Simple math about merits

[majogl]

So, there are two formulae to figuring out everything you need to know about how much merits you have to grind.

First one is income-specific (when you want to determine the final merits amount based on steady merit income).

(15*<WEEKLY INCOME>)/8 = <FINAL RESULT>

Alternaviely, if you know what number of Merits you want to reach, the formula is moddified into this form:

(8*<FINAL RESULT>)/15 = <WEEKLY INCOME>

So, say you need to reach 10.000 merits... We use the second formula

(8*10.000)/15 = 5333,3333...

This basically means that you need to make 5334 merits per week for 4 weeks... Weeeell good luck with that. Anyway here is a simple app i made for calculating week-by-week with exact merit values.

Direct download <HERE>

P.S.: Hope there isn't a thread like this out there already.

 

[lonewarrior]

So, there are two formulae to figuring out everything you need to know about how much merits you have to grind.

First one is income-specific (when you want to determine the final merits amount based on steady merit income).

(15*<WEEKLY INCOME>)/8 = <FINAL RESULT>

Alternaviely, if you know what number of Merits you want to reach, the formula is moddified into this form:

(8*<FINAL RESULT>)/15 = <WEEKLY INCOME>

So, say you need to reach 10.000 merits... We use the second formula

(8*10.000)/15 = 5333,3333...

This basically means that you need to make 5334 merits per week for 4 weeks... Weeeell good luck with that. Anyway here is a simple app i made for calculating week-by-week with exact merit values.

Direct download <HERE>

P.S.: Hope there isn't a thread like this out there already.

Why good luck with that?
-
It's easy to get merits, I've earnt 3000 in one evening easy
I can easily get 10,000 + in one week

 

[CMDR Beltane]

Besides that - you need around 3,5K of each week to stay Rank 5:

0 + 3500 + (1750) + (875) + (437)

The red part equals a bit more than 6,6K points. If you earn another 3,5K (the 0) in the currently running week, that makes 10K. Same thing for every other week afterwards. For Rank 4 you need arround 550 points per week:

0 + 550 + (275) + (137) + (68)

Again, the red part equals arround short above 1K. If you earn another 550 you stay Rank 4 that week. Its not my formula, but from what i have seen the formula is sound. Current weeks total is always what you earned this week plus (your last weeks points in full + the three "decay weeks"). Meaning, as long as you are able to get enough points to sum up all stages to the total you require for a Rank X, you are safe and sound. Works also the other way arround. You don't need to amount 1500 points once. If you invest 550 points each week, you will become Rank 4 after the fifth week of doing so.

EDIT: And as i found the name now... kudos to Kanthes (dunno if thats also his CMDR callsign) for finding out!

 

[majogl]

Why good luck with that?
-
It's easy to get merits, I've earnt 3000 in one evening easy
I can easily get 10,000 + in one week

I would like to know how you can earn 3000 merits in a "one evening" and how long exactly is that...

Besides that - you need around 3,5K of each week to stay Rank 5:

0 + 3500 + (1750) + (875) + (437)

The red part equals a bit more than 6,6K points. If you earn another 3,5K (the 0) in the currently running week, that makes 10K. Same thing for every other week afterwards. For Rank 4 you need arround 550 points per week:

0 + 550 + (275) + (137) + (68)

Again, the red part equals arround short above 1K. If you earn another 550 you stay Rank 4 that week. Its not my formula, but from what i have seen the formula is sound. Current weeks total is always what you earned this week plus (your last weeks points in full + the three "decay weeks"). Meaning, as long as you are able to get enough points to sum up all stages to the total you require for a Rank X, you are safe and sound. Works also the other way arround. You don't need to amount 1500 points once. If you invest 550 points each week, you will become Rank 4 after the fifth week of doing so.

EDIT: And as i found the name now... kudos to Kanthes (dunno if thats also his CMDR callsign) for finding out!

I dont think you understand how the merits work... if you do 3500 per week then you will stay at 6562 merits after 4 weeks... then you would have to do 3.5k for that one week + 3.5k to break the 10k barrier... that would be 7k merits in that week.

P.S.: for 1.5k you need 800/week

 

[CMDR Beltane]

I would like to know how you can earn 3000 merits in a "one evening" and how long exactly is that...



I dont think you understand how the merits work... if you do 3500 per week then you will stay at 6562 merits after 4 weeks... then you would have to do 3.5k for that one week + 3.5k to break the 10k barrier... that would be 7k merits in that week.

