I've seen this mentioned a few times on other posts. When the player logs off, even if an event is about to end, they don't get any rewards for that continent. Given events are just about the only way to get ISO to build your implants, I see this causing a problem for new casual players. For me, I play Planetside casually in between my schedule. Planetside is a great game for that since unlike other shooters, your not in a lobby and can leave at anytime without feeling like you ditched your team. Problem is, if you hop on for short sessions, under an hour, the only way to complete an event to get the rewards is by hopping on a nearly finished event, or leaving the game running and hoping it doesn't kick you for afk before it's done. I played for 300 hours and yet to have a single maxed out implant. I feel like that is just too long. It makes it feel like I didn't accomplish anything since I don't get a reward for the effort I put into each event. I saw that you are able to log out during an event, then log in before it is finished and it still counts for a reward, but why not just make it so it rewards you while your offline? Even if you reward them as though their team lost with a smaller amount of ISO and certs, it's better than nothing. One of my biggest problems with this game is how slow it is to start building classes, and I feel a lot of people leave this game early because of that same reason. Instead you make those who don't want to continue playing through an event either miss out or have to stay near their computer and occasionally press a key to make sure they don't get kicked before it's over.
I can get where you are coming from, but completely disagree with your point. They have over the years already diluted the curve of the game for new players and casual players, which in turn totally undervalues and minimizes the time and investment veteran players have put in to gain the levels and accomplishments (be it iso, implants..etc) that they have. If you continue to marginalize the game for casual or new players, all you will have left are new players and those that log in every now and then. Every vet player has had to endure the building curve, the grind so to speak to get where they are, why should new players or the casual player have anything less then the same experience and time investment? If a player isn't interested in putting in the time to get the things they want and just want a quick fix and get everything instantly, then maybe this game isn't for them... Again, not knocking your point or your play schedule, realityside often interferes with my play time as well, just saying, the game is robust enough that it should take real time, a real investment by the player to get where they want to be. The real grind of the game people need to make is if they want to invest certs into implants boxes and convert the duplicate implants into iso to get the level 5 implant of choice, or get that shiny new gun or upgrade for a vehicle....it's all about choice and sacrifice.
Idk. Often the server will disconnect right as the alert ends, and I'll miss out on everything when I join again. I don't think it would be too hard to implement. Hell, they could even make it a members-only perk, where they don't lose everything even if they don't stay till the end of the alert.
I get that vets went through this all already. However, using the word "endure" to describe this is not a good thing. As is, new players come and go from Planetside far to quickly. Only a select few stick around to "endure" the struggles to become a veteran. While that does make veteran players more of a rarity, and feel more special, I would rather have Planetside live up to being an MMO than an area for only the ones who put up with this incredibly dragged out grind. First time I played Planetside was because a friend of mine was someone who did get through it all. The way he pitched the game to me then was great. However, my experience was nothing like he told since I wound up having nothing to play with for so long. Then when I dropped the game, he got upset and told me that it was because I only played for 50 hours that I don't have anything. Looking at how long the people who recommend the game on steam play, it is obvious that 50 hours is a very short time. However, 50 hours is equivalent to a full weeks worth of work that I do for college and my job. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to cram in these 4 hour a day sessions to my schedule. Being I can only manage about a hour a day, that already leaves me advancing at a quarter of the rate others advance. I assume as well that most don't, which is why they continue to drop this game. Now that I am 300 hours in, I only feel I am just getting to a point where I can choose between classes which differ enough from each other to have different play-styles. While I would hate to be someone who went through this all to see them make it easier, I would still appreciate having this game be played as it was meant to. As you can see from the players chart, the only time the population seems to do anything is when a big update comes, which it can't even retain that new population and it drops right back down to where it was prior. This game was most enjoyable to me when all continents were open, and full. That is how the FPS MMO should be, and it won't be like that unless the newest players stay logged in. So, saying that since you "endured the grind" they have to as well, is the same as telling them to just not play. I'm sure most people are playing this game as a casual game, especially since it doesn't have any real competitive features or events yet, besides the new outfit wars. As a casual game, it shouldn't have the same requirement for commitment as a full-time job. I'm not saying give away free stuff, I'm just saying reward the effort the players do put in. It sucks seeing an alert is going to end in 45 minutes when you have to leave in 30. And often times, I see a lot of players saying, "I'm logging off at the end of this alert" just to make sure they get their reward. It shouldn't be a punishment that can totally eliminate the past hour of game time you did, just because you weren't there until the last second.
It's not about pampering new players, I'm usually against that. It leads to a degenerate community of scrubs eventually. But all OP is asking about is that players receive their fair share of rewards for something they did participate in. Not free handouts. I can't see anything wrong with that tbh.
While the members only thing will be a good idea, I feel that will make this to pay-to-win. Maybe making it so if your not a member, you will only receive the lowest alert rewards all the time, while if you're a member, you will actually receive the rewards equivalent to what your team placed. That way, if your not a member, it will be more rewarding to participate through the whole alert, since you can get more than the lowest alert reward. And if your a member, leaving early will make it more likely that your team will lose which will make your membership benefit less effective. This way, people will still have a reason to participate through it all and won't just ditch.
