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Originally Posted by Battle Experience Revision
This is an updated proposal for a new Battle Experience system. Several elements of the previous revision are included, along with new additions. Please read over the changes and share your feedback.
We are planning to revamp the Experience System in order to encourage participation in the outstanding group experience in PlanetSide and offer tangible rewards for group operations. The current system of gaining Battle Experience rewards solo play, and so we are proposing the following system in order to change that.
Battle Experience for group operations will be awarded based on squad proximity. Squads that maintain close proximity during combat will be awarded higher experience than squads who separate.
The Squad "Center"
Under this system, each squad has a "center" location. This center location is used to determine each squad members overall proximity to each other and/or their Commander�s objective, which in turn is used to calculate the amount of bonus experience each member will receive to their share of exp from kills.
There are several possible ways that this center can be set in the world.
1. By default, the squad center is calculated by the server by finding the central point between all soldiers� distribution on the map. For this calculation, the squad member furthest from the rest of the squad is thrown out, to allow for the squad to assign a scout or other long-ranged duties. Commanders can also manipulate the squad center with abilities that are based upon their Command Rank.
2. Command Rank 0 squad leaders can place the squad center on themselves.
3. Command Rank 1 leaders (who can place waypoints) can also place a waypoint that will replace the calculated center and reinforce to squad members the target objective (place it on a base or tower being assaulted, for example).
4. Command Rank 3 and above soldiers can set the squad center to be a squad member.
5. Command Rank 4 and 5 leaders who have squads consisting of 6 or more members, can designate 2 squad centers that are either tagged to locations (waypoints) or to members of the squad. Squad members will calculate to the nearest of the 2 centers for their squad. These centers can be combined, so one center could be a waypoint and the other could be a squad member.
This allows Squads of sufficient size to split and take on two objectives. For example, a squad leader could designate 5 guys to head to a tech plant who�s gens are down and assist with the resecure effort going on there, while the other members of the squad stay and keep the pressure up on the current base assault.
Experience Sharing
Battle Experience for kills will be calculated according to the squad�s proximity to each other, as well as the size of the squad. In general, the larger the squad and the closer they stick together, the more experience they will gain. The player who is actually making the kill will gain a larger Battle Experience share instead of the current even split system that is in place. Squad members get a share that is based upon the size of the squad and their proximity to the squad center(s).
The soldier who scores the kill will receive the largest share of the exp. A bonus is applied for the number of soldiers in each proximity range, with the greatest bonus possible if all soldiers are at close range.
The incoming BEP for a kill will be split (based on the BEP Distribution Ratio) to create �shares� of EXP for each person. Then, the server determines each soldier�s range to their nearest squad center. It then orders it and determines how many of the squad falls into each range category. It then takes the number of members in close and applies the close-range bonus for that number. Likewise it then takes the number in medium, adds that medium-range number to the close range total, and applies a bonus for that squad size. Anyone at long just gets the 120% that is the same as is currently used on the live servers. In squads of three or more, the squad member furthest from the center will be considered to be at close proximity, in order to accommodate long-range operations, such as scouting or ANT running.
Example:
Say we have a squad of 10. In this example there is only 1 squad center, not two. 5 of the soldiers are within close range, 3 soldiers are at medium range and 2 are at long range.
The first 5 will actually be considered as 6, because the farthest (one of the 2 at long range) will be considered at close range. These 6 will receive a larger bonus for being in close proximity. They could obtain a slightly larger bonus if more were calculated at close proximity.
The 3 at medium range would receive a smaller proximity bonus. if they were a squad of 9 (the 6 close range and the 3 at medium). The 2nd farthest would receive the current 120% bonus, while the farthest is wrapped back into the close range group. As you can see from the proposed system delivers at least (and usually more) experience as the current system at use on live servers does now.
The UI and Proximity Timer
Some UI additions will accompany this update. The overhead radar will display a waypoint like icon, pointing toward the squad center. Around the outside is a band of color that changes, growing redder, to indicate when members are at medium or long range. Those at close range will have no color band showing. These UI elements will be able to be toggled on and off for players who do not wish to use them.
Experience calculations will not change immediately when a soldier moves to a longer range. A timer will start counting down before the new calculations take effect. This timer will be visible to the soldier in their UI. The timer will allow vehicles slightly more time outside of the proximity range before the Experience calculation changes.
Ranges
Current thinking on size of ranges starts at a soldier�s Close Range of a small squad to be about 45 meters. The scale goes up to a squad of 10 having members need to be within 150 meters of the squad center. This goes out to the biggest Medium Range bonus to be that of 300 meters for a squad of 10. However, those values will be tweaked and worked with during testing to get them to feel right. Remember, we do plan to always consider the farthest single squad member away from the group to always be at close range. This allows a squad to have one member that is say, scouting ahead, or back at a behind base pulling an AMS or other vehicle.
Remember that these ranges are used for calculations when the kills roll in, so if you are a bit spread out when you are regrouping (back at a behind base getting a vehicle or respawning) it shouldn�t be a problem. Just be "supporting" when the pooh is hitting the fan!
Vehicles
For vehicles, we plan on making modifiers to range calculations and longer timers for squad members in vehicles to compensate for the ability for a vehicle to "support" its squad mates (be they in other vehicles or on foot) from further distances.
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2005-03-02, 11:20 PM
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