Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Just read the post before yours. Now my corp has 20 members. If they chose to declare us a war we would be in an obvious disadvantage.

No yet?

Sure is fine by you. Lets name if Goons online. But is not. is a game unballanced situation and you still protest any attempt to people wan tto live outside your gang they have a chance -not for free- to have the pleasure of present a fight.

And we have to call the lambs who hide in the pack the taugh guys and the ones who stand are the carebears. Game is broken.

Courrier contract is working well, because of it's built in securities for the character contracting their stuff out.

The convoy idea was more an idea that spawned from the op's point.

If mercenary protection contracts had the same type of protection than courrier contract had, the op request would be moot...

adding my voice to the nope crowd for the mentioned reasons.

I like the idea DHuncan.

Being able for a pilot in an NPC corporation to hire NPC Mercs would be a rather welcome addition. But like the ISD said you need flush it out and put some meat on the bones.

Here is how the system would work in my opinion.

For each NPC Corporation that you run missions for you would receive special chits. These chits would then be used to purchase the services of NPC Mercs.

You would receive one chit for every mission completed and three chits for every storyline mission completed.

If you do not complete a mission and let it expire you lose three chits. If you do not complete a storyline mission and let it expire you lose five chits.

If you start a mission and then cancel it you lose five chits. If you start a storyline mission and cancel it you lose ten chits.

The number of chits you have can then be used to purchase the services of NPC Mercs. Each corporation will have its own Merc Corporation that will have varying levels of Mercs within the corporation.

One corporation might have ten Merc corporations available for hire where another might have twenty corporations but the smaller Merc corporation would cost more because of the more experienced Merc Pilots within the Corporation.

NPC Merc Corporations would come in five tiers the lowest tier being the best and tier five being the least experienced.

Each system would also determine the overall experience of the NPC Merc Corporation with Null and Low Sector being better than 1.0 High Security Systems.

NPC Mercs could be hired to protect miners from belt rats and gate rats that when the Deploy NPC Mercs button is pressed the Merc Corp that has hired launches from the stations warps to your location and then begins to engage the NPC pirates that are present. Once the first wave of NPC Pirates has been eliminated the NPC Merc Corp will then remain on station for a predetermined time and would then return to the station to await your orders.

NPC Mercs would also engage any Capsuleer that has attacked you and destroyed or podded you through ganking methods without you having to call on them. If the ganker enters the system the Mercs launch immediately from their station...which is hidden and then engage the ganker until the ganker is dead or the NPC Merc Corp has been defeated.

NPC Mercs could only be used by pilots in NPC Corporations against other NPC Pirates or Gankers.

The base chit use would go something like this.

You want to hire an NPC Merc Corp and have 100 chits. You find a tier two NPC Corp in the system that you are mining in and running missions. The NPC Merc Corp wants 10 chits per hour of their service thus giving you ten hours of total NPC Merc assistance. Once you pay the chit allowance the NPC Merc Corp you could call on their services whenever needed.

The more that you employ the NPC Merc Corp the more experience it gains from the actions they encounter and better standings you will have with them in future which would require less chits to be used for their services.

The area covered by an NPC Merc Corp would also depend on their tier level. Going outside of the system that the NPC Merc Corporation is based out of will cost more chits.

Tier 1: Five jumps from home base system - 125 extra chits per system after five
Tier 2: Four jumps from home base system - 115 extra chits per system after four
Tier 3: Three jumps from home base system - 100 extra chits per system after three
Tier 4: Two jumps from home base system - 75 extra chits per system after two
Tier 5: One jump from home base system - 50 extra chits per system after one

Types of ships employed with the NPC Merc Corporations would be based upon the tier level once again.

Tier 1: any type of ship from frigate to battleship (null sector and low sector would see carriers and dreds used)
Tier 2: any type of ship from frigate to battlecruiser
Tier 3: any type of ship from frigate to cruiser
Tier 4: destroyer
Tier 5: frigate

The use of the NPC Merc Corporation for a mission and ratting would reduce the bounty payout on each rat as well as mission payout.

