CQC - Let me grind more than credits

[IronGremlin]

So, what if you could sport a faction flag, major, minor, or PP in CQC matches?

Wouldn't it be cool to grind rep/merits/rank for your chosen faction by playing engaging rounds of combat instead of the same cookie cutter missions?

I know that the current mission system is largely place holder, and I am excited by coming changes, but it would be really cool to have meaningful reasons to engage in this content that Frontier spent all this time making instead of just making credits.

I suspect, and hope, that CQC credit rewards won't be on par with what an established player could make in the "real game," otherwise this sort of marginalizes the current progression, but you could add rep or rank gain without breaking the game balance.

Pretty please Frontier? Give me a neat reason to play your cool pew-pew mini game?

 

[bendover]

You could have CQC only credits,Credits you can only spend ship/weapons/modules for use in CQC only,sorry dont agree with CQC having any effect on faction power.It would be like the FA premership winners deciding who got to be Primeminister

 

[Ekar]

I kinda see CQC as a training ground and TV show of the future, a bit like that show where you have to run along logs and avoid all kinds of stuff hitting into you- I forget what it's called... fun entertainment, but not a zone for the truly 'Elite'.

What could happen that might be nice is some kind of sponsorship deal, maybe by minor factions who can offer you discounts on things (for novice players who haven't yet gotten into the main game, faction sponsorship could bring a natural focus to head over to that station as your first port of call). If you're really, really good, then maybe sign a deal with the ship manufacturers themselves (you can only fly Lakon for eg, but we'll give it to you at a super heavy discount/free).

 

[Ydiss]

I'd be happy if there were no rewards tied to your commander in cqc because I'd be happy to get pvp fun for pvp fun sake alone.

However, it's a no brainer that having credits awarded for cqc would entice many more to play it (which I'd like, as it would suck if it was empty of players) so I'm in two minds.

I see no reason why it shouldn't be linked at least to combat rating but I don't think it'd be popular if it gave reputation or merits.

Leaderboards and ladders would help promote it. Basically, the more stats FD throw at us, the more popular it'll be.

But forget all that for a moment... The primary concern is that cqc is fun. Capture the flag could be insanely fun If it is designed well. That's a big if, though.

It's not as simple as creating a symmetrical map, slapping two equidistant flags in and letting 8 players play against 8 players. The balance of the map size and routing is essential. Spawn timing is critical (no one likes zerg wars in an objective based pvp match but no one likes dying and then being forced to sit out for ages while the other team get a guaranteed score). Spawn locations are very important (you want to be able to quickly impact the match after spawning if you're defending but you don't want it to be impossible to score due to constant enemy spawns too close to your opposing flag). What happens when the enemy has the flag is crucial (can you see it on the radar or the hud, is it invisible except by visual range, does it become visible after a certain time, will it become visible if the flag holder camps). And what strategies you can employ to recapture the flag when the enemy has it is an essential consideration. It would be horrible if it's impossible to catch a fleeing opponent once they break free of your Base but it wouldn't be fun if it's too easy to be caught once you have the flag.

Similar concerns must be catered for even in death match or team death match. If there's no structure to the spawn logic and no tactile way to work with your team (or control the map in death match), then it results in lifeless, dull game play, at best a spam fest that's fun for 10 minutes.

Achieving an exciting ebb and flow to pvp combat is tricky. I hope they can pull it off.

 

[IronGremlin]

If I wanted a fun thing to do that wasn't at all connected to Elite, wouldn't I just play another game?

Alternatively if I wanted to have fun fighting other ships in elite, I could just play, like, regular elite?

If CQC presents me with no real encouragement to play it outside of it's own bubble than I'm not really going to play it, and I'm guessing many others feel the same way, hence Frontier will have successfully released two major updates concentrating on content that isn't super interesting to large sections of their player base.

So, I guess what I'm saying here is that this is a good opportunity for Frontier to at least attempt to help players such as myself feel connected in some way to this new content, instead of letting us feel marginalized for another major update.