it is so **** simple, people want to play, never mind the res it costs to build a ship never mind the amount of U it costs to build or research any thing, play ability is the keyword there for cut the repair time by 50 to 75 % get ppl playing again
The tittle post reads like a politician wrote it, lots of the problems set out and flagged up as unacceptable to get the crowd on your side but then a fractured misguided solution that looks like it was edited by a comity.
The whole thing really amounts to the cost per player needs to be halved to bring regular spending in game within the realms of common sense for far more players. You could increase the time purchased per coin to 1hr, it could even be done in stages, say 45mins then 4 weeks later 1hr. Having broadly agreed that the costs are dramatically over-inflated don't insult our intelligence by adding tech based tasks at our cost to complete in exchange for you reducing the over charging in small increments.
Uranium from Drac armadas is only practical for players with specific tech so that isn't a full solution and I don't relish a task where the prize is a shard that might eventually amount to getting over-charged slightly less.
Re-balancing weapon damaged based on weight and capping build times going forwards, whilst reducing the build times of older tech are solid ideas.
I don't think anyone really thinks you should do business based on customers spending nothing and rising to the top but offer fair value once you've pointed your error out.
I'm skeptical. While you may in fact deliver these sweeping changes, I doubt that they'll be as effective as your message tone implies. My bigger concern is the coin costs that will be slipped in that aren't mentioned. You have a long history of promises with some delivered - but always with a coin cost attached.
Please prove me wrong and deliver these changes 100% free of overt and sneaky additional coin costs. Bring balance And affordability back to BP.
I'm happy with what I've read and I'm looking forward to see these new ideas. I think the proof will be in how the ideas and reality come together but at least Kix look like they're actually trying.
As mentioned, here is a missive from our Lead Designer on the state of Battle Pirates and what direction we want to take moving into 2016.
Read and discuss belowWWW.
State of the Game
Sector Threat
One of our goals is to reduce the need to schedule your life around Battle Pirates and create more dynamic gameplay based around player activity and interest rather than creating “chores”. With Reavers leaving the sectors and a return of Draconian control, we’ve taken the opportunity to replace scheduled Dredge fleets with player trigger-able Draconian Armadas and the soon-to-be released Uranium Bases.
Sector threat will also be a gateway to new blueprints, including a new line of Draconian Mega-Hulls that players will be able to unlock and build.
............................
Your feedback is crucial to the design process and we always appreciate the feedback you provide. We’ll continue to update you on our progress towards a renewed, more exciting, and more fun Battle Pirates and keep you in the loop through the forums and previews moving forward.
Thanks for reading and good luck, Captains!
-Battle Pirates Team
When "Sector Threat" was first released it worked well. The sector actually controlled Uranium spawning with a generous amount of 60s and 75s. After the November event the spawning has drastically changed. Now there are very few 60 spawning and mostly 75s. WTF Kixeye? Players work hard to keep the "Sector Threat" level high then you change the spawning rate to only produce the armada that inflict the most damage (75). So now instead of losing one flt per armada you lose three. Yeah great way to think of your customers.
working as intended, now that uranium is in our hands, so to speak, they will control the damage taken. Just wait for the backlash when U is gone from missions and raids. Since it's officially in our hands, we no longer need the U from those chores huh? BTW this'll happen within 4 months, so figure on March, as the end of uranium in raids and missions. April the absolute latest, if the game survives that long
vxp repair specialists is something u should b able to handle immediatley since i would think most of the code for it is pretty much done and only needs modification. This should b rolled out ASAP and u should release every hull in the game to this feature. I mean your crap cad armor saves like 20 mins and u seem to think that is a semi cure to the isssue the 25% reduction from the Repair specialist is awesome. GEt your ****'s in gear make sure they come out in the next update
Here's (yet another) question i've just thought of in reference to hull build times being changed/reduced to be in line with a hulls max weight:
What happens with retrofits?
Some retrofits increase the max weight a hull can carry (Stingrays and barracudas are two hulls that spring to mind with this) does this mean retrofitting those hulls to carry a higher maximum weight will increase their build time? And therefore penalize players for doing retrofits to hulls.
And while we're here - let's talk about the weight discounts through the shipyard.
Will weight reductions on components from the shipyard affect a weapons build time if it's being based on weight? Or is there just a flat cost that ignores weight reductions?
Also will weight reductions from hull abilities (monarchs when equipping tac modules) also change the build times of items?
The more I think about these statements in the OP the more I think these ideas haven't been properly thought through..... or at the very least they've not been explained very well.
