I propose an independant BP system (which is what we're using now), but applied on a per pilot basis instead of per side. The biggest complaint about the current OOB is that people lack the freedom to fly any given ship at their discretion, they need to get their RMs permission etc. to fly a ship... Shifting the points to each player means no more asking for a ship, instead, they are allowed to spend their points on one.
Also, I think this could go a ways on livening up PvP combat. With this system, the loss of a BB won't hurt the team directly, as they can always try to find a new pilot with enough lives to fly a BB. However, by losing a BB, the player had / has consined themselves to flying line ships for most of the server prior to their BB purchase (to afford it), and for the remainder of the server after their BB's death, therefore potentially affecting their team's ability to fly heavy iron at a critical time...
Also, by allocating equal points to each pilot, that blurs the nutter / casual distinction as to who can fly heavy iron, as everyone gets the same chance to start with. Meanwhile, the nutters can be rewarded with extra lives to reflect the time they were on-server (and a target), which will be a benefit, but, controlled with the proper moderation, the nutter won't overwhelm the server with enough PP to buy 3 BBs in the final week of a server...
You're going to have to be more specific. I'm still seeing no difference between what you describe above, and a server with very high starting PP and extra-extra expensive BB's. How are the extra BP's allocated to nutters to reward their extra time on the server? If it's based upon time or missions flown, isn't this just another word for prestige?
-S'Cipio
Okay. I'll be a nice guy and repost (with a minor rewrite) the concept of the entire rule here for another perusal...
(you gotta do these kinds of things when you're looking for feedback...)
"Lives" system:
At the beginning of the server, each pilot gets 4 "lives" (my affectionate term for individual build points).
A player can earn 1 additional life upon the attainment of the Rear Admiral rank.
The ships are price according to the following scheme:
Small (CA and smaller) Specialty ships = 1 life
BCHs = 2 lives
DNs = 3 lives
BBs = 4 lives
Carriers add 1 life to the above prices, ie, a CVA (DN hull) = 3+1 or 4 points. It's entirely possible that the CVLs will be only 1 BP instead of 2...
A list of ships will be posted / linked to here, suffice it to say that the ships affected by this list will be any / all ships with some kind of limit in SFB, whether it's limited build, shock, S8 restrictions, etc. It is possible that other rules (missions selectable restrictions) will be written that will remove certain ships from this list.
New wrinkle: The use of a restricted ship "uses" a number of lives. Even if the ship is returned, those lives are considered "used" for the remainder of the server. "Used" lives can only be spent on a ship of equal or smaller hull size than they were originally used for. Example: A player buys a CVD (typical CA-hulled "Interdiction" carrier). Upon it's return to spacedock, they still have 4 lives, but they have "used" 2. Those 2 "used" lives can only be applied to the purchase of 2 individual 1 life ships, or another 2 life CA-hull. They cannot be applied to the purchase cost of a DN, or even a 2 life BCH, as they are bigger than the CA they were originally spent on. "Used" lives will be spent first, whenever possible, to preserve the ability to fly larger vessels later on in the server. Used lives can be mixed with new lives, but only if the used lifes are being spent appropriately. Example: Player buys a CVD. Returns it. Uses one of the 2 "used" lives on a DWDB (say Z-DWD), which is destroyed, permanently removing one life from his stock. He can buy a CA-strike carrier, as the other "used" life is being spent on a CA, and he applies a new life to finish the cost.Ships Online Limit: Pilots who have reached Commodore rank and higher face a limit on how many "special" ships can be online at once. Of these higher ranked people, there can only be 5 "smaller" specialty ships, 3 BCHs, 2 DNs and 1 BB online at any given time, per race. Once 25% - 33% (still under consideration) of a race's playerbase reaches Rear Admiral rank, Commodores will become exempt from this limit.
Build Cycles: There are expected to be 6 build cycles on the server, with each one starting on Monday and Thursday. A player is only allowed to fly 2 different special ships during a given build cycle (this allows vareity while not allowing free and at-will swapping among numerous special ships). They are allowed to freely swap between their 2 selected special ships and line ships at will throughout the cycle, however.
Ship Destruction: Upon the loss of a ship, the player permanently loses the lives spent buying the ship. Also, they are prohibited from buying any other special ships for the remainder of the build cycle. They are forced to fly line ships till the next build cycle.