I think it would be fair to say that paid for durden spawns have become quite the recurrent feature of our world.

Is there any way it could be coded so that these could be triggered internally by users without the assistance of admin?

Basically you have a block for your credit cost (minimum 25 or w/e) and a block for the name you want them to end in.

And SPAWN!

This is extremely beneficial and levelling for users in time zones that ordinarily wouldn't be able to maximise their kills from a traditional spawn.

Thanks.

Really like this idea. Raise the minimum for the admin end of things.

Like Numbers4Glory said makes it more beneficial for some that are in the UK time zones. Im all for this.

P.S i play in EST time zone.

I completely back this idea. I'm always here for Swapns, but it would be beneficial if users could do this themselves. 

I LOVE THIS IDEA.

Great idea!

This is a nice idea, although I fear there could be a possibility of abuse - I may just be paranoid though.

*nods* Very on-board with this :)

In total agreement. Anything which lightens the admins load can only be a good thing.

Love it.

I feel like I'm on crazy pills here. The Durden situation is already at the point of absurdity. I mean, the Durdens started out as a little reward for everyone spending credits on MIAs and usually popped up every other day. You'd get a few of them and feel good about yourself. Now we get spawns for God Fathers...a not that uncommon occurrence, and whenever someone wins at dice or just tosses some credits to izzy.

It has become so common for monster spawns that when a normal one pops up everyone is grumbling about there only being 80 free kills to get. I mean its almost at the point now where you can shoot all day everyday as long as you are willing to stay awake. How many huge ass spawns have we had over the past 6 months? It has to be in the tens of thousands of Durdens. It used to be a rush when they showed up, as you tried to draw first blood and then hunt the rest. You were lucky if you got 3 of them.

At the current moment anyone can 'buy' kills, but at least its limited to 60 kills per month. 60 kills for next to no effort.

If this goes into place you can now just actually buy a cannon without any restrictions. Put in enough credits and you will be shooting 24 hours a day. People like to joke about click monkeys on this game, but the last small bastion of skill was building a gun. This skill is almost entirely extinct as it is, this addition would just flat out end it.

The issue of an over-saturation of durdens is not really relevant to this suggestion as the durdens are still being spawned by user credits it just currently requires the use of a middle man to facilitate meaning that users who live in time zones different to those of the administrators are placed at a significant disadvantage.

In terms of the durden argument.

The original system was primarily founded on the ability to win IA races. In fact exclusively. The introduction of MIA's meant that users with sub par internet connections and standard users not familiar with the intricacies of IA mechanics could also develop a +2 P/D Gun.

Durdens as they are currently utilised speed up game play cycles by reducing the amount of time to build a cap killing gun which should make the majority of the database considerably happier. It is good for the administration as it GREATLY increases credit expenditure and allows them to continue the development of this game that so many of us, love and are addicted to.

I concede that there is no skill required to build a gun anymore, but then again; it wasn't always skill exclusively. The ability to build a gun was always directly linked to the ability to dictate terms on here and any user (such as myself) living 10000+km away from the server in a position wherein they didn't have access to "first world" internet could not compete.

The current system rewards users who put in the most time, the elite hitters in our world the +13.2's and +12's out there still lead the pack and skill is introduced at that range. Whilst a gun average of +7/8 is now available to those who put in the effort. The current system is still weighted heavily in favour of US time zones but in general the field is FAR more level now than it has been in the past 10 years. The introduction of this system will further balance out the current system.

As a baseline I don't think the pay for spawns should be happening at all. I don't see a reason to formalize it just because it has been happening.

To me this whole thing has just been like ruining the illusion. We all knew before that you could buy kills, but at least it was in check. MIAs had a limit. These pay for spawns have just destroyed those limits, and you can now just buy as many kills as you can afford. There is nothing left that requires skill. 

It also has spoiled what was a fun part of the game for me, and maybe this is just personal. We used to count MIAs and plan when durdens were arriving...and when Tyler hit the shores it was a rush. Now there is no point in checking because chances are there will be a huge ass durden spawn. Shooting them is now the same to me as clicking the petty button.

Yeah it speeds up game play but I can't be sure if that is just a side-effect or if its the reason its being done. 

Its funny seeing a lot of the nostalgia griping coming back recently (with some of the recent street threads) but god damn if i don't feel that shooting used to be so much more fun. 

If it is coded in, i can say if someone pays 100 credits for a spawn the person paying only gets what 5 to 7 kills?

I mean its beneficial to the whole game not just the person spawning them.Even with these big spawns regular spawns are still happening every other day. On avg from what i have counted there is what 60 RIAs every day. You can spawn 8 MIAs every 4 days.

