Basic outline of idea:
1)additional routes between empires through low sec.
2)freight taxes for the high sec routes between empires
The idea sounds simpel and most likely compellingly wrong from what I wrote down as short description.
It is an idea of how to reason more people into low sec and at the same time create a kind of game in low sec.
It is based on one model of what eve gameplay is realy about and this model can be paraphrased in three verses “No thing that can be won is out of ordinary everything can be achieved in time/only that thing to survive the test of time is a win to be kept/the only one to win is the one to survive the game”
Now if that doesn’t sound familiar read hunger games, eve is one, eve has cloning, so the game is mainly about survival other player’s antics. At least in the above model.
In so far if looking at survival one instantly can deduce that hp of a ship, speed of ship, ability to run away, ability to outmaneuver guns, distance to a shooting enemy, own firepower to put shorten an enemies survival and low signature are all factors that play a role.
Well that are nearly all factors the ability to move transversal and lateral on the map and the factor transversal to lateral space also play a role.
Having read up a bit of game desing literature I remember there are basic level desing concepts like pipe and roam, a pipe is: A space that is mostly consisting of transversing routs to a destination.
While a roam is: A space that mostly consist of lateral routes to a destination.
So hwo does this look like in eve: on the system maps one should be capable to see warping is only transversal movement while sub light speed is a lot of lateral movement possibilites so it’s a roam.
Now on the stellar map one can find similar elements (though it’s a graph) if there are more then one route to a destination then it is a roam if there are only one route to a destination it is a pipe.
So far so good, one can see that there are three pipes between each empire that is two low sec routes and one high sec route, however the routes are one empire region to one other empire region. The suggestion is to create additional routes between empires over low sec, to make a roam where currently a pipe sits.
If low sec is more of a roam then this increases survability and would be in above model of the game play a winning condition. Again if there is only one path and that is camp then this ends up being seen as the standart. If there are two gates then one might be lucky and can pingpong scout, it there are three then it is more likely the campers need to be lucky.
Above is the part of paving a road for something.
The next point freight taxes soundes awfully complicate, like “if I jump will I have to wait for the tax collector” or “is there automatic tax collection?” Well no it is more like a freight charter needs to be bought for freighters and industrials once a month. Equipmentwise this could be done with a fourth modificator slot in industrial and freighters and the charter being a modificator exsiting for 30 days after being equipped.
Next a pilot get’s to name a home empire for which he get’s a free charter, and he can name one, two, three other empires for which he has to pay a fee being for industrial 250k/500k/750k for freighter 25mil/50mil/75mil.
Thus a freight pilot can drive around in his own empire, after a month change the empire and move on to another empire, or the pilot can add other empires to the list of freigth zones and fly through them. Or he can ask another person to pay this fee for him/her.
Paiyng this fee means he is authorized to get another freight chater after being blow up or podded. 30 days long.
Additional (possible) are forged freight charters produced by players.
So how do freight chaters work?
At each high sec region-to-region entrance an empire want’s to see that a industrial or freighter with cargo has a freight charter equipped.
If the ship hasn’t a freight charter the cargo will be confiscicated by the customes officers. Are they lost? No they can be regained by paying a hefty fee depending on the items.
Now a possible way ot evade this is to move goods between regions through low sec space.
And that’s why a roam there would be preferrable.
Now there is a fundament of a game, gankers versus traders and a logical claim for the gankers, catching smugglers.
As there is a price for save passage the campers can decide on a price for passage also.
Additional the fourth modificator slot gives some survability to tax evasive traders only going through low.
Game play wise in play style there is also a roam:
paying for a freight charter,
having others pay for the freight charter
releasing cargo from customers agents
tax evasion by moving cargo through low sec