Fleet Escort Function

EVE Technology and Research Center Player Features & Ideas
1

Hi,

I am not sure if this idea has been suggested, but this would make for a grand idea that would open up a lot more options for players.

So on with it;

The Fleet Escort Function,

Lets say you have a freighter.
Lets say there is a bunch of gankers ready to intercept you.
You have a group of players that escort you, like a fleet follow mode, they enter warp only when you enter warp, regardless of how fast their warp alignment is, they jump star gates only when you jump the star gate.
When you land on the other side, you land in close proximity of each other.

There’s a catch though; when you are using this fleet escort mode, a green bubble appears around your convoy, easily identify who you are flying with, and the size of your escort. Your ship signature is also increased by X % due to overlapping with the escorted ship and other ships.

In return your escort ships will auto-lock and target/use modules/weaponry on any ships that engage you, but will only follow you and stay within close proximity of you (no chasing off targets, etc.

Now what will happen is this, if said group of gankers have enough firepower, they will be still be able to overwhelm your freighter and at the same time, be able to kill said escorts if they have enough time.

If they do not, they would have to pick their target wisely, as they would soon be wiped off grid if the escort weaponry can hit them and overwhelm them.

Now here is another suggestion to the fleet escort system; allow the ship being escorted to have some of the damage transferred to their escorts, as a form of human shield.

Another suggestion to the fleet escort system; allow escort contracts to be created, where players can autopilot and make cash as “escort ships”, giving a form of passive/afk income, but create an isk sink where 20 percent of the escort contract (lets say, 100k isk per jump) will be taken as part of the “Escort Guilds Commission ™” fee. That fee is of course removed from the game and taken by Eve.

This allows players with low skill points or even higher skill point players to make money as a form of passive/active income, with less “grinding” (Escorting the ship manually) while providing money for someone that wishes to be escorted, content for players out to pvp (As you would require much more coordination, manpower and teamwork to take out even a fully afk escort fleet).

Contracting rates can be set by the player who wishes to be a fleet escort, and they will wear the cost if their ship is lost. The player piloting the escort ship will automatically be “podded” back to port of call, and if they undock as part of an escort, their pod is automatically set to an unbonused, empty pod.

At the end of the escort, the player can then opt to pay a further amount of isk (Lets say 30 percent) from the contract to “auto-pilot” back to their port of call, thus appearing there in a transition screen, unable to play the game, for a period of time (10 minutes sounds reasonable).

So with all that information, lets say old mate freighter needed to go 30 jumps, and was willing to hire escorts charging 100k per jump, the escort pilots could make 1.5 mil out of the total 3 mil, fully afk. This would provide a reasonable isk sink, but also a method of safety for said freighter pilot.

Other features you could include (Using the Freighter scenario above):

-For more pvp content, the freighter can select which pilots to “untether” in order to allow them to engage in a skirmish, while the freighter escapes; this is for players that prefer a more active pvp playstyle but can’t be arsed to sit around waiting for pvp to show up at their gate, or fly around empty patches of space looking for a fight.

-In a situation where the freighter survives the ambush, a bonus could be paid out and would be advertised as a danger pay bonus.

-The contracted rate still applies even if the freighter blows up, and is paid per jump that the freighter makes, regardless of whether pilots are untethered or tethered.

I am sure I missed a few things, but yeah, discuss, maybe if people think this is a good idea, it might gain some traction from the dev team!

A note to the dev team, think about how many extra subscribers you’d get from people that could play this game on a passive/afk basis, while providing content to PVPers, pirates AND privateers alike.

Note from myself and semi TLDR;
Escort ships, get paid, buy space hookers and party.

More ships to shoot = more fun, amirite?

More ships to defend your freighter or whatever you want escorted means you’d be more likely to make that run that was giving you the heeby jeebies, and sooner?

I would pay 100 mil for moving 1 bil worth of cargo, especially for sketchy patches of space.

Discuss away!

Edit 1:

-This function could also be applied to mining corporations (who would hire security for their miners).
-If this idea was ever implemented I would definitely not be a fully AFK escort in anything greater than a T1 ship :stuck_out_tongue:
-@CCP if you actually think this is a great idea and want to implement it, I’d be more than happy to write up a Game Design Document that is more structured and detailed than this, utilising ideas from players that show interest/provide feedback on this idea.

2

No. Avoid ganks by fitting your ships properly and not filling them with insane amounts of treasure. If you have enough people to make an escort fleet you have the ONE person it takes to web you into warp.

Please stop begging CCP to assist AFK carebear playstyles. AFK play is something to be removed and prevented not encouraged. Your entire idea is just a way for people to use fleets of alts to avoid conflict instead of learning to play better.