3500 (current week) + 3500 (previous week, not cut) + (3500/2) + (3500/4) + (3500/8) et voila... in total that makes 10K to be counted for the calulation which rank you gonna be the next week. And as long as you insert another 3,5K each week, that won't change. Red are your said 4 weeks, which is 6562. But we are in week 5 in that example, so you add another 3,5K and thats 10K then. Meaning, you will enter week 6 with the amount needed to be Rank 5. But if you want to stay Rank 5 you will have to add 3,5K for in week 6 for week 7 as you start with 0 each weak for (current week value).

If you do 5334 each week...

5334 + 5334 + 2667 +1333 + 666 = 15334 (weeks total to be counted for next weeks rank calulation after week 5) - Thats 50% more than needed to stay Rank 5.

Here is the source - as said, not my formula but both his and mine points (for the current cycle) were predictable that way: Reddit - Cracked Merit Calculation

So, believe what you want. I trust in the data said Commander presented and my own Merit data confirms *shrug*

 

[lonewarrior]

I would like to know how you can earn 3000 merits in a "one evening" and how long exactly is that...



I dont think you understand how the merits work... if you do 3500 per week then you will stay at 6562 merits after 4 weeks... then you would have to do 3.5k for that one week + 3.5k to break the 10k barrier... that would be 7k merits in that week.

P.S.: for 1.5k you need 800/week

Kill military supply ships or federal logistic ships give you 15 merits per kill, you can catch a lot of wings like 1 hauler with 2 eagles or sidewinders in a wing, I'm flying a python, interdict, kill all 3 in about 30-45 seconds, that's 45 merits straight away, pick the weakest targets or those in wings, an evening was about 6-7 hours
-
Works better with at least 1 wingman, as you get 15 merits each as unlike bounty hunting it doesn't spilt them so you can kill the targets in half the time

 

[Darrett]

I currently do about 400-450 per evening; that's interdicting 30 ships and destroying them, which is quite a few. Often times the system authority show up as well, which can cause issues so depending on how damaged the target is, you might need to go repair after the fight or jump out and lose the merits.

 

[majogl]

3500 (current week) + 3500 (previous week, not cut) + (3500/2) + (3500/4) + (3500/8) et voila... in total that makes 10K to be counted for the calulation which rank you gonna be the next week. And as long as you insert another 3,5K each week, that won't change. Red are your said 4 weeks, which is 6562. But we are in week 5 in that example, so you add another 3,5K and thats 10K then. Meaning, you will enter week 6 with the amount needed to be Rank 5. But if you want to stay Rank 5 you will have to add 3,5K for in week 6 for week 7 as you start with 0 each weak for (current week value).

If you do 5334 each week...

5334 + 5334 + 2667 +1333 + 666 = 15334 (weeks total to be counted for next weeks rank calulation after week 5) - Thats 50% more than needed to stay Rank 5.

Here is the source - as said, not my formula but both his and mine points (for the current cycle) were predictable that way: Reddit - Cracked Merit Calculation

So, believe what you want. I trust in the data said Commander presented and my own Merit data confirms *shrug*

The green highlighted parts are wrong... You dont get that part. Upon end of cycle calculation, the merits of that week are halved, followed by merits of the previous week /4 + merits of the week before that /8 plus of course however many merits you make in the upcoming week.

Also you still havent replied how you make that amount of merits in "one evening"

P.S.: I just checked the reddit you linked. My own results as well as my app conform 100% with the Theory A in that post. So basically you linked me to a proof that my algorhytm works... Thanks

Kill military supply ships or federal logistic ships give you 15 merits per kill, you can catch a lot of wings like 1 hauler with 2 eagles or sidewinders in a wing, I'm flying a python, interdict, kill all 3 in about 30-45 seconds, that's 45 merits straight away, pick the weakest targets or those in wings, an evening was about 6-7 hours
-
Works better with at least 1 wingman, as you get 15 merits each as unlike bounty hunting it doesn't spilt them so you can kill the targets in half the time

I am already doing that (although i try to avoid federation targets as i am with hudson ) but this way i can make 150-300 merits in and hour tops... Not 3500 in "one evening"

 

[CATPAIN KIRK]

Beltane/Kanthes are right - their prediction models match up with my own data.

Anyway - I struggle to keep at an efficient level - carried over >12k this week, so wouldn't have had to do anything to maintain rank 5 during this week. I'm at 2k this week because I'm mostly undermining/fortifying whilst making money.

Money I'll spend on merits on tue/wen because quite frankly, there's nothing else I could spend my credits on atm (FD introducing 3 more noob ships in the last update didn't really alleviate that dilemma).


I predict to finish this week at ~20k merits.

