A patch went live today for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that features, among other things, the ability to buy “insurance” for your Forward Operating Base (FOB). For those not in the know, the FOB system is a mechanic in Phantom Pain where you build a base in a specific area for that allows you to receive more resources, send more teams on dispatch missions and recruit more men. It also gives you the option to invade another player’s FOB provided you are connected to the Konami server, allowing you to steal men and resources (or rescue your own men you lost when you got invaded).
This mechanic actually sparked a controversy prior to the game’s release due to having microtransactions which allowed you to build up your FOBs faster. But that will pale in comparison to what Konami has in store for you this time. Like I said, this “insurance” compensates any materials and staff you lost during an invasion. It is said that you can purchase this insurance through the MB Coins that are earned either through playing the game or through real-world money.
According to the official description, “Staff/materials stolen by the rival will in fact remain on your base, and an identical amount of staff/materials will be handed over to the rival instead.”
Of course there’s a catch! The coverage is for a limited time only. 50 MB coins for one day, 100 coins for three days, 200 coins for one week, and 300 coins for three weeks. And there are things not covered by this plan:
1. Staff/items that are not fully your property, such as abducted staff being held in your Brig (FOB)
2. Wounded staff (staff lost due to death or extraction will be compensated)
3. Staff used by you to deploy in defense of the FOB (neither death nor extraction will be compensated)
4. Nuclear weapons
While the FOB mechanic is a good way to speed up Mother Base development, maximize profits, and increase staff capacity, I’ve never seriously considered playing it because I’m just not that crazy for online shenanigans. I certainly don’t see the point of farming or paying real money to have the equivalent MB coins just to keep my FOBs “safe”.
The nearly 1GB patch also includes new deployment missions, new weapons and equipment, and a bunch of smaller patches.
Source:
Metal Gear Informer
Polygon
Konami