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Togakure Posted Mar 23, 2010, 9:38 am |
I had an idea that I don't recall seeing here before, maybe it's new and maybe it's not. Wanted to see what the general opinion was of such an idea.
What about an option to hire mercenaries to join up with your gang? Give players an option via a new tavern window, similar to how we purchase bulk goods from the market, to hire merc crew members. There could be three tabs, one for each class of merc. There could be low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade personnel for hire. The better the grade, the better their skills but also at a much higher cost. Examples of their cost/maintenance are below. Low-grade: * $5000 to hire * $1000 wages per week * Chosen skill between 50-99 points, specs randomly pre-selected based on that skill. * Consumes 2 units of food/water per week Mid-grade: * $10000 to hire * $2500 wages per week * Chosen skill between 100-149 points, specs randomly pre-selected based on that skill. * Consumes 3 units of food/water per week High-grade: * $25000 to hire * $5000 wages per week * Chosen skill between 150-199 points, specs randomly pre-selected based on that skill. * Consumes 5 units of food/water per week The catch is that gangs are limited to a maximum merc count of 10% their normal max gang limit, with the mercs still counting towards that max overall count. For example, a gang that currently has a max crew limit of 52 would still have a max of 52, but could only hire a max of 5 mercenary crew members. This would allow for 47 normal gang and 5 mercs total if desired. Another key is that the base ability stats of these mercenary crew would be pre-set and at levels similar to new hires. Also, not one single stat can be raised. This means that merc crew can not be used with training camps, and gain no skill experience from events or encounters. What ever skill points they come with is what they are stuck with until they die. I think that this would give the vets something useful to spend some of their horded cash on. It would also allow you to hire someone to crew a vehicle that lost its gunner, at least while you train up a replacement. Because they will have pre-capped skills that will never increase, it would not be wise to rely on them too much. And because they would be limited in quantity, you're probably only going to have one or two vehicles max with merc crews. These would be great for PvP matches, arena events, or just filling in for normal gangers that are stuck in the hospital. Although expensive to hire, they could still be considered "expendable". Although this is just an early idea/suggestion, it could use some tweaks or changes. Hiring prices, weekly wages, food/water consumption, etc are just examples and would be adjusted to fit their intended purposes. I would also not recommend the Mechanic skill be selectable as a hired class, since they are not direct combatants and therefore not at much risk. They would probably just be used as camp staff, which is sort of opposite the intent of this suggestion. |
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*Grograt* gary.r.horder@gmail.com Posted Mar 23, 2010, 9:51 am |
been discussed before yes.
Mercanary Mercs' My concern with this is that it may de value the thrill of perma death and skilling gangers in favor of paying your way through the game. I can see the merits behind the idea but costing would have to be so high ( imo ) that only the rich long term players could afford them, and this would just continue the cycle of money makes money. |
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Serephe Posted Mar 23, 2010, 10:07 am |
IMO, our gang members ARE mercenaries. | ||||
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*Grograt* gary.r.horder@gmail.com Posted Mar 23, 2010, 10:09 am |
Too true sere' also use in PVP would be a no no, losing a skilled ganger to somebody that had a purchased nobody, would cause uproar | ||||
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Togakure Posted Mar 23, 2010, 10:16 am |
That is something I totally understand and agree with, which is why I would suggest a very low max limit to the number of mercenaries you could hire. And because they would gain no skill training whatsoever past their pre-set values, their use would become somewhat limited and/or undesirable for extended periods. Use them too much, and you'll end up with no good regulars. As for those links, the first topic was basically discussing the ability to either hire out your own crew to other gangs, or sell/trade your crew on some sort of market. Completely different from my suggestion. Regarding the second link, there was an interesting post made by Sam...
He hit the nail on the head in my opinion. I never participate in PvP events because I'm not going to risk my good gangers. I could get a loot car or something out of it, but I can do that on any regular scout. And scouts against the AI tend to be much safer and faster. Now if I could hire some mercs to run the events instead, I'd be more than happy to risk the extra cash to spend $10000 to hire one. I'm already spending $15000-25000 minimum for an armed combat vehicle already, why not toss in another $5000-10000 for a driver/gunner or two? If he dies, meh...I just lost some money. At least it was all in fun. But if I risk and lose a "decent" ganger, that's 2 months or so of training down the tubes. Not my idea of fun, and in my opinion never worth the risk. Two months of work will NEVER be worth 10 minutes of laughs. |
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*Grograt* gary.r.horder@gmail.com Posted Mar 23, 2010, 10:19 am |
The problem is PVP without the fear of loss, isnt really PVP and this can be accomplished via Darkwind Tactical if a head to head with no consequences is required.
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