Base notes

Various comments from Positron about upcoming changes to bases.

 Two of the biggest complaints we see about the base system is “Stuff is too expensive” and “It takes us too long to get a base that does anything useful.”

Statesman and I have looked closely at the data. We have looked at various Supergroup sizes and how they have been earning Prestige since CoV launched. One thing became clear, and that was that players were not earning Prestige at the rate that we had expected them to.

To this end, you can expect to see an (approximately) 25% increase in Prestige earning. This will be in an upcoming patch (have to get it through QA).

To address the issue of “It takes us too long to get a base that does anything useful” we are adding in some new rooms (in the same patch):

He goes on to describe some new “starter” rooms with lower capabilities and lower costs.

Our goal has been refined since the original launch of City of Villains. We now want to allow a small Supergroup of 4 or 5 fairly active players to be able to afford something new in their base every few weeks. These new, lower cost rooms, and combo Control/Energy item, allow us to do just that, without making large Supergroups attain the top tier stuff too quickly.

This week Statesman and I (among others) will begin looking at the larger Supergroups and determining where the shortcomings are at that end of the system and figure out what we need to implement in order to get larger Supergroups to a level where both they and we are happy.

Even better is a later comment that they are looking at an auxiliary item for base teleporters that will send you straight back to the mission (or mission door).  Glee!  That would make it worth going to bases rather than to hospital in many cases.

Most exciting, perhaps — the whole question of base “rent” is in play. 

 In regards to Rent: This is one of the items we are looking at closely this week. The “glass ceiling” was a design decision to prompt SGs into recruiting more members to get past it. It’s fairly obvious (and has been for months) that you all universally hate the idea.

I don’t mind rent all that much — I wish it were lower, and I wish you didn’t have to frelling run back to city hall to pay it, but as it’s the only thing that causes an SG to actually do much on a continuing basis, it’s not a bad mechanism.  That said, if it goes away, I shall shed no tears.

Amusing from the above were the never-satisfied people who requested (demanded) that if rent were eliminated, all the previously paid Prestige be refunded.  Yikes.