PROPOSED CHANGE: Scrap the merit system. Give a month's notice like you did with banked missions, then cut it. The ordinance dampener, canopy shield and caltrop don't really make sense as "outfit assets" anyways. When merit is scrapped, allow purchase of access to these assets with certs or DBC, and instances of them with nanite. CONTEXT: I'm a player who doesn't like to be chained to any one server or faction, and currently have 7 characters in this game. I am also open to the idea that I may make more characters in the future. Therefore I purchase things anyone can use with my DBC. Examples are Emissary and Commissioner, Archer, Annihilator and Decimator, Skyguard and AP Lightning guns, Kobalt front and Walker back on my sundy etc. Much like these, I would spend DBC on ordinance dampener, canopy shield, and caltrop even though I already own them on my mains. Now lets talk about the merit system. I have two outfits I consider "home outfits", both are TR Connery, and my TR and TR robot mains are both doing well on the outfit loyalty system. However, my other 5 characters aren't doing so hot. Sometimes I find what seems like a good outfit, but they only play once a fortnight, so I move on. Sometimes I find people who seem like good people, but their style isn't my style so I move on etc. Every time I ditch out of one outift and try another my loyal rank gets reset. This means I lose progress towards certain deployables. However, by now people with 1 and only 1 character are all sitting on 20k merit and nothing to spend it on. Beyond that, as far as I'm concerned, the very concept of merit and loyalty as dev systems is dead on arrival. It's not up to the dev team to figure out who is and isn't contributing to an outfit, it's up to outfit leadership to figure that out. Stay in your lane please. Beyond that, who was present at the moment a capture timer completed isn't a very good measure. Sometimes the PL calls redeploy because there's another fire burning on the map. People who ignore the redeploy order get rewarded. Also the guy who sneaks one base forward to drop beacon and start the next cap goes uncredited.
Sure. I agree as well. Seeing as 1/20 planetmans use the tactical items and I would rather see 10/20 use them. So most new players simply won't have caltrops, canopy, or deploy flash. I use deploy flash 100% more often than I see most use. Just to get to 20 yards, esp if I'm replacing a router. Else delivery bomb pizza. & use caltrops front of door entrances to block, or when I see friendly empire soldiers dying trying to run across a field, often place them for cover. When most people just use them to block roads. So I'd toss some drawings of ways players may use these items, examples, else they'll only use them for the most obvious example. As for alts, well you may make a solo outfit to get them somewhat early. Yet if you don't want a solo outfit then that doesn't solve your issue. Also tactical slots are very entertaining to use as extra items. I'd want 2 tactical slots & 6 more tactical items to have options for. Then everyone gets to build for 2 out of 10. tactical item: that seasons mini portable jump pad item. I want my cort bomb for infils returned extrememmeellylllllyyyyy its soooooooooooo boring without the cort bomb, so so so so so boring for my main. I suppose I get to use cort bomb for classes that aren't my main, eh. Still would want a cort bomb variant that doesn't do dmg to modules. Yet still gets to do dmg to vehicles and infantry for smg infil main, when enemies are sieging the door stairs. Just shade a diff color for style. Else just give cort bomb to hunter cloak & not stalker cloak.