Is i that hard to just cut the dam repair time ??????? IS IT THAT HARD ???????????????
The answer to cutting repair time is easy, its not like they don't do it every month already anyways, Proof what they are trying to do is just words and well in the end cost people more money and longer build times.
And here we have it less fancy talk a Simple 50% reduc in repair times across the board . Don t mess w vxp you will break something else . and lower the build times also 1/2 across the board maybe we can buy some more cool fleets
One of the big problems in this game is dock repair time. Your dock gets hit and it is out of action for up to 3 hours so a lot, not all but a lot, of pirates will announce on comms "dock is down see you in 3 hours" so they are restricted in the play time.
that's not the only issue with the dock down, you also have the issue that whatever you have repairing stops repairing while the dock is damaged. You get hit just after you go to bed then your dock is gone for 8 hours plus 3 so your repairs fall way behind, plus you have probably got base fleet to repair as well.
Some will coin and a lot won't because they have had enough of people putting hands in their wallets.
Those issues above turn people away from the game. It is about time that the dock became instant repair like so many of the other buildings that will allow pirates to get on with many of the other chores in the game or even get back into fighting the pirates that just hit their base.
Reduce or better still remove that dock repair time
I'm happy with what I've read and I'm looking forward to see these new ideas. I think the proof will be in how the ideas and reality come together but at least Kix look like they're actually trying.
That is the problem there not trying how many people have simpler solutions to the problems that need address?
A dry dock (refit ships) would go a long way to making me happy. It's entirely impractical to refit ships or correct mistakes on our most recent build when there is an urgent need to build more hulls.
I bet it can be rigged so that kixeye wouldn't lose coin either. For example, maybe make it that slots and specials can only be replaced in dry dock, e.g. empty slots cannot be filled.
In this way, the main dock will be as busy as ever and the desire to pay for speeding things up will still be there. It's just that refits can now become an activity again.
A dry dock (refit ships) would go a long way to making me happy. It's entirely impractical to refit ships or correct mistakes on our most recent build when there is an urgent need to build more hulls.
I bet it can be rigged so that kixeye wouldn't lose coin either. For example, maybe make it that slots and specials can only be replaced in dry dock, e.g. empty slots cannot be filled.
In this way, the main dock will be as busy as ever and the desire to pay for speeding things up will still be there. It's just that refits can now become an activity again.
Clearly this suggestion ONLY benefits people unwilling to just coin to finish the current build so they can do their refit. The complaint that there is too much to do and not enough time to do it is music to Kixeye, because it means some people will 'solve' that problem with coin. That the rest of the people are annoyed or bored is an unfortunate side effect of keeping the game paying for itself.
How does the weekly fit into your goal of reducing chores? You have a vocal camp that says 50 mil is fine, a vocal camp that says 50 mil is too much and a vocal camp that includes me that says 50 mil is attainable but boring as hell and time intensive.
A reduction in repair times will definitely help with this. It would allow low-budget players to attack higher-level mission targets with a chance of getting to Tier 3 quickly at the very least. I have one fleet that can kill an 85 OP, giving me a 17+ hour repair if I get it right, shorter repairs would certainly help me too
A dry dock (refit ships) would go a long way to making me happy. It's entirely impractical to refit ships or correct mistakes on our most recent build when there is an urgent need to build more hulls.
I bet it can be rigged so that kixeye wouldn't lose coin either. For example, maybe make it that slots and specials can only be replaced in dry dock, e.g. empty slots cannot be filled.
In this way, the main dock will be as busy as ever and the desire to pay for speeding things up will still be there. It's just that refits can now become an activity again.
Clearly this suggestion ONLY benefits people unwilling to just coin to finish the current build so they can do their refit. The complaint that there is too much to do and not enough time to do it is music to Kixeye, because it means some people will 'solve' that problem with coin. That the rest of the people are annoyed or bored is an unfortunate side effect of keeping the game paying for itself.
For what it's worth, I've suggested that a drydock-style refit lab would take MORE time to refit than building new, thereby enabling refits + builds at the same time, while also motivating coining.
Hy Hey don't be all so negative Kixeye finnaly trying to do stuff yes they will change alot of things to make it less expensif im already glad with that fact
Also tbh the only solution to make VXP not so much of a necessity is to make this VXP weekend monthly (meaning lots of 85s). You reward players for "playing with their ships", and peeps can get rank without spending hours on salvs.
