dropping perk prices when your side is greatly outnumbered.

[Turbot]

This is in the Help FIle:

"The controls in the perk system are in how fast points are accumulated and what point cost the perks are set to.  Because these points have a real and redeemable value, they're useful to influencing the flow of the game.  Aside from making it useful to fly less popular planes, we could do things like awarding points to the side that wins the war or dropping perk prices when your side is greatly outnumbered. "

HTC, what about doing this?  With the perpetual imbalance that often is the MA sure seems like a great idea you guys had.

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by Turbot
HTC, what about doing this?  With the perpetual imbalance that often is the MA sure seems like a great idea you guys had.

There are problems with this approach.  Say, for instance, that one side has 100 players, and the other two sides have 50 players each.  While the first side outnumbers each of the other two sides 2:1, the lower population sides combined equal the population of the first country (a 1:1 ratio).  If the other two countries attack the larger country, you'll have even fights along two fronts (1:1) with the lower population sides unfairly gaining extra perk points for being "outnumbered."

This also might create an incentive for the two smaller sides to just fight one another since their numbers are even, or to assist the massive country in ganging the other smaller country in order to gain easy perks by vastly outnumbering the enemy (3:1 odds in that case, but extra perks for having fewer players than the larger country).

In other words, there's no certainty that such a strategy assists gameplay at all, and it may in fact hurt it.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[Furious]

Even if your plan worked as desired, the perk planes are not the great equalizers some think they are.

The net result would be to give EVEN more perkies to the team with a numbers advantage.


I think the arena would be better off with the carrot as you log on.

see this idiots idea: another side balancing idea


F.

[Pongo]

Something like this could still be done..but gangbanging is not the issue it once was. Implementing the first one probably had a big part of that. People go for resets now and they used to just sit on the down side.

[Turbot]

Something ought to be done, sometimes I dont even bother to fly.  Guess I could just jump to the biggest side but then I just adding to the problem even more.

This afternoon there were only 22 people on one of the teams.  The adding up the other teams explanation would have had no impact. The bigger teams were quite happy, in fact took great pride in, beating up on the little guy.  

In any case the perk thing is a HTC idea not mine, I was only quoting them.  I have no doubt they have the means to determine how many of what countries planes are where.  Just a formula of average sector mix or some such would give you a picture.  In fact perhaps apply the rule on a base by base basis.  I dunno just thinking outloud...

[Turbot]

Hmm how about planes cost different amount tied to location and density or some such?  It's just mathematics and computers are good with mathematics.  No technical reason why a plane has to cost the same everywhere is there?  Perhaps even have in some cases, in some places even free planes start to cost something. (perhaps a rough start to a new strat element idea?)

[SKurj]

the idea wouldn't work...

it would pad the larger teams perk scores...  and it would be good fun vulchin 262's stead of hurricanes...
How many players actually care about perks?  from all the spits, 51's, niks, and la7's flyin i'd say not many +)

Not one perk ride makes a good scramble field defence fighter either, o course they can drag the conga line(chasin the icon) away from the field tho...


SKurj

[SKurj]

Best idea IMO is...

The further the base is from HQ the longer the rebuild time...
Lets say 5-10 minutes per sector from HQ.. if a team is getting close to an enemy HQ their bases would take over an hour to supply(at 10min per sector) without hooman intervention.

This would permit the team under the gun, the chance to dig out while making it tough for the attacker to maintain its over extension.


SKurj

[Turbot]

Originally posted by SKurj
the idea wouldn't work...

it would pad the larger teams perk scores...  and it would be good fun vulchin 262's stead of hurricanes...
How many players actually care about perks?  from all the spits, 51's, niks, and la7's flyin i'd say not many +)

Not one perk ride makes a good scramble field defence fighter either, o course they can drag the conga line(chasin the icon) away from the field tho...


SKurj

I was thinking in both directions (in the later post) - both reward and penalty.  (perhaps to simulate strained supply lines)

There are probably alot of ideas in the strat model being worked on, but HTC can't/won't comment on any of this of course due to competitive concerns.  BUt certainly they must be looking at something.

[0TT0]

Life isnt 'Fair'

[Turbot]

Originally posted by 0TT0
Life isnt 'Fair'

However games aren't life.

[WhiteHawk]

Turbot,

This idea has been posted before, and is a good idea,
however a major flaw is when there are
100 bishes 115 knits 49 rooks.... rooks get the big discount, but
knits and rooks are hammering bishes.  In reality its
164 rooks/knits vs 100 bishes.
  This could lead to strategic country swapping.

  A better idea thats along the same lines is..a perk cost
multiplier could be the number of bases a particular
country has.   For example, if rooks are down to
4 bases, thier multiplier would be 4.  If they
had 30 bases it would be 30.

ex.  B*V=PC,  where B is number of bases,  V is a global
                      set value for that particular plane and PC is
                      the calculated perk cost.

So when one country is getting hammered, they would be
launching 262's at a cost of, say, 30 perks, while the hammering
country may be costing 360 for the same plane.
  I dont think this would effect the ultimate outcome,
but it would make getting ones bellybutton kicked, a whole lot
funner