The Problem With Dark Sectors Right Now...

[Arsonide]

So right now there is no incentive whatsoever to run a Dark Sector invasion, and that's not because the missions themselves are not fun. It's because the players haven't prepared, because they had no idea what to expect.

In order for people to want to run a mission repeatedly, it will have to pay out at least as much as the missions in that planet. We're talking 10K to 20K credits here. Right now there are alliances that are filling their vaults with their own personal credits to keep up these wimpy 5K payouts, and that is not a sustainable practice. You are throwing your money at hordes of ravenous pubbies, and you will bankrupt very quick.

The idea is that we soak up enough credits to cover DECENT payouts with the tribute, rather than your personal credits. Tribute is not taken from other players, it's taken from player income. It essentially comes from nowhere. If your tribute is too low, you can't pay out decently. If you can't pay out decently, nobody wants to run your mission, and you get taken over. However, if your tribute is too high, people won't want to be there because you are gouging them, and will want you to get taken over as soon as possible.

When this solar rail thing started, most people were putting up tribute rates of 0% to 5%, and now the payouts are really dumb, 6K is the maximum I've seen and they are covering it with their personal credit stores, which will be gone soon. In order to get payouts comparable to the regular missions, to incentivize people, your tribute really needs to be upwards of 30% to 50%. It sounds harsh, but remember, people are getting significant XP increases, and they are losing income, not paying for it out of pocket. Without a significant tribute, you will not have a significant payout, and you will get taken over eventually, when your personal credits run dry. You'll be broke and homeless.

So the problem with Dark Sectors right now is not so much that they aren't awesome. They are. It's that the players aren't ballsy enough to raise that tribute up, because there wasn't any information available. Until they do, we will have these wimpy payouts, pubbies will not join in the fight for 250 credits a run, and the clans will have to do an inordinate amount of runs themselves to pick up the slack, resulting in fatigue on them. I'm sure in the coming weeks, tribute and payouts will both rise significantly, giving players a reason to fight for these clans and alliances, but also giving them a reason to complain about these clans and alliances.

It's a balancing act, and it will be fun to watch.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Arsonide

[-----.__.G.0.D.__.-----]

Indeed Arsonide. I couldn't agree more. 

 

Another major issue we have seen is the amount of time it takes to contest a opposing Solar Rail node, essentially tying up the node from access to a particular Dark Sector. From I understand, we are currently running challenging missions to destroy the opposing solar rail, not the actual Dark Sector tile set, but a challenge tile set. This prevents anyone from accessing the Dark Sector until the challenge is finished (48hr time frame) which is going to be brutal enough from this stand point.

 

These time frames of 24 and 48 hrs are excruciating.  DE, we have lives too you know, i have to work in order to fund my gaming habit here. Throw us a bone and cut that limbo time in half or 2/3 or re-visit the time frame all together. I have heard this as being a major issue with all of our members. Also an issue regarding the need of transparency in the Alliance UI to see what resources have accrued towards the Alliance Vaults. 

 

Excellent topic!

 

~Sake

[Arsonide]

I just had a thought though - where does the challenger get their payouts from? Is that always out of pocket?

[fatpig84]

I just had a thought though - where does the challenger get their payouts from? Is that always out of pocket?

 

All out from Clan / Alliance coffers.

[Eric1738]

that's why tax exists, and that's why 0 tax dark sector is not practical

[SevenLetterKWord]

Nonsense.

If you're playing a dark sector with a high tribute cost, you are losing credits

You're being deprived of credits that you otherwise would've gained, had the current rail owners been more generous.

Opportunity cost.

[Arsonide]

Nonsense.

If you're playing a dark sector with a high tribute cost, you are losing credits

You're being deprived of credits that you otherwise would've gained, had the current rail owners been more generous.

Opportunity cost.

You are receiving almost double experience with proper weaponry, at a loss of 30 to 50 percent less credits for that mission, when Dark Sectors already have higher than usual credit counts.

If you unequip all but the weapon type the bonus is on, you focus that bonus, with an affinity booster it'd be even more ridiculous. These are the places to go if you want to level or forma anything, so no I don't think you're missing out on much.