CCP: Sadly, I predict Permafrost will be a big disappointment. Here's why:

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[EDIT: I’ve tried out the event on the test server, so this isn’t all blind speculation.]

Experimentation with new content and new tactics, both by players and by CPP, is great. Bringing together players is great. Healthy competition - in moderation - is good. Events are great. Rewards are great. Based on what I’ve seen on the test server, Permafrost represents an attempt for all of these.

I predict, with sadness, that it will fail spectacularly in its current form.

With only one site per constellation, there won’t be “enough to go around”. I firmly believe that the vast majority of event-runners choose to run events for rewards, not the sake of competition and risking that their stuff be yanked out from under them.

Are you ready for an outsanding data point? I couldn’t even complete a site on the test server. The TEST. SERVER. There were mostly yellow wrecks, already-hacked boxes, and two active players in the site. For those of you who don’t frequent the test server… there’s hardly anyone there, ever. It’s mostly empty (granted, with players clustered in a few areas - but I was in a generally desolute area test-server-wise.)

Yes, there will be PvP fans and carebear-haters who will call this post nothing more than whining. There will be people who cling to the theory “Well, a lot of people will come along, decide the format is awful, and then stop running the events all together, freeing up more room for the rest of folks.” I don’t think this will play out - I think there will be a constant imbalance of demand-vs-supply of event sites as more and more people log in for the first time post-event-launch to try things out - especially during the weekend. I predict an outcry.

Format of the site so far:

Warp in, there is a small group of Mord. ships, along with three gates within easy reach. One gate takes you to a bunch of cans guarded by a lot of frigates (webbing) and a few cruisers. Another gate takes you to, from what I could tell, the equivalent of a giant LVL4 mission pocket - lots of BS, lots of cruisers, lots of frigates. Nothing to screw around with unless you’re LVL4 combat prepared. (Again, hard to gauge exactly because of yellow wrecks and active players.) The third gate led to another big cluster of frigates and a few cruisers - but I couldn’t tell what this gate / pocket was offering. (Mining? Didn’t see any roids, but my overview might have been off.)

Here’s another problem with three pockets per site…

CCP, how are you going to decide when to de-spawn / re-spawn the site? On the test server, what I flew into was one giant disappointment - all cans hacked, yellow wrecks, a few NPCs still there to engage. Are you going to wait for all three pockets to be completed before re-spawning? Wouldn’t that leave a lot of “site cruft” sitting idle, preventing the spawn of new sites and creating a weird event-running backlog effect? That’s just going to multiply the negative effects of one site per constellation.

I love event sites, I love Eve, but I am one (of many) who does not love routinely running into competition for event sites. (Trust me, I am not alone.)

I will gladly stand on a podium after the first couple of days and proclaim “I was wrong!”, but without changes, I just don’t see that happening.

I think the event will need to be more than one-site-per-constellation. If not, I predict the end result will be far less participation than usual.

I hope I am wrong.

Thanks for listening.

UPDATE:

I’m really concerned. From what we can tell on the test server, the set of 16 cans to hack (which contain the majority of the good loot) only respawn… at downtime??? So… there are 16 cans per constellation per downtime? That can’t be right.

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First

Honestly, I think you have some good points and some valid ones, I too see many folks who don’t participate in things because they are tired of doing all the work only to have the prize stolen from them.

I know EvE is a place where EvEnts happen in the sandbox, it is just that some of the kids in the sandbox aren’t all that keen on some of the aspects they have to face.

o/
Santa

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Well said, Santa! I think it’s kind of a the-way-we’d-like-things-to-work vs. the-way-things-actually-work kind of thing, don’t you?

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From what I saw on test server, it will probably have less competition than previous events. There is no end boss (at least I didn’t bother with north gate), and the NPCs are no joke, so baiters will have a hard time. A lot of hacking cans and gas to huff for a couple of people. The complete site is much bigger than previous events, basically 3 sites in one.

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I hope you’re right. In addition to the one-per-constellation aspect, I’m worried about the three-in-one aspect - how will they decide when to respawn?

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Anyone find one in a wormhole?

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Oh no… CCP mentioned that would include wormholes in the next event… I hope this didn’t get overlooked.

Tell you what - I’ll hop on the test server now and poke around through 6-7 WH’s and see if I find anything…

EDIT: As a software developer, I get a bit worried when I see a mechanic such as ‘one site per constellation’, because… do wormholes even have constellations? How does such a mechanic apply in an edge case like that?

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Yeah, with a cursory glance from ‘/moveme’ I hopped into the available wormholes on that list and didn’t see one in a wormhole. There was an event Ice Dwarf in Thera however the running meme is ‘Thera isn’t a wormhole’

If one does spawn in somebody’s home hole that’ll probably feel like winning a small lottery.

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As quoted from someone on the test server who on the surface appears to be knowledgeable: “Since they are constellation-based, you have to be very lucky.”

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Guesswork here.

I don’t think the site will despawn / respawn. It will have a continuous presence in that one spot. The rats, the cans, the ore/gas will be what respawns.

Have you never been in the COSMOS sites with the re-filling cans?

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oh yeah, @elitatwo is very knowledgeable.

I wonder how frequently the sites regenerate? At least in the case of Thera it’s always going to have an Ice Dwarf because it’s the only system in constellation G-C00324.

Time for me to do some testing and see if these haulers refill the data site cans.

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The other thing that’s bound to irk some people about this event is drones don’t count toward ’Defeat Mordu’s ships with M Weapons’ type challenges.

Gilas and Ishtars are out.

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You are actually correct - I have never done a COSMOS site.

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The rats seem to spawn continously so I’d speculate site doesn’t move.

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I am noticing this as well. The re-spawn rate, along with hack-a-can-get-dropped-on aspect, is going to make this one interesting.

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It’s quite lovely down here.

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You also take flat environmental damage every 5 seconds down here. As the sites are protected by acceleration gates I’d imagine this makes it an enterprising place to hang out, if you don’t rely on drones.

AoE%20Damage

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Not at all. There’s plenty other tasks and you can fit M guns on an Ishtar :wink: to kill frigates/cruisers and use drones for BS’s.

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Sure, obviously it’s not going to be efficient. Test server notes on hoboleaks have also indicated putting time limits on these ship kill challenges.

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It takes 3 high SP characters to suppress spawns but they seem to spawn endlessly.

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Making the objectives require alternating weapon sizes does not make the event any more interesting, it only makes it annoying.
And let me look straight up and straight down, please.
Also, why one single site per constellation?
I don’t understand the reasoning for any of this.

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