Player-Based Levels/Ranks System

Seasick Pirate

I posted this some time ago in the Suggestions section but think it is relevant once again so put it here so more eyes can see it.
Here is the original posting in case mods think these should be merged: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19033

The reason I'm bringing it up again is because if Demiurge is sincere about increasing the inflow of iso-8 and Hero Points, this could be a solution to satisfy veteran players without making these resources too abundant for newer players. This was a bit of a stream-of-consciousness post so it is rough. I'll let those with more game design experience than myself to play with the ideas here to make them more reasonable.

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Separate from MMR, I was wondering if they could implement a level or rank system for us, the player?

Just thinking out loud here, but I'm thinking we could have ranks Rookie up through Cosmic Being. Maybe reaching each of this gives a little progression reward but not necessary. The purpose of these would be that your rewards in events increase depending on your personal "Hero Rank." They would be same as they are now, just buffed. So if I'm a Rookie, I earn at least 20 iso per match and get standard tokens. At the next rank, Hero, I get 40 iso and standard tokens. Super Hero is 60 iso and standard.

Eventually, at a certain rank, standards become heroic tokens. Then in the final ranks, introduce a "Defiant" (or something) token with increased *** probability.

Ranks can be determined by the total amount of iso you have spent. This makes it fair for everyone and can be introduced with retro-active results. This also gives incentive to spend iso on characters your otherwise wouldn't. (I have severely under-leveled characters and 100,000 iso I'm withholding as I see them as undeserving - Moonstone, Lazy Torch, DocOck). Although it would increase the amount of iso a player earns over time, I don't feel it would be dramatically enough to make iso worthless. In fact, it could be seen as more valuable as it helps you achieve a higher status.

Maybe each rank has five stages to get through 'til the next rank, like Rookie 1-5, Hero 1-5, Super-Hero 1-5, Team Leader 1-5, etc.

And to stretch things out further, how about five ranks of different classes. Such as:
• Class 1: Civilian 1-5, Recruit 1-5, Trainee 1-5, Apprentice 1-5, and Rookie 1-5.
• Class 2: Masked Vigilante 1-10, Hero 1-10, Hero for Hire 1-10, and Super Hero 1-10.
and so on up through Class 5: Cosmic Entity 1-50. At that point, when reaching the end out of the final rank, you get a **** progression reward and reset back down to Class 1: Rookie and can make the climb all over again. It becomes a never ending cycle.

Again, this is all thinking out loud so feel free to take these ideas and run with them. I think they could be molded I to something that could be implemented without huge devastation. Certainly this would be a huge undertaking for the developers but it would benefit everyone long-term.

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Some other ideas I had earlier today:

After a player completes a cycle, they can earn a star next to their name, just like the characters have. And to get more mileage out of this idea, star ranks can be 1-star, 1-star (gold), 2-star, 2-star (gold), etc. Silver can also be added to extend things even further.

Also, the Story Mode missions could reset after a player completes a full cycle. Obviously, the Hawkeye and Yolena rewards wouldn't be as thrilling the second or third time through, so maybe those would change. Or maybe a new set of missions replaces the original panels, and we now have Brotherhood of Evil and Prodigal Son as single-player events now.

IamTheDanger

This would work nicely IMO. They said they didn't want to raise iso and Hp because it would make it too easy for beginners. A rank system like the one here on the forum would be great. Even it was just for iso 8 rewards. High level players, (vets or cosmic beings) would of course get more, but they also have many more places to put it. Therefore the veteran players need more.

Seasick Pirate

Had another thought on this. Instead of rewards for completing a rank or level (or these can be minimal like Simulator progressions), each new rank comes with an iso bonus multiplier.
1-star players receive a 2% iso boost, 2-star players receive 4%, etc.. This is another solution that increases resources for veteran players without overloading newer players with it.

I'm not trying to flood the player-base with iso and HP with this idea. But I think this can make each player's personal progression more steady across the life of the game.

FaustianDeal

Ranks could be won/awarded for reasons other than 'time or ISO spent'; they could be given as a placement or progression prize in events. They could be awarded as runner-up prizes in the facebook contests...

Also, it might sound unsavory, but these 'ranks' also introduce a new revenue opportunity. Someone could, literally, buy a rank upgrade. Jetpack Joyride, for example, has a power-up where you get double-coins forever; it is an in-app purchase.

I like this less, but these ISO-multipliers could be run (and sold) on short-term windows... ($5 get +50% ISO for 1 week, $20 gets +50% for 1 month). You could hand out codes at conventions to new players that would give them the equivalent of these temporary ISO-multipliers as an incentive to sign in and start playing.

A lot of these suggestions definitely land right in the middle of 'rich-will-get-richer' territory, but ideas with revenue potential have a much better chance of getting picked up.