Current ASB reward system is, as everyone knows, absolutely abysmal. Giving a relatively small limited reward every 15 minutes based on the amount of score a player has accumulated during this timeframe has way too many flaws and almost no positives. Such a system punishes skilled players and makes passive gameplay more rewarding.
This issue has been brought up way too many times, but Gaijin never responded to it.
For the people that don’t really know how “Useful Actions” works, here it is simplified:
After you spawn, a 15 minute timer starts ticking. In these 15 minutes, you have to achieve 1050 or more score points to get the biggest reward possible (though you don't need exactly that much, as you can still get most of the reward with 600+ score). By the time the timer ends, you will get a popup saying "Useful Actions" that displays the amount of SL and RP you got, and the timer restarts. This is 80% of the reward. To get the remaining 20%, you need to land your aircraft. If you do not get to live to the end of the timer, you get paid depending on the time elapsed (e.g. if you got 1050 score, but lived for only 10 minutes, you will get 2/3 of the 80% reward). You can also land your aircraft whenever you want (e.g. even after 5 useful action cycles, as long as you didn't die - you will get all 5 20% rewards).
This mechanic was added in 2021 to counter botters and zombers that were thriving in ASB, replacing normal, rb-like reward system.
This, however, led to the ASB economy plummeting and players getting very little as opposed to what they were used to.
So now, you can get as much kills as you want, be as good as you want, but after the first 2-3 kills - you don’t get any additional rewards. And, if you die, even if you get a million bazillion gaijillion kills, you will be payed less than an F-4S that had loaded bombs, blew up two bases and did nothing for the rest 7 minutes of his useful actions. Fair? No.
Now, just simply crying about the problem and doing nothing else has led to and will lead to absolutely nothing. So I have some ideas on what to replace the “Useful Actions” with:
1. Good old neuron activation
Simple mechanic as in almost any other gamemode - you kill, you get.
It is good for short term rewards, but will condone botting and zombing, as has previously happened (although the best way to resolve this issue is to severely punish zombers and ban botters).
2. Useful Actions rework 1: No timer
The player now gets 80% of the reward every time he achieves a certain score (be it 1050, 500 or 3000 etc.) and gets the remaining 20% after landing (with it stacking aswell). If he dies, he gets the reward based on the amount of score accumulated before death (e.g. if the limit is 1000 and the player got 600 - he gets 60% of the 80%). If the player has not died and landed on the airfield, while also achieving some score, he gets the reward based on the accumulated score before landing + landing bonus (e.g. if the limit is 1000 and the player got 600 - he gets 60% of the total reward).
This will ease the severity of botters and zombers, but will still give high rewards for passive gameplay. But this change will also make normal players more likely to kill enemies since they are no longer afraid to die and will get more rewards off of it, making zombing a challenge and botting less probable.
3. Useful Actions rework 2: Unlimited
There is still a timer present, but the rewards are not limited. After the time had passed, the player gets rewards based on accumulated score points (e.g. 1 point = 10 SL and 5 RP). As always, 80%, with landing giving 20% (and stacking).
This is more akin to what there is now, and will make botting and zombing less profitable than the previous system, but the normal players will also suffer more.
Which one of the ideas would you like to be implemented more (maybe with some changes)?
- As in RB, you kill - you get
- Rework 1: No timer
- Rework 2: Unlimited
- Other
- Leave Useful Actions as it is
Now, just simply posting this will, most likely, do nothing. To get The Snail moving, we need to show how much we need a change. Since there has been an increase in sim players lately, the gamemode should finally be revived.
