Upgrades

[benh7777]

How about removing the force card from the game, and creating 1 level of stats (weapons, defense) that expire monthly.
So after every month if you want to be 31 you must pay say 100k for each stat. This way nobody loses anything they've worked so hard to get, it's just a bonus.
This would definitely help in lowering the excess MD.

Maybe have the option to purchase it with real money also. Or have it as a package with a monthly sub.

[korndog]

Given that force cards are relativly rare, couldnt this be done without taking it from the game>? Either way it makes for a good md sink. Have you considered making it a daily stat for 100k? (payperview force card) this would drain md down to a very manageable level in a hurry i think.

[AvsAddict]

i actually like both of these ideas.  Theres something here I think.

What if we did 10k/stat/week?  Not sure on the coding side of it?

[Anthraxus]

So just to make sure I'm on the same page as everyone else.  The idea is that for X MD/stat/week you get a +1 to that stat for the week.  Would that be in addition to any force cards they may have?  Or would it preclude the use of force cards (since they are technically stackable)?

As far as an exchange rate goes, I would suggest 18750 MD per stat per week, $300K per month for all 4 stats.  This could translate to $2.50/stat/week if we want to offer a cash purchase option.

Programmatically it wouldn't be that difficult to setup.

[benh7777]

I think it should replace the force card otherwise what's the point? I also think the cost should be much higher, players are purchasing force cards up to 100k, and that only lasts 24 hours.

[korndog]

Don't get me wrong ben, I think your idea is great. I just dont think they should replace force cards because there is not a huge surplus of them in the game. At least not enough to really influence the effectivness of this idea. If there was I dont think you could fetch so much for one in the forums.

As for them being stackable: sure! why not? If people want to spend money and burn cards on the settlement war they should have the green light.

As i said before I would think the temporary stats should be 24-48hr max. I also agree with Ben in that they should be much much more expensive. What about pro rating it depending on which stat?

ie.
24 hour attack upgrade - 100k or $1 per day
24 hour defence upgrade - 50k 0r .50
spy/scout - 25k or .25

After all the problem is too much money floating around, not a shortage.

Just throwing this out there for discussion.

[benh7777]

I guess the way I'm looking at it is from a different playing level than actually most in the game. I have no idea how many force cards there are out there, but I believe there are many stockpiled in the arsenals of the elite players. I have many in mine.

I don't mean to keep coming across as the most elite or one of the more powerful players in the game, I'm not trying to put myself above anyone else. There are many others that rival me. I'm just using myself as an example of how the game has kinda got out of hand in a way, and trying to help.

I would be fine with the way the force card is now as in the rarity of finding them, I just think there are still too many out there.
And they would have little effect on this idea if they were scarce. Maybe a war that allows the use of force cards would deplete alot of them. Maybe even an individual war rather than an alliance war, I don't know which would work better. Or let the force card be redeemable for situations or needed assets on phobos. On that note, I believe that phobos will have an effect in depleting alot of MD as well.


Back to the subject, the idea of having an expiring stat level is a win win situation for the game and players. It helps the game deplete alot of excess MD, and it gives the players more competitiveness and something worth spending MD on to remain at a top level.

If odds of finding things and mineral payouts stay the same as they are now, the cost to renew the weekly upgrade must be high. It would be alot harder to change the rate once it was implemented in the game because then everyone would be complaining about the increase. Make it right from the beginning and there will be less oposition. 100k is more than fair.

[AvsAddict]

I lean on the side of keeping force cards in the game just from the stand point of having 1 free way to improve stats.  I had an idea working thru my head earlier so getting it down in here.  Most people will not want to improve for intell or security.  What if we made it max of 3 stat raises of players choice.  So in theory a player could have +3 weapons and +0 defense, or some combo there in.  The reason I see it this way is from a strategy game play point of view.  You could never have max weapons AND defense.  So it would come down to which one was important at the time.  Could only be switched once/week.

Thoughts on that?

[benh7777]

oh yeah, I like that it makes it more interesting.

[Anthraxus]

It would be a little more difficult to code that up than a straight one time/multi use thing, but it can be done.  Is this idea ready to be moved to working ideas, or is there something else that should be available for open discussion?

[QueenSheba]

I lean on the side of keeping force cards in the game just from the stand point of having 1 free way to improve stats.  I had an idea working thru my head earlier so getting it down in here.  Most people will not want to improve for intell or security.  What if we made it max of 3 stat raises of players choice.  So in theory a player could have +3 weapons and +0 defense, or some combo there in.  The reason I see it this way is from a strategy game play point of view.  You could never have max weapons AND defense.  So it would come down to which one was important at the time.  Could only be switched once/week.

Thoughts on that?

Along Rick's idea:
Stats are zeroed out at the start of every month to 0-0-0-0. Each member then receives 10 free upgrades (these can't be traded or sold) that they can use how they wish, to upgrade their stats, plus each member has the option to purchase up to 10 more upgrades only at the beginning of each week at the price of 25k (this price can be adjusted, I'm just using it as an example) per upgrade for a total cost of 250k, if they so choose.
So at the start of the month, a member would receive their 10 free upgrades + be able to purchase 10 more upgrades for a total stat count of 20.
Week 2, member has the option of purchasing again, the maximum 10 upgrades, or portion thereof that they want, for again, the price or 25k per stat to a maximum of 10, giving them a stat total of 30.
Week 3, member has the option of purchasing again, the maximum 10 upgrades, or portion thereof that they want, for again, the price or 25k per stat to a maximum of 10, giving them a stat total of 40.
And finally Week 4, member has the option of purchasing again, the maximum 10 upgrades, or portion thereof that they want, for again, the price or 25k per stat to a maximum of 10, giving them a stat total of 50.
Then at the beginning of the next month, everything is reset to 0's again, and the process starts over.

The beauty of this is, each player must decide for themselves, which stat is important to them to upgrade for the week, do they put everything on weapons and nothing on defense, or do they split them up and put some on Intelligence and Security, no upgrades on these two will render their scouting useless, plus a weak defense will make them vulnerable to other players.
Upgrades that are in the game and those found in the game can not be used for stats, only cargo, storage or capacity.
This way, even newbies have a fighting chance at the game after a month or so when they can afford the upgrades.

As for force cards, I figure they can be left in the game, eventually they will all disappear, and only be found from digging and searching abandoned homesteads.
Feel free to comment on this idea, that's what it's here for.

[AvsAddict]

I'm not sure that resetting stats every month will keep players, but I do like the idea for the moon.  I know we talk about the moon and it is coming.  The moon is for the more elite players who would like challenges such as that.

[mef623]

I'm not sure that resetting stats every month will keep players, but I do like the idea for the moon.  I know we talk about the moon and it is coming.  The moon is for the more elite players who would like challenges such as that.

Sorry, the reset every month is too much.   I worked hard and spent a fair amount of credits to get where I am.  If you want to do it once per year to help newbs, I guess you could, but I play another game where they reset everyone's stats and a lot of the senior people (the ones who put money in) left, since they felt like they got screwed after working to build up their stats.

As for the original idea in this topic, I see nothing wrong with having both force cards and buyable upgrades.  Anything to drive down the outstanding MD in the game is fine with me.

Mike

[Anthraxus]

As a third option, what if a player could release their settlements for "force points" at a 10:1 ratio (minimum of 1), limited to 1/month?

[QueenSheba]

As a third option, what if a player could release their settlements for "force points" at a 10:1 ratio (minimum of 1), limited to 1/month?

So my 5000+ settlement would give me 500 force points, WOW, do these expire?