Eve is one Universe and the different Regions and Areas should not been seen as different pockets of “EvE”.
We should consider that all playstyles, including all regions and all sec.ratings are closely intertwined.
I play Eve since 2008 and did everything from the most massive null battles heard about in RL news with the CFC/Imperium. To Wormhole living and ganking with lazerhawks. To wardeccing with Forsaken Asylum and Marmite to Faction Warfare with Winmatar and Ushra Khan. I roamed low with Dead Terrorists and I mine and I run missions and incursions and much much more done. Eve ist vast and beautiful and there is so much content.
Through the years I have had many ideas I kept track off and I would like to share them here. Because now, more than ever I see CCPs ability, especially from a technical standpoint to maybe realize some of these…
Faction Warfare, Faction Standings and War Deccing. A three way relationship :
Summary
If a corp/alliance is wardecced AS THE DEFENDER and is enlisted in faction warfare. The NPC Navy will join them whereever present (mostly at gates) when under attack. This can be a force multiplier for the defender. Who mostly is at bad odds. Killing a FW member will increase standings with the opposite faction while decreasing standing with the allied faction. Despite being in FW or not. So you are a high sec wardeccer. You kill a Caldari FW Member in jita. You get a caldari standing/amarr standing hit and a gallente/minmatar standing gain. This also forces the wardeccers to spread their members out and not sit at the Jita 4-4 undock 23/7. They might have to go to dodixie,rens,hek or amarr and then switch around again. This could add some dynamic to the high sec FW and wardeccing game. Defenders could camp gates with the Navy on their side to fight the aggressors while the aggressors get some juicy juicy targets. Since the navy can be tanked and even killed. This could lead to some interesting encounters. The navy however will not actively target any wartarget aggressors. The will simply react when a FW member is being shot upon in their proximity. If two corporations enlisted in the same FW Group the navy will simply remain neutral.
Enable cloaking in hostile FW space. This way we can add another contender and more dynamic. You think you are good at the gate because „muh navy“ but the wardeccers got a trick up their sleeve. Cloaked Bombers from the hostile FW group in the system next door. Or they simply happen to stumble upon you on their cloaky roam anyway. Also more content for FW which is in bad bad need for some love.
To avoid wardecced corps simply to hide in FW, one can not join FW while having a war declared (from the very moment. Not when its active. So its instant) and FW Corps that do not score a single kill within 1 month will be kicked from the FW faction and blocked for one month. This will also add a bit of annoyance to the hordes of botters. Of course it wont get rid of them but at least a little something.
Structure Placement and the current meta :
Summary
Structure placement and its costs should be tied to corp size and security level.
A formula could be something like :
Costs = Basecosts + Security Rating of System * Member Size / Faction Standing.
This means that it will be more expensive for the bigger corps to own structures in the high sec regions. Ultimately forcing them to go low or even null.
This could also be a great opportunity to spread the population out a bit and not having everybody and their mothers sitting in the same high sec pockets.
To avoid “1 man holding corps” the placement of structures should be only available for corps with at least 5 non-alpha characters. Whenever the number of omegas drops below 5. The structure becomes attackable by anybody and anyone. Similar to a suspect timer within a 24hour timer. If within these 24hours omega status of the corp is regained. The timer stops and resets.
This way we might be able to redistribute some lucrative Pocos from 1man holding corps. Usualy backed by bigger groups such as marmite, brave or even null groups to local, small / midsize corps.
Owning these POCOs will make said corps war eligible. Again adding more dynamic gameplay and content.
Also this could force the “holding corps” to sub their alts to omega bringing in that sweet sweet cash into ccps rl pockets.
Hide ya Pos, hide ya poco :
Summary
Give locator agents the ability to locate structures of the target corporation.
This way no to hiding yer ■■■■ in some dead end pocket in the middle of nowhere just so you can run around wardeccing. This could give the defender a way to fight back with some skirmish stuff such as stealth bombers without going head on at horrible odds.
Incursions, Risk vs. Reward, Nullbears and the evil gankers :
Summary
Incursions are a great way of making isk. With little to no risk. They are also very newbie friendly and the two most common groups allow meta fit battleships. For a new player these fleets can be their first taste of forming up a fleet with logistics etc. To hang with other people and socialize. The two latter things are also the most common reasons people stick to the game. I do personaly think that the incursion communities are great and that incursions are a vital part of high sec and too many, incursions are among their first “real” eve experiences.
However I consider the Risk vs Reward a little off. As these fleets and fits, even the meta one are so efficient that they breeze through the sites with almost no risk at all.
So my suggestion would be to provide some content… (and I know this might piss a lot of people off )… to the gankers. Before I proceed any further I would like to point out that I, myself enjoy running incursions whenever they are not some 40 jumps away and my boats are all 1b+.
