Just from looking at the teir 1 level 1 contracts it seems most of them promote players being selfish and not work as a team member.
Pleases provide proof and a resonable argument to support your point…
I’m just saying from a glace they seem like things players would try to solo and end up hurting the team more so than helping it.
Some of the Contracts are just plain awkward in my opinion; that “destroy 6 drones” one for the Wardens is ridiculous.
At the moment I’m working through Raid, and the contracts I have are downright reasonable:
Avenge a family member’s death: This is awarded when you kill, or assist in the kill, of a random enemy. Since there’s no way to know what ship you need to take down, the best way to get it is to have lots of kills and assists. Not hard to do, especially in an Engi Frigate / Command Fighter.
Win a Battle: Definitely one that encourages team play. 
Destroy 5 non-Jericho ships:
Again, easily done. Engineering Frigates are always a priority target, and are never Jericho. You can easily get this through normal play. Since you don’t need the kill (the assist is enough) this is another one that’s easily farmed through passive buffs.
Destroy 3 ships with Railguns:
You don’t need kills on this one; damage assists will do. Again, you can earn this while getting the one above.
It might be useful if you can post some examples of Contracts you feel are not encouraging team play, so we have a frame of reference.
This forum is chock full of posts about pilots chasing contracts and ignoring objectives. I see no reason for that to be in dispute. What should be in question is how many times is this topic going to be repeated.
This forum is chock full of posts about pilots chasing contracts and ignoring objectives. I see no reason for that to be in dispute. What should be in question is how many times is this topic going to be repeated.
I’m just wonder does it get better later on?
Contracts (can) reward selfish gameplay, but it also promotes playing for objectives and encourages players to try new things they may otherwise never explore. I started playing Jericho and just thought assault rails were the best thing in T1, but as I got into T2, the contracts that reward for killing enemies with different types of weapons got me to try out all the different weapons in T2. I eventually settled on plasma weapons as my preferred weapons, but I still enjoy pulling out lasers and rail guns when I do those contracts. I’m not as good with them, but I still have fun. I always hated trying to cap beacons when I flew a fighter in T1, but with capture beacon contracts, it encouraged me to try out interceptors with their faster beacon capture speed and now I regularly fly recon and covert ops :). If it weren’t for contracts, I would probably still be flying nothing but Jericho fighters.
Some of the contracts like the drone contract were a lot easier to complete before the last patch when you could pop 4 at a beacon with a Jericho long range and obviously some are easier to complete than others. I don’t worry too much about the balance at (this) stage in beta b/c completing contracts is more about personal growth/grind than actual competition. Drones themselves aren’t tough to kill, but I agree often they aren’t the best target when capturing a beacon.
I think only selfish contract I could think of is the (already mentioned) “destroy 6 drones”. Because someone might feel it is so hard to achieve, that instead of shooting (dangerous) enemies, one shoots the beacons drones instead, even in suicidal manner…
Others are more or less useful for the team. Even the ones related to beacons. Almost always taking a beacon is good for the team. Sure, theoretically sometimes just defending and keeping the beacons team already has is more important… but I think efficiency, and the reward being tied to the the efficiency (person with most eff in team gets more reward) makes already people hunt for more beacons => More efficiency => more money, so that is not really an issue of contracts.
Having just clocked my contracts for the day, I’m still not seeing how they reward “selfish” behaviour…
“Kill enemies until the contract pops.” Well, killing enemies is a good way to help your team win in every mission, so that’s fine.
“Kill 3 enemies with Railguns.” Two of my ships use Railguns regardless of the faction I’m playing, so this isn’t exactly an issue for me.
“Kill 5 non-Jericho ships.” Easy to do. It’s hardly worth actively hunting for non-Jerichos; just use team buffs and you will inevitably assist plenty of non-Jericho kills.
“Win a battle.” Kind of hard to see how this one could hurt my team…
“Capture 2 beacons.” 2/3rds of all matches require capturing beacons to win. Again, don’t see the “hurting the team.” bit here.
