Every so often a few frigs warp in, linger for a moment and then are promptly ignored as they’re destroyed by AFK miners using drones.
My suggestion is if the common frigates are destroyed within a minute of warping in XNumber of times, it will cause an escalation. While I’m not proposing any outright hard numbers, below is just an example of the potential escalation chain.
Normal Rats (1-3 Frigates)
Normal Rats (1-3 Frigates)
Normal Rats (1-3 Frigates)
Escalation: Cruiser (1)
Escalation: Cruiser (1)
Escalation: Cruiser (2)
And so on.
There are of course some issues with this.
First issue: Newbros belt rat and we don’t want them getting blapped by a battleship in a 1.0 system (Though I’d love to shrink HighSec, that’s for another post…) We fix this by adding in the timer and remembering that there’s a delay between warp-ins and our Theoretical Newbro isn’t going to be hanging out in the belt for 15 minutes belt ratting.
Second issue: Belt Mining//Newbros
They belt mine in ventures and ships not meant for mining and often poorly tanked. This also means that they would more than likely trigger the escalation. This shouldn’t be solved. This forces solo players into groups/fleets if they want to strip a belt.
Third issue: More modules dropped in highsec = inflation
I’d argue that the increased ship losses from the mechanic would balance it out well.
Fourth issue: Angry miners
Angry miners can warp to another belt and start an escalation chain there or make friends with a combat pilot.
This also encourages more active mining play-styles, proper ship fits and makes Skiff pilots happy.
I am suggesting this because I thought it was an interesting idea and I desired to. Why are you offended by the suggestion? I see that you’re a miner. Would you like to discuss improvements to the suggestion?
Frequently.
I’m aware of Pirate Strongholds and their mechanics. Who says they must be exclusive? These are two totally different things, though this could be tied to the Stronghold System.
And you are the exception if you’re multiboxing 8 or more ships. Do you not hear yourself?
“I am multiboxing 8 accounts and because I run 8 accounts with 40 drones this suggestion won’t work and will only hurt new players.” This is what you’ve stated."
How exactly would this harm a new player and or solo miner? I’m sure there’s potentials that I missed in my suggestion above.
I reasoned that being able to simply warp to another belt would resolve this when combined with an escalation timer. This would result in an escalation only after all initial spawns are destroyed AND the timer ran out.
I’d wager the Newbro’s cargo hold would be full by then and even if not, they can warp to a different belt. This results in more active mining playstyles. And even then, we’re talking only about a newbro mining. A belt ratter won’t be hanging around in the belt between spawns if there’s nothing there… unless they’re intentionally trying to trigger a belt escalation.
I think you’d be surprised. You’re looking though an unintentionally biased lens. I’m not saying that in a negative manner but as a multiboxer, you view this from the perspective of someone who has replaced social interaction with more EVE Subs.
I semi frequently park an Ishtar in a belt for my buddy who likes mining. Am I paying much attention to that client window? Heck no, but I’m there.
This isn’t an accusation, I’m HEAVILY guilty of this as well. I’ll fess up to 12 accounts.
I got to the point a few years back where I quit EVE. It was the social aspects of EVE that caused me to be retained as a player when I started playing again. It felt totally and completely different. A lot of people remove the social aspects from EVE and then suffer for it without realizing that’s what it is. Is this always the case? Nope, but I’d wager it’s a chunk.
What would you change, if anything to make the suggestion better?
Slightly more difficult rats with faster spawn rates. As it is right now in high sec, you get a spawn of 2 or 3 piddly little frigates that take seconds to kill, and they only spawn maybe every 15 to 20 minutes.
Throw in some destroyers, maybe even a cruiser now and then. Just slightly more difficult rats along with improved bounties. That would also benefit belt ratters as well. With the current mechanics, in a system with 20 belts you can warp around to all of them and half or more won’t even have a single rat.
You could do that, but it wouldn’t really change anything. It would still be a 1:1 ratio of player ships to NPCs that spawn. Just more targets to kill.
NPC mining response fleets already use that mechanic. Their fleet composition depends on what type of ship you are in. And the more ships you bring, the more ships they bring.
Yeah, but the issue with Diamond Rats is that they’re far too strong for this. I primarily fly cloaky and have watched as unsuspecting miners or belt ratters get erased. The worst part about this is that to the newbros, they have no idea why or how this occurred 99% of the time which leads to frustrated newbs.*