 

[CMDR Beltane]

At the end of each cycle, the total number of merits you have accumulated determines what rating you will be for the next cycle. Merits earned from previous cycles still count towards your rating at diminishing rates. Your merit total from the previous cycle is halved then added to your current cycle value. After two cycles, its value is halved again before being added. After three cycles, the value is halved once more. After four cycles the value is no longer added.

Here's something interesting. This is written from the perspective of the end of the cycle, before the next cycle begins. Let's once again say we are at the end of Cycle 2, with Cycle 3 starting in a minute or two. What if "previous cycle" doesn't stand for Cycle 2.. But for Cycle 1? And your "current cycle value" isn't whatever value you'd have at Cycle 3 (which would be 0 anyways), but instead any merits you earned during Cycle 2? If that was the case, the formulas for both theories would look slightly different.

Then you obviously haven't read enough. The first part, where you think you have found your "proof" is the formula that proved to be wrong, as the results didn't match the calculated ingame results! But as said, please - invest more than you need. Whichever faction is yours, they will appreciate it.

 

[majogl]

Beltane/Kanthes are right - their prediction models match up with my own data.

Anyway - I struggle to keep at an efficient level - carried over >12k this week, so wouldn't have had to do anything to maintain rank 5 during this week. I'm at 2k this week because I'm mostly undermining/fortifying whilst making money.

Money I'll spend on merits on tue/wen because quite frankly, there's nothing else I could spend my credits on atm (FD introducing 3 more noob ships in the last update didn't really alleviate that dilemma).


I predict to finish this week at ~20k merits.

I just wrote in the last post that my algorhytm matches exactly the "Theory A" from that reddit post (Kanthes, right?) On the other hand, Beltanes figures dont match that.

How can you make so many merits though? Im curious, how much time per week would you say you invest into powerplay (powerplay, not elite in general)

 

[CATPAIN KIRK]

I just wrote in the last post that my algorhytm matches exactly the "Theory A" from that reddit post (Kanthes, right?) On the other hand, Beltanes figures dont match that.

How can you make so many merits though? Im curious, how much time per week would you say you invest into powerplay (powerplay, not elite in general)

I was referring to Kanthes original post on reddit - didn't recalculate anything in this thread but his post does indeed match up with my personal experience.

Usually I just trade in an Anaconda fitted for the task - I pick up free 50 tons of merit commodities and do trade runs in between. Usually I just do two runs in the 30 minutes after picking up the first free batch which net me about 2 Million CR, then do one run subsequently until I've reached 150 tons, take a break for 30 minutes and fetch the last batch, then fast track the remaining cargohold for 2 millions.

Usually that yields 1-2 million credits in profits whilst delivering 400 tons every 2 hours - combined with the 50 mill/week at rank 5 and considering I do that for 4-6 hours a day for recreational purposes (rift user).

The actual investement in time is rather low - I do most of it whilst watching TV and browsing the forums (VR second window and a smartphone timer may help). Maybe an hour or two of actual flying (which I enjoy).

By the end of the cycle, I have made a profit whilst fast-tracking 5-10k tons to extinguish fires during the last two days.

 

[majogl]

I was referring to Kanthes original post on reddit - didn't recalculate anything in this thread but his post does indeed match up with my personal experience.

Usually I just trade in an Anaconda fitted for the task - I pick up free 50 tons of merit commodities and do trade runs in between. Usually I just do two runs in the 30 minutes after picking up the first free batch which net me about 2 Million CR, then do one run subsequently until I've reached 150 tons, take a break for 30 minutes and fetch the last batch, then fast track the remaining cargohold for 2 millions.

Usually that yields 1-2 million credits in profits whilst delivering 400 tons every 2 hours - combined with the 50 mill/week at rank 5 and considering I do that for 4-6 hours a day for recreational purposes (rift user).

The actual investement in time is rather low - I do most of it whilst watching TV and browsing the forums (VR second window and a smartphone timer may help). Maybe an hour or two of actual flying (which I enjoy).

By the end of the cycle, I have made a profit whilst fast-tracking 5-10k tons to extinguish fires during the last two days.

Oh i see now... 4-6 hours a day would make the difference ^^

 

[JoeShmo]

The way decay works in this game hugely bothers me...like HUGELY.

So in a bit of manic obsession I decided to "long hand" a visual representation of the amount of grief players can look forward to in their anticipation of getting Rank 5. Assuming my basic math holds up at 5 am in the morning after just waking up, and my understanding of how the PP decay is accepted in interpretation; it reads as the follows.


