadow Hawk

at a cost of about 8 mil C-Bils but at the end I still have the modules I bought so I can
use them on other Mechs

In the skill tree: would you have respecced your armor, your mobility, your heat efficency and many more things?

Propably not. You would have switched from AC to UAC which, in the new system, will be even less problematic. A change like this will cost, what? 5000xp tops?

[Davegt27]

yes to get full benefit I often times have to reconfigure my Mechs

and that includes adding and taking off ferro

Edited by Davegt27, 24 February 2017 - 08:09 AM.

[soapyfrog]

Rizn Nuke, on 24 February 2017 - 07:58 AM, said:

Propably not. You would have switched from AC to UAC which, in the new system, will be even less problematic. A change like this will cost, what? 5000xp tops?

Oh yeah, just an hour or two of my life. That's all guys!

[Rizn Nuke]

soapyfrog, on 24 February 2017 - 08:09 AM, said:

Oh yeah, just an hour or two of my life. That's all guys!

You make it sound like you hate playing this game or the mechs you want to experiment with :/

[soapyfrog]

Rizn Nuke, on 24 February 2017 - 08:39 AM, said:

You make it sound like you hate playing this game or the mechs you want to experiment with :/

I don't want to regrind xp I already had. I want to play with the mech at full capability, because that's what I had. The respec costs here basically mean that if i want to respec, I have to weaken my mech, then play it a bunch in a weakened state as I get it back up to full strength.

How would you feel if when you swapped an engine in a mech, you lost speed tweak and had to re-buy it with xp every single time?

[Rizn Nuke]

soapyfrog, on 24 February 2017 - 08:45 AM, said:

I don't want to regrind xp I already had. I want to play with the mech at full capability, because that's what I had. The respec costs here basically mean that if i want to respec, I have to weaken my mech, then play it a bunch in a weakened state as I get it back up to full strength.

How would you feel if when you swapped an engine in a mech, you lost speed tweak and had to re-buy it with xp every single time?

Please don't get me wrong. I am not going wild over the idea of experimenting setting me back on my mech. However I can understand where PGI is coming from when (planning on) introducing such a system.

In fact I actually think the system could also have an MC component. Deselecting a node without paying anything will refund half its XP. Paying a small amount of MC will instead refund the full amount. reapplying the point will cost its regular XP price.

Sure, while leveling a mech or right after mastery, swapping nodes can be a bit painful, however most of the time I'd dare to say that you will experiment on mechs already fully mastered, most likely with ample leftover XP.

[soapyfrog]

Trying to squeeze MC from players with the respec system is just as bad as charging xp.

One costs money, the other costs time.

There should be no barriers to respec, beyond the already existing costs of rebuilding and reconfiguring your mech. Putting a real cost on respec will simply drive people away from the game and those that stay will be less inclined to tinker with their mechs.

You might see PGI's point of view but I do not. I think that they are going to hurt their own game very badly by doing this.

[Cygone]

WHAT!!!! You get like 4000+ XP for just 1st win of the day!! Whats that 6 minutes?

Edited by Cygone, 25 February 2017 - 02:10 AM.

[Bellum Dominum]

Cygone, on 25 February 2017 - 02:09 AM, said:

WHAT!!!! You get like 4000+ XP for just 1st win of the day!! Whats that 6 minutes?

Well that is assuming at least an average skill level

[Davegt27]

4000 XP wow that's not me ha ha

[Cygone]

Bellum Dominum, on 25 February 2017 - 02:44 AM, said:

Well that is assuming at least an average skill level

Tru, but you cant balance the game from the bottom up, you balance from the top down. Its not the top players fault that people takes 2hrs to get 5k XP!

[soapyfrog]

Cygone, on 25 February 2017 - 03:00 AM, said:

Tru, but you cant balance the game from the bottom up, you balance from the top down. Its not the top players fault that people takes 2hrs to get 5k XP!

You are assuming above average skill and premium time.

The game should be accessible for everyone. Your contention that the grind should be tuned to high end players is absurd.