Developer Blog from August 19th: Mentoring system, Workshop update and fort 'Muerto'

Mercenary Center Developer Blog
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Mentoring system

Veterans often turn their attention to the fact that sharing experience with newcomers is a thankless job. Very soon, pilots will be able to teach the rookies, with the help of a function with a system of rewards. To become a mentor, the pilot must have the ship of at least rank 9 of any side of conflict and have no less than 200 successful launches. If these requirements are met, the mercenary can become a mentor.
 

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A recruit can not be more experienced than his teacher, therefore, if the pilot has ships above rank 3 — he can’t have a mentor. Other conditions limit the number of recruits to five per mentor — also a recruit can only have one mentor.

The best training comes from combat missions in PvP and PvE. Recruit and mentor have to be in a squad, so that no one and nothing can distract them from the educational process. According to the results of each of the missions, recruit can assess the mentor by marking him with the ‘Like’ button. Then this training will be a success and the mentor will get 25% of synergy earned by the recruit in their free synergy.
Training ends when the recruit reaches ships of rank 4, or at the request of the recruit or teacher. What do recruits and their mentor get at the end?

A number of new achievements, designed to encourage active and successful mentors.

         ‘Successful Mentor’: Your recruits must win 100 battles
         ‘Experienced Mentor’: 50 of your recruits need to reach rank 4
         ‘Revered Mentor’: Obtain approval 20 times from 20 different recruits during squad flights with them
         ‘Veteran Mentor’: Get all the Mentor achievements

The pilots who become Veteran mentors receive unique ship stickers
 

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We remind you that the mentor’s objective is to improve the recruits’ combat skills and, consequently, increase the rank of their ships, which means that the mentor is responsible for the level of personal training of their recruits.
 
Module creation system

Module creation system will also undergo significant changes in the near future. Pilots will get a workshop, which will be designed for the production of a variety of items, as well as for the modernization of the models and tools of different technological levels to Mk.5

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Now, to produce any element you have to learn its blueprint and have the necessary components. You can learn to produce the module or weapons with blueprints, which can be either standard, or unique and very rare. Studied blueprints disappear from the warehouse and re-examination is not required, which means that the extra blueprints can be safely sold.

In order to create any object, it is necessary to:
— Open Workshop
     — Select the desired blueprint
     — Ensure that the blueprint is studied
     — Ensure that there are adequate resources in sufficient quantities
     — Press ‘Manufacture’

Quite simple yet hugely useful.

And to finish things off — a new Attacked Sector has been discovered. Very soon Mercenaries will receive coordinates of the new Jericho sector fort ‘Muerto’…
 

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Stay tuned for updates!

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Mentoring system is fundamentally flawed; you can’t teach essential skills in Tier 1.

Mentors need to be able to take rookies out in tier 2 and 3 to show them how the game works and give actual, useful demonstrations of what to watch for.

All a mentor can do in tier 1 is ‘shoot that guy’ and ‘that’s a beacon’. It’s of no help to anyone.

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I have questions with the module creating system.

Is any limit placed on learning things? Does it take a certain amount of time, does it require a different snout of currency like free synergy, loyalty vouchers, arties, or GS?

Will people still be able to buy blueprints without learning it. I.E. The old system.

Once you learn a blueprint it will no longer cost anything to buy, correct?

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Mentoring system is fundamentally flawed; you can’t teach essential skills in Tier 1.

Mentors need to be able to take rookies out in tier 2 and 3 to show them how the game works and give actual, useful demonstrations of what to watch for.

All a mentor can do in tier 1 is ‘shoot that guy’ and ‘that’s a beacon’. It’s of no help to anyone.

IMO, this mentoring system isn’t to teach gameplay but to teach (or review) simple things like the buff/debuff bar, how to communicate while in battle, how targeting work, how basic modules work and how to effectively use them, how the armory works, how contracts work, where the shield and hull bar are.

Basically this mentoring system is for little kids who aren’t observant, don’t read module descriptions (or any description for that matter), and who don’t bother to test things out themselves. This is for little kids that NEED to be spoonfed every step of the way.

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The only problem I see with mentoring is that you can reach rank 4 in 1 hour, and most people just rush the ship they like (usually a fighter) to reach tier 2.

 

Anyway, the idea is good, we will give feedback and they will adjust or not as they usually do.

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The only problem I see with mentoring is that you can reach rank 4 in 1 hour, and most people just rush the ship they like (usually a fighter) to reach tier 2.

 

Anyway, the idea is good, we will give feedback and they will adjust or not as they usually do.

This is what I don’t understand; why waste all that time and effort making a broken system that clearly doesn’t work and THEN trying to fix it when they can propose a broken system, refine it based on feedback from people who understand the game (ie: us) and THEN implement a working system?

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nice i like the how you wil make the blueprint system :slight_smile: and teaching Aces also good idea :slight_smile:

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This is what I don’t understand; why waste all that time and effort making a broken system that clearly doesn’t work and THEN trying to fix it when they can propose a broken system, refine it based on feedback from people who understand the game (ie: us) and THEN implement a working system?

to make an illusion of ‘lot of work being done’

the actual training and mentoring would be far more efficient if mentors could set up a CUSTOM battle WITHOUT TIME LIMIT. or other custom settings…

i dont think any game needs trained babies that cant read description. they are fine as moving targets to those who are actually willing to learn

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This is what I don’t understand; why waste all that time and effort making a broken system that clearly doesn’t work and THEN trying to fix it when they can propose a broken system, refine it based on feedback from people who understand the game (ie: us) and THEN implement a working system?

