Weapon Economy Enhancers should, as their name clearly states, improve economy (for a tiered up weapon). Let us dive a little deeper into this cesspool MA have created, to see just how much "economy" MindArk is trying to defraud its customers of.
Assumptions about Weapon Economy Enhancers:
Cost incl. MU: 6 PED each. Note that this is below the cheapest existing on auction at the time of this writing. The cheapest eco enhancer 1 costs 10 PED each!
Lifespan: 1841 shots. A number taken from a post back in 2010.
Effect: 1.08% less weapon decay, 1.08% less ammo used. (from a post 2010)
For a weapon economy enhancer to just break even in cost v. savings when using it, 6 PED would have to be saved in 1841 shot, which @ 1.08% effect means each shot will have to cost approx 30,18 PEC ammo+decay.
According to entropedia, among laser weapons there are exactly two weapons fitting this criteria:
- Isis LR66(L) (33,937 PEC/shot)
- Fire Forge DAR 9300 Modified (37 PEC/shot)
Only two out of 290 laser weapons could potentially benefit from usage of the "eco enhancers". Out of those two, there is only one that is within reach for a high-skilled customer, and exactly zero that are within reach for the average customer (no, you that have skills to use LR66 is not even close to "average customer", you passed that stage long ago).
Let's look at the BLP side. Here it at first glance becomes a little more favorable for MindArk. Out of 209 BLP weapons, there are seven that are handheld and fit the criteria. As one is a unique weapon, that leaves six. Out of those six, only three could potentially be used by non-ubers:
- Isis BL1800 (35.128 PEC/shot)
- Isis BL1600 (L) (34.0 PEC/shot)
- GeoTrek H1051 Kisf (L) (33.461 PEC/shot)
Out of those 3, exactly zero is within reach for an average customer. They require skill of lvl 73-82 just got get into SIB.
So zero weapons out of approx 500 could benefit from eco enhancers for average or even mid-level players.
If we instead use real-world data and look at the absolutely cheapest enhancer available @ auction for 10 PED, the weapons would have to cost over 50 PEC/shot (cost without amp) before it would be even possible to break even on them.
But to not cut this thought experiment short by letting observable reality get in our way, let's assume you are lvl 77 BLP and use BL 1600 (L). To be extra kind to MindArk here, I explicitly selected an (L) weapon that you don't have to pay money to tier up. Unfortunately, it obviously can't be used by the majority of MindArk's customers, and due to being (L) it retains no value.
At 34 PEC/use, you save 0,3672 PEC each shot, or 676 PEC per 1841 shots.
As the enhancer breaks after 1841 shots, and they cost 6 PED each, the actual savings would be 76 PEC. Oh, and the weapon would have lost 163.90 of it's tt (max is 597).
76 PEC saved each 619 PED used. Let that sink in for a while.
If we instead use the observed 10 PED/enhancer, you would lose 3.23 PED more each 619 PED. Great!
This is on one of the very few laser and BLP weapons that Weapon Economy Enhancers could even be "eco" on, if we don't let reality of actual enhancer cost get in the way.
On every other weapon in existence in the BLP and laser category, with a cost/use of less than 30.18 PEC/use, with the current system and the presented assumption, the "Economy Enhancers" would be anything but economical. They could in fact rather be considered plain fraud, as they perform the exactly opposite of what their name states they are intended to do.
For fun, let's see what an eco enhancer does to a tt-pistol:
Cost of one enhancer: 6 PED.
Cost of 1841 shots: 18.57 PED
Saved ammo+decay cost due to enhancer: 20 PEC
Lost due to enhancer breakage: 5.8 PED.
With the enhancer @ 6 PED, the weapon becomes ~30% more expensive to use.
If we calculate with (impossible to reach) tt-value of the enhancer (1 PED), you would still lose 80 PEC by using it.
So what would the lifespan have to be, at 1.08% cost reduction/use, for such an enhancer to perform its stated purpose on a tt-pistol? At tt cost for one enhancer, it would have to last 9077 shots. But that's only if you could acquire them for their tt-value. As everyone, including MindArk, knows this to be an impossibility impossibility as they are crafted... I don't know.
At an enhancer cost of 10 PED each, it would have to last over 90 thousand shots, just to reach break even.
MindArk, does you company have a person man enough to admit you completely messed this up when you introduced Weapon Economy Enhancers, or was this intentional?
With your history of public display of sub-par competence, and for your benefit I will not assume malice, I'd have to assume you indeed messed up again. But then, are you not almost required to fix this? Why haven't you done this?
The only way I can see for you, MindArk, to remedy this situation is to:
1. State clearly the effect in percent of the so-called "economy enhancers".
2. Stop your gamling and fraudulent "random breakage" mumbo-jumbo, and instead make these things (L), which they are anyway, with a clear statement of number of uses left (just like an (L) BP) or the remaining value of them (like any (L) item).
3. Fire the person that approved of current economy enhancers design and implementation on grounds of gross negligence and incompetence.
4. Get back to the drawing board, to make sure these enhancers actually perform what their title states, even for the lowly tt-pistol or an S30 vs. a calculated reasonable cost - including markup - for the enhancer. Make the enhancer decay as function of weapon base usage cost.
