Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Caravan payment structure and current/future issues
Imnotkio
Member, Alpha Two
Player commodities value is tied to 2 things: (This is as said by developers in the caravan showcase)
1. Distance traveled
2. Amount of crates sold on the particular node in the last 7 days
Issue 1
The second component of that math is so small, that most people don't even realize it exists (it does).
Reasoning
Most groups and guilds have fixed caravan routes. They find the ones that are more profitable and most quiet. They have no reason to run other routes as the diminishing returns on the price are irrelevant. This is an issue now, and it will become a bigger issue as the map grows, people are more spread out, and fewer caravans get contested.
Issue 2
Commodity value doesn't take into account player density in the region.
Reasoning
Right now the only factors intended to affect the value of commodities are distance and supply. So people delivering to small, deserted nodes with low player-density zones are going to be making the same gold as people delivering to a hot spot node, filled with ppl and at a higher risk of being robbed. This means people are going to be making more money with lower risk.
this is not as big of an issue now, but once the map grows and we have very highly populated nodes and some deserted nodes, with dozens of completely deserted caravan routes, people will print money for negligible risk using these deserted routes.
Suggestion
Commodity value should be tied to node status. Nodes with higher populations should have bigger price modifiers. Price could also be tied to node advancement (node levels, node buildings) and node wealth. Delivering to a hot spot node like a metropolis, filled with advanced buildings and a lot of wealth, should give you better prices on the sale of the commodity.
This way, not only distance and supply affect the price, but also the player density risk and player quality risk is taken into account.
1. Distance traveled
2. Amount of crates sold on the particular node in the last 7 days
Issue 1
The second component of that math is so small, that most people don't even realize it exists (it does).
Reasoning
Most groups and guilds have fixed caravan routes. They find the ones that are more profitable and most quiet. They have no reason to run other routes as the diminishing returns on the price are irrelevant. This is an issue now, and it will become a bigger issue as the map grows, people are more spread out, and fewer caravans get contested.
Issue 2
Commodity value doesn't take into account player density in the region.
Reasoning
Right now the only factors intended to affect the value of commodities are distance and supply. So people delivering to small, deserted nodes with low player-density zones are going to be making the same gold as people delivering to a hot spot node, filled with ppl and at a higher risk of being robbed. This means people are going to be making more money with lower risk.
this is not as big of an issue now, but once the map grows and we have very highly populated nodes and some deserted nodes, with dozens of completely deserted caravan routes, people will print money for negligible risk using these deserted routes.
Suggestion
Commodity value should be tied to node status. Nodes with higher populations should have bigger price modifiers. Price could also be tied to node advancement (node levels, node buildings) and node wealth. Delivering to a hot spot node like a metropolis, filled with advanced buildings and a lot of wealth, should give you better prices on the sale of the commodity.
This way, not only distance and supply affect the price, but also the player density risk and player quality risk is taken into account.
1
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