Hello Everyone.
I just thought i would bring a topic on the faction update about the good and bad things.
Good things:
More fighting and strategy.
The fighting and strategy has been improved a bit more as you have to choose a faction that benifits you better in what you're doing.
Belonging to a faction does raise the change of conflict with people from another faction. To some degree it raises certain aspects of the implemented strategy, as you are motivated to explore new ways to resolve such conflict. Faction members could potentially form packs in order to make their life in HP easier (
provided; That the Faction Members can look past HP's FFA mentality), thus it stimulates the creation of groups (such as SGP during R1).
However, do realize that the new system does diminish other aspects of the implemented strategy. Due to the new abilities, certain software types will be favored above others (As the reward system makes them more effective). Thus HP's potential will not be used to the fullest extend.
No Farms.
The no farms means that you have to fight and do more missions, so you don't just install virii on your own server and the AP is fitting better as you could only install 8 0.5 f.s per day.
I agree with what you say, although I do not agree with the underlying thought.
I will explain below.Bad things:
No Farms.
Farms were a money making machine if you can call it that, you make millions on your farm and it helped in research.
The removal (better yet the nullification) of player owned farms is a great loss, in that sense I understand your reasoning. But the usage of farms is more complex then you state.
I will explain below.RWT= Real world trading.
RWT could be a future problem as someone could be playing on to get HPD and then sell 40k for 1$. insted of donating to the game. this can be done by the "stealing" with your virii from another player.
More time to spend.
You have to spend a bit more time, or some have to to keep track on what's going on and what you have to do is taking more time and you lose you time for anything else.
Yes, this update "forces" people to do mission. Those who enjoy constant micromanagement wont be bothered by it, while those who dread it will be driven way.
As for the player owned farms;
how can no farms be in both good and bad ??? its either one or the other.
Farms had a great influence on the way people played in HP, they gave the player a fixed income. Allowing them to invest their time and effort into areas they like. This fixed income gave players a sense of freedom.
Back when farms were a brand new concept you could clearly see HP splitting up in 2 (non-existent)groups, namely; Those that knew how to build farms, but chose not to in favor of mission. These people were driven by the fear of getting caught, the (unavoidable) conflicts, the sense of danger. Challenges which also make life worth living.
The other group never hesitated to set up their own farm, becoming financially independent allowed them to pursue their own goals.
A sort of symbiosis was in place; Mission Players, which chose mission for the thrill of it, often got targeted by Farm Players, which chose farms to free up time to track/crack/hack other players.
However, in time farms start to exponentially increase their owners income. The unequal devision of wealth "forced" every player to use farms. People tried to catch up with the top 10, inevitably this lead to a income race where every minute was spend to increase income/farms/servers and software. Leaving no time to actually enjoy the game.
So you see, farms are both good and bad. Allowing them, or in this case removing them, will not solve the problem. Better yet, it only makes the problem worse as it limits people in the choices they can make.
Choice is what gives us a sense of freedom, limiting them is the same as limiting our freedom. By giving players many choices, you are giving them the ability to
customize their gameplay to match their character (which is why the beginning of R1 is regarded as the pinnacle of HP's existence).
This update provides us with more choices in one area, while taking them away in another.
Depending on your gameplay this update can be viewed as good or bad.
IMHO This is more a trade-off then a update, I would love to have seen farms replaced by a balanced/fair fixed-income system instead of removed.