Caps-Purchasable/Time-Obtainable Pumpjacks

[DragonCoffee]

Hello All!

I apologize in advance if this is already a topic that has been covered. I searched the forums up to two months back and couldn't find anything on this topic so I thought it was safe to bring it up!

I assume that likely this is going to be a sensitive/controversial topic as pumpjacks seem to be a decent way of funding server upkeep, but please hear me out!

I have not played on any of the RustEZ servers for very long, and my experience is only limited to Survival, but seeing other players with personal pumpjacks without me being able to afford one has been a bit rough as I will just always be behind the rest of the players on the server with no hope of catching up to their level of resource generation. This likely seems selfish, but I am certain I am not the only one.

I know the pumpjacks are only $3, but for a fully-upgraded pumpjack each wipe it'll end up costing $180 a year... I am not here to hate on the price however, more that I would love to see another way of getting them implemented in the game! This is where the controversy may arise, as having a way to obtain pumpjacks without real money may limit server income that would otherwise go to upkeep, and I can completely understand that. This is why I would like to suggest that a high caps price be attributed to obtaining pumpjacks, or a time-base reward be delivered.

See below for my suggestions, or skip ahead if you would like to avoid the details.

Caps purchase price: 100,000 caps
This is not a random price, this is actually based on a few assumptions:
- Player has a pumpjack that produces 1 crude oil per low grade fuel
- Player has an automated system from day 1 allowing them to hook up their pumpjack to a refinery, and from the refinery to 2 level 5 quarries and back to the pumpjack
- Player runs all three machines (pumpjack and 2 quarries) 24/7 for the entirety of the wipe

Assuming this is done the player, if they were to simply sell of the resources generated, would produce approximately 238312.8 points (please feel free to reach out to me on discord at DragonCoffee#9172 if you wish to see my math). Therefore, 2 pumpjacks could be purchased for the next wipe and the remaining lost points from purchasing a full level 5 pumpjack would need to be earned through other means.

Time-based earning:
Two suggestions. One, a daily log-in gift upon reaching a certain streak (recommendation: 2 week streak that is reset upon getting the pumpjack as a reward)
Two: Playtime reward. Upon reaching a certain number of hours (recommendation: minimum 70 hours playtime) pumpjack is rewarded upon next daily login, which is reset upon receiving reward.

The idea behind these suggestions, and why I have recommended such high caps cost/time cost is because this will incentivise players to continue playing, and due to the cheap option in the store, will allow those that cannot wait to have an option to skip the wait and get the pumpjack immediately.

I would absolutely love to see this option available as it will give me and others the hope that we will be able to have a full lvl5 pumpjack on a wipe one day!

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on the matter, and whether or not this is implemented I hope I can at least bring this problem to light for those that may have not thought to reach out on the forums.

Happy Rusting,
DragonCoffee

[SCE_Wraith]

I'm not tracking how you go from $3 for one Pump Jack to $180 over a year.  RustEZ servers only wipe as forced by Facepunch and that is generally the first Thursday of every month.  While I have seen exceptions to that schedule historically they are still pretty rare.

[Granny]

Level 5 PumpJack: 5 pumpjacks, $15.00 per month.

12 months.
$180.00 Annually.

 

[aNoNiM]

Pumpjacks+quarries make the game too easy. At least if you have only quarries that you need to farm the low grade from animals or buying the low grade from outpost with other resources it makes it more challenging. Having too many easily accessible resources, will not only affect the economy, everyone will have all the blueprints also everyone rich without farming anything on the server. But having access to unlimited resources mean more huge bases that make people drop frames and complain about server/client performance.

Having more pumpjacks and quarries running 24/7 with refineries and furnaces going all the time does make it lag. When the servers reboots for instance the refineries and furnaces turn off so that skews your calculation. I seen it in the bug logs for RustEZ as a fact this was implemented.

I say no thank you, if at all I would prefer if the pumpjacks would be taken out entirely. It would nerf the quarries, and put everyone on the same playing field if that is what you are looking for. Some people all they do is log in and move their stuff in the quarries. But I am sure this won't happen.

Edited August 18, 2020 by aNoNiM

[Sararainmaker]

@aNoNiM while that may be the case for players who have a lot of time to play, it is not the case for casual players and players who do not have the time to spend collecting oil barrels at 19 a pop. If I only had a few hours to play, which is likely a majority of players on the servers, I wouldn't want to spend it running around fighting for barrels or monuments. Since there is no PvP, and no way to raid bases, barrels and monuments would be the only way to get oil and fuel, which would increase player destruction/usage of them. Pumpjacks equalize the playing field for casual players, and very likely remove a WHOLE bunch of drama from monument hogging and "barrel stealing."

Other ways can be implemented to limit build size without creating a huge gap for casual players.

You can always choose not to have a pumpjack to make the game more difficult.

[aNoNiM]

@Sararainmaker I think the point they are making is that not everyone can afford to pay for it.  If it's free to everyone, it's going to be a bigger problem.

I've bought them in the past and rarely do now. Not a financial problem, just give you too many resources too fast. 

[DragonCoffee]

Really excited to see some conversation going on this topic! I feel that it's necessary to bring up one of my points again though:

I do not want a way to obtain pumpjacks for free quickly, and I think that may be the disconnect there. Based on my suggestion the idea is to have at most 2 pumpjacks given per wipe. Meaning 1 level 2 should you choose to use them immediately, or a level 5 after 2.5 months of gameplay, and this number could be taken down further if it is still considered too generous.

Yes, I agree that pumpjacks can give a lot of resources fairly quickly, but then that advantage that other players have by spending money that other players may not be able to afford feels that much more frustrating. The reason behind this suggestion is to give other casual players, those that simply cannot be as invested as others through whatever reason, have an opportunity to reach similar levels but at a slower pace.

The additional point behind this suggestion is that it would not negatively effect pumpjack sales (for those who are concerned about server maintenance). Having such a heavily timegated resource would give more players the opportunity to 'skip the wait', or incentivise purchasing the last pumpjack needed for a level 5 after having earned 4, or even simply make players more aware of this tool as a purchase option in the store.

I look forward to seeing more feedback on this suggestion, negative or positive!