I’ve participated in a few Agency events for the past few months, which all had the same basic concept: Pick from 1-4 tasks that are available, complete them, score points and then wait for the 22-hour cooldown timer to run out and repeat the task.
It doesn’t take long to realize that the cooldown timer is too long and the tasks become too repetetive, which is why Crimson Harvest introduces a new mechanic: Chained Events. One of these chained events is to get 100.000 ISK in bounties. Do that, and the task changes so now it wants a million ISK in bounties. Do that and it’s 5 million ISK, and so on. A chain of tasks is formed, and each link offers a better point payout for the event. It encourages players to try to build up a good “combo” for the best payout, and to keep at a certain activity. It’s a brilliant step up from prior Events.
However, the system is flawed in two ways: First it’s the timer. It’s still there, and if it runs out the chain is reset back to the start. This is a horrible punishment for those trying to build up the chain, especially when paired with the second flaw: The timer is now connected to Down Time. It’s not 22 hours from task completion, it’s just until the next DT. That’s just horrible game design, no matter how you look at it.
Fortunately there’s a simple two-step solution. First you change the event timer so that it’s no longer linked to DT. Have it be 22 hours or whatever from when the task was completed, but it must NOT be linked to DT.
The second step is that instead of the entire chain resetting when the timer expires, it just goes back one link on the chain. Let’s say you’re at the point where the Event asks for 10 million ISK in bounties, and that there are 16 hours left on the timer. If the 10 million goal is not reached in those 16 hours, the event changes to the 5 million ISK step (which is the next one below) and the timer starts over, leading to the “event combo” slowly degrading instead of just being wiped clean once the timer expires.
The new timer doesn’t even have to be 22 hours, it could be a few hours shorter to provide more encouragement for players to keep playing.
Here’s hoping that this brings about further improvements to the Event system. 