Great idea but what about the people who work weekends. The world doesn't run on a cosy 9-5 Monday to Friday. They could replace the weekly every 4th week and make it smaller targets so more have to be hit but the lower levels have a chance as well
When "Sector Threat" was first released it worked well. The sector actually controlled Uranium spawning with a generous amount of 60s and 75s. After the November event the spawning has drastically changed. Now there are very few 60 spawning and mostly 75s. WTF Kixeye? Players work hard to keep the "Sector Threat" level high then you change the spawning rate to only produce the armada that inflict the most damage (75). So now instead of losing one flt per armada you lose three. Yeah great way to think of your customers.
The Lost Art Of Prep Always rushing headlong not scouting testing probing 75 s can be done easily refer to the strategy Section
Altonator sure if you have the lastest tech, hulls, and lots of coin I'm sure its all easy, but for those of us who are mid level players with limited coin I don't care how much prep is done it will still cost you a few flts. So if you have nothing helpful to add to the conversation don't say anything.
I am so skeptical that anything really positive will come of this. There is always hope somewhere in the back of my mind something good will actully come out of these promises. Everything still points to $'s. The reduction of repair time and build times would be a real benefit to all. Having the ability to be able to stop a build or refit without losing the place you were at would be sweet. A dry dock where refits can be made while you are building a ship. 15 to 20 day builds to get a ship to kill the existing targets pretty much makes it impossible for non or low coiners to get anywhere. Once a fleet is built, it has to be ranked to really be worthwhile which takes weeks. By that time that fleet is obsolete. It is hard to understand why is it so dam hard to to reduce repair and build times. To provide a dry dock. The game is no longer a "free" game. May as well charge a monthly fee. The ones who spends the most wins. Lets see if they really come up with this stuff they mentioned, trying to "help" the lower level players or balance the game. They have promised a balanced game for years and have failed every time they have tried it. You still have to have the just the right fleet to kill any of these new targets. No balance there. And if you don't have just the right fleet and complain about it you get called names by the mods. Players are leaving so fast that it is like rats jumping off a sinking ship. I do hope Kix can deliver what they promise, it would be a welcome change and I think really benefit the game. 2016 is just like any other year, 12 months. So 12 months to get the specified 2016 WIP done. We will see.
Kixeye needs to put out a realistic plan that both fixed the game issues and the player issues, and did exactly what they said they were going to do from the beginning....(ie: way too much content and huge cost to remain competitive are the 2 main issues, cheating and game bugs being the second). But Kixeye constantly tells us that they are going to fix things and bring out features that benefit the players and the game in a postive way..which they never really do. Its always chocolate covered turds. Been that way for years. The game is so full of content and bad ideas that were badly implemented...im not sure Kixeye could ever bring it back to where it should be. They dont have the talent nor the leadership to do things properly. The only thing that seems to matter is the bottom dollar...the game itself comes second last in Kixeye's priority list, and customers obviously last based on the last 2+ years of ignorance from Kixeye. Kixeye would have to seriously revamp their cost model and slash new content releases by at least 50% to give players a chance to get any benefit from building anything new. Its been said many times...less money from more players over a longer period of time is what makes good games great and stand the test of time. BP has not been a "gamer's game" for many many years. Will Harbin, as the person who is supposed to be in charge, should have been fired years ago for letting what was arguably the best online game and letting it slide into the huge pile of crap that it has become. Kixeye killed BP for me. I finally had to stop coining as I could no longer support a company that treats its customers like idiots and have no clear idea of how to fix their flagship game.
Kickass (BDS)
Sector: CURRENTLY PLAYING "another game" (name redacted because of a forum mod's threat of a ban)............... because Battle Pirates Devs DO NOT LISTEN and REFUSE to do what is NEEDED to put Battle Pirates back on track.
Thank you for a well stated open post outlining the desired direction of the game. My faith in Kix is still shaky but this post gives me more hope in the future. Actions speak louder then words though and seeing is believing. I think that players needs a much more reliable source for Uranium if Kix wants to exchange build time for Uranium. Other then that major concern I like whats outlined in this statement. Thank you Doom
So..... Kixeye asked BV for 3 months, and it's taken them 3 months just to come up with a post outlining a bunch of stuff "coming soon" at some point next year.
The worst of it is, i've heard almost all of this before, and it just smells of more smoke and mirrors and delaying tactics to me.
I'll wait and see what these "Sweeping changes to weapons and armor" are that are meant to be coming this month but I have heard absolutely nothing in this post that convinces me this game is worth persevering with going into 2016.
i do not trust but even though they are planning to fix by making us pay for miner changes in research as well as other u costs i am willing to wait and see how this plays out this month. cross my fingers and hope they are going to do something good for the game and all of us the players..