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3

So… you want the game to play itself for you?

CCP already banned input broadcasting from stuff like isboxer, why do you think they would allow this nonsense?

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4

So i can play as a fleet of ships from one client?

Noo. If you have escorts they should be controlled by players. Not remote controlling.

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5

Begging, there was no begging.

It’s a suggestion :wink:

I have a question to ask you though, what happens when you have a fleet that is well equipped ready to gank someone on a lowsec or nullsec gate with bubbles?

Not many people have the resources/accounts to field a fleet of pvp ships, this would actually allow for more dynamic gameplay, as said escort ships would still be able to go active and engage in a skirmish. Not to mention they’d be contracted from an in game function.

Think about it like a game lobby for some PVP action, with a chance to make some coin from your “Care Bears” that you are mentioning.

One might say you’d be the one care bearing, if you yourself wouldn’t attack a freighter in low/nullsec with an escort fleet. I mean, isn’t that why gate campers set up bubbles and camps? To take out harmless, obsolete, individual or defenseless ships that have no way out, and are an easy, semi risk free (carebear) source of income/kill mails? The money in pvp would come from being able to take out an armed transport convoy, as they would more frequently be used.

You consider this as care bearing when it would actually bring PVP pilots more activity for both pirate and white knight?

Also, read the two replies below.

6

Do you have any difficulty against NPC rats? No? Think about it as an NPC rat fleet that has limited intelligence, literally escorting a vessel, always keeping within close proximity, and only able to lock/use modules when they come within range, without being able to break away from the escorted ship unless released for combat.

Would you be able to put up a fleet of your own accounts? Sure. But are you able to actively engage with all of them if you wanted to without sacrificing anywhere due to split attention? No.

Utilising actual different individuals for escorts would still be more effective. Not to mention it would give new pilots that are seeking pvp a means to get a bit of money on the side as well.

7

Because this isn’t input broadcasting, or at least from client side. It’s not meant to be used by people with many accounts (see reply above), you’d still lose your ship if you get blown up, as an escort. An escort would definitely benefit from being active, being able to be untethered and go active and engage at ranges that suit their ship the best, etc.

There’s also drawbacks to being an escort ship, such as increased ship signature, copping damage from being in proximity, not to mention the fact is that if you want to fully afk this, you better be prepared to lose whatever ship you want to escort with.

As a reply to all 3 responders, I assume all 3 of you are PVPers, preferring small gang and/or solo pvp?

8

You have to use warp nullified ships like T3 or Interceptors to breach the chokepoint and move your forces past the blockage using Cynos and jump capable ships. Or you raise a fleet (of people) and bust through.

That’s all possible currently using other people and communication.

Carebear propaganda.

No it wouldn’t. It would open up a new way for people to multibox huge fleets to avoid PvP.

Just because people think they want it doesn’t make it a good idea. It stands to reason there are people who want to avoid PvP and promote AFK playstyles. These capsuleers are to be terminated with extreme prejudice for the good of society.

9

Jeeze… okay… I am going to go point by point here.

This is already possible.

Everyone simply needs to be…

  • in a fleet together
  • aligned to the same destination
  • not in warp

Huzzah. Once the fleet commander initiates warp, everyone will warp together at the same warp speed as the slowest ship.

Since freighters are already some of the slowest aligning ships in the game, there is no need to worry about the escorting ships to be aligned as well. They already will be.

While a fleet of ships can come out of warp in close proximity to each other, I don’t think this is possible with regards to stargates.

Even if it is, you are potentially affecting more than just Freighter escorting. PvP fleets may be able to do the same thing.

Interestingly, I am of mixed feelings on this. I have seen many missed opportunities for a fight because neither side wants to jump the gate (the side that jumps a stargate will be at a disadvantage due to everyone being scattered). Then again, it can work against a group too as bubbles are a thing in null-sec and wormhole space.
On the other hand… a group of players should have a tactical advantage for getting to a chokepoint first.

No to automation.

Combined with your whole “fleet auto-warp together” idea, this smacks of wanting to put minimal effort into protection.

You do know that Logistics ships are a thing, right?

They may not be able to absorb damage for the ship they are “protecting”… but they can drastically increase the survivability of one by effectively “negating” damage through remote repair modules.
And they are VERY good in this regard.

Sure, it is not the same thing mechanics-wise, but the end effect is still the same (and, in fact, better than what you are proposing).

