Cash for equipment

DviddLeff · 2011-06-15, 01:40 PM

And by that I don't mean micro-transactions, I mean a Counterstrike style system where you earn in game currency which can then be spent to buy weapons, tools and vehicles. Thought came to me seeing the DUST trailer, which has all the ISK values for the troops gear overlayed as it progresses.

I have never considered this before for PS, relying on certifications, vehicle timers, distance and NTUs to restrict use of items. This cash system would replace vehicle timers primarily.

Cash would hinder people using assault vehicles as mere transport, encouraging them to work together using cheap transport methods to get from A to B.

You could also see a reduction of MAX use, as well as the stronger and therefore more expensive HA weapons.

Just thought I would throw this out for discussion; could it work?

Senyu · 2011-06-15, 11:47 PM

From a non-gameplay stand point it would kinda give the game a gritty futuristic feel wheres its all decided on your kills or bounty and buying weapons from a dealer. Idk it seems like it would move the game away from what its supposed to be and feel like.

But if it does get added, then add a bounty system. The price on each players head you kill. The more damage and kills he makes the more expensive his life is.

Lonehunter · 2011-06-16, 12:09 AM

Edited for sleepy stupidity, I really don't have much to say.

Other then the currency system is the main reason I couldn't get into CS

Rbstr · 2011-06-16, 12:25 AM

In Dust it will probably work because it's part of EVE. Equipment is likely to be player-produced from mining or something to that effect and the pricing will follow both the effort to obtain and the effectiveness of the item.

Did anyone ever play Infantry Online?...it's sort of the spiritual predecessor of Planetside. (top down 3rd person, there was a sort of RPG mode and mech skirmish could have over a hundred people IIRC)
The RPG mode implemented currency but it was little more than a grind to get enough for the good equipment (once purchased it was permanent). Everything disposable was basically a token value and it didn't really add anything to the game.

That is what I think PSnext would end up like with a currency system, because the equipment pricing would likely be decoupled from any kind of real economy system (I seriously doubt we'll see resource collection and utilization in a MMORPG style). That means equipment prices are largely arbitrary.

CS style cash doesn't make a very good example of what a successful PSNext system would/could look like. Isn't persistent between severs/maps and the guns were basically all lethal to a similar degree (if we forget sniper rifles). That really changes how you're going to balance things.

Sure, they could do a superb job balancing it...but I'd rather just get my certs and not have to worry about affording things.

Vancha · 2011-06-16, 12:52 AM

The closest thing to "money" I've liked as an idea was harvesting resources. I can't remember what it would have been used to make (I think towers/base upgrades?), but it could be used for lots of things, while being another non-combat way to play Planetside.

krnasaur · 2011-06-16, 02:10 AM

Did anyone ever play Infantry Online?...it's sort of the spiritual predecessor of Planetside. (top down 3rd person, there was a sort of RPG mode and mech skirmish could have over a hundred people IIRC)
The RPG mode implemented currency but it was little more than a grind to get enough for the good equipment (once purchased it was permanent). Everything disposable was basically a token value and it didn't really add anything to the game.

As soon as i read the OP i thought of this. Then I remembered why I hated IO's RPG mode and why I loved PS. There was no longer you grind= the better gear. In PS i could cert, uncert, and recert to anything I needed. All levels gave me was less times i needed to recert.

An economy based game would be counter-intuitive to what planetside was all about. Everyone stood on the same ground and had access to the same gear, no matter how long you have played the game.

Yes. A currency would be fun, Things like decaling your vechs or customizing armor. But making them effect the core game play would ruin one of the main platforms the original was plugged on.

BlazingSun · 2011-06-16, 07:46 AM

Since when do you have to buy your guns yourself in an army? I don't think that this will make the game better in any way.

LordReaver · 2011-06-16, 09:06 AM

I've thought about this before. I kind of like it, but it does have some problems with it. For instance,

How to you gain the money?
- Is it just by the killing of people? If it is, how do you buy the weapons to begin with? If there are free weapons, how do they compare to the priced ones?
- Is it based on how much XP you bring in?

Can you store the money?
- Does it go away after an allotted amount of time?
- If you can store the money, wouldn't vets just build up a massive amount of it over time?

How does this change gameplay?
- Would this just result in people camping more? Think about how cautious you become when you loot enemy gear. It would basically be that all the time. Unless it's so cheap it doesn't matter.
- How does this work with timers? Do timers go away or is there overlap?

My views at this moment are that a monetary system would be good for vehicles only. Which would promote outdoor infantry fights. This, however, is obviously based on the current game. If Next has better infantry cover outdoors, then I don't really see a need for the system. Although, I am tempted to find a use for it.

Canaris · 2011-06-16, 09:13 AM

It's the three governments/factions/empires responsibility to it's troopers to make sure they are armed and armoured.

I'd hate to have to get a job on Auraxis so I could pay to fight the enemy.
In other words keep it Nanotech constructed and free, let the WAR never end.

Firefly · 2011-06-16, 09:43 AM

Cash in-game, aka in-game currency, is a bad idea. It leads to farmers and gold-sellers and gold-spammers. I am absolutely 100% against this idea because of that reason. Gold-spammers are a plague and I hope every last goddamn one of them dies a horrible, slow death at the hands of the Chinese government. Fucking pieces of shit.

Canaris · 2011-06-16, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by Firefly

Cash in-game, aka in-game currency, is a bad idea. It leads to farmers and gold-sellers and gold-spammers. I am absolutely 100% against this idea because of that reason. Gold-spammers are a plague and I hope every last goddamn one of them dies a horrible, slow death at the hands of the Chinese government. Fucking pieces of shit.

You know that some of the biggest Chinese gold farming scams goes on in Government "re educational" forced labour camps. I kid you not

DviddLeff · 2011-06-16, 12:18 PM

Good points all; main problem is that in a persistent world you would end up with a huge amount of cash so that it is no longer a worry.

Sirisian · 2011-06-16, 05:22 PM

Yeah I just don't get how this would help. It's already bad enough that players won't rush into a base to keep their k/d up. If a player is losing something when they die then make staying alive more important than fighting. It might turn the game into a cautious battle. "oh no I don't want to lose my HA gun that I grinded by killing 5 players so I'll sit back in the hallway and pick people off. I'll let someone else suicide into the spawn room and shoot their decimator that took them 3 kills."

I honestly don't see how it could ever work.

I had a better idea a long time ago. You have a per soldier NTU bar that slowly recharges. When a person goes up to the terminal to purchase gear they notice it costs 20 NTU to get a rifle and like 5 NTU to get a grenade. Your loadouts would show the amount of NTU needed. Vehicles and everything else would pull from this pool that recharged quickly. (After an hour the bar would be full). You might be able to pull 5 reavers quickly, but that would screw you over for getting gear essentially. The difference with this idea is that you can't force a change in the speed of the recharge. If people die really fast over and over they'll quickly realize they're out of energy leading to saner take overs of bases or towers. People might even... retreat.

Firefly · 2011-06-16, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Canaris

You know that some of the biggest Chinese gold farming scams goes on in Government "re educational" forced labour camps. I kid you not

I'm well aware. I linked the article here.

LordReaver · 2011-06-17, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by Firefly

Cash in-game, aka in-game currency, is a bad idea. It leads to farmers and gold-sellers and gold-spammers. I am absolutely 100% against this idea because of that reason. Gold-spammers are a plague and I hope every last goddamn one of them dies a horrible, slow death at the hands of the Chinese government. Fucking pieces of shit.

That would be a problem if people could trade money.