If you leave just one single weapon to have worse economy with Weapon Economy Enhancer than without, I would continue to consider this the fraud I think it currently is.
Comments? Flames? Ferrari?
Assumptions about Weapon Economy Enhancers:
Cost incl. MU: 6 PED each. Note that this is below the cheapest existing on auction at the time of this writing. The cheapest eco enhancer 1 costs 10 PED each!
Lifespan: 1841 shots. A number taken from a post back in 2010.
Effect: 1.08% less weapon decay, 1.08% less ammo used. (from a post 2010)
For a weapon economy enhancer to just break even in cost v. savings when using it, 6 PED would have to be saved in 1841 shot, which @ 1.08% effect means each shot will have to cost approx 30,18 PEC ammo+decay.
According to entropedia, among laser weapons there are exactly two weapons fitting this criteria:
- Isis LR66(L) (33,937 PEC/shot)
- Fire Forge DAR 9300 Modified (37 PEC/shot)
Only two out of 290 laser weapons could potentially benefit from usage of the "eco enhancers". Out of those two, there is only one that is within reach for a high-skilled customer, and exactly zero that are within reach for the average customer (no, you that have skills to use LR66 is not even close to "average customer", you passed that stage long ago).
Let's look at the BLP side. Here it at first glance becomes a little more favorable for MindArk. Out of 209 BLP weapons, there are seven that are handheld and fit the criteria. As one is a unique weapon, that leaves six. Out of those six, only three could potentially be used by non-ubers:
- Isis BL1800 (35.128 PEC/shot)
- Isis BL1600 (L) (34.0 PEC/shot)
- GeoTrek H1051 Kisf (L) (33.461 PEC/shot)
Out of those 3, exactly zero is within reach for an average customer. They require skill of lvl 73-82 just got get into SIB.
So zero weapons out of approx 500 could benefit from eco enhancers for average or even mid-level players.
If we instead use real-world data and look at the absolutely cheapest enhancer available @ auction for 10 PED, the weapons would have to cost over 50 PEC/shot (cost without amp) before it would be even possible to break even on them.
But to not cut this thought experiment short by letting observable reality get in our way, let's assume you are lvl 77 BLP and use BL 1600 (L). To be extra kind to MindArk here, I explicitly selected an (L) weapon that you don't have to pay money to tier up. Unfortunately, it obviously can't be used by the majority of MindArk's customers, and due to being (L) it retains no value.
At 34 PEC/use, you save 0,3672 PEC each shot, or 676 PEC per 1841 shots.
As the enhancer breaks after 1841 shots, and they cost 6 PED each, the actual savings would be 76 PEC. Oh, and the weapon would have lost 163.90 of it's tt (max is 597).
76 PEC saved each 619 PED used. Let that sink in for a while.
If we instead use the observed 10 PED/enhancer, you would lose 3.23 PED more each 619 PED. Great!
This is on one of the very few laser and BLP weapons that Weapon Economy Enhancers could even be "eco" on, if we don't let reality of actual enhancer cost get in the way.
On every other weapon in existence in the BLP and laser category, with a cost/use of less than 30.18 PEC/use, with the current system and the presented assumption, the "Economy Enhancers" would be anything but economical. They could in fact rather be considered plain fraud, as they perform the exactly opposite of what their name states they are intended to do.
For fun, let's see what an eco enhancer does to a tt-pistol:
Cost of one enhancer: 6 PED.
Cost of 1841 shots: 18.57 PED
Saved ammo+decay cost due to enhancer: 20 PEC
Lost due to enhancer breakage: 5.8 PED.
With the enhancer @ 6 PED, the weapon becomes ~30% more expensive to use.
If we calculate with (impossible to reach) tt-value of the enhancer (1 PED), you would still lose 80 PEC by using it.
So what would the lifespan have to be, at 1.08% cost reduction/use, for such an enhancer to perform its stated purpose on a tt-pistol? At tt cost for one enhancer, it would have to last 9077 shots. But that's only if you could acquire them for their tt-value. As everyone, including MindArk, knows this to be an impossibility impossibility as they are crafted... I don't know.
At an enhancer cost of 10 PED each, it would have to last over 90 thousand shots, just to reach break even.
MindArk, does you company have a person man enough to admit you completely messed this up when you introduced Weapon Economy Enhancers, or was this intentional?
With your history of public display of sub-par competence, and for your benefit I will not assume malice, I'd have to assume you indeed messed up again. But then, are you not almost required to fix this? Why haven't you done this?
The only way I can see for you, MindArk, to remedy this situation is to:
1. State clearly the effect in percent of the so-called "economy enhancers".
2. Stop your gamling and fraudulent "random breakage" mumbo-jumbo, and instead make these things (L), which they are anyway, with a clear statement of number of uses left (just like an (L) BP) or the remaining value of them (like any (L) item).
3. Fire the person that approved of current economy enhancers design and implementation on grounds of gross negligence and incompetence.
4. Get back to the drawing board, to make sure these enhancers actually perform what their title states, even for the lowly tt-pistol or an S30 vs. a calculated reasonable cost - including markup - for the enhancer. Make the enhancer decay as function of weapon base usage cost.
If you leave just one single weapon to have worse economy with Weapon Economy Enhancer than without, I would continue to consider this the fraud I think it currently is.
Comments? Flames? Ferrari?