Because they are rare and on top of that you don’t always have the time to run them within 24 hours, at the very least, bind them to the region you got it. Some escalations have multiple stages and nothing is more frustrating than having the destinations in different regions, i.e. enemy/inaccessible territory.
I understand that the goal of these escalations is to send you on an excursion, but 1 region is big enough to accomplish this goal. So I suggest to bind the escalations and all its stages in the region it was found.
Some additional information :
Let’s talk numbers. IN THE LAST YEAR, I completed successfully only 1 escalation/expedition with multiple stages. I got in total maybe 10 escalations of this type.
To have a chance to get an expedition, you need to scan an unknown signature hoping to get an unrated complex Combat sites - EVE University Wiki.
I’d say I got an escalation every 7 or 8 sites. That means I ran about 70-80 sites in the year.
Amongst the 10 escalations I got, I probably cancelled 5 of them because the 24 hour delay is way too short. Once you sleep, work and take care of real life responsibilities, not much time is left. 4 of them were unfinished or rejected because the destination was in hostile territory.
So in my case, if the change I suggest would be implemented, I would have, at the most, completed 5 expeditions in 1 year from those 70-80 unrated complexes I ran.
Obviously, that’s the problem. I want more content to enjoy, but the chances for me to run an escalation is way too low. If it’s too low for me, pretty sure it’s too low for plenty of people.
then its bad luck that you wont take the risk t cross the regional border ! chose another ratting system and you will have escalations within your region ! problem solved …
then change your strategy to fly this escalations ! but you are to scared to cross the region boarder !? its not a game problem is a personal problem !
I want to get a tiny increase in content diversity, this might be selfish of me, but most suggestions are egoistical. I understand that you want to preserve statu quo…
Well, thank you very much for pointing out that my suggestion is useless and that the problem I see with escalations is personal. We need people like you to monitor these forums. Have a good day !
Hello.
Don’t feed the troll please. Let it starve. He has no idea what expeditions are, or how the game works in general. You can safely ignore whatever his opinion is.
I agree that 24H delay is bad, should be 7 days instead.
However binding escalation to a region would reduce a LOT the amount you can have. The escalations follow an algorithm to find the next system, and if the algorithm does not find an adequate system you have no escalation/expedition. Sometimes the only acceptable system is in another region.
However I agree that having to make 4×10 jumps without any reward at the end is frustrating, to the point I simply ignore the expeditions.
Thats why most of them shall be ingnored unless a real benefit for the majority of the players can be pointed out.
What I see as consequence in your suggestion is:
it will become far easier to run escalations without much risk, because you will (as you have pointed out) not get them in “enemy territory”
that will directly result to more of their rewards being farmed (mostly deadspace items, c-type, b-type, a-type etc…)
that will, forced by the rules of the market, lead to a devaluation of these items
Conclusion:
those who want to take less risks may or may not have more ISK than now, because they might farm more but earn less per farming run because the items are worth much less
those who right now do take the risks and do them in “enemy territory” will have a lot less ISK, because for them the items will also have less value
This means: Risk-averse players and those with no intentions to learn ninja-farming skills to grab stuff in enemy territory are rewarded, if not financially then by the fact that they can run more “content” that is right now too risky for them. Courageous and skilled people are punished by lowering their rewards. Which will lead to people having less intentions to learn mechanics, because they can rather riskless do all they want anyway. Which is bad for the game.
No, they are punished because expedition have crap rewards, some have even less reward than anomalies. Some have no reward at all until the final one, which may or may not be reachable. Imagine doing 40 jumps for “the trail is cold”.
It has nothing to do with “enemy territory”. It’s just plainly bad.
Now other people may have worthy expeditions. That’s good to know. When I tried them they were in the vast majority completely worthless AND required a lot of travel.
