Dev Diary: Commendations

The first of the Developer Diaries for Update 6 came out yesterday, centered around a new currency that will be used solely in PvMP: Commendations.  Commendations will be replacing Destiny Points as the currency to purchase skills, weapons, consumables, etc. while Destiny Points will be limited to “…strictly a “perk” currency that will only be acquired through leveling.”  Commendations will be utilized by both Creeps and Freeps, will be primarily gained through PvMP combat, and will be capped at 10,000 in order to “…create a PvMP Seasons mechanic that encourages/requires player investment with each content update.”  The changes that will implement commendations will be rolled out starting in Update 6 and continue through Update 7.

Some of the highlights of the changes include:

All players will start at 0 commendations
PvMP quests that previously gave Destiny Points will reward Commendations.
Defeating Players will result in ~50 Commendations

The current contribution and diminishing return system will be used for the time being

Post-Update 6

Commendation swill be divided equally between all contributing players.
“Diminishing Returns are applied each time a player is defeated within 60s of retreating. Each defeat within 60s of retreating reduces that player’s Commendation value by 20% with a maximum reduction of 90%.”

Armor will no longer have a Rank requirement.  However, the Rank requirement for jewelry, weapons, off-hands, mounts, etc. will remain in-place.
The PvMP gear will be useable outside of the Ettenmoors, but the intention is that those items will be more effective in PvMP than in PvE.
All existing Ettenmoor and Ettendeep barter tokens will be converted over to Commendations in Update 6.

My Opinion

I’ll start by stating what Kelsan says the main purpose of Commendations is:

PvMP was in need of a unified currency system that allowed PvMP players to progress in Monster-play without needing to PvE. Destiny was always intended to be the PvMP currency, but due to easy accrual and limited sinks we have ended up with extremely bloated Destiny pools. In order to accomplish our goals and not impact the PvE experience, we need to create a new currency specifically for use in PvMP.

The intention of this change is to create a sustainable currency that prohibits exploitive behavior, encourages active participation with each content update, and places the primary source of PvMP advancement on PvMP combat.

That being said, after reading what some heavy PvMP participants had as their Destiny Pools, I tend to agree that something needed to be done with the currency system to make it more balanced.  However, I also wrestle with the fact that people who have such high Destiny Pools are the people who make Monster Play what it is.  They are the people who enjoy it the most and who are usually the guiding forces in the Ettenmoors.  And my hope is that with this change that they don’t find themselves being “hurt” and that their enjoyment of Monster Play will carry them through this new “grind”.  One player in the official feedback thread suggested that players be allowed to purchase Commendations with their Destiny Points or to have some other form of compensation as they don’t usually play Freep-side.  And while I’m not sure if this would work from a balance perspective I can’t help but feel for these guys who see their admittedly vast pools of Destiny Points as somewhat meaningless to them now.

As a PvE player I also take a look at this and can’t help but feel that I’m potentially being cheated a bit as well.  I now cannot use PvMP to renew my Destiny Points, which I in-turn use to purchase perks.  Ketani was kind enough to inform me that there are dungeon dailies in Moira that can be done in order to obtain Destiny Points, and that Elb has lately been running those instances to earn more points.  So, as long as those stay in-tact then PvE players will still have a viable way to “renew” their Destiny Point pools; it just may be on a slower rate than they are used to.  (Or it could be faster if you’re horrible at PvMP like I am!)  Hopefully, we can hear back from Kelsan or someone else from Turbine  soon on whether or not those quests will in fact still reward Destiny Points.

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