Current System Encourages not Defending

[Bodhidharma]

I'm starting to believe that the current exp system and play style actually encourages players to NOT defend a base.

This all hinges on the exp system, and the fact that base cap exp is largely based upon the amount of enemies in a base during the fight.

Now I admit that the scenario I'm about to propose doesn't happen all the time. However it seems to be happening more and more often. It also depends upon the other sides not realizing this concept I'm about to state.

Let's assume that a side is defending a base this is GOING to be captured. There is an oncoming Zerg force of massive size... this base is going to fall. By defending an obviously loosing side, the defenders are only feeding more and more exp to the attackers via the massivly growing base cap exp. The more defenders in the base SOI, the more exp that racks up for the attackers.

If there were 0 defenders, the Zerg force would get very minor exp. Thus by not defending a base, the defenders are denying the attackers the exp they need to advance higher in BR. There is no way the defenders can out-exp the attacking Zerg force.

So what should the defenders do? Give up defending, and go attack another base somewhere. Either on that continent or on another continent. Then they become the attacking force, and are relying upon the "ignorance" of the defenders to continue to defend that base against the new attackers. The more they defend, the more exp the attackers will earn when they eventually capture that base.

So you see, in the current system, there is no way a defending force can gain more exp than an attacking force if they get a successful base capture. I'm not counting re-hacks, because against a Zerg force, a re-hack is highly unlikely.

So what are the advantages to defending? Next to none. Minor exp via infantry/vehicle kills. Very slim chance of re-hack experience.

What are the disadvantages to defending? You're giving massive amounts of exp to the opposing side through infantry kills, and steadily increasing their base cap exp.

The longer it takes the opposing side to gain exp and BR, then the better your side will be.... because let's face it, exp and BR levels ARE important. A high BR soldier is more versitile than a low BR soldier, and that's the important difference. Because the higher BR soldier has the ability to adapt and adjust to any given situation or fight better than a low BR soldier, he has a tremendous advantage. If an opposing side has a lot of high BR players, then they have the awesome advantage of being able to "out-adapt" your side. If they notice a serious lack of anti-vehicle weaponry, suddenly they bring in an onslaught of tanks. If they notice very few anti-air soldiers, they can rule the skies in an instant.

In summary... higher BR = better ability to adapt to any combat situation. Defending a base = rewarding attacking enemies with more exp and therefor BR levels. Thus by defending, you're helping the opposing sides on their way to outclassing you in every future battle.

[kerosene31]

Yeah if you are only looking for XP, then defending is not the way to go. The only thing going for defense is that it can be fun.

[Airlift]

The reason people care about experience above all else, is because the devs have placed undo rarity and importance on experience gains.

[Big Bro]

I've seen a lone hacker successfully defend an entire facility from an opposing full enemy squadron. Don't tell me that wasn't worth it for him to defend!

They would hack it...he would sneak in and kill a few people and hack it back. Back and forth a few times. It was quite skillfull how he would pick on the split up and inexperienced squad. He used both Boomers and his trusty AMP. Couldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

In any case, I think that the battle experience should be worth much more than that capture experience. This would shift focus on capturing the facility to hunting down and eliminating the enemy. I think the facility capture should yield a nice little bonus, but it shouldn't be an XP'ers bread and butter IMHO.