Because the whole core of programming the system is already done. Tweaking the numbers is just a matter of minutes. That is why. They prefer to start in tier 1 and see how it is working. The only problem I see with the mentoring program, is bringing pros to tier 1 games. That will be “interesting”

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I only have one question regarding crafting:

 

Are you planning to introduce critical failures? Most games that have a crafting system make it harder for everyone to obtain the uber weapon by making it possible to break all the items involved in crafting and never get the gun.

 

Just to be clear, I am completely against this idea. I just want to make sure this isn’t planned, as I have a bad sinking feeling in the pit of my gut.

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I only have one question regarding crafting:

 

Are you planning to introduce critical failures? Most games that have a crafting system make it harder for everyone to obtain the uber weapon by making it possible to break all the items involved in crafting and never get the gun.

 

Just to be clear, I am completely against this idea. I just want to make sure this isn’t planned, as I have a bad sinking feeling in the pit of my gut.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh

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We already had this kind of critical failure in the past. (Before the introduction of Upgrade Kit).

 

The feedback was really bad. Especially when the Failure was happening while using Gold Standard.

 

I don’t think Devs want to retry this experience.

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Oh hell no that was just ridiculous. 

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I do not like current idea of Mentoring system.

We got Corps for that and Custom match options, for those who want to get some insight and skill.

If anything, this idea should be implemented at the start of the game development, but not now, where is so more important work to be done elsewhere, like on Shipyard interface and new blueprints.

 

Anyway, I will not teach/mentor someone, just because I want a nice sticker or an achievement, which grants me no bonuses and barely anyone looks at it. Completely useless, unless you’re into that kind of thing.

Achievements system should more use other than just statistics and it should grant you something, at least.

Anyway, if I want to tutor someone, I can take it to Invasion mode and show him some practice there.

 

However:

 

If this system gets implemented anyway, it should also have:

  • ability to teach T2 players as well (600 won battles required)

  • ability to teach T3 players (rank 7-9, 1200 won battles required)

  • ability to teach T4 and T5 (rank 10-12, 1800 battles required; rank 13-15, 2400 won battles required)

  • ability to give control of your own ship setup for training purposes, if a player can’t afford to upgrade or buy that ship, but he unlocked that rank under different ship tree category

  (that would mean that you can give control of your own ship configuration and implant setup as well)

   maybe there should be an option to try a premium ship, even if player don’t own any DLC’s.

 

I think that Mentor status should bring some additional benefits, like:

  • item discounts for items in store in general for 10%

  • loyalty voucher gain increased by 10%

  • credit gain increased by 10%

  • new title like Mentor, under titles menu.

  • free snyergy gain increased by 10%

  • unlocks a title of Master Mentor, if all requirements are met

 

There should be an option to become Master Mentor, but those would require win ratio of 2.00 and if a pilot already have at least 6000 battles in PVP mode.

However, there is a problem, because we do not see how many battles were won in each tier, so I had to put in a general number. This needs to be changed.

I do not want to put skill rating in it, because it does not necessarily show skill.

 

However, these privilegies will only become available, after some basic requirements are met.

This is still open for debate.

Many suggestion or ideas will need to get finely refined to prevent abuse.

 

Please, discuss.

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Mentoring is only so that players can teach newcomers how to equip a weapon or that to upgrade a module after green you don’t really need GS. 

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Mentoring is only so that players can teach newcomers how to equip a weapon or that to upgrade a module after green you don’t really need GS. 

 

Hint: TeamSpeak 3 or ask in global chat.

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Hint: TeamSpeak 3 or ask in global chat.

 

The system you propose Koro is so freaking complicated and exploitable. They made the limit rank 4 ships so that people couldn’t exploit it for synergy gain. And you want credits bonus, vouchers bonus, everything bonus, forever. Since it would work with people 'till tier 4 if i read right. 

 

And you can’t actually teach people stuff more with a mentoring system then what you teach them now, when talking about advanced flying techniques and positioning. By flying in corps and TS and everything. The mentoring system is exactly that, a way to teach people things that are not obvious from the tutorial. Really basic things, like

 

“hei man, you can see the damage type you are being hit with by activating this in interface, it’s useful when flying that thing called guard. And you can have 2 ships in the battle by equipping a ship in the second ship slot. Crazy huh?”

 

Edit: I just remembered all the engie guys that keep flashing their auras. And then there was a guy that didn’t know how to activate the guard special, he didn’t understand that it’s always active and you can only switch resist types. Really, stuff like that that to us seem obvious, but for a guy with rank 2 ships can be confusing. 

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if this hapens to blueprints their prices shuld be much higher everyone will get mk4 teck as the monocrysytals are sandbox to be colected

 

i got around 370 monocrystal and make the crystals raredr by making longer the rotues for one hagar to other

and missios shuld give less mono everyone have mk5 teck this will make it easyer in the economic section

 

by the way i like the teaching section is a special no other game like this will help game learn starters, good job

 

and i cant wait seeing pirate complex in invasion :slight_smile:

 

edit*

 

creating blueprints for ships and crafting them with raw materials sounds great if it added in the nee blueprint syystem

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Mentoring seems like a lot of frustration just to get a sticker. I got stickers in preschool for taking a dump by myself. Sad part is… I’ll most likely try to get it :slight_smile:

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Mentor system looks interesting. Mentoring should include T2 as well. If you reach T3, you should know how the game works.

Regardless, you can still teach some valuable lections in t1:

 

  • Turn your Buffs on and don’t pulse them

  • If you pick Long range, don’t snipe the Rocks like an Idiot.

  • Awareness of Battlefield and Placement (yeah, might be too much for new players)