====================
[ E = Earned that week, R = Rolled over total value from previous week, w# = Week it happened ]
A very hardcore earning blitz

10,000 ( E w1 )
5,0000 ( R w1 ) + 5,000 ( E w2 ) = 10,000
5,0000 ( R w2 ) + 2,500 ( R w1 ) + 2,500 ( E w3 ) = 10,000
--------
5,0000 ( R w3 ) + 2,500 ( R w2 ) + 1,250 ( R w1 ) + 1,250 ( E w4 ) = 10,000
5,0000 ( R w4 ) + 2,500 ( R w3 ) + 1,250 ( R w2 ) + 1,250 ( E w5 ) = 10,000

/ 17,500 total merits earned to benefit from 1,250 a week. In 3 weeks. 100 million credits earned.



======================
[ Using the same format as the above ]
A less intensive Hardcore earning, now a consistent 3,000 merits a week instead.
Values are rounded up to the nearest once place, giving a mildly generous increase in returns.

3,000
1500 + 3000 = 4500
2250 + 750 + 3000 = 6000
3000 + 1125 + 375 + 3000 = 7500
3750 + 1500 + 563 + 3000 = 8813
4407 + 1875 + 750 + 3000 = 10,032
-----
/18,000 total earned after 6 weeks to reach 10k. 25 million credits earned.

5016 + 2204 + 938 + 1842 = 10,000
5000 + 2508 + 1102 + 1390= 10,000
5000 + 2500 + 1254 + 1246 = 10,000

/ 21,088 total earned after 8 weeks to benefit from 1,250 a week. 35 million credits earned.



====================
[ Using the same format as the above ]
A very 'casual' earning of 1,500 merits a week.
Values are rounded up to the nearest once place, giving a mildly generous increase in returns.

1,500
750 + 1500 = 2250
1125 + 375 + 1500 = 3000
1,500 + 563 + 188 + 1500 = 3751
1876 + 750 + 282 + 1500 = 4408
2204 + 938 + 375 + 1500 = 5017
2509 + 1102 + 469 + 1500 = 5580
2790 + 1255 + 551 + 1500 = 6096
3048 + 1395 + 628 + 1500 = 6571
3286 + 1524 + 698 + 1500 = 7008 / 10 weeks
-----
3504 + 1643 + 762 + 1500 = 7409
3705 + 1752 + 822 + 1500 = 7779

/18,000 total merits earned after 12 weeks and still only 3/4 the way to 10k . 55 million credits earned.
-----
3890 + 1853 + 876 + 1500 = 8119
4060 + 1945 + 927 + 1500 = 8432
4216 + 2030 + 973 + 1500 = 8719
4360 + 2108 + 1015 + 1500 = 8983
4492 + 2180 + 1054 + 1500 = 9226
4613 + 2246 + 1090 + 1500 = 9449
4725 + 2307 + 1123 + 1500 = 9655
4828 + 2362 + 1154 + 1500 = 9844 / 20 weeks
-----
4922 + 2414 + 1182 + 1500 = 10,018

/ 31,500 total merits earned after 21 weeks to reach 10k. 105 million credits earned.


5009 + 2461 + 1207 + 1500 = 10,117
5089 + 2505 + 1231 + 1175 = 10,000
5000 + 2544 + 1253 + 1203 = 10,000

or

5009 + 2461 + 1207 + 1383 = 10,000
5000 + 2505 + 1231 + 1264 = 10,000
5000 + 2500 + 1253 + 1247 = 10,000


Still requires an additional 2 weeks of higher earning to benefit from 1,250 a week. `34,200 merits

===========



TLDR;


What this shows is that 'weeks required' to reach 10k merits, depending on your income, is on a crazy huge curve; pretty much tripling each time you earn less and less per week.

Not only that, but the 'merits earned' during that time is outrageous; doubling the needed merits to be earned to reach the same spot when your income is only a measly 1500 a week.

The worse culprit, is the decay system itself, as seen after 10 weeks in the 1500 example. At 18,000 merits earned, having earned 500 more than you need in the first example, you are still only 3/4 the way to reaching 10k. And yet, that last 1/4 hurdle will require you to double your earned merits and double the weeks spent earning said merits.

You earn less credits as a byproduct as well, earning easily half as much or less for the same work.

In a philosophical and political expression, this is the epitome of "The Rich get Richer, and the Poor get Poorer".

 

[HurstLlama]

10,000 merits a week? Gosh, I am glad I am not playing the same game as you fellows. I might, might, make 500 this week, it depends what else comes up. If I do do make that many I shall reach rank 3, for what that is worth and if I don't ... well, I expect I'll get there next week. My faction seems to be doing well though, it's good fun working with the other members to expand our little chunk of space.