Okay… 3 things:

  1. As said before, no to automation.

  2. You do not need a “high skill” character or beefy ship to “protect” a Freighter.
    You can literally cut the risk of ganking by not-so-insignificant margins simply by equipping a cheap Frigate with 2 Stasis Webifiers. Simply target and web the Freighter as it is beginning to warp. If done properly, a Freighter will fly into warp in 5-10 seconds (or less if you use a Frigate with bonuses to web range).

  3. Courier contracts (especially in high-sec) are stupid cheap. Like… REALLY cheap. Like… you pay 1 billion in collateral and get ~500k to 1 million as a reward.
    And people actually accept those terms and ferry stuff around with minimal to no escort. How is anyone in your system going to make any money?

This idea alone gives me the distinct impression that you don’t PvP much.

If my buddies and I see a Freighter… and the escort doesn’t have some kind of Logistics setup… we will flat out IGNORE the escort and focus on killing the Freighter.
Escorts can be dealt with after the “loot” loses the ability to fly away.

From who?

Players are not going to pay extra just because someone shot at you. Your job is to ferry the cargo. Surviving attempts on your well being is kinda implicit and part of the job you willingly took on.

If you want NPCs to pay you… well… I have to say I don’t like that idea. At all.
It is too abusable as a mechanic.
(see: make a contract to a friend or one of your alt characters… get shot at by a friend or another alt character… profit).

If something is so easy to do that everyone can do it, what happens to the potential value of the activity? Answer: The price for it drops as everyone is in competition with each other to do the same thing.

This is why income from mining is so low relative to other activities (unless you are in null-sec). ANYONE with a ship, mining laser, and 2 brain cells can mine. And because so many people do it, the value of the materials and service drop.

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10

Well…I think ShahFluffers provided a pretty thorough and comprehensive reply.

-1

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11

Response 1

  1. Not all ships can warp nullify or avoid warp bubbles.
  2. Not all players can gather up a fleet of players that are known and trusted by them.
  3. Not all people have Cyno capabilities.
  4. The whole point of this function built into the game is to allow people to raise a fleet of people (As a PUG) to bust through.

Response 2

  1. See Response 1.

Response 3

  1. Carebear Definition as per Urban Dictionary: Applied by PvP (player vs. player) participants in an online role-playing game to those players are disinterested in PvP conflict. Usually derogatory.

Technically, if you want to shoot at something that doesn’t shoot back, that is carebearing. You want to avoid conflict by targeting a helpless target, that is also definitely carebearing. Shooting an unescorted freighter is not player vs player, it’s player vs helpless.

Besides which, I wouldn’t be complaining if I had a whole bunch of ships to shoot at other than the ship being escorted, which is the whole point of this function, again. More PVP content/More PVP engagements.

Response 4

Easy, make it an Omega only function then. If people want to and have the means to pay real life money to hold subscriptions, power to them.

Also, if you are so afraid that people will multi box huge AFK fleets to avoid PVP, why not raise a fleet of PVPers using the same function and ambush them?

Or if you have your own manpower and resources, why not field larger numbers and take down this semi afk fleet?

Response 5

You are showing quite a lot of prejudice of your own, I could personally say that people without the means to think outside of the box and show innovation should be terminated with extreme prejudice for the good of society, because stagnation is what causes society to fail. :wink:

12

Exactly my point. Rather than accept the advice being given you are requesting an easy mode that will allow you to avoid risk. It’s already WELL POSSIBLE to avoid being ganked, and you are thinly veiling this idea as a PvP catalyst when in fact you are trying to avoid conflict and negate the value of actual teamwork.

That’s the point of having different ships for different situations.

Solo is harder. Deal with it like me or team up.

Use friends with Cyno capabilities.

Teamwork is already completely possible without a strange rolling defence lobby. Secondly if you can’t gather a friend to web you or a defence fleet to assist you, how ill you gather friends to AFK for you? You just want to use alts instead of friends. Nope.

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13

To ShahFluffers,

Response 1

This fleet escort system would literally simplify things, allowing one person to control the fleet movement. Less headache. Fleet alignment instead of individual ship alignment. No one gets left behind. Slowest ship is the warp speed of all ships, so they land on grid at the same time.

Think about it as the drawbacks of being in fleet escort mode.

Response 2

Have you seen those jump gates? They are freaking huge. Surely they could fit a fleet of ships in them and put them within close proximity of each other.

Response 3

Why No to Automation?

If you are game enough, you would hit the fleet regardless of your numbers compared to theirs. Besides, think about it as tougher rats that follow an escorted ship, if the escorts are fully AFK. Not to mention that if these ships are only allowed to work within tight parameters such as
A) Having to stay within 2-5kms of the escorted ship.
B) Unable to untether unless the escorted ship chooses to untether its escort ships.
C) Only auto firing and using modules if targets are within range.

