With the transition of moon mining and reactions to citadels, I’m curious about the future role of control towers (POS structures) in EVE Online.
Their primary functions have been moved to citadels so there are really only a few things I can think of that control towers might still be used for:
Storage: Keeping goods and materials, especially during conflicts or for transportation.
Defensive Positions/Traps: Holding strategic positions with fully automated batteries.
Guarded Safespots: Providing a secure location for players in dangerous situations.
As these structures are no longer used for their primary functions, I’m wondering if there are any updates or plans regarding their future?
At one point, I believe there was talk of full build material cost reimbursement for them. Is that still something you’re looking to do? Will there be further integration or repurposing of control towers, or is there a timeline for their complete phase-out?
Any insights or updates from CCP would be greatly appreciated!
Just leave them alone. The people who had designed them actually knew something about good game design, unlike those who designed the Upwell structures.
I’m sure there will be others who disagree but I think if the old PoS Towers were to be repurposed, they should be turned into a temporary Covert Base. Have it be quick to set up and take down, limited anchor time (2 to 3 days max per system), built in cargo storage, defensive weapons and shield / armor regen equal to Battleship class hulls.
Main use would be for conducting exploration in unsafe areas but could also be used as a temporary reconnaissance / resupply base for black ops gorilla style tactics…
Yeah, it’s a dream but hey, at least those Towers could be useful again, right?
They are useful. Exactly as they are now. Leave them alone. They don’t need any change. CCP will only make it worse by touching them. Because they simply fail to understand how their game works.
Ok, thats a good point. Maybe CCP can even combine it with some PLEX for GoldFuel mechanic, so they might suck, but they do so beautifully and you can make them better for just 10 PLEX per day!
Control Towers won’t get compensated or replaced. When or IF they decide to get rid of them, they will slowly remove the functionality they provide. When they created the Upwell structures they announced the plan to phase them out. The plan is to gradually make them worthless to own and fuel. The Upwell stations are pinatas for the corps to bust open, dropping a core and other valuable prizes. I saw a new Caldari control tower and a small cluster of unmanned ships within its shield just last week. People will continue to use them as long as they offer some protection and get ignored by other corporations. Eventually they will be pointless and so cheap on the market, players will buy them just for reprocessing.
They’ve already slowly removed the functionality - other than those few purposes I stated in the original post Control Towers can’t be used for anything industrial wise .
It would be nice to get sort of comment from a @CCP employee regarding the direction they plan to take with Control Towers - it’s been a long while since there’s been any communication regarding them.
POS Towers can absolutely be used for industrial purposes. Research and Manufacturing works totally fine. You won’t get ME/TE boni, but you also won’t get wardecced in HS and probably left alone in WH space for quite a long time because your POS actually defends itself when you are offline, forcing the attacker to bring at least a proper fleet instead of a few semi-afk alts to reinforce it. It’s basically the only way for small groups to build something on their own, without becoming an instant loot-pinata for the big guys.
That is how many of these games keep the profits rolling. They replace the current with a new so-called “better item” with a higher cost. Then they depend on the users to shell out cash to get them before anyone else.
CCP doesn’t even know what it’s doing tomorrow. They are incapable of looking forward with logic and coherence. They have proven this consistently in my 15 years in the game.
