OC 2.0 is a great rework, but are we leaving anything on the table?
TL;DR: OC 2.0 is a great rework, but it’s still click, join, wait, payday, repeat. Here are 4 bonus-only ideas to make OCs feel like true endgame faction co-op.
During Torncon EU, I had an awesome conversation with Velthir and DarkSkorpio about the game and my perspective on OC 2.0.
My take on OC is that we’re leaving some fun on the table right now. Currently it’s still just a one-click join, and during the OC (both the planning and active phases), there’s nothing you can do to affect the outcome. Except making sure you have the OC item on your person.
I find that a bit boring :-(
I think OC's should be the endgame of crimes in Torn, and therefore I want to suggest that it should encourage more faction collaboration.
How cool would it be that within your faction you would be encouraged to find your OC-team and stick with them because good teammates would make the success percentage or the eventual reward of the OC higher. Right now I just click on the highest OC level that has an open spot for me with a checkpoint pass rate that is considered good enough by my faction. And in some factions (like the one I am in) because of the introduction of the Utilities tab. Having the required item on your person is completely outsourced to an OC-manager.
I want to note that I am not trying to suggest a complete overhaul here, I don’t want the idea to be shot down immediately because the suggestion is too big of an ask of staff and devs. The ideas support the current AKF OC way and are built on top of it as a bonus.
So let's explore some options:
1. Online check-in bonus
Proposal:
Add an online check-in bonus as a modifier on top of existing OC calculations. You get this modifier when online at the start of the OC. The effect would be +0.25% success chance per online member, capped at +1%. This modifier would apply to each role.
Why this is interesting:
Well to reward activity ofcourse. It’s a well known reward structure in Torn already. A great example is the online presence of the faction members in Escensio Incursus at a Ranked War start and how they overwhelm their opponent, not by size, but by activity 🐀.
A small activity bonus makes people care who they run OC’s with. Reliable and active teammates become valuable. Which naturally encourages stable OC-teams. Factions will naturally encourage stable teams because it’s worth it.
Implementation notes:
This should be a bonus-only layer. Torn already tracks player activity, so it’s likely not a huge lift data wise. How it looks in the UI, I will leave that with the devs ☺️
2. Role/position streak bonus
Proposal:
Add a role/position streak bonus as a modifier on top of existing OC calculations. You get this modifier when you join the same position in the same OC type and level back-to-back. E.g. Hacker in a level 7 “Blast from the Past” again. The effect would be +0.25% success chance per consecutive run, capped at +2.5%. This modifier would apply to that specific role/position only.
Why this is interesting:
This rewards consistency and specialization. If I keep playing the same role, it makes sense that I get a little better at it over time. It also makes people care more about team composition and sticking together, because having “your Hacker” or “your Muscle” actually matters. A small streak bonus encourages factions to build stable OC squads where everyone knows their job, without forcing anyone into it.
Implementation notes:
Also a bonus-only layer. Torn already knows which OC you joined and the details of it, so tracking a simple “streak” per player per OC type/level/position seems doable data wise. The streak should reset if you switch position or switch OC type/level. How it looks in the UI, again I will leave that with the devs
3. Team streak bonus
Proposal:
Add a team streak bonus as a modifier on top of existing OC calculations. You get this modifier when you join an OC with the same faction members back-to-back. If it should be the same OC level/type is up for discussion. The effect would be +0.25% success chance per consecutive run, capped at +2.5%. This modifier would apply to the whole OC team.
Why this is interesting:
This rewards teamwork and chemistry. If you consistently run OCs with the same people, you should naturally get better as a group. A small team streak bonus makes it worthwhile to form “OC squads” inside a faction and stick with them, instead of always joining whatever has an open spot. It also makes OCs feel more like an endgame faction activity where collaboration matters.
Implementation notes:
Again, bonus layer only. Torn already knows exactly who participated in each OC run, so it’s likely “just” tracking whether the current team matches the previous team for each participant and incrementing a streak when it’s the same. The streak should reset if the team changes even one member.
4. Introduction of skill checks to OC roles
This is the boldest idea and the hardest to implement. I don’t expect staff to implement this suggestion since it for sure is a heavy lift. But it does show my vision for endgame OC’s.
Proposal:
Introduce small skill expressions during OC's that are role-specific that let players influence success chance and/or reward. Again here to just an optional bonus layer.
Why this is interesting:
OC’s should be the end game of crimes. And skill expressions for specific roles, gives factions a co-op multiplayer activity that isn’t just wars. It opens up a whole new dimension of multiplayer that is not pvp. I think it would be really cool for Torn.
Potential Ideas:
- Quick memory game
- Typeracer-style input for roles like Hacker/Imitator
- Mini hangman / word puzzle themed to the OC
Concerns:
As anything competitive in Torn, skill expressions are prone to scripts/macros, so starting as bonus-only would be best.
Final notes
I haven’t even touched on the fact you can also play around with the idea that some roles maybe instead of improving success rate, could improve the OC reward. And the synergy that all options have with each other. And by implementing them, how it would force factions to deal with the randomness of faction OC spawning and keeping their team bonuses alive. The options are endless.
The main point I want to get across is: OCs have the potential to be THE faction co-op gameplay with actual play time, not just another click and wait out the timer and get money feature.
