Hi Brisc Rubal,
I am a long time member of the Gallente Militia, and CEO of a FW corporation within the FEDUP alliance. FW is a great place to get stuck into PvP and the thing which makes it great is the ability to essentially derive an income from PvP. Which, unlike many other avenues in EVE Online allow for the newer player to focus 100% of their play time into learning PvP with no other ISK generation activities.
FW pilots, on both sides of the war, quickly amass hundreds of kills and many hours of combat time. In addition to facing enemy War targets (WT) the FW pilot is also subject to gatecamps, and pirate activity in the most intense PvP environments in New Eden. Best of all, FW has always emphasised the use of numberous cheaply fit tech 1 ships. As such the wallet requirements are very low. The high ship attrition rates are easily offset by the lucrative ISK generation opportunities afforded by the LP market.
As such, FW is an in-valuable addition to the game. It should be maintained, improved, and expanded.
The problems which I see with FW are as follows:
- LP generation activities require minimal player input, are overly repetitive, and are essentially opposed to the objective of PvP. There is insufficient insentive to actively fight. This makes FW somewhat exposed to AFK ‘farming’, and programmable AFK type player behaviours.
- The income generation activities are ineffective drivers for ‘content’. Content here being the word I use to describe meaningful PvP combat. There needs to be more connection between risk and reward - and the income derived from FW activities should be directly linked to high risk effective combat.
- The time sink for warzone contest is excessively high, and the subsequent warzone control is not very meaningful in this environment of citadel mechanics.