Some of us rely on spawns because well with 200+ wackers now it's hard to win a race.

Now before someone says this will just widen the gap for people who pay with "Real Life cash" it aint gonna widen anything. Someone can buy 100 credits and do a big spawn and still only get 7 kills.

These spawns are for the community and to me it just helps out. Newer players coming in can actually train on Durdens because they do not know how to race.

So as i said earlier i love this idea. Not cause its easier but cause it is bridging a gap between US time zones and UK time zones.

Ill be the first to admit US time zones have more of an advantage as far as Durdens. I am seeing more and more UK folks everyday. It's a good things means the game is getting bigger. Just my thoughts :D

I mean, I get it, its hard to raise a complaint that there is too much to shoot at. There is no doubt that it 'benefits' everyone in that you can build a gun at a crazy rate without really doing anything.

It just seems insane to me. Since this thread was posted there have been over 1000 durdens spawned. It has been constant durdens for like 3 days now. 

Like I said, I don't think this should be happening at all in the first place. It is turning into a joke.

These paid for spawns are taking away from the art of racing for IA's. It is making everyone and anyone able to build a great gun as long as they log in and shoot. I am not crazy about these paid spawns. The skill of building a gun is being zeroed out.

Since this suggestion directly relates to the way these are spawned, the two topics surely correlate. Without one, you don't have the other, after all.

Aside from the point being discussed I don't understand why people consider clicking fast on ajax wack "an art"

RIA hunting rewards the people who are able to get online the most during peak US hours, the durden spawns reward everyone who puts the time in.

I agree if it gets to the stage where CL's are being dropped every 5 minutes as guns are so overpowered then something should be done, but realistically to get a cap killing gun is still going to take a lot of time on the part of the player concerned. All the durdens do is reduce the time. I have always found the game at it's worst when long periods off stagnation set in.

I personally would like to see the user durden spawns as a continued feature & if it is to be continued surely coding it into the game so Izzy isn't getting 500 Pm's "saying durden spawn plz" will help?

The only thing I have to add to the argument is that the huge credit losses by House at dice will have improved peoples bodyguard protection dramatically which also lessens the immediate impact of these durden spawns. 1000 

RIA hunting does not favor US people. They are spawned at all hours. There surely is an art to it. Tis why certain people are able to win those races often. As far as I am concerned Durdens shouldn't be spawned because they impact the game and not in a positive way. Everyone is not meant to have a big gun.

I can assure you RIA hunting does favor people based in the US.

For one they are closer to the games servers. Have a higher likelihood to access to high speed internet connections & a larger number of the RIAs turn during peak US playing hours rather than GMT.

Everyone is not meant to have a big gun.

Agree entirely. But the fact of the matter is a increasing % of the userbase now have more bodyguards. (Average has gone from 5 to 8 per user in the last 3 odd days) plus BG tipping has now been introduced to further protect the established accounts.

I just don't buy that more user created Durden spawns will unbalance the game. Sure if CLs start dropping in numbers to rogues I will admit I am wrong.

I would only like to remark in support of one of my colleague's statements:

But the fact of the matter is a increasing % of the userbase now have more bodyguards. (Average has gone from 5 to 8 per user in the last 3 odd days) plus BG tipping has now been introduced to further protect the established accounts.

-HarryMorgan

Currently, credits have quite a few functionalities. The two I would like to compare are Corrupt Agents and MIAs. The purchase of a corrupt agent is an exchange of one's credits and time for a financial return. The purchase of MIAs is an exchange of one's money for one's gun strength. The purchase of a Durden spawn is slightly more complex, but is essentially an exchange of credits for a range of gun strength. If coordinated effectively, Durden spawns can result in a substantial boost for a crew or city, and so therefore I would contend that a Durden Spawn feature would also be an exchange of credits for time, as that crew or city which contributes to the Durden spawn spends its time much more effectively than those who were offline or unaware of the Durdens when spawned.

Now, the important conclusion I want to draw from this is its relationship to Corrupt Agents. If we view Corrupt Agents as a means of purchasing bodyguards (slowly but surely), we would see a substantially greater return on investment in the realm of defense than offense. Obviously, this return is smaller as the number of BGs increases, but up until ~100 BGs, credits spent on Corrupt Agents will provide enough money in BGs that the same amount of credits would provide in MIA kills to overcome that BG count.

It is with this mentality that I support this feature, as it directly combats the prevalence of bodyguards. In addition to offering a substantial boost to a city's hitting strength, this will increase the price of the credits in the marketplace making corrupt agents less revenue-efficient. In my mind, this is a win-win.