PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - Resource System Proposal: Feedback Requested
View Single Post
Old 2013-07-09, 06:12 PM   [Ignore Me] #6
bpostal
Contributor
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Re: Resource System Proposal: Feedback Requested


I'm reading through it now and jotting down some notes as I go.
These thoughts are not on what you're put forward, but on my reading and understanding of these ideas. If I'm dead wrong on a given point, let me know. I promise not to rage (too much).

The idea of spreading out the objectives. This is mostly an issue on Indar, Amerish and Esamir aren't as crowded.
Areas should be created to allow for a natural ebb and flow of battle between areas. Combat should be encouraged between objectives so that the fights can occur organically throughout the entirety of the continent.

The loyalty system is interesting, but IMO players should always be 'rewarded' with at least some resources. No matter their current loyalty level.
As a personal anecdote, when I PL I may be sitting in the middle of the fight, looking at my map for a minute or two. Does this mean that I'm not contributing to the overall fight? Should I have to place a way point every 15 seconds to ensure I get my tick? What if I go to shoot a MAX and someone runs in front of me as I pull the trigger? No resources because my factionmate is a figwitted idiot? That doesn't sound rewarding. If I was having a bad day then it might be enough to send me into full on 'fucktard' mode and TK/spawn camp that greenie player for all of the next 5 minutes of my play session because they ruined my experience (Experience experience, not XP experience). A BR 1 destroys my lib by crashing into by by accident? Fuck him and his family for wasting my resources! /ragequit (but plenty of verbal abuse in the form of harassment /t before I go so he knows that he done fucked up). Also, there is a stock MAX loadout. For the Tr it's a Pounder and a DC. Sure it costs resources currently, but so do MBTs and Galaxies and you're talking about letting people pull those stock without penalty.

Having just one single resource would help players utilize their individual play style to the utmost. Allowing stock vehicles to be pulled without a real resource drain would be nice for those players who favor vehicle combat. At least they're able to pull something instead of the current nothing.
The only exception I can see to that would be AMSes. Spawn points are simply too important in this game (moreso if inter-objective combat is to be encouraged, where every spawn point is player driven) to be held back by resources.
As for having certification upgrades cost resources to pull, I'm not so sure about that change. Tiering the upgrades could help, but with TTK being what it is, and combat being as chaotic as it is (PS2 infantry combat in particular is the NASCAR of FPS. You win as long as you keep going in 'circles') denying resources goes against the certification process and, I think, would lead to resentment (I certed into this, why can't I use it) instead of pondering the tactical implications.

Whether they choose to pull an upgraded rifle or an upgraded tank it creates a deep sense of meaning for resources and unlocked certs.
This is the crux of what I'm trying to get at. It wouldn't create a deep sense of meaning for unlocked certs. Certs are something that the player has earned. When players no longer have access to something they've earned, they're being punished, not rewarded. From what I'm reading, this system would go against your intended philosophy. Unless I'm reading it wrong, a definite possibility.

Players should never have to resort to only a knife (or absolutely nothing in the case of vehicles) just because there's no engineers and the player is out of resources. Ammo should always be free. 15 seconds is enough to die half a dozen times for an Infantry player, what if the players loyalty level is zero? No ammo for 30 seconds? Longer? Should a player have to redeploy back to the warpgate just to grab ammo? Perhaps returning some of the nanites when reloading from a dropped ammo resupply point?

Min-maxing would mean getting the best weapon for a situation and upgrading it with resources so that it functions as well as it can for that purpose
This only works if the player knows exactly the kind of situation that is going to occur next. Players are not mind readers and should not be punished for adapting to a given situation (Oops, I grabbed a Battle Rifle but now we're going into close quarters combat. Guess that was a waste of resources). The gameplay is much too fluid and changes much too quickly for this to be implemented without causing a great deal of frustration.

The idea of sharing the resource cost between players is an interesting one, but I already get people trying to TK my AMSes and Galaxies simply because they're locked to squad/platoon and they can't get a ride. Even if preference is indicated for the owners I can still see a lot of angry people who can't gun or ride because they didn't pay. I can also see players spending upwards of 5 minutes arguing over what kind of vehicle customizations to bring, simply because they're both paying for it.

Adding countermeasures to the secondary players in a vehicle is quite an idea and sounds like it would help foster teamwork and communication. I'm all for that, especially in MBTs where the gunner is typically just icing on the cake.

Tying the resource efficiency to the gens sounds solid. Bases get weaker as control over parts of them are lost. This also hinders players from moving out prematurely when a base flips.

MODULES! Awesome! Keep in mind with these generators though that base layout/design favors the attacking forces in almost every instance currently in the game. Base design would have to be fixed before the gens/mods go into place.
Upgrading bases with these resources sounds cool and adds some personalization to the base. Care should be taken to acknowledge that different players could want different upgrades. More than one upgrade should be able to be applied at a time. This stops players destroying friendly upgrades that are "wrong", leading to the waste of resources.

Dynamic resource spawning sounds cool. Instead of having them move slowly perhaps displaying their location on the minimap with a 'ping' would work better? Some of us get into the 5-10 FPS range when we get into those huge, equal popped fights you're talking about.

Players able to place towers? Seems ambitious. Will be used for trolling moreso than for tactical purposes, even with a voting system in place. That or towers will never work out because of conflicting resource placement. I love the idea of it though.
I'm still not a fan of artillery in any form. I've seen too much blind firing into facilities in Planetside. Having AA turrets shoot the shells down is an intriguing concept, I will give you that.

Changing the adjacency hack requirements from 100% to 50% could lead to more widespread fighting, to include some shallow (referring to depth, not complexity) behind the lines combat. Ideally this will give smaller, more tactically minded (tactical used in the actual sense of the word) players more objectives and more pull on the battlespace than the larger, strategically orientated outfits.

If tech plants are going to add 10% nanites to adjacent areas then there needs to be a minimum of three per continent with the current continent setup. When cont locking comes into play this idea will be more sound, in my opinion. Ensuring that materiel costs less when pulled from secured, rear echelon areas is a solid idea. I like that very, very much.

My post seems to have more 'negatives' than I was hoping for but let me assure you that the overall idea is, in my mind, sound. Effecting the purchasing power instead of the earning power is a good idea and vein of thought.
Thanks for putting so much thought into this!
__________________

Smoke me a Kipper, I'll be back for breakfast
bpostal is offline  
Reply With Quote