It's quite an interesteing read and covers much more then just the resource system itself. First up I'd say that the majority of things you envison will never be implemented due to it either changing the game too drastically for the intended audience or requiring too much development time.
I like the basic premise of your proposed resource system, which is a single type of resource used for everything. The general idea of adding more sinks in order for resources to have an actual meaning is also good. Personlly, I never had a problem with resources to pull vehicles unless the continent I was on was close to being warpgated, thus adding some more meaning to it is certainly good.
As for the loyalty system to replace the fixed resource gain it certainly is something that could work but would also need to be properly balanced such that griefing is accounted for and that the losing side in a conflict doesn't get disadvantaged even more then they already are by losing.
Many of your points are linked to resources but not the resource system itself so I think a shorter version just detailing the resource system is necessary, showing that it can be made work with the game how it currently works, not with an entirely overhauled game as you propose.
Some of the things that I can't see happening are listed below:
Larger maps
It's taking SOE alreadly ages to build new continents, so I don't see them ever going back to the three existing ones and scaling them up. For new continents it certainly is a possibility but with the amount of detail they put into a single map having an area four times that of the existing maps it's not very likely. Another option would to reduce the density of bases but that might end up resulting in much more zerg fighting.
New infantry equipment system
This sounds quite interesting but the change is too drastic and would change the entire system. You will also have people that spent certs / sc on weapons argue quite vocally against such a change. The main reason being that different weapons are advertised as a "different playstyle" and they paid either in time or cash for that and thus many would feel "cheated" by such a drastic change.
Besides the point above I think there are two rather significant problems with the proposed system. The first is how do you deal with the potential to instantly lose large amounts of resources due to rocket pods, team kills, getting run over by a tank etc. Secondly, how is such a system going to balance the fight between someone with stock equipment and somone that spent a large amount of resources on his loadout? The guy that spent the resources obviously expects to have an advantage but the guy with stock weapons expects to be on even footing with the other guy, as player skill is what wins fights is one of the games premises. This last point I think this is the largest issue with your system as it may bring the game more into the realm equipement > skill. Additionally, it could lead to the problem of, you need resources to make resources and thus the winning side gets an ever increasing advantage. This is where balancing could become very tricky. To be fair to some extent some weapons are already clearly superior in some situations but with few exceptions not in every sitation.
A few other random comments on some parts:
- building structures, sounds good and hope we will get it in some form. However, great care has to be taken with designing it in a way that prevents griefing and abuse of it
- harvesting mechanic, interesting and if done properly could create areas for small groups to fight that don't care for large battles
- vehicle purchase changes, allowing groups to pitch in to buy a vehicle is good but many of the other things like vehicle upgrades and negotiation queue sound like too big a change to ever make it into the live game, similar to the infantry system revamp
Overall many of your changes would make the game more "hardcore" and require a more committed and informed player base then what planetside 2 seems to aim for. Though as I said in the beginning the main premise of your resource system, one type of resource for everything, is solid and should make it into the game.
2013-07-10, 11:07 PM
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