Development Cycle Archive

This is fantastic news. I quit last June and just picked up the game again, and I'm gald I did with this and the combat upgrade coming!

Of course, in the spirit of everyone else, I'd like to put in my two cents.

PvE bases should be disposable as they appear to be now, but still important to the struggle between the Empire and the Rebellion. It's already been stated that they count less towards control of the planet, but them still being "important" helps PvE players to think that they're still helping aside from a small tick on the scale of control. PvP bases should be the meat and potatoes of the GCW. That being said....

-All bases should extend a zone of control around them. No opposing faction harvestors or structures can be placed in that zone, and pre-existing structures of the opposing faction will start paying "dues" to the faction who placed the base. A war effort, if you will, payable to the individual who placed it. This will encourage factions to control new rich deposits of resources or similar areas. Civilians are exempt from dues and the placement restriction so that people farming resources who aren't involved in the GCW can still place structures. Can't place your harvestor because there's an opposing base there? Get some factions members to destroy the base preventing you from doing so. PvP bases would have a larger zone of control than a PvE base.

-Bases cannot be placed where their zone extends into a player city if the individual placing them does not belong to the player city. This would give player cities incentive to place bases of one kind or another, but prevent an opposing faction from placing a structure right next to the city or encircling an opoosing faction city with PvE bases.

-No two bases may have overlapping zones. That prevents people from putting up a dozen PvE or PvP bases and creating a zone that's impossible to destroy without an army. Maybe even extend that so that no two bases can be placed within a larger distance, so that even if the zones aren't overlapping, you don't have a base dotting the landscape every x meters.

-Rewards for keeping a base for longer periods of time. Possibly have the bases act as a "faction point harvestor" or sorts where every hour or day that it's up, the individual who placed it receives faction points. After all, the longer a base is up, the more good it's doing to the GCW. PvE players would get a small reward for deploying a PvE base to help the effort, and PvP players would have a serious reason to defend their own base. If your faction is winning that planet, more faction points, losing the war, fewer.

-PvE players should be able to purchase and deploy PvE bases only. PvP players should be able to purchase and deploy either.

-Different sized bases for both PvE and PvP. PvP bases should be able to get the multi-tiered bases with cloning facilities, mission terminals, etc, but PvE bases should still be able to have a high-end base with a medical center and mission terminal as their high-end model. I have this image of a PvE base just being a small camp with three NPC's, but as a PvE player I'd love to be able to deploy my own PvE base in the wilderness and use it as a base of operations with a mission terminal, at the very least.

-Base upgrade donations should still be applicable. PvE players can only donate maintenance to a PvP base, but PvP players can donate maintenance, mines, resources, pets, you name it. PvE players can donate maintenance, mines, resources, or pets to another PvE base only. That way PvE players can contribute to both the ongoing PvE struggle with every resource at their disposal as well as the larger PvP struggle through financial resources, but not military resources since they can't take part in that. This encourages PvP bases to recruit players to assist with defense of the base, since only other PvP players can add to it.

My two cents. Looking forward to the GCW revamp!

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TK1210GT wrote:

And don't forget the faction cap...you'll lose even more faction if the cap isn't lifted!

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That has concerned me as well.

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Kenbow2 wrote:

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Some good suggestions, kenbow2.

Another possible solution would be to make the POIs and city faction NPCs not worth anything faction-point-wise. Doesn't mean people still can't (and won't) kill them, but at least there wouldn't be much reward in it. Stormtroopers in NPC cities are already like this, and it's helped reduce the number of times you see them laying dead in the street.

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Thank you. I thought of your idea also, but thought that the risk of someone going to an opposing faction alligned POI "at their peril" yet with incentives was more exciting and fun then just making the NPCs there worthless. I have seen the following scenerios at the Imperial Outpost on Dantooine near my house several times, and I do NOT have a problem with anyone of them:

1) Situation: Rebel Overt or TEFd Rebel running around killing stormtroopers while covert imperials stare in disbelieve.

Fact: If noone is brave enough to go overt and kill him, then the rebel deserved the right to stay there.

2) Situation: Rebel Overts come to kill stormtroopers and are attacked by defending Overt Imps at the outpost.

Fact: Being in the middle of this or seeing it makes it really feel like you are in a star wars setting. Afterall, whats better then rebels and imps duking it out in a imp outpost. And whoever wins and remains in control has earned it.

By the way, let me add in another bit of 2 cents... Can you please change it to were if a overt rebel dies at the outpost from PvP, they dont just pop back up right there in OUR (Imp Outpost) cloning center. CMs and Docs abuse this by running out over and over to heal their comrads in battle, and when you kill them, they just run back out of the clone center (now covert), get in position, and then heal their comrads again when needed (causing them the TEF which is where we kill them again. Hence, the vicious cycle).

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That's a good idea to address. Perhaps the devs could make various cities "perma-faction" so that in the scenario you describe at the Imperial Outpot on Dant, Rebels can't spawn there because it's clearly Imperial controlled--the closest available cloning facility would be one of the other outposts or a player city they cloned at. This would make sense in a larger context, too. Bestine is clearly Imperial-controlled, and if a PvP Rebel dies there, they shouldn't be able to spawn there again because the Empire won't allow it. They have to spawen at the next closest available cloning center. PvP or PvE players should not be able to clone or insure at these "perma-faction" cities, either.

Now, the real question would be would controlling the planet make cloning at all cities except for the perma-faction city impossible? Say a group of PvP Imperials go to Rebel-held Corellia and stage a raid on another base. One of them dies, but sicne the planet is Rebel-held, they can't spawn at any center except for the perma-faction city, whichever one is chosen. This should only apply when there's a clear winner for that planet, like 75/25, because not being able to spawn anywhere nearby when it's 51/49 would be silly.

I like the direction you guys are going with the GCW. Finaly... meaningful pvp that awards the players!

Developers,

Will this system integrate the existing NPC Bases (such as on Naboo and Corellia) as well? I do hope so, I wouldn't want them to be abandoned or something, their design is just sooo great. What will happen to them?
The original concept was to conquer these bases but they were bugged till today - will these come back with the new base system?

Message Edited by Warryyr on 02-04-2005 07:32 AM