Wave 1 is helpful, we can see how many waves we’ve had and I assume most of us can count but it’s a nice help to keep track. But how is my capsuleer supposed to know there are 8 more waves to follow?
Yes, obviously we as players know that this site ‘Angel Hidden Den’ consists of 9 waves because that is how the game is programmed and this information has been documented in various wikis.
But we are a player outside this universe, just playing a game.
Our capsuleer is supposed to be an entity within this universe where things as future sight do not exist. Or if it did, it would have a huge impact on the EVE market and politics!
Are capsuleers supposed to have the future told to them through the UI?
Wouldn’t it make much more sense to show the player this instead?
This way the game doesn’t drop all pretense that EVE after all is only just a game.
This way the game keeps some suspension of disbelief intact: the pretense that we’re not just playing a game, but are a capsuleer in a science fiction universe where things like ‘looking into the future’ do not exist.
suspension of disbelief just breaks because there’s an UX element telling you what to expect, the fact some random rat dudes are jumping into the site for ABSOLUTE NO REASON don’t break your suspension of disbelief. They are piloting ■■■■ against your T2 Ishtar, but hey, I’M TOTALLY IMMERSED HERE GUYS.
Intriguing… I’ll be reading more of your posts to understand how your beliefs work.
Science fiction is full of characters who can “read the future” in different ways—through prophecy, science, time perception, or altered consciousness. The Reverend Mother in Dune is a great example, but she’s part of a bigger tradition. Here are some of the most notable instances:
-The Bene Gesserit & Paul Atreides (Dune)
In Dune, the Reverend Mothers use spice-induced awareness and ancestral memory. Paul Atreides goes far beyond them—he gains prescience.
-Hari Seldon (Foundation)
In Foundation, Hari Seldon develops psychohistory, a mathematical science that predicts the behavior of massive populations. He can’t predict individuals, but he can foresee the rise and fall of civilizations.
-The Precogs (Minority Report)
In Minority Report three “precogs” foresee murders before they happen. Their visions create a system of pre-crime, but the story explores how flawed and ambiguous these predictions can be.
-Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen)
In Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan experiences time non-linearly. He doesn’t predict the future—he already exists in it, seeing past, present, and future simultaneously.
-The Heptapods (Arrival)
In Arrival, aliens perceive time circularly. When humans learn their language, they begin to experience future events as memories.
Well, I think your ship’s computer simply analyzes the structure of that “criminal outpost” and compares it to the most likely responses those pirate groups send in case of an attack. They seem to have “standard procedures” for establishing a presence in an area.
Yes, it’s somewhat unrealistic that those response waves are always a 100% identical… well thats a flaw in general design which applies to missions, DED complexes, sleeper sites and most stuff outside the Abyss. But I doubt it has to do anything with “seeing into the future”.
I personally don’t like such progress bars at all, they aren’t nessessary and add no real value to the game in the best case. And in the worst case, as you say it, they hurt immersion.
By telling the player the number of future steps in an engagement the UI explicitly drops the pretense that EVE is anything but a game with scripted interactions, which breaks my suspension of disbelief.
Unlike future sight that is just a lack of explicit story telling by the game. A rich imagination could easily come up with reasons for NPCs to warp in to that site.
For example they might be searching for an offline gate in the rock haven site, and have more friends warp in as the first ones call for help as they get attacked.
I know!
I really like Dune, or at least the first couple of books as I still need to get further with that series, as well as the movies, but I like how future sight is written as part of the plot.
EVE however does not have any characters that can see into the future in the lore as far as I know. The game mechanics, market and politics would behave completely different if future sight were a thing in this universe.
This is why it irks me to see the UI tell me exactly how many more waves I can expect in my totally scripted engagement.
