Possible new content added to game? "Solo homefronts"

PvE Gameplay Center Missions
1

Hey guys, I’ve thought of something called a “solo homefront”.

The solo homefront works as such:

Players can search for such missions in the opportunities tab or the agency tab.
Such missions are for a single player, and is not limited based on location, apart from perhaps J-space and Pochven. Maybe sov. Null is banned, too? Perhaps only allowed from NPC stations.
The player can then search for a mission, and since it is done “remotely”, as long as they are in an NPC station in empire space they can accept any mission, anywhere.
Not sure if it should be a server-wide pool of missions to complete, or if each player has their own mini-pool to choose from.
After accepting, the player’s consciousness is temporarily transferred to the location of the mission.
They are given a brief before accepting, and then full mission briefing once they have been transferred.
After completing the mission, their consciousness returns to their original location and the rewards are sent.
The mission will occur in deadspace, and no other players can warp to the location. The player will not appear in local, and neither will they be able to see local channels or other players. They are effectively isolated for the time being - only in the system.
Rewards could include ISK, LP, or parts of a grant which once enough are collected, allows the player to redeem the ship which they flew in at an NPC station of the correct faction.
So for example - I flew 20 Osprey missions, and I end up with 20 Osprey grant pieces which I can trade for an Osprey hull at a desired station.
Also - there could be LP for certain corporations which are the ones “asking for aid”.
I have thought of a few possible themes, and I will list them below:

EXAMPLE 1: COMBAT
player docked in Hirtamon
Mission briefing before accepting: “A Deep Core Mining enforcement team had to retreat from an engagement in Osmon. Fight your way out! No doubt DCM will reward you generously”
accepts mission
player is moved to Osmon, in a DCM Merlin, in a fleet with other DCM ships
Mission briefing upon transfer: “This DCM patrol was ambushed by Guristas forces as they scouted out an asteroid belt. The pilot of the ship you are piloting was incapacitated as he collided with an asteroid during their hasty withdrawal. You must now take his place - fight your way out of this trap - and keep your fleet alive.”
player closes the dialogue, and the hostiles spawn
messages appear in local - similar to combat anomalies
player completes mission
Pop-up message: “Capsuleer, we are grateful for your aid. Please return your ship to [NPC station in system] and sign-off. You will be generously awarded”
player docks at the designated station and signs off
player is returned to original station in Hirtamon
Dialogue upon return: “Thank you [player name], your efforts are greatly appreciated. Please, take this as a sign of gratitude.”
offers ISK, Caldari or DCM LP, and Merlin grants
player presses “complete mission”, and receives rewards

EXAMPLE 2: HAULING
player docked in Thebeka
Mission briefing before accepting: “A Nurtura transport is not responding to traffic control. Find out what’s going on. Nurtura hopes for the best.”
accepts mission
player in moved to Shuria, in a Nurtura Sigil, in a fleet with other Nurtura ships in the middle of combat
Mission briefing upon transfer: “We don’t know what’s going on - the convoy should have checked in a while back. Luckily the fleet’s Sigil is carrying precious cargo - and we fitted it with remote control systems should the ship become hijacked. Find out what’s going on and bring them back - the fleet’s all yours.”
player closes dialogue
NPC fleet commander transmission: capsuleer - we need your help! The crew of your ship were knocked out by an EMP blast, and our long-range comms are inoperable. You must not let the cargo fall into enemy hands - once this interdiction field falls - warp to the rendezvous point and wait for back-up!
interdiction field falls, and player warps
Squad commander transmission: “We’ve arrived at the designated safe point - the enemy should be some distance away now.”
player closes dialogue
hostile ship decloaks, and scrams the hauler
Squad commander transmission: “Dammit, how did they get here first! We can jam it’s weapons, active your warp core stabiliser and dock at [NPC station in system]! We can take them from here!”
player docks at the designated station and signs-off
player is returned to the original station in Thebeka
Dialogue upon return: “Thank you [player name] for your decisive actions. We had no idea there was an ambush, until you were inserted. Don’t worry, CONCORD are arriving as we speak - those criminals will get what they deserve. Please, take this as a sign of gratitude.”
offers ISK, Amarr or Nurtura LP, and Sigil grants
player presses “complete mission”, and receives rewards

So all in all, it’s a bit like a career agent mission, however the rewards could be slightly tweaked. Also, they are accessible from almost anywhere.

It has been mentioned to me that this seems a bit like abyssals, but it is very different because “solo homefronts”:

“Solo homefronts”:

Are linked to NPC corporations and factions - and allow you to gain standings, LP and other loot (details which clearly need polishing).

Are, unlike abyssals, structured and the player knows what they are getting into.

Are much more varied than abyssals - rather than JUST combat, players can complete hauling, hacking, scanning, combat, and mining missions (so yeeesss, a teeeeny-tiny overlap with the existing homefronts - but hear me out…).

Are affected by where you complete them from. So for example, missions for the Caldari faction or Caldari corps can only be done in Caldari and Amarr, and vice versa (FW allies).

Are only for single player.

Are similar to career agents, except with more rewards and possibility for progression.

Allow players - especially newer ones - to fly ships without the risk of losing their own ISK (because according to the storyline they are helping an NPC who is in trouble anyway so if they succeed amazing, if not then nothing changes).

Allow players to gain standings without having to fight in FW.

Allow players - especially the newer ones - to get free ships (nothing blingy, I’m talking 20 completed missions of the same class (e.g. enforcer for an osprey) for a T1 cruiser).

