Sector War is an 8-12 a side PvP scenario with permadeath. Similar to Capture the Beacons, but with a bit of a twist…
As stated, you can only use each ship once. When all your ships are gone you are kicked out of the game (with a credit / synergy reward for your progress thus far) and the ships you used are flagged as having been deployed in Sector War once already today. This means the only way back in is to use a new set of ships (you can still use your ‘dead’ ships in other game modes).
The goal of this game would be to create a continuous conflict zone, with fresh players (or fresh rosters) being cycled in continuously until the battle ends, and the whole cycle begins anew.
In theory, it creates an environment where everyone can matter, especially once the biggest and best ships have all been blown up and people are resorting to T3, T2 or even T1 ships to try and get the job done.
Ideally, the scenario would have victory conditions that allow teams to win via attrition - to simply beat down the opposing faction until people stop logging in to replace the dead. However, this should not be the sole victory condition (so as to ensure the winning side isn’t just the one with the most players or the biggest ship pool).
A concept for this is to steal off Battlefield; each team has a set of tickets. Destroying a ship reduces the enemy ticket pool by a number of points equal to the ship destroyed. If you hold more than half the beacons, your opponents continuously lose points (as in Beacon Hunt / Beacon Capture modes).
Other game elements could pop in to speed up game play, such as having players randomly assigned as “Priority Targets”. If a target is killed their side loses a bunch of points. If he lives for a set amount of time the enemy time loses points instead.
It just struck me as exactly what the Devs want this new Sector Conquest to be (a no-holds-barred battle) without alienating everyone from Sector Conquest - you could still have “normal” Sector Conquest battles alongside this.
Other ideas that could be tagged on:
Corp Wars:
Take the above idea, but with a twist - only members of specific Corps can get involved. This can be used to truly test which Corp is supreme - the elitists or the zerg!
Corporate Sponsoring:
A bit of a variation - Corps can “buy” their own lives to spend in a Sector War. For example, if Wolfpack buy 30 “lives”, then the first 30 points worth of Wolfpack ships destroyed in the Sector War do not give the enemy team any points. How are these bought? It could be iridium, gold standards or some new resource. There should be a limit to how many lives a Corp can buy, but it could work as either a resource sink for lower tier Corps (ie: ones that can’t or won’t take part in Dreadnought Battles when they emerge) or as another use for Gold standards.
Lone Wolf:
A final variation - each player is given three lives, and can only bring three ships to the event. If a player wants to bring more they have to buy additional “War Bonds” that give them another three ships (the above rules still apply - once a ship is destroyed in Sector War it can’t be used again for that event). Again, this is something of a resource sink, but it’s intended to discourage elite cliques and push for a greater number of players to take part.
The ‘normal SQ’ battles as of now will simply turn into former arcade pvp battles, leaving SQ as a special mode. But people just don’t want to understand that pvp will be split in 2 and keep crying ‘my R5 vs your R15 foreva, noooooooooooooo!’ You’re not forced to go into SQ to get slaughtered at T2.
The planned SQ and it’s ideal is nothing less than ‘nearly perfect’. It’s just that we don’t know how they will implement it, which is a different story.
^ Someone has to type this really big in the patch notes / dev blog threads so people stop uselessly complaining for free stuff - guess it’s what i’ll do soon if i see more bitchin’
Now onto your suggestion
OP: sounds like Super Monday Night Combat - Turbocross mode; the mode itself wasn’t shiny tbh, but with some work it can be made awesome
Corp wars: great idea
Corporate sopnsoring: hmm, i understand what you’re saying, but not really understanding the final outcome, so dunno
Lone woof: this should be put in only if the balance requires it? good overall suggestion tho
The problem with the planned SQ is how it’s blatantly trying to drive away anyone who isn’t flying T3. This idea is meant to give that “free for all” experience without denying the core of the game to the majority of the player base.
As stated, you can only use each ship once. When all your ships are gone you are kicked out of the game (with a credit / synergy reward for your progress thus far) and the ships you used are flagged as having been deployed in Sector War once already today. This means the only way back in is to use a new set of ships (you can still use your ‘dead’ ships in other game modes).
Although I like your concept, this is the part that bothers me. If I am leveling a few ships in particular (say 6 different ships) I would have to remove the 4 ships I just lost and add 4 fresh ones to my hangar to continue with the SCQ battle. Getting two of those ships into battle would be beneficial, while the other two are only fodder. This would cut down on the time I have to level the ships on which I want to utilize my time spent in-game. I can only play so many games per hour, and I would like to grind out as much synergy as possible in the limited time that I have while also being beneficial to my corporation.
I could, of course, abandon the SCQ battle and go play the generic battle mode, but that option holds a whole new set of problems (no teamwork, poor team composition).
What can be done to maximize players’ time spent on the ships they want to level?
Since it’s undecided if Sector Conquest will offer any player specific rewards, you can’t yet expect to level up ships in sector conquest. Antibus has yet to state if sector conquest will offer synergy/credit rewards.
Deflection detected. Individual player rewards are earned in every existing game mode (excluding Custom Battle, for obvious reasons). Why should the new Sector Conquest be any different?
Playing Sector Conquest solely for the benefit of a corporation seems silly. Surely there will be player specific rewards for each battle. Sector Conquest has been described as a game mode reserved for top dogs. Not giving out synergy or credits for wins wouldn’t motivate players to continue to grind out battles in sector conquest.
Another thought, if a player can run through his or her entire hangar in the course of a battle, when does the looting phase take place? Upon final victory? If a player drops out of the battle due to losing all of his or her ships, or due to time constraints, does said player just not get any loot? Also, having every ship that I own destroyed one time apiece sounds like a very costly prospect. Any ideas on how to mitigate the damage done to my credit stash?
Another thought, if a player can run through his or her entire hangar in the course of a battle, when does the looting phase take place? Upon final victory? If a player drops out of the battle due to losing all of his or her ships, or due to time constraints, does said player just not get any loot? Also, having every ship that I own destroyed one time apiece sounds like a very costly prospect. Any ideas on how to mitigate the damage done to my credit stash?
There would be no looting phase. Instead, you receive a lump sum reward in your inbox when the Sector War ends.
Deflection detected. Individual player rewards are earned in every existing game mode (excluding Custom Battle, for obvious reasons). Why should the new Sector Conquest be any different?
Playing Sector Conquest solely for the benefit of a corporation seems silly. Surely there will be player specific rewards for each battle. Sector Conquest has been described as a game mode reserved for top dogs. Not giving out synergy or credits for wins wouldn’t motivate players to continue to grind out battles in sector conquest.
Another thought, if a player can run through his or her entire hangar in the course of a battle, when does the looting phase take place? Upon final victory? If a player drops out of the battle due to losing all of his or her ships, or due to time constraints, does said player just not get any loot? Also, having every ship that I own destroyed one time apiece sounds like a very costly prospect. Any ideas on how to mitigate the damage done to my credit stash?
Easy, no repair costs, and no ammo costs. The whole point of sector conquest is for corp pride, not grind, so credits/synergy are largely irrelevant. It should be more about taking your best ships, not your grinding ships.