The contracts autofullfill while playing the game . You dont have to focus on the contracts , if you do it then yes , its selfish. But you do not have to.
If you see a player who is playing bad and you ask him why he do so. And his answer is because of contracts , then its the players fault , not the contracts!
The only minor thing is the contract which asks you to kill with a certain weapon type. Well 3 kills with a weapon you may be not so good , is still not a reason to ruin an entire battle
I find the Empire is the worst offender for the weapon types. Lasers suck, and I don’t understand why so many people use them…
Impuls and hvy lasers a pretty nice in my opinion. Good for sustaining/focus fire on one target. In PvE mission im able to do nice 8200 crit hits with my exper. Hvy Lasers.
But for fast target change i’ve made the experience that they lack a bit .
I find the Empire is the worst offender for the weapon types. Lasers suck, and I don’t understand why so many people use them…
lasers dont suck, they DONT suck so bad that they have been a problem since CBT, people use them because:
Insta hit: whats that? you can go 700? okie dokie.
shield destroyer: EM weapon mod, natural thermal damage, theres no way to tank shield vs a laser.
the only weakness is vs hull guard frigs, and thats why you get piercing missiles.
this game has a problem, its called sniping.
@gaunt, il suggest using rapid fire plasma on PVE, its just that much better.
Missiles aren’t a counter to hull guard frigs, they have that missile shield still; you need 2 missiles to get 1 hit.
Having just clocked my contracts for the day, I’m still not seeing how they reward “selfish” behaviour…
“Kill enemies until the contract pops.” Well, killing enemies is a good way to help your team win in every mission, so that’s fine.
“Kill 3 enemies with Railguns.” Two of my ships use Railguns regardless of the faction I’m playing, so this isn’t exactly an issue for me.
“Kill 5 non-Jericho ships.” Easy to do. It’s hardly worth actively hunting for non-Jerichos; just use team buffs and you will inevitably assist plenty of non-Jericho kills.
“Win a battle.” Kind of hard to see how this one could hurt my team…
“Capture 2 beacons.” 2/3rds of all matches require capturing beacons to win. Again, don’t see the “hurting the team.” bit here.
Exactly.
How many times do you see people engaging a beacon without first killing all the guard drones as well? I die a little inside when I notice its 2v1 and they get murdered by the slow trickle of guard drone blasts, and could’ve been draining their beacon timer down if they had just killed the frigging drones first.
But no, lets rotate slowly around the beacon trying to shoot that lone ship who knows how to hide behind it.
Missiles aren’t a counter to hull guard frigs, they have that missile shield still; you need 2 missiles to get 1 hit.
going 1 on 1 on a guard frig is mute.
the module reloads every 11-13 seconds
rockets and missiles are 2-4.
as for the thread`s point, most of the contracts work in group or alone, teamwork buffs survivablity, do the math.
I never actively pursue contracts, as you don’t need to do anything that you wouldn’t normally do during the course of a round to fulfill them.
I just sign them before missions and (save for the special weapons contracts) they almost always fulfill themselves over the course of normal gameplay in one or two matches. If a player is going to ignore objections and chase after whatever contract they’re doing, they weren’t much of a team player to begin with.
:: signs :: One must agree with ABlueParakeet
Don’t blame the contracts for 5 year old’s screaming “bacon”… if they are smart, they will work together for the win…If not…
point and laugh in 3…2…1…
Yup, they scatter like leaves in a storm once in a while…
welll…half the time…
weelllll…3/4ths of the time…
weeellllllllll…almost all the time…
but that one time they work together its beautiful!
“Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity”
- Bullet Tooth Tony
On a semi-related note, why don’t pulsars hit beacon drones?
Pulsars dont target drones at all due to size. They dont target beacon drones, engineer drones, or even the summoned attack drones.
Disclaimer: No idea if thats why, but it seems like a legit reason.