And as for the issue of moving players remotely without having to “move” - I get that, it’ll be exploits galore because you know how everyone tries to find workaround. The concept of these “solo homefronts” is that the players do not actually “move”. Not sure if I mentioned this before - but the player will accept the mission, and their consciousness get moved remotely. They effectively are piloting the ship remotely, from their original location. Now - players cannot see local, and local cannot see the player. The player will be in deadspace and therefore no players can interact with them, or vice versa. They can’t dock or warp or jump anywhere except from where they need to (if they need to). And if they happen to quit or fail the mission, since they never “left” their original location, they will just end up back there, exactly as they were before. And if they die in the mission, the same thing happens and they don’t lose any implants since they are piloting an NPC ship remotely.

If anyone likes the idea or has any suggestions, please do let me know!

1 Like
2

So basically you want a mission system that is 100% Safe.

No possibility of being ganked or otherwise interdicted by other players?

How about: NO?

3 Likes
3

Can’t stress this hard enough.

4

We’re playing MMO here.

1 Like
5

Well I suppose you could look at it like that. On the other hand, it’s perfectly possible to fail the mission, as well as lose standings with other entities. Also the rewards look to be low, hence the low risk low reward. It’s similar to doing a T0 abyss in HS, who would gank you there?

6

I see the usual crowd are against anything that won’t give them easy targets.

As for the OP, I would like to see some solo homefront missions as well, well anything a solo player can do, including new level 1 to 4 missions.

4 Likes
7

The ENTIRE point of homefronts was for GROUP content.

Answer is no and CCP is unlikely to go against their goals of MORE group content. Not less.

3 Likes
8

As part of the triglavian introductory arc we had various phases, I forget exactly which but for for a while we had these sites called Emerging Conduits (EC’s) These were fantastic relatively well balanced (you could die if you ■■■■■■ up solo). Sadly they disappeared in the final phase as they succeeded in making a giant space triangle, the world arcs where also quite fun but not solo. As far as content goes it sounds like this is what your after, as are lots of others I’m sure. Bringing those or something similar back would cover that ground between lvl4/lvl5 missions.

As mentioned though CCP move slowly and don’t have a very big gun, they are aiming at group, fleet and null sec content at the moment so solo and high sec wont be high on the agenda.

1 Like
9

This. The activity exists mainly as a low barrier of entry into PvE group content in order to encourage people to work together with others. To socialise, make friends, get to know other players.

Even then, people manage to multibox it solo.

10

Eve already has lots of solo content - agent missions, anomalies, signatures, Epic Arcs, etc… at various levels from new player in a frigate to seasoned veteran in a marauder. If CCP has some spare dev time to invest in solo content, I’d rather they update the existing content to current standards than create something new. There will always be an element of risk from other players - that’s the nature of the sandbox - but you can easily mitigate that risk. There are heavily trafficked systems near trade hubs that attract predators and there are backwater systems that are rarely visited. You choose the risk/reward balance that you are comfortable with.

1 Like
11

You’d think that after 20 years they’d realise that a great many players enjoy solo play.

Likewise you’d think that players like you and others would have realised that solo players WILL NOT be herded into content they have absolutely no interest in.

How hard is that to understand?

12

Then do not do the group content?

As someone who prefers solo play in games I understand entirely that multiplayer games need to have enticing group content in order to encourage players to group up and meet new people. Low barrier of entry group content in high security space like homefronts.

As a solo player in most games, like yourself I usually skip that kind of content and play whatever solo options there are, and in EVE there are plenty.

I don’t go asking to change these activities - which are intended to let new players know how group content works - into solo activities, as that would undermine their purpose, the reason these activities exist in EVE in the first place.

This is group content. Go play something else if you don’t want to group up?

Luckily EVE has done a great job at making group content fun and enjoyable not because of the mechanics, but because of the necessity to trust and rely on other players while doing those things. Because of that EVE is the only multiplayer game where I really found a group of players I enjoy playing with. I can really recommend trying to group up.

Nevertheless, if you want to play solo on your own schedule I can understand that.

Just stop asking for group content to be undermined to fit your playstyle.

13

I also ignore that content, but it doesn’t stop me wishing there were more new level 1 to 4 missions added, especially after 20 years.

Other games add so much content (both group and solo) it can be hard to catch up. WOW have added NPC’s for solo players to run dungeons/instances with.

Next year they’ll be releasing Delve with more solo play.

Also don’t presume I have always played solo, I’ve been here 12 years and been there done that in Null with groups whether it’s sat bored on a gate camp or fleeting up, and one day I might go back.

But this isn’t just about me, I’m not the only player wanting more attention paid to solo play.

It exists as a very large part of the player base and it’s about time CCP recognised that. Or maybe they’re worried that more players might enjoy it and take something away from other parts of the game?

14

There is content that is specifically made for solo players in EVE.

The problem with solo gameplay in an open universe like EVE is that it often is trivialized by just throwing more ships at it. Yet on the other hand, limiting the content to a single ship and forcing the encounter to be solo means there is no possibility for interactions with other players, which also isn’t good for the game.

EVE found a solution for these constraints and made the Abyssals. Challenging solo content on demand wherever you are in space. And you still leave a trace at which your ship will arrive within 20 minutes to enable player interactions.

1 Like
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it’s slightly different to abyssals in the sense that you don’t need to prepare your own ship to complete the mission. Of course, this takes a lot of the risk away and therefore the rewards will also be lower. Also you can gain standings with factions and corps and earn LP.