Well, now that I actually have tested the ESS on Sisi, I can give some proper feedback on it.
In short, it’s an undercooked feature.
- Ease of access
There’s 0(ZERO) requirements for accessing the ESS, other than being able to fly a ship that’s able to get past the acceleration gate.
Then, when inside, you just need to stick around for 5 minutes, and you have successfuly stolen the bank! 
CONCORD sure is incompetent in protecting isk. 
Seriously, it’s such a wasted opportunity for some new and difficult hacker content.
Here’s my suggestion on fixing this.
Accessing the ESS requires a Data Analyzer, which already would make life a tad more difficult for any possible thief, having to give up on a mid slot module.
The player then gets a high difficulty hacking window to try and bypass.
A failed attempt gives out the warning popup that the ESS is under attack, while a successful attempt allows the player to sneakily link to the ESS bank and attempt to steal the bonds, with the 5 min timer.
Just like a cryptocurrency network, lorewise, every ESS should be linked to each other, and if there’s a data breach in one, it should be possible for the system to recover from attacks.
As for gameplay, this would make the SSC Bounties temporary items, maybe lasting 15 mins, requiring the thief to HTFU and find a place to exchange them before they expire, as the ESS they hacked comes back online and exchanges data with backup servers, thus invalidading any stolen bounds.
- Readily Available Intel
The information of EVERY single ESS in existence is available in the Agency window, which I believe it’s the cause of the lag when reopening that specific page, as the system struggles to fetch all the data neatly for the player.
Now, compare that ease of access to combat anomaly ratting…
The DBS stimulates players to move around between systems to keep high payouts, but that’s easier said than done, as there’s 0 intel readily available for the player on where they are supposed to go for that.
If you had to move to one of those three systems for some ratting, which one would you choose?
Probably the one with 7 anomalies, as there’s more chances of at least a single one being the type your are aiming for, right?
I’m not really sure where the balance should be for this one, but at the very least, knowing which ESS to aim for should be harder than it currently is.
Here’s my suggestion for this:
The encrypted ESS network makes use of hidden data center relay towers, which directly communicate data with neighboring systems housing other ESS complexes.
If a system has 3 null sec neighbors with an ESS available for exemple, that would lead to 3 relay towers, which can be combat scanned and warped to once successfully found.
In order to be as hidden as possible, unlike the ESS complex, the towers don’t have any gates or warp disruption zones protecting them.
There, the player can use their Data Analyzer to hack the system and gain information on the ESS network according to their hacking skills.
Hacking Skill Level
lvl 1 - current system only
lvl 2 - up to 2 jumps away
lvl 3 - up to 5 jumps away
lvl 4 - up to 10 jumps away
lvl 5 - region wide
As a proper secure system, when detecting a data breach, the system shuts down and gives the data relay task to another tower in the system, just giving a proper reason for these centers to be respawning combat anomalies, instead a static complexes like the ESS.
- End Notes
These changes do mean there is a requirement of entry for this content, but at the same time, it creates a proper gameplay chain instead of just warp, link, spin, steal, repeat.
Also, please fix this stuff:
I’m not sure to which extent these notifications go, but it can clearly be spammed to no end in order to annoy other players.
Thanks for reading!