What should have been said is fromNOWwe are doing this ....... lots of things might be good in the planning but the players want action now - the we are not nerfing is actually saying you are because you contradict yourself in another part of the post. Every player wants to play more but repair times and build times are silly. I am sure lots of players have also said in forums or in your surveys too many RAIDs and too often, boring missions and that are tedious. Time will tell but what players need is the here and now .... for me my playing time has cut to 1/4 of what I used to play for lots of reasons, repairing, builds and research times
Ok,,,,well I saw the term "Balance" used,,,If you want "Balance",,RETURN to limited player level attacks: i.e.,,10 lvl's above,10 lvl's below. THIS creates "Balance". STOP co-oping,,,,,It makes for UN-balanced advantages within mid-level players. You said you wanted FEEDBACK,,,you really should listen to low / mid-level players,as they are tired of being hit by high-level players too scared to compete within their level range. monthly's: If you lockout low level player objectives to mid / high lvl's,,,,low levels can achieve the prizes. same with mid-level ,,and high lvl. also adjust the point system for low levels, and give ALL levels APPROPRIATE prizes,,so they can play within the appropriate level of gameplay,making it fair ALL around. as players achieve higher levels,they will have something new to aspire to get,taking the load off of KIX to produce new weapons ALL the time!!! You mentioned upgrading "OLD" weapon systems,,,alot of them are great,,,,RANGE,,,,RANGE,,,,RANGE,,,seems to be the problem. NUFF SAID. Ill rely on your thoughts on repair times,ect. In my opinion,,players need to be competitive WITHIN their own groups,,,,and escalate @ their own pace,,,,NOT be thrown to compete with everyone,,while @ a distinct disadvantage from being lower leveled,btw,,,,im a lvl 93. GOODLUCK KIX,,,here's hoping you practice,,,what you preach.
The whole thing really amounts to the cost per player needs to be halved to bring regular spending in game within the realms of common sense for far more players. You could increase the time purchased per coin to 1hr, it could even be done in stages, say 45mins then 4 weeks later 1hr. Having broadly agreed that the costs are dramatically over-inflated don't insult our intelligence by adding tech based tasks at our cost to complete in exchange for you reducing the over charging in small increments.
Uranium from Drac armadas is only practical for players with specific tech so that isn't a full solution and I don't relish a task where the prize is a shard that might eventually amount to getting over-charged slightly less.
Re-balancing weapon damaged based on weight and capping build times going forwards, whilst reducing the build times of older tech are solid ideas.
I don't think anyone really thinks you should do business based on customers spending nothing and rising to the top but offer fair value once you've pointed your error out.
I'm skeptical. While you may in fact deliver these sweeping changes, I doubt that they'll be as effective as your message tone implies. My bigger concern is the coin costs that will be slipped in that aren't mentioned. You have a long history of promises with some delivered - but always with a coin cost attached.
Please prove me wrong and deliver these changes 100% free of overt and sneaky additional coin costs. Bring balance And affordability back to BP.
-KB
What happens with retrofits?
Some retrofits increase the max weight a hull can carry (Stingrays and barracudas are two hulls that spring to mind with this) does this mean retrofitting those hulls to carry a higher maximum weight will increase their build time? And therefore penalize players for doing retrofits to hulls.
And while we're here - let's talk about the weight discounts through the shipyard.
Will weight reductions on components from the shipyard affect a weapons build time if it's being based on weight? Or is there just a flat cost that ignores weight reductions?
Also will weight reductions from hull abilities (monarchs when equipping tac modules) also change the build times of items?
The more I think about these statements in the OP the more I think these ideas haven't been properly thought through..... or at the very least they've not been explained very well.
and lower the build times also 1/2 across the board maybe we can buy some more cool fleets
that's not the only issue with the dock down, you also have the issue that whatever you have repairing stops repairing while the dock is damaged. You get hit just after you go to bed then your dock is gone for 8 hours plus 3 so your repairs fall way behind, plus you have probably got base fleet to repair as well.
Some will coin and a lot won't because they have had enough of people putting hands in their wallets.
Those issues above turn people away from the game. It is about time that the dock became instant repair like so many of the other buildings that will allow pirates to get on with many of the other chores in the game or even get back into fighting the pirates that just hit their base.
Reduce or better still remove that dock repair time
I bet it can be rigged so that kixeye wouldn't lose coin either. For example, maybe make it that slots and specials can only be replaced in dry dock, e.g. empty slots cannot be filled.
In this way, the main dock will be as busy as ever and the desire to pay for speeding things up will still be there. It's just that refits can now become an activity again.