Kit_fox
Colonel
Reged: 09/16/02
Posts: 3054
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Merc Fwar Contracts
#120442 - 11/16/05 11:29 AM (129.138.30.190)
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I have just been thinking that the way the Fwar merc contracts are being handled should be done slightly differently. Overall I like the system in place, but I do see one minor problem with it.
Now, the way I see it, a faction war is a war in which your faction is fighting another faction. Currently one thing I have been noticing to some degree is that empires in Fwar make very liberal use of merc contracts, both defense and Fwar. This is a good thing with one small cavette that I plan to outline.
Lets say 2 factions get into a war. Faction 1 has lots of big friends, but isn't very active. Faction 2 is very active, but much more independant. Faction 1 goes to its big friends and gets defense contracts for each of its empires (I am going to assume that defense contracts work in Fwar, if not the problem is still around just minorly different) at a low cost and then takes out 4-6 FWar contracts with a few DPers they know (again at low cost). Faction 2 fights for itself.
So at this point there are already starting to be problems. First off, Faction 1 really isn't fighting its own Fwar, but rather sub contracting it out to other people. That isn't so much of a problem, but I feel it kind of defeats the purpose of the Fwar. However I don't think it is going to be too huge of a problem, and actually think that in the process of fixing the second problem this one my resolve itself.
The BIG problem I see here is that all those mercs helping with defense contracts and Fwar contracts do not really count in this Fwar. To put it more specifically lets say that one of the mercs working for Faction 1 is surrendered. There is really no benifit for Faction 2 in it other than what they would have gotten from normal LW. They are no closer to surrendering faction 1, despite the fact that they have defeated a portion of the forces aiding faction 1. Just as bad, factions can recrute as many people by Fwar contracts to fight for them as they like. So while on the surface factions may appear to be simular sized, I can see situations arrising where one faction has a lot of friends, and gets a lot of low cost Fwar contracts. Thus in effect 1 faction ends up having to fight many even in an Fwar.
The solution I see for this comes in something of a three prong action.
1) Allow each empire to hold 1 Fwar contract max, with an empire no larger than the holding empire. This more or less limits the number of mercs a faction can recrute. At the same time it still allows a faction to make fairly liberal use of mercs if it so chooses, which is fine so long as the other changes are made as well.
2) Merc empires helping with the Fwar which are surrendered should count toward the faction surrender somehow. There are several ways I can see this happening. First (and easiest) is that the person who hired the merc is surrendered when his merc is surrendered (this would need to be tweeked obviously). Only slightly more difficult (and in my opnion better), is that when a merc is surrendered his levels count toward the faction surrender (but not toward the starting faction size). In any case, this will also require a change that any merc can only hold 1 Fwar contract at a time and that Fwar contracts are only cancled when the Fwar ends (in effect if the merc joins in on the Fwar he is in it for the long haul, and cannot decide half way that he is tired of the risk).
3) Mercs suffer some of the penalties of losing an Fwar if their emploier loses, and gain some of the benifits if they win. Not sure exactly what these would be, but I would say the best way to do it would be have the merc suffer the desertions at some reduced rate (or the normal 0% if he was surrendered), and get defectors at some reduced rate from the faction. Possibly even have him contribute to the ammount paid to the winning faction and earn a portion of what is paid out. It just seems like winning an Fwar should be significant and the winning side would impose some stuff on everyone who fought against them regardless of if they were mercs or not (heck, real nations do it all the time).
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Wayward_Son
Major
Reged: 07/05/02
Posts: 1287
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Re: Merc Fwar Contracts
[Re: Kit_fox]
#120464 - 11/16/05 03:19 PM (69.92.215.95)
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Your faction leader may hire FWAR mercs during faction war, but defense constracts not in place when war started won't help you. If you aren't a FL you can't hire a merc after war starts that will help you very much. Good reason to make sure that your defense constracts are in place well before you go to war. A help file about this this stuff is forthcoming, and I'm sorry that it isn't up yet.
WS
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mattbuck
Eeyore
Reged: 02/13/04
Posts: 3285
Loc: Nottingham, UK
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Re: Merc Fwar Contracts
[Re: Wayward_Son]
#120792 - 11/21/05 04:54 AM (128.243.220.22)
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Um, defence contracts placed after fwar starts work fine.
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