Suggestion: Credit payouts and other bonuses for Pilot's Federation Ranks

[Odan Brota]

I saw a post on reddit about providing more incentive to hit Elite in your ranks, and it got me thinking: Why would you go for Elite, if you didn't have to? I understand that a lot of people like the title that you get, the emblem, and the Founder's world, but in my opinion there needs to be something more. So, here's my suggestions.

All Professions: The founder's world now gives a 10% discount PER ELITE RANK. Meaning, a player that is triple elite will have a whopping 30% discount in the founder's world. Take that, Alliance discounts! Additionally, all ranking now provides a credit payout when you first achieve the rank. Goes something like this:

Harmless- 0 credits

Mostly Harmless- 10 credits
Novice- 100 credits
Competent- 1,000 credits
Expert- 100,00 credits
Master- 100,000 credits
Dangerous- 1,000,000 credits
Deadly- 10,000,000 credits
Elite- 100,000,000 credits

Seems like a lot of money, but in comparison to the time spend getting a rank to elite, it's small potatoes. However, it is enough to pool your money and go grab a massive ship to make the next climb to elite substantially easier. Imagine a combat pilot hitting Elite, and getting a 100 million credit stipend. He could scoot over to the founder's world and grab a Cutter immediately, making the trade grind so much easier.

Additionally, I think general, passive bonuses should apply to certain ranks:


Harmless- 0% bonus bounty payout

Mostly Harmless- 1% bonus bounty payout

Novice- 2% bonus bounty payout

Competent- 3% bonus bounty payout

Expert- 4% bonus bounty payout

Master- 5% bonus bounty payout

Dangerous- 6% bonus bounty payout

Deadly- 7% bonus bounty payout

Elite- 10% bonus bounty payout

Penniless- 0% bonus trade profit
Mostly Penniless- 1% bonus trade profit
Peddler- 2% bonus trade profit
Dealer- 3% bonus trade profit
Merchant- 4% bonus trade profit
Broker- 5% bonus trade profit
Entrepreneur- 6% bonus trade profit
Tycoon- 7% bonus trade profit
Elite- 10% bonus trade profit

Aimless- 0% insurance deduction
Mostly Aimless- 1% insurance deduction
Scout- 2% insurance deduction
Surveyor- 3% insurance deduction
Trailblazer- 4% insurance deduction
Pathfinder- 5% insurance deduction
Ranger- 6% insurance deduction
Pioneer- 7% insurance deduction
Elite- 10% insurance deduction

Helpless- 0% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Mostly Helpless- 1% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Amateur- 2% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Semi Professional- 3% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Professional- 4% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Champion- 5% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Hero- 6% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Legend- 7% combat bond and mission payout bonus
Elite- 10% combat bond and mission payout bonus

These ranks would give a player incentive to try things he hasn't before. Maybe exploration doesn't interest him in the slightest, but he knows that even a 5% reduction on his insurance costs would be extremely useful to him, so he goes out and tries it. Maybe he finds out he loves it; he wouldn't have known that if he hadn't wanted to go for the insurance reduction. I personally have no interest in CQC, but a nice 10% bonus to my combat bonds and mission payouts would make me want to go in there and rank up.

Feel free to flame my ideas into oblivion, just felt good to get this on "paper."

 

[GilliganTX]

I like the idea.

I think people will complain about "new commanders getting to skip the grind," though.



Your proposals probably are a little heavy handed, something in that same vein, just less extreme.

 

[Odan Brota]

I like the idea.

I think people will complain about "new commanders getting to skip the grind," though.



Your proposals probably are a little heavy handed, something in that same vein, just less extreme.

Perhaps, I tried to make them significant enough to warrant someone wanting them, but not significant enough that you can't do without them.

And as far as new players getting to skip the grind, just make the bonuses retroactive. Obviously you can't refund credits to people, but I wouldn't turn down a nice paycheck and sudden bonuses to my account.

 

[GilliganTX]

Perhaps, I tried to make them significant enough to warrant someone wanting them, but not significant enough that you can't do without them.

And as far as new players getting to skip the grind, just make the bonuses retroactive. Obviously you can't refund credits to people, but I wouldn't turn down a nice paycheck and sudden bonuses to my account.

I don't need them to be retroactive - but yeah, would be nice.


I think these rewards are on the fairer side of things, and would match up with how progression works in most games - however in Elite you have to think that the point isn't the credits themselves, more than it is the rank. Then consider that the rank enables you to take higher-paying missions, and thus, the credit payoff is there already, in some fashion.


