Are you quite sure that is true for the arc? Although the % bonus gained decreases, the fact that the FP rewards goes up means that typically you can earn a net FP profit by working with a group to level your arcs up high.
I get where you are going with this. But it's not quite the subject matter of the post you are quoting me from.
The bonus resources we score (FPs, Medals, and blueprints) from owning an Arc are actually a very complex function of many different factors:
- Our Arc's current level, which in turn determines the specific GB donation reward % bonus that will get multiplied to any GB donation reward that we score. This is specifically what my quote above pertains to. Each Arc level above level 10 will only raise the GB donation reward % bonus +1%. In contrast, leveling up the Arc to each different GB level between level 1 and level 10 (inclusive) yields a much larger increase in the GB donation reward bonus than every level above 10.
- The specific GB we are donating to. Donating FPs to a level 10 SoZ is never going to pay the same total rewards as donating FPs to a level 10 Alcatraz. Some GBs just have better returns on investment than others.
- The specific GB level we are donating to. Donating to any level 1 GB is never going to yield as much ROI as donating to a level 10 GB. Even if we had a +100 % donation reward bonus. Scoring 200% of 10 FPs is still only 20 FPs.
- The specific donation reward slot we secure on the current level of the target GB we are donating to. The player who secures the 1st slot always gets paid the largest base package of donation rewards (before any Arc bonuses is applied) and the player in the 6th slot never gets paid anything. So the math here works the same as the math for point #3 above. Scoring 200% of 0 FPs is still only 0 FPs.
Leveling up the Arc from Level 10 to level 11 will cost 995 FPs and yet only increase our Donation Reward Bonus +1%. Since every Arc level above 10 will only increase the donation reward bonus +1%, and since each level will cost more-and-more FPs, the specific case of raising the Arc from level 10 to level 11 is the best case scenario — the higher up we level the Arc, the more FPs each higher level will cost yet we still only get +1%. So let's look at the true impact of increasing the Arc's donation reward bonus +1%.
Securing 1st place on a level 30 Alcatraz pays a base rewards package of:
330
2,816
7
I'm choosing a very high and lucrative GB level here to illustrate my point.
Now let's buff the base rewards above by a Level 10 Arc donation reward bonus of +31%
We would score: 433
3,689
9
Now let's buff the base rewards by a Level 11 Arc donation reward bonus of +32%
We would score: 439
3,745
9
So the total increase between us owning a level 10 Arc and a level 11 Arc when scoring:
- On the same reward slot
- On the same GB level
- And on the same GB type
would be:
+6
+56
+0
So our +1% increase in donation reward bonus, which we paid 995 FPs for, managed to increase our net reward package by what you see above. We would need to score 1st place on a Level 30 Alcatraz 167 times, before we would get back the value of the extra 995 FPs we paid for level 11, when only scoring +6 FPs more each time we scored thusly.
Now let's say we took the same 995 FPs and instead applied them to a brand new SoZ that for some reason we skipped earlier in the game and just now put down in the Stix. We would quickly level our SoZ up from level 0 to level 7, even to almost half-way between level 7 and level 8. These 7 GB levels would combine to increase of our city's combat bonus +21%/+21%, for the same total cost of 995 FPs. By my math, the value of a +21%/+21% combat bonus is worth a Hell of lot more total value to my city than increasing my reward for securing 1st place on a level 30 Alcatraz a grand total +6 FPs, +56 medals, and +0 blueprints.
I wish there was a heavy questing guild on E world. It's much slower leveling up my GBs without others who are just as dedicated to the style of play. I'm in HMA and I have two FP swap buddies in Oceanic Future so I can get top contribution spots on high level GBs that I need prints for, but it's slow going because they need so many FPs to level them. In order to save my FP packs I only spend 1/2 of whatever I get from my daily recurring quests, so often people with high level Arcs swoop before I can lock even third.