Rumblings about a new BFR mechanic
One of our sources in San Diego has revealed to us an entirely new mechanic for obtaining BFRs (BattleFrame Robotics, for those of you not in the know). It seems that Planetside 2 is going to forgo the complicated certification procedure. Rather, all BFRs will be owned by the fictional BFRCorp (pronounced BifferCorp), who will rent BFRs to player characters for "BifferBucks."
It gets more complicated than that. BFRs can only be rented at a BFRCorp Franchise, which can be established by a player at any empire-controlled base (establishing a franchise requires a small upfront investment of BifferBucks). There can be multiple (up to five) BFRCorp franchises at any given base. The cost to rent a BFR is inversely proportional to the number of BFRCorp franchises your empire has running on the continent. The player who establishes the BFRCorp franchise (the franchisee) gets 1% of the gross profits of the franchise in BifferBucks. If your empire loses control of the base where your BFRCorp franchise has been established, the franchise goes away.
It gets worse. If an empire controls 75% of the structures on a given continent, another empire's troops cannot establish a BFRCorp franchise without first applying for a Zoning Variance (which costs BifferBucks). Zoning Variance applications are processed by the Auraxian Council (apparently a weighted random number generator) at a rate of about one every 10 minutes. An Expeditement can also be purchased for additional BifferBucks, which bumps your Zoning Variance to next in line.
Empires can gain favor with the Auraxian Council using a Political Action Committee in their favor. Empire members can make their Political Action Committee more powerful by donating BifferBucks. The PAC then sends lobbyists to the Auraxian Council, making them more likely to grant zoning variances in that empire's favor.
Players can buy BifferBucks at a rate of about 10 per dollar.