These two crucial mechanics are totally broken and honestly not doing their intend role
Purges:
Lets talk about Purges first, Purges are supposed to be what “Survival” means in this game, that thing keeps you afraid to expand too much, too fast and in a disorganized way. But they are a joke:
- They dont work 90% the time
- They dont happen as much as they should
- They can happen in a worthless location and thats it, Purge over, nothing to worry about
- Due to all reasons above they simply dont prevent people from building everywhere they wish. You can have multiple small bases/camps/wheels etc… and GOD KNOWS whenever it happens it simply wont matter, even if you lose a small base you have 30 others to keep you supplied. People can simply rebuilt in 30 minutes and be “Purge free” for another 3 weeks!
Decay system:
Decay is there to dismantle inactive player structures, but they really only work when a player decides to quit the game for good. Honestly they also dont work because:
- It wont prevent players who have lost most interest in the game only come once a week and refresh everything for as long they intend (this also opens room for griefers keep hate structures up forever)
- Short limit will punish ACTIVE players who may have to be away for several reasons
- Vacation break
- Unexpected technical problems (account, PC, xbox, internet provider, etc… countless reasons!)
- Business trip
SOLUTION
Both systems have more downs than ups because they work individually and they should work TOGETHER! Neither of them should be the main and only tool for their core mechanics
First of all, decay should be longer, like we had during EA. That way it wouldnt punish ACTIVE players who may have to be away for several reasons (sometimes against their will). You may be wondering “How would that be good to clean up the server”, well, second point explains it:
Second, it is a combination of decay AND more constant Purge raids that should wipe out semi active / unactive players. Logging in once a week will work 99% of the time, even when people barely have interest in the game… but if bases are constantly damaged/raided, even when people barely play then it would be much harder keep structures up. (Purge meter should STILL raise even when offline, the way things are any semi active player can keep structures FOREVER, all they need to do is log in, refresh and never worry about Purges, it shouldnt be that way)
If it worked the way proposed the game would:
- Still remove inactive players structures (longer timer, but if they are fully inactive it would go away eventually)
- Because of constant raiding and little maintance semi active players would eventually lose everything OR have to reduce everything they own in the game (to be on pair with the time they dedicate online). Simply logging in wont be enough, they need to repair/rebuild in order to keep what they have. The less you play the less you should have in the game. Its too easy just “refresh and be off for 5 days, great playground for GRIFERS too”.
- Lastly but not less important, it would be a safer place for active players. People wont freak out with a extremely short timer, everyone is vulnerable to lose countless hours of work if their HD break, or are forced to leave in a business trip, etc… That is NOT FAIR on dedicated players who play everyday.