Posted 11 March 2017 - 05:42 AM

Spoiler

1st Node = 978 cbills

2nd Node = 1,956 cbills

3rd Node = 2,934 cbills

4th Node = 3,912 cbills

5th Node = 4,890 cbills

etc.

10th Node = 9,780 cbills

20th Node = 19,560 cbills

30th Node = 29,340 cbills

40th Node = 39,120 cbills

50th Node = 48,900 cbills

60th Node = 58,680 cbills

70th Node = 68,460 cbills

80th Node = 78,240 cbills

90th Node = 88,020 cbills

91st Node = 88,998 cbills



Like many around here, I have a lot of mechs (150) and only a handful of modules (4 lances worth, plus assortment of weapon modes). I like the new skill tree, however the pain comes in when looking at where my stable will be after it drops.Now, I understand that post skill tree, a mech with 91 nodes unlocked is equivalent to a mech loaded with modules on the liver server. It would be ideal if I could skill up my 150 mechs to have an equivalent bonus to what they have on live without modules, as well as be able to fully skill up two lances of mechs.With how the pricing models stands, that is not possible, unless PGI injects more c-bills into my account than what I would be entitled to.What I propose is this:- Total cost to skill up 91 nodes remains the same: 4,095,000 cbills (45k * 91)- The first skill node unlock would cost 978 c-bills- Each node would increase in price by 978 c-billsWhat this does is drop the total cost of the initial nodes down while retaining the total cbill sink PGI is looking to retain. For a 1,012,230 million c-bill investment into a skill tree, under this system 45 nodes would be unlocked.For me, it would allow me to get my stable pretty close to what it is now on live with the c-bill refund from my limited number of modules. All 150 mechs would have 45 nodes unlocked, which is fairly equivalent to a mech mastered but with no modules on live. I would also be able to afford to fully skill out a couple lances.A couple of other benefits to this system:- Very easy to codeFor New Players:-Lower c-bill cost for the beginning nodes reduces gap between them and vets quicker-Greater satisfaction in beginning matches with a new mech due to being able to unlock nodes even with bad matchesFor Experimenters- Cost of experimenting with builds at the beginning of a mech's life cycle is drastically reducedAdditional Benifit- Best nodes can be purchased first at lower cost, more optional nodes can be left by the way side if c-bill retention is desiredPerception- This would, for some people, make the skill tree feel less of a grind and more of an investmentAll the while, the c-bill sink that a game with this type of f2p business model requires is maintained and the max cost currently chosen by PGI remains.

Edited by Dracol, 11 March 2017 - 06:24 AM.