Tier 1: 30% of bounties and 10% of mission payout
Tier 2: 25% of bounties and 10% of mission payout
Tier 3: 20% of bounties and 10% of mission payout
Tier 4: 20% of bounties and 15% of mission payout
Tier 5: 25% of bounties and 20% of mission payout

I don't fully get this part. Do you mean Merc corporations would work as factory slots, once those Merc corporations are hired by another player they are available no more untill given back?

I like the idea of chits and Tiers. And the prices you are suggesting seems fair. Nobody can say they come cheap or this is asking for CCP doing the job for us, but once set those prices and the Tiers available I would say no need for more complications.

Would make sense dou, since damage types are diferent, a Gallente corporation hires Gallente Merc Escorts at a cheaper chit amount than Minmatar and those cheaper than Amarrian and those cheaper than Caldari. This is because Gallente is ally with Minmatar and enemy with Caldari. Also enemy of Amar but only cause Amar is ally with Caldari. So availability for Gallente to find Minmatar pilots is easier than Amar pilots but little harder than Gallentes.

This also gives an imput to the loyalty to the civilization you are involved. Still no restrictions as you can be an Amar working for Gallente corporations. Also would be expected a Caldari Corporation -a player one- would hire Caldari Mercs but this may also give some unexpected surprises.

Concerning chits I would say they are not shareable -unlike LP or ISK- when turning a mission in, so there is not chances to gain 1/2 chit or 0.5 chits.

So what happens if I hire these merks and then go shoot some guy in a mining barge.

Good question. As this is an open debate I dont have the final answer but in my opinion you can do that. In high sec you will be CONCORDED and so will be all your escorts. You probably would be able to make some damage. We have not said the escort will attac what you attack, we said only they would attack what attacks you. Like the diference on seting a drone to protect or to assist. So far we said they will only protect.

If you ask me I would allow you to do such an expensive suicide gank. The fact that you pay escorts by chit means you can only hire by having worked for a while. This is quite diferent than gaining isk.

Something reasonable: 10 x lvl 4 missions + 1 story line mission = 50 chits.

Base prices: Tier I frigate class same race as NPC corp (I prefer using the term civilization or faction as each one of these contains three races each) is presented here for short as F I 0.

F I 0 - 50 chits p/h
D I 0 - 75 chits p/h
C I 0 - 125 chits p/h
BC I 0 - 200 chits p/h
BS I 0 - 250 chits p/h

This is just a model that may be reworked for better ballance or even in the case community really feels it is an abuse prices can be rised to calm their tears. In the oposite case it could be lowered had the system get acceptance. I am basing these samplers in tier one being weaker and tier five being harder as opposed to Dryson model but the idea remains the same if yu turn the tier rate around.

A tier could rise the price with a simple ecuation like price times tier and a tier II would be twice as expensive as tier I, tier III would be three times the price of tier I.

Then C III 0 - 375 chits p/h for example.

Last but not least the civilization jump factor could also be a multiplication. 0 civilization jump adds no extra dificulty for finding mers so 0 would be x1. Civilization jump of 1 could be -in this model- x2 and civilization jumps 2 and 3, respectivelly, x3 and x4.

The most expensive escort would be of the enemy race of the NPC corporation I am spending my chits, would be a tier V Battleship like:

BS V 3 so 250 x 5 x 4 = 5000 smashing isk no less per hour.

Now tell me how many missions I have to do to solo defend from 3 advanced capsuler campers and how is this crying for CCP mama to save my incompetent ass? It is obviously not. But in case of need for hard worker PvEs at least an asset to give them a chance.

Another view, 6 destroyers tier II same civilization as the NPC corporation I hire:

6 x 75 x 2 x 1 = 900 chits per hour.

It is just a model as I said. IMO a bit too expensive but the purpose of this is to show my intentions here is not get the job done effortless or by a simple button click. These are in fact the first numbers I throw as I type and ballancing is the way to do things the right way.

Thank you.

Sounds like trouble to me unless satisfaction is clearly stated as an objective and verifyable goal. I have said before, even the whole NPC availablility to cover where humans -for diverse reassons- cannot, is a very atractive one, I would allways make deals with humans. But if the humans I find are not of my like -or even way the other way- I dont want me -nor I guess many others- to be forced to deal yes or yes.

Something wrong with a little bit of healthy competition? Your business is mercenaring -not directing my comments to anyone in particular- ? Do it and better do it well.