So as of last week Solar rails are now locked down; and by locked down DE sure do mean it. Clans can't even edit Rail messages anymore and tributes are locked at 0%. Seems harsh? Well problem is that a few of the PC crowd seemed to think they could take advantage of the lockdown and set their tributes at 100% before it happened, DE said "Hey guys, fine, play it like that, we'll set them all to zero." and there you go, the greatest credit dry spell for clans since Solar Rails were released begins.
So what does the future hold for Rails? Well, since early this year DE have been throwing around the word "Balance" a lot. With the release of the new PVP conclave game mode its definately been the buzzword of the year so far.
Fact is that Warframe is not a balanced game, in reality, there is a huge divide between those that have and those that have not. A new clan has very little chance of taking a rail let alone holding one unless they can join a more powerful alliance. This has kind of stagnated the market in Rails a little, up till now the chances of them changing hands without some sort of titanic battle between Alliances has been slim to nothing. So my bet is that DE plan on evening those odds a little.
So hey, great idea right? Lets mix it up a little, why not? Well here's the problem. Most of the die-hard fans of Warframe are in Clans already and usually big ones with big Alliances. So by wiping the slate clean, all of a sudden the hard earned benefits of being a long term player have suddenly seemed to get washed away.
Its an age old business problem at heart. In order to get new customers you need to keep things fair and even up the odds a little. If you dont they get bored and leave the party early. Thing is the old crew tend to like things just the way they are. Wind them up too much and all of a sudden your regular customers start to disappear.
Its a tricky tightrope to walk, lets just hope that DE can manage to dance their way across it without slipping.
TomVandersteen