That’s the whole point, to make minimal effort into protection. Because it will give coordinated PVPers or even brave small gangs and solo pvpers to take on numbers much larger than themselves and much more frequently, hence more content. No more need to warp around looking for fight for half an hour. It will also allow players that are seeking PVP a less tedious method, and not seeking to do piracy related PVP.

Response 4

I do know logistic ships are a thing, I fly with them quite frequently. And you are right, it’s a completely different game mechanic, but it’s also not just about provide logi reps.

Response 5

I feel like 5-10 seconds is more than enough for some instalock tackling ships to do their job.

Response 6

I am not just talking about High-sec, and I am not just talking about Courier contracts.
I am talking about players who know/expect to run into trouble, and wish to deter said trouble by hiring a fleet of escorts. That would be worth more, and in all honesty, I highly doubt someone would put their ship on the line for peanuts.

Response 7

Sorry, I should have wrote: "while the freighter attempts to escape."
And yeah, no doubt your buddies would be hella coordinated and have your own logis and also packing a punch. I don’t see why you would be complaining about getting a nice fleet battle if you love pvping so much, heck I would.

Response 8

The bonus is paid from the person creating the contract.
Maybe the person hiring escorts would offer a higher rate of pay per jump, but no bonus. Or a small rate of pay per jump, and higher bonus on successful disengage/arrival at destination.

Response 8

If everyone can do it, the potential value of the activity would fluctuate, sure. But at the same time, if the function does work out well, I am sure you’ll also notice a hell of a shortage in commodities as more players flood the game because there is actually content that they can easily access. And if there still isn’t content, well, at least they are doing their job right. :wink:

War and destruction is good business. More PVPing is good business.

You have to remember that people would be losing ships more so than ever. But there’d be new trade hubs popping up due to more PVP content, more pilots to mine, pvp, etc. Suddenly space won’t feel so lonely anymore, and space in certain parts of this game can be very very lonely.

14

Response 1

I don’t fly a freighter. I am also not looking for advice, this is a discussion for a function or tool I’d like to see in the game. You and others are more than welcome to bring up your cons while I counter them with Pros; maybe we might even agree on some points and iron out some features that could be kept or thrown out due to imbalance issues, but at the end of the day it is entirely up to CCP on whether they wish to implement such a system. I am also not looking to avoid being ganked. I understand that it is part of the game. I am using the above scenario where this is one of the methods a fleet escort function is applicable. I am actually requesting an easy mode that will give me more attempts at blowing up ships, but at the same time attempting to balance it out by giving your “carebears” some avenue of defence.

Response 2

What if I need to get from Point A to Point B but need to carry 10k m3 + of freight?

Response 3

If they implemented this system, you could still solo. In fact you’d have more targets to kill. If they did implement this system, you would also have to deal with it, or team up to have a fairer fight.
Which would be a logical reason why you would strongly oppose a tool like this being implemented, if you were hard set in your solo pvp life.

Response 4

I doubt everyone has friends with cynos. Again, trying to make it easier by providing a different means of getting from Point A to Point B while there is danger/high likelihood of pvp.

Response 5

They aren’t your friends. You are paying them to be your friends. And if you are carrying damn expensive crap, they had better be well paid “friends”. Think about it this way, if you were a plumber, but you wanted to build your own house, would you gather friends (a carpenter, an electrician, bricklayer, etc) to assist you with building the house? Sure if you had friends like that, that would give you a discount or do it for free, kudos to you. But I highly doubt that, so you’d pay those dudes to build your house, while you do the plumbing yourself.

Does that make sense? :confused:

15

Automation like this is bad and goes against the core ideas of Eve. This is a MMO. Go make some friends.

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16

Not gonna happen. You are not gonna have ‘pets’ beside your drones.

Speaking of which, why don’t you get a bunch of drone boats and have them ‘defend’ you. It’s pretty much the same thing.

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17

I would suggest you read through the wall of text above, I’ve given I think, some points in regards to this.
Besides, the core idea of Eve is to be anything you want, fly however you want, no? Why shouldn’t there be some options for privateers on a more active basis?

18

Drone boats don’t exactly do what I am describing in the posts above either. And the idea of all of this is to not get defense for myself. It’s to create more opportunities and PVP content.

19

Sounds like botting…

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20

As long as your idea is based on automating gameplay and allowing you to fly multiple ships at once, it has no place in eve. The abuse-potential of this is insane for both PVP and PVE.

If you are playing alone, you have accept that certain activities in the game are inherently more dangerous to you. If you want to have multiple ships defending you, join a corp.

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