Forums » General

License Levels

May 17, 2012 Woodlander link
I was wondering, is there a sort of general consensus among the VO community as to what license levels might be considered to represent the so called standard experience levels commonly referred to as Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Veteran, Elite... ?

ie.

Novice = 0/0/0/0/0 to ?/?/?/?/?
Intermediate = ? to ?
Expert = ? to ?
Veteran = ? to ?
Elite = ? to ...

There's obviously much more to it than just license levels but I'm curious all the same.
May 17, 2012 ryan reign link
License is more a visual representation of either...

A: How long you've played...
or
B: How lacking your real life social skills are.
May 17, 2012 TheRedSpy link
License levels don't really mean anything in the game after a point. They probably should be a little more defined, but they play a really insignificant role.

8/8/8 gives you most weapons, after that you really only have a few ships you can't get access to.

VO is all about reputation, the mark of your niche or speciality comes from word-of-mouth.
May 17, 2012 Pizzasgood link
Besides the license, you should also consider PK count and perhaps badges.

I consider anybody below level 4 (or 3, in greyspace) to a "Newb" for the purposes of determining whether to charge them the newbie rate or the standard rate.

For the purposes of combat, anybody who is mostly below level 5 is a "lol newb" who I assume doesn't know how to fight unless they have more than a couple PKs listed. I might go easy on them (possibly only use one gun, take my time, give them a chance to realize that their anti-bot tactics won't work, see if they up their game as a result...). If they keep on trying multiple times, I might switch to newbie gear to give them a more fun fight.

Anybody who has all combat-related levels above 5 and below 8 or so is just a "newb" unless they have a decent number of PKs, and I'm less likely to go easy on them. If they have 10 or more PKs, they're a medium-newb.

Somebody with multiple levels up in the 9+s is intermediate, as is anybody with dozens of PKs. No mercy.

Anybody with a thousand PKs is a vet, as is anybody with any level above 20 or a few above 11. Be wary unless you know their abilities, preferably firsthand.

Anybody with combat levels of 5 or lower and high trade levels (9+) is an alt or an idiot.

Somebody with an Alpha or Beta badge is probably a vet, unless they're somebody who only played a little and then vanished for years. If they have basically no stats, they're probably a vet's alt.

Somebody with a levi hunter badge is probably a vet, or at least intermediate.

If they have a dueling badge, you should be wary.

---

Basically, a "grown" player will have most levels at least in the vicinity of 10, and at least a few dozen PKs under their belt. After that, PKs and badges tell you more about them than licenses.

E.g. if you look at me, I'm currently 13/12/11/16/7 - "trade" is my highest stat. But if you look at my character page, You'll see that I have very little in the way of trade badges, but more than five thousand PKs. This is because I'm a pirate who doesn't fear killing people in monitored space. The trade levels come from fixing my standing, rinsing, and repeating. People who do mostly PvE will have higher licenses but lower PK counts (but possibly massive total-kill counts). Traders will have high trade licenses, often without the high PK counts that pirates have (but some do, especially if they've been around for many years). They'll also have higher trade badges, and usually mining badges as well. Miners have tons of shiny colorful mining badges. Manufacturers have tridents, but not lives.
May 18, 2012 Woodlander link
Thanks Pizzasgood, TheRedSpy and ryan reign, appreciated!

I was looking at some youtube vids of VO pvp combat and caught a glimpse of someone who was working their way towards Combat License 15. I noticed that to get to CL 15 the pilot needed to have over half a million points. All I can say is WOW! That needs some serious dedication and character.
I have a feeling, all things being equal, that I'm going to be flying about and enjoying the VO universe for some considerable time to come.