No troll, though I expected the responses.

First I think we're all agreed in wanting to see more beta activity.  To that end consider BOTH the carrot and the stick.  Reducing the problem to one of basic material/nic incentives is an oversimplification that fails to acknowledge structural problems. Adding MOAR nic to Syndic's list of Epi, kernals, and refining is NOT the silver bullet!

Consider Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's a game so at the lowest levels assume that every player needs abundant access to the basics necessary to have fun (assault class bot, T1 guns, ammo, insurance money, etc..).  Limiting access to anything a new player might need to build/buy and gear a half decent bot results in a "why bother, I already have a job" mindset for the casual player.

Nerfing alpha island resources, or marginalizing their price/availability through beta based inflation is a mistake, especially at a time when the in game market is showing signs of confidence, liquidity and recovery.  Syndic's signature reads "ECORP, N-A, IRS, JOKE, M2S"... good for lulz, but I can tell you as an insider that IRS was 99% carebear and nothing PvP related could have driven them to collapse, N-A was the same to a lesser degree (80% of their actives literally left to go play minecraft).  What killed those very large player bases was a drastic mineral nerf, suspension of the insurance driving demand and the resulting collapse of the market.  Everyone likes to think of themselves as a hunter but communities are built on the backs of farmers. Be careful and delicate when tinkering with the in game economy, it's not the fix all for your PvP woes!

The second tier of Maslow's hierarchy is security.  Defending a base is a giant pain, hardly worth the effort , I agree.  But I don't agree that you need more rewards, just more security. First the intrusion system needs some reworking, someone at incoming transmission #7 suggested adding a bidding system to move the intrusion clock.  It also serves as a high level nic sink which in turn incentivizes market activity. I like it!

The other half of fostering security and encouraging beta island newcomers involves breaking up power blocs... For many the answer to join or die is D. None of the Above.  Mega-alliances built on politics and propaganda are game breaking, hence my suggestions.

1. Drop all alliances and NAP's
2. Stop recruiting, promote enemy corps you respect
3. Take chances, fighting CIR is usually lame due to their refusal to engage without overwhelming force.  A happy medium lives in between the dock up and the blob.

Finally... the devs have been working on a whole EC system that will magnify and add to the benefits of outpost ownership, hopefully without disrupting the entry level economy.  My only hope is that the "outpost-class version of NUXUS modules" provide the added security without overly encouraging more base hugging.

Not enough targets? Probably time to expand the alliance again.

Suggestions:
1. Drop all alliances and NAP's
2. Stop recruiting, promote enemy corps you respect
3. Take chances, fighting CIR is usually lame due to their refusal to engage without overwhelming force.  A happy medium lives in between the dock up and the blob.

There is absolutely no good reason to further devalue nic.  If anything there are not enough nic sinks at the high end.  I agree that the economy (not just the market but the broad based economy) needs more scarcity to drive competition.  The answer needs to be scalable to the player population and phased in slowly to avoid shocking the markets.  ROFL Stomping the market now that it's starting to show some signs of life to compensate for your habit of repeatedly allying half the server is a bad idea.

Finally... I told you so
http://forums.perpetuum-online.com/post/27822/#p27822

I'll agree that Thelo are not as mobile, but this is once again an argument that ignores the strengths.  The natural bonus to resists are huge and range is ans extremely useful tool even if it's not always available due to LOS...

I've been having a similar problem with Nuimqol bots (which I've always piloted).  It really bothers me that even after bonuses to rep amount... Thelo bots make better active tanks due to the natural resist bonuses that they start with... truth is without a heavy speed advantage, Kain survivability drops to zero since they need to get in close to fire, before running away... I personally think the poor range and terrible defense makes the slower Mesmer useless, and I've yet to actually see a single one in PvP.  On the other hand the Seth might be slow as all heck but in a defensive role can tank like nobodies business and presumably has the range advantage since the defenders set themselves up on the high ground in advance.

So where you expect the Thelo to be a master of range... it's actually best played as a tank (range is just an occasional side bonus, VERY handy with the ewar you decide to ignore)

Where I expected Nuim to be tanks... they're actually best played as hit and run raiders (bonus to rep amt is a side bonus that lets me get back into the action sooner)

Any adjustments to speed... other bots up or Kains down will COMPLETELY cripple us, since after getting into close range to fire, our ONLY viable defense is to run back out of range to rep up before attacking again.... As for Mesmers, if you know any viable roles for them let me know.

Just a quick thought, when masking/detection was released I hear it was OP and then nerfed...
Maybe it was supposed to be,
Base * (1 + 5% *skill)

and somehow an extra +5% * Skill   got tagged on?

hey TBA, 22:00 server is 4pm EST... so it's good for US players that aren't stuck at work/school/etc

What kain magic?

If you let a glass speed cannon susceptible to demob close to within 50m of you, it's not magic that killed you.   

They're a little bit faster so people like to bring them on speed roams... It is completely offset and more by the limitations of their racial weapons... why else would so many people give up the bot bonus to EM to strapping lasers and autocannons onto blue bots? It seems like a fail fit to me... but still kind of illustrates the limitations of EM in general.

Kernel drop rate might be down, but plasma should be putting plenty of nic in your wallet... If you need kernels try using some of that plasma money to put up some reasonable buy orders on the public markets, problem solved.

P.S. - If your buy orders are not getting filled... The market has deemed them to be 'not reasonable'.

It's all good... Dare I say it... I really appreciate the Dev's here, they're level of community involvement and the quality of the releases and updates.  I don't have to like every change to appreciate that most things here just work... something you cannot take for granted in MMO's these days... if it takes a few days or weeks longer than expected, so be it... My expectations have been well met to date though I do have a lofty outlook for the future.

As for the blog updates... yes, MOAR cookies please.

The EVE comparisons are wearing me out.  I get that the interface is similar, but the laundry list of comparisons here and elsewhere are not unique to EVE/PO.  EVE wasn't the first and PO won't be the last, and once you pile in the handful of other games like SWG what your looking at is a genre, not a copy.

WASD control, LOS, varying terrain maps, lack of transversal velocity, faster pace of combat... I would also argue that missions in EVE were as close to instances as you could get without leaving the main server pop... No war decs, No autopilotm I could go on but why bother.  Once a week there is a noob screaming in help chat because they can't find an EFT and can't wrap their brains around the idea that what worked in EVE may not apply here because the mechanics and play styles are different.

This is not EVE... same feel, same genre, different game... Approach it with an open mind rather creating expectations around the things your familiar with... If you can't do that then surprise!!! EVE is better at being EVE than PO, but PO makes a better PO then EVE ever will herp derp.

P.S. - Most fantasy MMO's are not WOW clones either, but the convo always pops up anyway

New patch notes state armor on mech/heavy are getting raised, hopefully that extra minute or so of armor will be the boost we've been waiting for... servers are down, fingers are crossed.