I don't think this is a good idea Zoom. In my mind we're way beyond the point where someone can "run out of bots" overnight, it just gives all the vet corps a way to pay to X-uple the size of their stockpiles with NIC (that everyone has squirreled away on mule accounts due to more then half a year of botting on Alpha).

Alpha income is sorted, any noob with a Sequer can prolly fit out a PVP robot in 30 minutes of running something like L5 transport missions.

As a NIC facet, missions are better then static spawn botting because for example I can't take 3k medium missile launchers to Gamma, recycle them and haul the commodities to Beta for production anymore.

WELL that's kinda the problem with the game as a whole right there

Us vets could shut up.... but then the silence would be deafening.

True Pros make a Podcast to influence the Devs minds, 
The rest of you guys are Hacks

PS. I got my Highways & stopped playing b4 they came in & have never used them! ...... Irony much ?

What if there will be some other limitation together with NIC payment?

How about making those field rescues time based?

You lost your bot - you pay 20% of it's cost and wait 10 min to get it back from repair. Lose it again - now it's 40% and 1 hour. Still not entertained enough - 60% and 24 hours, you got my point.

Numbers could be adjusted accordingly. So you either wait or screw that and buy new one, or buy fresh replacement before you die, or whatever. Enforces you to have more than just 1 bot at all.

Another option - those "recovered" bots could be slightly less effective - each spent live could reduce their stats like cpu/reactor, or even bonuses - so you either be immortal but weared off, or shiny new but paid.

Reducing the materials required for items and bots, along with reduction from several different sources to build the most basic gear, will have the same effect, whilst reducing the value of stocks Vet players have.

Closes player gap, less hardcore.

Edit: Most of us humans have this ability called empathy, don't assume all replies and ideas by vets are biased.

If the intent of this is to make the game a little easier for newer players, only works on Alpha 1&2 islands and only from PvE deaths, then I think a limited "lives" system could be a good idea.

I would suggest a 2 or 3 step system as follows:
2 Step: 1st death = 33% loss of modules & cargo, 2nd death = 66% loss, 3rd death is total death(robot/cargo/mods)
3 Step: 1st death =25%, 2nd = 50%, 3rd = 75%, 4th = done

Upon dying you revive back at the closest terminal with what remains of your bot/mods/cargo. The bot is flagged as needing repairs and cannot have mods or cargo removed from it till the repairs are done. To repair the bots I would then add the player made repair kits as someone else mentioned. These should be robot size specific & tiered to match the death percentages above. So if I'm driving a Bapho and die once I'll need to buy an assault tier 1 repair kit, which should cost roughly 33% of an assault if using the 2 step system above or 25% if 3 step.

Note: I would specifically make mission cargo immune to the % losses above, though the player would still have to repair the bot to retrieve the cargo and continue with the mission. Also if the above were implemented I'd remove player loot from dropping when killed by a npc. With the new system the Syndicate is already hauling back your remains when you die so there is nothing for a player to go back out and loot themselves and the final tier of death should be complete loss since you now have 2-3 lives. Final bot death would mean an automatic mission fail if any type of cargo hauling was required since the cargo would be destroyed with everything else on the last death.

The biggest reason I think this may be needed to help newer players is the proposed npc rework. With Alpha 2s having only red mobs soon, they are going to be much harder for players to live on comparatively. Industrial players of all types are going to be hit hardest by this. All noncombat missions will suddenly have potential combat requiring dodging reds now. Mining and harvesting will suddenly have risks where there currently are none. I started playing years ago when roaming red caravans & Observers required careful monitoring of your surroundings and running like hell from your mining op from time to time hoping the bots would pass quickly enough to get back to your can before it imploded. I did it before and I'll do it again, no biggy for me or for the game's vets.

I understand the players that say it will cut into bot sales, but quite frankly we need to retain players. You're still not going to sell any extra Kains compared to now if players are not staying and continuing to grind. A slight loss on units sold per person should be more than made up for by having more players stay in game and buying bots in the first place.

Though not specifically part of this thread's topic, some of the other ideas posted here like the production changes are good too. I'm eager to see what the Devs do with Zoom's mention of configurable stat manufacturing and loot drop changes.

I understand your point, though a bit exaggerated. How often really is a vet dying to pve on Alphas?

Make it a one time life with 50% loss on cargo & mods over T1. Maybe even limit it to assaults & smaller. If you step into a mech you should have enough game play in to know how to recover from there.

Edit: You can also set a EP cap on it. Once a player reaches a preset total EP value they are no longer offered Syndicate protection. This way it would only help newer players to the game.

What are the Dev team's thoughts DEV Zoom?

no,
Syndic is on his personal agenda,
and zoom follows Syndics suggestion to ignore those - or simply to occupied with placing question marks... sorry, Field terminals on beta islands.

An opinion not from a vet

Although it might be convinient sometimes, the downsides of this, including those mentioned by vets here convinced me to not want this feature.

I'm not losing my bot often, because PvE is predictable. And anyway, it's not a problem if i will. Really. they're not so expensive. At least not Mk2...

Don't listen to the losers, this game is not difficult or hardcore too much. Really. Making a good toon in WoW or kill all people in Carmageddon takes more effort than fit a bot and figure out what module goes where...
As a newbie, i'd like to have EP faster instead of not losing bot since i'm not losing them anyway But again, i'm fine with EP system. I don't know, maybe i'm not crybaby enough, but everything is fine, really. Just make a good game in general, for newbs, or for vets, doesn't matter. Sometimes the long way of obtaining a veteran stuff it's much more interesting than to actually have it. Especially when it's doesn't mean grinding a lot. As i newbie i want the stupid things like aircraft, bigger bots, guns, tanks... Although i don't even have a mech on live server yet (not like i need it much right now) As for the feature discussed... Well, i don't think it'll make a huge difference in my game, but i see that it may not be good in my future, like the squad commander sending us to the stupid deaths, because why bother too much...

I think most of the newbies quit because they aren't see something exsiting to go for, or something worth investing time. It's not because they too stupid to understand this game or the light bots are too expensive for them. They much like the same humans as the vets, actually.

Well, exactly this^. No half measures for this idea. It's all in or nothing, I honestly think is the worst idea ever come out of the Devs.

IMO you only really have to give new players corp PVP bots for the first few weeks after that i notice a lot of ppl tended to manage any losses without breaking a sweat.

for those first few weeks being in a corp really does help new players a lot.

True Pros make a Podcast to influence the Devs minds, 
The rest of you guys are Hacks

PS. I got my Highways & stopped playing b4 they came in & have never used them! ...... Irony much ?