Removing Capture XP

Brusi · 2013-02-20, 12:03 AM

Ok, so i haven't thought out some grand replacement concept very well...

... But what would be the consequences of simply removing the bonus capture XP carrot and what mechanic would you have to replace it with to continue to encourage territory capture, add additional encouragement for territory defense across all the continents?

This is not any kind of a whine thread, it is simply a meta-game though experiment.

Ghoest9 · 2013-02-20, 12:04 AM

1/2 of of all the casual and below average players would quit with in a week.

OCNSethy · 2013-02-20, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by Ghoest9

1/2 of of all the casual and below average players would quit with in a week.

Hmmm, maybe. It might even slow the zerg roll a tad in the process....

It would though, encourage people to get down and dirty and make some kills rather than just being in the area and getting XP.

Brusi · 2013-02-20, 01:00 AM

What if XP ticked in like a resource?

Casual players would benefit immensely by that. As would people who can't hit the broad side of a barn.

The more Territory you hold the more your empires passive XP gain.

robocpf1 · 2013-02-20, 01:55 AM

Originally Posted by Brusi

What if XP ticked in like a resource?

Casual players would benefit immensely by that. As would people who can't hit the broad side of a barn.

The more Territory you hold the more your empires passive XP gain.

I feel like that would encourage more ghost capping instead of less.

I think exp for capping facilities should be removed if it's a no-contest base cap. Dynamic exp works for kills, it should work for territory. If you go in and take a territory that nobody is fighting at, you should get no exp (or an extremely minimal amount).

Then people would have to find fights in order to get exp.

typhaon · 2013-02-20, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Brusi

What if XP ticked in like a resource?

Casual players would benefit immensely by that. As would people who can't hit the broad side of a barn.

The more Territory you hold the more your empires passive XP gain.

I've batted this one around... if you could ensure even populations, then something like this makes a lot of sense.

BUT - if you have unconnected continents (ie. each empire sits on one fully captured continent with no reason to move), or population discrepancies result in one empire always getting a significantly greater XP gain (making others just not want to log in, or simply switch) - then it's bad.

Remember - this is basically how major facilities were handled in early beta... you really wanted to hold on to them... but it also results in a lot of the first thing i described.

zulu · 2013-02-20, 02:08 AM

I think this would correct one odd thing about the game (the phenomenon of huge armies just sitting around a base, camping a virtually-empty spawn room for several minutes until the facility is captured), but I think in doing so it would only further emphasize team death-match style combat (everyone making a beeline for The Crown; never capping the point that generates an enemy spawn room at bio labs).

I think a better system would be the following:
1) Hand out defense XP -- you get a certain number of points for each minute spend in a hex that is under attack. You also get a number of points at the end of a successful defensive battle.
2) Hand out attack XP -- you get points for being in enemy hexes (perhaps only if there's a certain amount of influence, though, to not further encourage ninja-capping).
3) If a facility is captured or defended, you get the capture/defense XP provided you were there for a certain amount of time.
4) Significantly increase the value of capture/defense xp in comparison to "fighting" xp.

People go to the Crown because it's (usually) the best place to get certs. I think there needs to be more incentive to go out and capture rather than (as some have proposed) removing the Crown or making it less fun. And while getting rid of cap XP is perhaps a way to address another issue, it only exacerbates a far larger problem.

Climhazzard · 2013-02-20, 04:21 AM

Originally Posted by zulu

1) Hand out defense XP -- you get a certain number of points for each minute spend in a hex that is under attack. You also get a number of points at the end of a successful defensive battle.

I see this encouraging a "just sit in the spawn room" attitude.

PredatorFour · 2013-02-20, 07:07 AM

Make it like the original (did i just say that ??? shit i apologise)
If the base/outpost is contested give the normal amount of xp, if no one is there give next to little xp.

Baneblade · 2013-02-20, 07:10 AM

Bases will simply not change hands if you need a zerg on both sides to make it worth doing.

PredatorFour · 2013-02-20, 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by Baneblade

Bases will simply not change hands if you need a zerg on both sides to make it worth doing.

No it would be exactly how it is now ....

Babyfark McGeez · 2013-02-20, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by PredatorFour

Make it like the original (did i just say that ??? shit i apologise)
If the base/outpost is contested give the normal amount of xp, if no one is there give next to little xp.

That would probably be deemed either "too complicated for casuals" or "too planetside 1". Or maybe "making too much sense".

psijaka · 2013-02-20, 07:28 AM

Introduce a dynamic attack and defence reward. Keep a track of all the XP a player has earned during the attack/defence and then reward a percentage of this as a bonus upon completion of the attack/defence, proportional to the size of base and, in the case of defence, how far the progress bar moved during the height of the attack.

In this way the player is rewarded for the effort that they have put in, rather than just redeploying at the last minute to bag the 1000XP as the base is about to flip. Lame, but we've all done it from time to time.

Wahooo · 2013-02-20, 12:51 PM

Dynamic XP on base captures. No enemies no XP. Lots of enemies, lots of XP.

As PS1 as well, the XP you earn is based on the amount of time you were there as well.

Kerrec · 2013-02-20, 01:15 PM

Since we're throwing out ideas:

All XP generated during an attack or defense goes into a pool. Hack a generator? That XP goes into a pool. Kill a defender? That XP goes into a pool. Flip a point? That XP goes into a pool. Every single person that would generate XP the way the game does now, sends that XP into a common pool.

At the end of the battle, when the attackers capture the base, or the defenders resecure the base, that accumulated XP is divided equally among the players that contributed XP to that pool, but only to the winning team. Losers get nothing. Freeloaders that show up last minute but don't generate XP, get nothing.

However, due to exploitable mechanics, would have to keep things like healing, repairing and ammo resupply separate from this pool.