Great concepts here but a lot of people going in circles. Important points to move forwards and discuss:
Is a player created and driven ‘sandbox’ enabled arena possible?
- I say, yes, of course. Both in spirit in current content and in potential for a large powerful corp to organize and guard. Possible yes, but it would inevitably devolve into open PvP or one big gank party, a mess. It would not be open to the lower tier players for every reason, mostly ISK, and only be fun for those who already are rich, powerful, protected, and experienced.
What is the point of having a NPC run Arena for ‘fun?’ Benefits, potential downsides?
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It would be accessible to all, regardless of affiliation, bank, or skill level. I don’t see how in any way it would replace or take away from any other PvP interactions. Besides, in this ‘sandbox’ you can make your own choices. You don’t ever have to participate in the parts you don’t like. If you think it could take away from PvP content then all the high sec haulers, brokers, and mission runners also take away from PvP content. Just because someone chooses not to go out into high gank zones doesnt mean they take away from anything. If you are already sour about lack of content then you are not taking the risks necessary to find it and therefore are some kind of carebear who only sits in one place and wishes for freebies to pop in.
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An arena would be great, you could have players who don’t ever PvP get a taste and experienced players show off. It would add layers to the game and take nothing away.
What would an Arena look like? How would it work?
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They could create new system restricted to pods only, where pods cannot be targeted. Go in dock up. There should be a queue system and options for different modes, 1v1, 5v5, whatever. Or a rolling entrance to pre-generated modes that auto begin once teams are full.
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There should be a ranking system and possibly rewards, preferably Arena ONLY rewards like trophies or cosmetic items for use only in the arena, or some other proof of bragging rights.
If it was implemented what would the results be? Clearly an “I think” answer.
- It would become terrible. I think it would add a toxic element to the game and it would either become an empty zone with people crying about it or just a massive waste of time to try and play it because you always get people on your team who cannot play at all and just ruin the session. It would quickly become understood as a huge waste of time on CCP’s part.
Conclusion: If you want to play spacearenagame.exe find a different game. If you want to play Eve, get out there and play. However I think CCP with all its experience and knowledge about space games and virtual ship mechanics and PvP balance could produce a fantastic stand alone space ship combat arena game. Good Luck!