By stating this I want to make clear that I am not some ganker looking for ”EZ Killz lol xD”
Now to get to the point…
Incursion systems should have one more penalty to them and that is concord response times.
Afterall these Systems are lore wise under a full attack. Navy and concord forces are stretched thin. People are being abducted. Shits serious…
So I propose an increase in concord response times.
An example for a formula could be :
Standard Response time * Incursion process.
For example a fresh incursion in full swing, with the bar completely red could have a 50% increase in concord response time. In a 0.5. system this would mean 9.5 seconds at max. !
The further the Incursion progresses and the bar ticks down. The better it gets. Ultimately ending in 0% increased response time. As a further reward to the people, maybe native in this system for completing the incursion could be decreased response times (maybe again 50%) for 24h after completion of the incursion and an enhanced Bounty income in Low and Null Space, also for 24h after completion.
This could be described as “concord” forces are more present in said high sec systems for sweeping up the remaining Sansha forces and increased monitoring for low and null sec systems increasing the bounty pay outs.
I think this would add some risk while staying balanced. Underline the narrative of the incursion itself lorewise and teach the newer players found in these incursions some basics about avoiding ganks and that you are nowhere safe, so fly smart !
Also a reason for Nullbears to also get out of their upgraded null pockets for that sweet sweet bounty boost. Here one might seem a more dynamic null space as getting out of safe zones means you are at risk more of not seing that roam or solo guy in intel quick enough or not at all and in addition give nullbears an actual reason to run these things. So the Bounty boost after completion needs to be significant. A good boost compared to a fully upgraded system.
The “But I don’t want PVP” narrative and NPC Mining Fleets:
Summary
An Argument I have seen often is that certain groups argue that they don’t want PVP but that wardecs and such forces it upon them. As a frequent mission runner, afk miner, former null bear but also active PVPer I can say only this : Tough ■■■■, welcome to eve online.
But instead of just ignoring their cries we could encourage these corporations to simply hire combat pilots or enhance their knowledge.
NPC Mining Fleets are a great step towards that direction. These fleets however should be more frequent and more often spawned** by pirate factions. Also they should behave more like the “PVP” Ai found in Anomic Missions for example. This encounter should scale with sec status.
On the other hand killing these fleets should increase the standing with the native faction.
** Earlier I mentioned more frequent and more often. By that I mean that the encounter itself should come more often for example but the timer for the Respawn itself should be way longer. So instead of 10 Miners in one System you have 3-4 spread out across multiple systems in one constellation.
It can be utterly demotivating to have another spawn merely 15minutes after you killed the first one. This should scale with the sec status. Giving incentive, besides the better ore quality to fight these spawns of in 0.5 sec and below for example. Meaning the lower the Sec Status, the harder these fleets get to counter but the longer is the respawn circle is in return.
Killing these fleets should feel like you are accomplishing something. Ridding the System of intruders for quiet a while and that you have influenced something. Of course loot can play a role here too.
In addition I would like to see an increase in the FOB Spawn and have their Rats also actively gatecamp and hunt down mission runners until the fob is cleared. The difficulty however should be reworked and again scale with the sec status in spawn rates and difficulty. Same goes with the loot you can get. The higher the sec, the more easiest, the more frequent but the shittier the loot the lower the sec the harder, less frequent and better loot.
Friendly NPC Miners :
Summary
Now that I have mentioned that a large portion of NPC Mining Fleets should be Pirate based. “Friendly” mining fleets should still exist and have the same respawn mechanics as Pirate Mining fleets. Maybe in a 2:1 Ratio…
Meaning … the lower the sec status of a system. The better armed and harder to kill they get. The longer they need to respawn on the other hand. Same as the pirate miners.
Friendly NPC Miners however should give a local wide boost to ORE Yield mined, Refining Effeciency and how much ore actualy is available in the Roids. Giving a reason actualy NOT to kill them off.
For more benefits I think the NPCs should provide see the next proposition…
Faction / Corporation Standings and their influence on gameplay :
Summary
NPC standings and corporation standings exist within eve online, untouched since forever.
Having positive standings has its benefits such as better refining rates and access to higher level agents.
Bad standings can restrict your access and even have the native navy target you.
I would like to further suggest rewarding the tedious grind for standings by adding the following features :
Standings at +10 (excellent) with a Faction will have the NPC Navy come to your aid similar to being in FW as described above.
Standings at +10 (excellent) with a corporation will make their NPC mining fleets repair you and/or come to your aid should you be attacked by anything other than a member from a hostile FW group or a wartarget in their proximity.
This way FW Members can still kill you in high sec and so can wartargets. Suicide Gankers however will have to outdamage NPC reps. Or kill the NPCs themselfes before ganking.
