Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Daily/weekly/monthly skill point missions.


As the single most important activity to CCP is getting a player to log in, I would propose CCP offer daily missions that provide additional skill points as the reward.

Nearly every other MMO uses experience points as a method of advancing the characters abilities. Eve on the other hand uses real time skilling regardless if the account is active. This also means that a given activity is always the same amount of time away and that there is nothing that can change that, you just have to wait 5 days to fly that hull, period. Pay for your account, set your training, and in essence pay to win.


The daily mission:

As is standard in eve, the daily mission would also be in the level 1 – 4 flavors (no level 5 daily missions, daily missions are for individuals only) Level 1 offering 10 skill points, LvL 2 -20, LvL 3 – 50, and LvL 4 daily missions offering 100 skill points. (Or any other point structure CCP feels is acceptable)

Daily missions can only be performed/attempted once every “down time” cycle and only one daily be performed or attempted… I.E. you attempt the LvL 4 daily and fail or succeed… you do not get to attempt another until after DT for the day.

All level daily agents are available to any player, you are a 3 day old noob and want to try a LvL 4 daily... go right ahead.

Daily missions are once through, if you have to warp out due to damage, the original accelerator gate is locked.

Daily missions do not change your standing, security stat, or any other character condition; they are for skill points and skill points only. You want to bump your standing, or fix your security stat, run a regular mission after the daily.

Daily mission skill points are banked and can be applied to any skill the pilot wants. This is performed much the same way as the “allocatable skill point” system that was employed when the “Learning” skills were eliminated. A player can simply bank the points for a future application to a skill, or can click “apply to current skill” at the end of the mission and the points will be instantly applied to the skill at the front of the queue.

The skill point bank never expires. Skill points are not transferable, you earn them, and you apply them.


This change would do several things.

1. Allow CCP to develop new and interesting missions from level 1 courier missions, to Level 4 “end of the world as we know it” missions.

2 .Use the daily SP mish to “spread the jam”. Daily missions can be used to expand a characters game play into areas they don’t normally experience. I.E. “The Manufacture mission”. A daily mission could consist of being given a single run blueprint copy for a “dingle hopper” This BPC must be run through the manufacturing process, be produced, and then transferred to the daily mission agent. The player learns the manufacturing process and is rewarded with skill points. The permutations are limitless. Mining missions, low/nul incursions, etc. Whatever CCP thinks we should try, there’s a daily mish for that.

3. Increase daily log on. Once logged in, one never knows what other mischief a player may get into, but the first step is ALWAYS “user name, password, ‘enter’”

4. You better control the destiny of your pilot. If you want to get into that battleship hull faster, get in the game and run your daily, and quit wuss’n out on the level 2, and step up to the level 3. This isn’t pay to win, this is play to win.

If daily missions prove to be successful, the inclusion of weekly or monthly missions may also be another avenue to look at. A weekly mission would require “tags” from 2 daily missions and successful completion of that week’s mission… the monthly would require “tags” from 5 daily missions, a “tag” from 1 weekly mission, and successful completion of the monthly mission. Tags would be part of the loot upon successful completion of a daily/weekly and would be consumed when the mission is accepted, regardless of the success or failure of the mission to be attempted. Tags would also be level specific. A tag from a level 1 daily could not be used for entry into a level 2 weekly or monthly. Of course the weekly and monthly mission skill point pay out would be significantly higher as well as the difficulty. A monthly “24 jumps with 500,ooo cubes” courier mish better pay big.

The coding for the skill point bank already exists, daily missions can improve log on numbers, if you play more you move ahead faster… what’s not to like.

Nope.

I put in the time to get my skills, I expect others to have to put in the time to get their skills.

I have equally chastised myself over a blank queue. Or forgetting to update a clone.

Because I know what motivates the acquisition of those skills.

Time.

Time is the skill motivator.

Not missions.

Not isk.

Not logging in.

Just time.

More seriously many people believe that the current system is imperfect, I proposed myself that people gin additional SP by using skills (SP accruing when the skilltest is applied in code) but was persuaded that whilst the current system isn't perfect it is perfectly fair. everyone earns SP at the same rate. Everyone has the opportunity to remap at the same rate as everyone else. Everyone has access to the learning implants once they've earned enough.

I am happy with the system as it is imperfectly perfect fairness.

Thank whichever god(s) you may or may not believe in that you didn't say yes...

I'm gonna say no.

Also your example rewards would be terrible. A lvl 4 mission giving 100sp? I train at least around 2300sp/hour. It literally would not be worth the time to run the mission. I'd sooner buy a +5 and get that much SP/hour for as long as I manage to keep the pod.

Only way CCP could make it worth doing is if you could grind out several thousand SP/day, like 50-100k sp, which would be game breaking for obvious reasons, which is why I say no.

thanks for the constructive criticism. Properly noted and properly filed.

how do you say "no" in Swahili?

Perhaps you didn't read the part about where the point value could be adjusted by CCP to a level they saw fit.

Perhaps you didn't read the part about all Daily/weekly/monthly agents would be available for all, yes even you anit-social low/nul sec troglodytes.

Perhaps you didn't read that this would be in addition to the current real time training, not instead of.

Perhaps...

No.

edit:


Welcome to EVE where any mechanic that provides real, tangible advantages that cannot be taken away ceases to be "optional" and merely becomes "standard operating procedure."

No to grinding mechanics.

OP... Please, if you were under the influence of blackmail, narcotics or anti-depressants when you wrote this post, now is the time to tell us.

To be honest, I didn't. I saw "Daily/weekly/monthly skill point missions," said "that's a terrible idea which refuses to die," and read the responses to see how many runs of T2 flamethrowers I needed to put on market in Jita.

Really, there's nothing in all your "perhapses" that fixes the fundamental problem with your system: people will be able to grind to progress faster than others. Attribute-boosting implants are bad enough.

Actually, the single most important activity to CCP is that youre paying them. Whether you log in or not is irrelevant.