I'd be for it, however, there are plenty of reasons that other's who feel this game is supposed to be a time sink to have any fun will come up with to be against it.

 

[vsTerminus]

I like this idea a lot. They key, of course, is to balance the numbers so that they are useful as motovation without being too "OP".

Something other than "Yay you're Elite" would be really nice, and the persistent buffs to things like vouchers and trade would be a welcome reward for long-term players.

 

[insanephoton]

I'm not entirely against the idea, but as it stands higher ranks in the main 3 professions allows you access to better paid missions.

 

[ratchet5000]

As long as the credit awards apply retroactively to the players that have already achieved ranks, I'm totally ok with the idea.

 

[nicemoreoften]

10% insurance deduction...
That's around...
2.7% - 0.27%...
5% - 0.5%...
Big amount for maxed out Cutters and stuff.

 

[Joey2o15]

I'm liking this idea... makes a nice change from the cry's to NERF stuff.....

 

[DragoonKnight]

I like the idea.

I think people will complain about "new commanders getting to skip the grind," though.

Your proposals probably are a little heavy handed, something in that same vein, just less extreme.

I dont think his suggested credit rewards are excessive. By the time you get to Dangerous, 1 Million credits is about 10-15 Minutes worth of fighting at a Haz Res.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Intersting ideas. However, with how ridiculously easy it is to make money these days, perhaps direct payments are not needed at all, and Shinrarta's main draw is everything under one roof.

So my variant would be:

Combat ranks: High ranked combat pilots learn how to get the most out of their ship systems. Each rank gives a 1% (or 2%?) bonus to Power distributor recharge speed. Also as masters of weapon systems they know how to make a few tweaks to make their weapons generate less heat, heat generated by weapons is reduced by the same amount.

Trade ranks: Higher ranked traders know how to make the right contacts on trade markets, getting a better deal than most. Each rank gives a 1% or 2% better buy and sell price when trading goods or using black markets. Having faced many interdiction attempts in their career, they also gain a bonus to their ability to evade interdictions by the same amount.

Explorer ranks: Dedicated explorers get a better sense of the routes between stars and know how to tune their FSDs to work above and beyond standard performance. Each rank provides the ability to jump a bit further 1% or 2% further range, and they are more adept at fuel scooping, gaining the same bonus to fuel scoop rates.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Intersting ideas. However, with how ridiculously easy it is to make money these days, perhaps direct payments are not needed at all, and Shinrarta's main draw is everything under one roof.

So my variant would be:

Combat ranks: High ranked combat pilots learn how to get the most out of their ship systems. Each rank gives a 1% (or 2%?) bonus to Power distributor recharge speed. Also as masters of weapon systems they know how to make a few tweaks to make their weapons generate less heat, heat generated by weapons is reduced by the same amount.

Trade ranks: Higher ranked traders know how to make the right contacts on trade markets, getting a better deal than most. Each rank gives a 1% or 2% better buy and sell price when trading goods or using black markets. Having faced many interdiction attempts in their career, they also gain a bonus to their ability to evade interdictions by the same amount.

Explorer ranks: Dedicated explorers get a better sense of the routes between stars and know how to tune their FSDs to work above and beyond standard performance. Each rank provides the ability to jump a bit further 1% or 2% further range, and they are more adept at fuel scooping, gaining the same bonus to fuel scoop rates.

Interesting ideas, & could also gel nicely with bonuses from crafting & future bonuses from NPC crew.

 

[Daynen]

I'm very leery of this notion. There are already ways to make vast sums of money in a VERY short time in this game, and handing out more for what we already do threatens to shorten the lifespan of the game even further by pushing people closer to the endgame.

Now, if your ranks could decay or be lost through your actions? Say...something that goes against the goals of the pilot's federation somehow or makes you look bad as a pilot? Then these rewards would be a different story. A regular stipend for maintaining your image as an expert or elite in your field would be fine, as long as it's a position you have to maintain rather than just a milestone.

Otherwise it's basically just more gold for your XP.

As for the 'bonuses' by Agony_Aunt? I'm not keen on those, really. Those are the kinds of things that we, as players, should be able to do ourselves with the mechanics of the game, not some invisible bonus that just sits around making the game easier for us and harder for our opponents. I just see things like that as going down a dangerously stale path.