look!!! Almost all of this got used!!
Keeping the req stations in the bases was probably a cool idea and fighting over AI spawns is cooler than just having discount stations. I’m chuffed about this
> Okay, I think I’m ready to tackle ordinance. Let me know if you guys like what I’m outlining here or how you’d change it.
> Step 1: We split all the ordinance weapons and buffs into three tiers. (I’ll explain why soon. Keep in mind that the items in each tier won’t need to be exactly balanced with each other.) Tier 3 includes the speed buff and the weakest ordinance weapons. These are the weapons that are barely better than the starters, but only in very specific situations. Needler, gravity hammer, concussion rifle, LMG, and possibly the shotguns. Tier 2 includes the overshield and the majority of the power weapons: snipers/rockets/stick launcher/laser. These are weapons which are useful in more situations and generally kill in one hit Tier 1 includes the damage buff and the most powerful power weapons. Binary rifle, incendiary launcher, and possibly the fuel rod gun. The first two are really easy to get 1shots with and are basically guaranteed kills, and the FRG which has so much ammo it can fire for days.
> Lets split the vehicles up too, since that might be useful later. T3: Mongoose/ghost/regular hog. T2:Banshee, rocket hog, wraith. T1:Gauss hog, scorpion, mantis.
> Next, we’re going to add an extra customization menu into the loadout system for ordinance. In that menu, players will choose a weapon (or buff) and a vehicle from each tier. This is separate from your loadouts.
> In each map, there will be a certain number of ordinance drop stations. I’ll use ragnarok as an example because everyone is familiar with it and how matches play out. In ragnarok, there would be four to six of these stations. One at each base, one on the hill in the middle, one by turret, and possibly one by each tunnel. Gathering points for ordinance would work exactly the same as it does now, but you would only be able to call down ordinance at the designated ordinance spawn areas.
> Each ordinance choice will have a certain point cost in order to call it down. These point values will not be the same for each item in a tier, but all items in a lower tier will be cheaper than the items in the higher tier. When you get enough points to purchase your tier 3 item, you’ll be informed by the ui that you can do so and be prompted to get to a station to purchase your item. At the station, the options to get your tier 2 and tier 1 drop will be grayed out until you have enough to purchase them. This means that players will have to choose whether to buy their tier 3 asset quickly or save up to purchase their higher tier assets.
> To promote movement, we can have several different kinds of ordinance drop locations. For the sake of brainstorming, I’ll call these High value, mid value, low value, and vehicle stations. Low value stations (one in each base in our ragnarok example.) call in your ordinance as normal and everyone can use them. Mid and High value stations would offer your asset drops at a reduced price (Or would refund you with a certain amount after a purchase, if that’s too complicated to understand), but would be placed in contentious locations (mid value at turret and possibly by tunnels, and high value near laser spawn on the hill). These locations would go on cooldown after use, promoting map movement. Oh, and we can also add a vehicle station to each base that lets you spend your points on vehicles instead.
> When an asset is called in, every player is informed what asset was called and where, so that tactical reactions are possible. A loadout perk could remove or weaken this callout. Engineer would be a good choice for this because this setup would completely break it as is.
> —
> Here are the advantages I think the above setup would bring:
> 1. Randomness is almost completely removed. Everyone has to work an appropriate amount for their assets and rewards are never given unfairly.
> 2. Map control is restored, with people fighting over high value weapon spawns.
> 3. Map movement is restored as people move from spawner to spawner to maximize power gain.
> 4. A coordinated team will always be able to respond intelligently to situations.
> 5. This setup adds many knobs that can be tweaked to improve balance in update. (Most importantly, the price and tier location of each weapon.)
> Here are some possible disadvantages
> 1. A lot of complexity is added in. Players might be overwhelmed by numbers and icons if the UI doesn’t explain itself really well. This could be a little bit daunting to new players.
> 2. Randomness is almost completely removed. Some players like randomness. A solution could be to add a “grab bag” option for each weapon tier that gives you a random weapon from that tier for a reduced cost. Do you want to gamble, or do you want to roll with the same weapon each time? Would this be enough randomness to offset the changes?
> What do you guys think? Does this setup mesh well with what you were considering for messing with ordinance? Do you think this setup would play well? If not, how would you change it?