 

[Darrett]

10,000 merits a week? Gosh, I am glad I am not playing the same game as you fellows. I might, might, make 500 this week, it depends what else comes up. If I do do make that many I shall reach rank 3, for what that is worth and if I don't ... well, I expect I'll get there next week. My faction seems to be doing well though, it's good fun working with the other members to expand our little chunk of space.

I think this is more typical; I do about 500 a week as well (usually over the course of 2 evenings), though I'll probably drop PP for a while soon, until I have enough money and a large enough trader to buy my way in to higher ranks.

Struggling along at a slow pace and having progress wiped out every week isn't much fun. Pretty clear it was designed for Anaconda pilots rather than Type-6/Cobra pilots, which is fine... just took a while to realize it's not intended for my level of player.

 

[Crowax]

It's funny to see how you all speculate rather than just look at your merits in game... CMDR Beltane already posted the way merits work. First week you carry over ALL merits you earned last week, next week you carry over half of that, etc. to four weeks when the merits are gone. So you need cca. 3500 merits per week to keep rank 5, which can be achieved by 1 hour of game play a week (everyone saying how is that possible, is not even in the position to aim for rank 5, sorry... you can grind it, but you're not there, aim lower ;P)

- - - Updated - - -

Money I'll spend on merits on tue/wen because quite frankly, there's nothing else I could spend my credits on atm (FD introducing 3 more noob ships in the last update didn't really alleviate that dilemma).

come on man... enjoy the game... those new "noob" ships are fun to fly. Find a use for them... I still fly Viper (because it's super fun ) even tho I own every ship equipped to my desires in the game. I find Scout and Courier specialy fun for undermining missions (i doubt i can kill haulers faster with a bigger ship, even with those "noob" ships I need to wait for my FSD to cooldown after interdiction )
Edit: ah, i see, money spending is dilemma.. ignore that, leaving my reply for reference

 

[majogl]

The way decay works in this game hugely bothers me...like HUGELY.

...

I am sorry but those numbers are very wrong. look at your example for 3.000 merits for example... Your way, if a person earned 3.000 merits a week, he would eventually exceed double the weekly amount (which is a matematical impossibility) Correctly it works as such:

1. 3000 = 3000
2. 3000 + 1500 = 4500
3. 3000 + 1500 + 750 = 5250
4. 3000 + 1500 + 750 + 375 = 5625
At this point you come to week 5 so the last number from previous week disappears. So for any week above the fourth it will always be:
4.+ 3000 + 1500 + 750 + 375 = 5625

Or, short version (15/8)x<WEEKLY AMOUNT>

It's funny to see how you all speculate rather than just look at your merits in game... CMDR Beltane already posted the way merits work. First week you carry over ALL merits you earned last week, next week you carry over half of that, etc. to four weeks when the merits are gone. So you need cca. 3500 merits per week to keep rank 5, which can be achieved by 1 hour of game play a week (everyone saying how is that possible, is not even in the position to aim for rank 5, sorry... you can grind it, but you're not there, aim lower ;P)

And if you read what i wrote more carefully you would find out that what CMDR Beltane wrote is incorrect and doesnt even conform to the redit source he himself listed.

 

[CMDR Beltane]

And if you read what i wrote more carefully you would find out that what CMDR Beltane wrote is incorrect and doesnt even conform to the redit source he himself listed.

And you still haven't read the whole reddit. Otherwise you would know by now that the formula is not incorrect, as two other forum members already confirmed. And before you continue to be the smartass:

Kirk said "He was able to predict his own weeks starting points with that very formula!"

And now, please explain - how is it possible to match or predict the estimated amount of starting points for this week with a so called "wrong formula". I'm eager to hear it...

 

[majogl]

And you still haven't read the whole reddit. Otherwise you would know by now that the formula is not incorrect, as two other forum members already confirmed. And before you continue to be the smartass:

Kirk said "He was able to predict his own weeks starting points with that very formula!"

And now, please explain - how is it possible to match or predict the estimated amount of starting points for this week with a so called "wrong formula". I'm eager to hear it...

Then riddle me this... When i put the weekly merits from reddit into my app , itgives out the same data and end result as is on that reddit. When i use the reddit formula (Formula A to be precise) with my own numbers it matches exactly the merits i have. Now when i put YOUR numbers into that formula and/or use his numbers with YOUR formula, the end results dont match with those on reddit, nor do they match with, get this, each other...

So i would advise you to re-read your posts and correct them, before you mislead people further.