Arshat-Gates, aka Giving Fortresses a Purpose

[Clyde_ElectraGlide]

Based on the technology acquired from Arshat, a system that initially went First Liminality until it was fought back in to a fortress by Edencom-aligned capsuleers, Edencom has managed to establish links between its fortresses using the weaving processes the Triglavians used to establish the Pochven region. While multiple destinations could have been established by using this technology, meddling from the four empires mandated that these Edencom gates could only be used between systems in a single empire’s space, or jointly with the Khanid and Ammatar in the case of the Amarr. Said maps for established gates would be here:

(because there’s an odd number of fortresses, I figured it could be written as Arshat’s link doesn’t work due to the present, albeit limited stellar manipulation performed on its star)

Normal jumps for fortress routes:
Samanuni-Hentogaira - 19
Avesber-Bongveber - 12
Eygfe-Teonusude - 6
Anbald-Gelfiven - 13
Odixie-Bawilan - 11
Adrallezoen-Misneden - 7
Fasse-Pulin - 7
Boystin-Palmon - 22
Pertnineere-Caslemon - 15
Esaeel-Haimeh - 16
Chibi-Keri - 14
Neesher-Halibai - 17
Soumi-Arzanni - 8
Keberz-Anzalaisio - 21
Asanot-Aband - 14
Hiremir-Seiradih - 10
Kothe-Ahmak - 10
Ghesis-Khopa - 7
Mamenkhanar-Anila - 8
Shaggoth-Faswiba - 9
Yeeramoun-Barira - 8
Sadye-Warouh - 9
Miakie-Abha - 20
Arton-Sasta - 16
Mendori-Astabih - 15
Jark-Uanzin - 8

Usage of these gates would require a 4.0 Edencom standing, as well as an access key obtainable at the DED LP store, or sold by players on the market. LP store price would be determined by how accessible obtaining DED LP will be in the future, but ideally it won’t cost too much. I’d work a mechanic in to where fleets of up to 10 can use these gates provided that the FC has 4.0 standings and each member has at least 2.0, but I’m not sure if that’s possible. These would also only be usable on a once per day basis, reset after DT.

Edencom fleets would be present at each gate, but they’d mostly just be for show as those with negative Edencom standings wouldn’t be able to use the gates. In a perfect world there wouldn’t be a standing requirement for Edencom gates or Trig gates, but I guess they want us to join forces against the drifters, so… shrug

Anyways, there’s some content you can put in to Fortress systems, CCP.

[Ramona_McCandless]

They’ll save that for the next time they want to do a “fantastic” event, you know, where Edencom ships are buffed hard to make them more attractive to purchase.

[Clyde_ElectraGlide]

I still think they were a mistake to be released like that. It’s like in League of Legends when Riot comes up with a new mechanic for a champ that they think would be fun or interesting, yet ends up warping the meta so much that they have to nerf it to the point that it’s useless.

[Nana_Skalski]

Restrictions in using those gates make them just “meh”. They should be accessible at 0.5 (and excluding those with positive triglavian standing), without items, maybe a small ISK fee but thats it.

[Clyde_ElectraGlide]

I had had it explained to me that factions are really only able to check what their own standings are relative to you, and not able to tell how much another faction likes or dislikes you. I feel like at least some restrictions are necessary, because some of the gates basically turn 20+ jump journeys in to just one jump. Also, places like one of the hisec islands in Aridia, and Solitude as a whole would be way more accessible than they should be. I’m just okay with the two connections I suggested (Caslemon-Pertnineere and Palmon-Boystin) because you’d have to go through at least some lowsec to get there.

I do think gates like this could work, and obviously they shouldn’t be the only things people can interact with in fortress systems. But it’d also need some restrictions put on it so that they don’t just completely supplant the existing gate network, especially in Amarrian space.

[Inxentas_Ultramar]

I think it’s a pretty cool idea, at least in principle.

[Kezrai_Charzai]

Also fine with the idea, in principle. Edencom sites should have some ‘cool’ factor to them. Would be nice to have some new shortcuts and routes.

However I’m not familiar enough with the starmap and those specific jumps to know if there’s a way to exploit/abuse them. The first thing any dev should ask when reviewing a change like this is “How would a knowledgeable group of players use this system to break things? What’s the biggest exploit or side effect they could do? What will it do to shipping routes and supply lines (esp. Null<->Hi routes)?”

In general it’s not what you intend that makes an idea good or bad. It’s the unintended side effects that people develop to gain maximum benefit.

[Clyde_ElectraGlide]

Updated the maps using Dotlan. The old ones were kinda messy, but yeah, this is a better way of showing it. I’ll edit the post later to add in how many jumps would be saved by using the Edencom gates.

The purpose of the restrictions would be to curb people exploiting the system too blatantly, so that entire swathes of systems aren’t just forgotten about. The one-per-day restriction in particular would make it ideal for people who intend to go to one area of space farther away and stay there for a while, whereas people going back and forth would still have to do that, except for the first time. The only real noticeable change in shipping routes, besides someone using a gate to save a couple jumps on their trip, would be that there might perhaps be a closer lowsec system to Amarr for JFs to use. Also, Solitude would become much closer to the rest of Federation space, albeit with at least one lowsec to go through in the case of the Pertnineere-Caslemon gate, and a similar effect but with two jumps would be achieved with the Chibi-Keri gate.

Also, there would probably be a positive side effect in reinvigorating Rens as a trade hub, since it will have more options for close systems to JF things out of.