Your personal experiences don’t give you a fair view on the whole matter. I have run many escalations/expeditions and the loot gained was sometimes close to zero, sometimes billions. It averages out if you run many of them, but you actually need to do it to at least have a chance for a jackpot drop. But thats not the point in my reply. Make them spawn more close doesn’t change the fact that they sometimes drop simply nothing. And it doesn’t change the fact that if you get something, it would be of less value if everyone could grab it pretty easily.
On the other hand, the current high-value options of consistent PvE income sources completely devalue escalations/expeditions, because you can make a lot more money from just ignoring them and do your usual stuff. But thats another issue, the regular L4 blitzing and Abyssalrunning in Highsec simply pays way too much ISK compared to other activities in comparison. Why bother with traveling 20, 30 or 40 jumps for a “possible” 300 million drop (lets say "on average, but also maybe end up with nothing or even a destroyed ship if I have to go to low/null) if I can have 300 million (on average) in the same time just doing what I always do?
How many expeditions have you run in low sec/null sec in the last year ?
I don’t expect an honest answer since you have a clear conflict of interest with the position you took on this topic…
In my case, to get 10 escalations available I needed to scan between 140 and 240 unknown signatures. I had to run 70-80 sites and in the end I completed only 1 expedition. That’s a ■■■■ load of time and effort for very little reward per hour. Even if I would have completed 5 expeditions instead of one, I’d say that’s still a tiny reward/hour. If you decide to run these sites with friends for better protection, that’s even less reward.
I might add that any normal person not living in a prison or at his mom’s can’t expect to run all expeditions that pop within the 24 hour delay. So even hardcore players who are ready to risk it all with the enemy’s intel channel will probably run less than 60% of expeditions they get.
If you suggest to SIMPLY avoid this worthless activity, then why not fix it ? By doing so, it’ll add more diversity to my activities. Binding it to a region won’t break the market, there’s just too much time and randomness involved.
I have nothing against fixing it, just not the way you suggested. It if was up to me, CCP can go look at the rates such expeditions spawn and are completed and how much value they generate. And then adjust some of the variables to make them more worthwhile to run.
However, the need to leave your comfort zone and travel deep into unknown (and sometimes enemy/hostile) territory should stay.
When you live in null sec, even friendly territory is hostile. At the very least, you’re not flagged in an intel’s channel. Also some alliances forbid any activity in another friendly alliance territory…
Why should CCP care what alliances forbid? Thats player-made rules. Break them. Bend them. Ignore them. Change them. If you “can’t” do some content because your alliance forbids you to do it, thats not a game-mechanic problem that needs fixing.
The question before changing a content is: Are effort, risk and reward in balance? If the concept of “expeditions” is to lead you far away from your home space, deep into probably hostile space, they should pay well and give you options to actually complete them. So, as a first step, they can maybe increase the time you have to follow the tracks / complete them, increase minimum loot drop so you’ll get at least a nice bunch of ISK if you are able to complete them but still have a chance for a jackpot drop. Reduce chance to them suddenly disappearing to prevent frustration after 40 jumps etc… There are more ways to fix them than just making them comfortably spawning in your home region.
It averages out to what ?
rated escalations can give a good loot . Unrated ones have lower drop rate AND lower chance to reach the end AND they require a lot more jumps.
Some have a possible commander spawn but then it’s the same loot as an anom. They just have an increased chance to spawn the commander - not even 100% and not 100% sure to have the next step.
I did a few and every time it as not worth. Even when you get to the end you would have got more by simply doing anoms instead. Not even compared to what you could run in missions. Also you have things like lots of elite frigates or AOE that one-shots your drones.
I’ve run deds in HS, LS, NS, escalated from HS, LS, NS sites. I tried expeditions too : it was a complete disaster.
Now maybe it’s been changed since I ran them, that’s possible.
Yes you do, you pretend the issues are only a matter of our personal experiences.
That is, there is nothing objectively to fix.
That’s BS.
i see who´s the experienced player and spoiler … youre not the one !
how is it bad ? oO where is the difference to fly 9 jumpt in this direction in your region or 9 jump in the other direction into another region ? if the “enemy territory” isnt the problem then it wouldnt change anything !
