Based on ideas like the Swedish CV90120-T Ghost tank which uses thermal imagery to change its perceived profile, and the spider-tailed horned viper (Pseudocerastes urarachnoides) which lies in ambush and uses its tail to lure birds. A proposal is a new ship of cruiser or battle cruiser size which does not cloak but instead projects an image that visually and to all sensors (eg Dscan) that looks like a Venture mining (a Venture just sitting there would look more suspicious). Like the viper, it is able to strike rapidly (minimal delay between looking like a Venture and deploying armaments, tackle, etc).
While there are players who work in a group to use decoys, this would be a single player ship and would not require anybody else to be in system (again making it less obvious)
Able to operate in all areas (High, Low and Null sec)
Can only decoy if static.
Could be a module rather than a dedicated ship.
Stops looking like a Venture when moving. Dscan shows true nature if ship moving.
While looking to all intents as purposes as a Venture, the only thing I canāt do is operate the same way, eg retains the cruser,/battle cruisers speed and inertia, etc.
Probably would need armament able to combat long range kiting gankers.
I think a camo ship would be a really funny surprise for anyone who decides to attack a small venture, and I can see this working. The problem is that this would be really easy to abuse, or find some exploit for.
Already exists. It is called āCloaking Deviceā. It makes you look like ānothingā. Even on Dscan. People use it all the time and the Camo Effect even looks pretty nice ingame, a bit like glass and diamonds. Just fit one of these and all your problems with gankers are gone.
OP, if Iām not mistaken, I think you can do this today!
You do it by fitting a venture with blasters, shield, scram, bulkhead rigs, and damage controls.
You then sit āafkā in a belt and wait for the catalyst.
Bonus points: it also looks like a Venture and shows up on DScan as a Venture while moving too!
Once you do this a bunch I would be curious how your experience shows why your additional idea is needed. What gaping game mechanic hole is missing. Iām afraid without you trying this, we have no way of knowing.
The concept itself is pretty entertaining. But, you can do this with most ships, simply disguise them as PvE ships (barges are also excellent for baiting), and wait. Most people will be caught off guard, but I do think if it was added to the game it would be used a lot, ultimately making it useless, as everyone would see the āventureā as likely threat and just ignore it. Fun on paper, bad in practice.
Itās a great idea, on paper. However, the design team reports that they are still having trouble compressing the hyperflux graviton wave field which is generated by the gravity well emanating around the ships central warpcore nexus emitter. This is really just a quantum extension of the fact that cruisers and battlecruisers are much larger than a Venture. Collapsing the wave field seems easy enough, but other ships can consistently detect each other merely through the gravity well. I believe this was tried during Ragnolās rebellion against Lord Hyperius during the Second Great Gallente Ice Interdiction, but nobody was fooled by freighter size Ventures.
I think its a good idea. But its may be a technical challenge to accomplish but also shapeshifting should be permanent, i mean it should be on when you are moving and jumping, otherwise the chances of being caught is too big and nobody will do it.
Last but not least i dont think it will move the needle on ganking but it will introduce interesting new ships/gameplay for roaming fleets and solo PVP assuming it gets balanced correctly.
@Syzygium - Think you missed the point. The whole point of this is to pretend to be something you are not to encourage attack. Hence the āSpider Tailā nameā¦ which is how that snake hunts. @TheHound_OfGreys . I would also be wondering about abuse, hence thoughts about how to limit it now. Some ships donāt show up on D-scan anyway. The thoughts on this are to deliberately let yourself be visible on D-scan, just with a much smaller signature than the ships actual size. A limiting factor would be it can be only active when stationary. Doesnāt really matter if youāre seen moving into a system. Only those passing you at the gates actually see your ship class or when within their Dscan range while you moving. Once stationary and lying in wait your signature changes (if deploying hunting mode for lack of better term). Even in HS thereās enough systems with heavy throughput or minimal traffic that unless your presence is being broadcast via a chat channel, itās unlikely others would know (at least while youāre in hunting mode). Not so sure about the venture becoming seen as a threat. Itās ubiquitous enough that less experienced players might still go for it. Bit like RL, things need to be tried out to see how the dynamics actually play out. We can theorise about interplayer dynamics like crazy, but admittedly something like this also depends on how itās introduced (eg module or ship, omega or alpha possible, skill level (affecting ability to decoy), etc.
Might work. Would need to try out fits that allow you deal with a catalyst, but I was thinking more along the lines of something that could give a cruiser pause for thought.
@Dchill@0ptimus_Swine Possibly wonāt affect Ganking, but for some players itās a different way to play. Thereās already plenty of solo PVP. So it might even encourage more N+1 PVP rather than solo, if those wanting to engage in PVP become concerned about harassing smaller ships that look easy targets . But although thereās a lot of communal activities. Thereās plenty within EVE that is not and in order for EVE to be interesting to a broader RL market of players it needs both communal and individual opportunities of play.
Hi Raven, I was drawing attention to the notion of ālong range kiting gankersā. Thereās no such thing.
I take your point that nature gives our military masters - and the scientists and technologists who supply them - boundless ideas for eliminating those they wish, for whatever reason, to remove.
Weāre talking EVE here. Try to work out how such an idea might be implemented in the game, and set out your considered opinion, perhaps in a new thread.
Iāll certainly take a critical look at it. Sometimes it is useful to have an opponent off whom to bounce ideas. Balance, and all that.
Also, Iām not sure that āarmed merchant shipsā is particularly successful in real life, and their arming does increase costs, insurance and consumer prices. Certain examples spring readily to mind. Are you a military person?
Thank you for that, Arthur. I am quite aware of (modern) efforts to protect shipping. My knowledge of WWII craft is limited to what was required of me to pass the History exam, when I was 16.
You havenāt explained exactly how you would implement such a thing in EVE. Of course, If youāre just āthrowing it out thereā, then I need not respond further. My time is also valuable.
As I mentioned in another thread, allowing certain hulls to sport an assault damage control (ADC) with possibly a bonus to duration would at least give haulers a chance to survive the initial gank.
. But although thereās a lot of communal activities. Thereās plenty within EVE that is not and in order for EVE to be interesting to a broader RL market of players it needs both communal and individual opportunities of play.