Seeing a stranger shooting at NPC Miners nearby should kinda be a warning to you. Giving a reason for miners to look out instead of F1 and AFK Mining. This way AFK miners can still be easily ganked but active and aware miners got some back up and also an indicator that tells em “better warp out fella”.
More love for the Pirate Factions :
Summary
In earlier propositions I mentioned how your faction and corporation standings should affect your gameplay and how I wish for NPC Pirate space to be more populated and used.
I would like to suggest that having a positive standing towards a Pirate faction (+1 and above) should not trigger their aggro. You can be in a belt with rats and even in their Havens and Sanctums and not be attacked unless of course you open fire upon them. This will allow Null Sec PVPers to hunt for juicy nullbears in smaller, faster, DPS fit and nimble ships. Without having to worry about that aggro Switch. The same goes for High Sec Hunters warping into missions, hoping to bait mission runners.
The Standing grind is a tedious one, especially more tedious for pirate factions. This should be rewarded.
An addition, for +10 standings with a pirate faction should be that their NPC Fleets, Mining fleets for example will aid and rep you similar to the NPC Fleets mentioned in “ Faction / Corporation Standings and their influence on gameplay”
This also counts for Sansha and its Incursion Rats !.
I hope that this will populate NPC Null more, especially with active PVPers that seek out to gank null sec ratters. Small corps and alliances can set up in NPC Null near Big alliances and score some sexy kills.
Many people say null nowadays is even more safe than high sec and that the Reward vs. ISK is off by lightyears. This is a proposition to end that.
Afk Cloaking and Pirate Faction Agents :
Summary
Afk Cloaking is an issue. Lets face it.
That most of the eve population is stuck in the same old null pockets also is.
Empty Systems = Bad.
Afk Cloaking = Bad.
I would like to introduce “XY Faction enhanced resonator probes”
These Probes can only be obtained from the LP Store of Pirate Factions and are capable of scanning down cloaked ships and cloaked ships only.
CCP sure will be able to come up with something lorewise to justify the appereance of these things.
It would breeze some live to the pirate faction agents and stop AFK cloaking.
Very niche but worth the price tag for nullbears and wormholers mostly.
Bounties and Kill rights.
Summary
First of all. Kill Rights. Get rid of them. They are useless and obsolete.
Giving a player a bounty should start at least at a 5mil minimum placement and max at 500mil for each individual bounty.
Bounties can only be applied to players, that have commited a suicide gank.
They can be applied only once per Gank (killmail) and player.
If a player was ganked 5 times by the same player. He can place 5 individual bounties each at least 5mil up to 500mil on his aggressor.
Having a Bounty will spawn NPC Bounty Hunters. For each bounty on your head one bounty hunter will spawn according to how big your bounty is.
An example :
Player X has a bounty of 2x 500mil (1b overall). This will randomly spawn two 500mil bounty hunters.
Player Y has a bounty of 5x 5mil (25mil overall). This will randomly spawn five 5mil bounty hunters.
Player Z has a bounty of 2x 15mil and 1x 45mil (75mil overall). This will spawn 2x 15mil bounty hunters and 1x 45mil bounty hunters.
It is never obvious how the overall bounty is made up. It could be one big chunck or many smaller ones.
Bounty hunter NPC’s spawn with the advanced “pvp” AI, Meaning web scram, and dunks.
These spawns are as mentioned random but can also appear in swarms if you are unlucky and have a bunch of similar bounties on you and their Spawns happen to sync. The Spawn depends on how big your individual bounty is and how it is made up as mentioned above.
For example 5mil being the weakest form of a spawn and 9,9mil being the strongest form a spawn before going a level up from 10mil being the weakest of the next biggest spawn and 29,9mil being the strongest and so on.
These spawns could be for example :
5Mil – 9mil Hunters : Spawns a non faction T1 Brawler frigate such as blaster merlin. Rocket Kestrel, Incursus, Rifter etc.
10mil – 29mil Hunters : Spawns a non faction T1 Brawler cruiser such as Rupture, Moa, Caracal, Thorax, Maller etc.
30mil – 49mil Hunters : Spawns a non faction T1 Brawler Battlecruiser such as Ferox, Drake, Harbinger, Hurricane, Cyclone, Brutix etc. (This can include Attack BCs such as Talos)
50mil – 99mil : Spawns a faction high DPS Cruiser such as Phantasm, Ashimmuu, Vigilant etc.
100mil – 199mil : Spawns a high DPS, high Tank T2 Cruiser such Sacrilege and Deimos.
200mil – 249mil : Spawns a high DPS, high Tank T1 Battleships such as Armageddon, Tempest, Hyperion etc.
250mil – 500mil : Spawns a high DPS, high Tank Faction Battleship such as Machariel, Vindicator, Bhaalgorn etc.
These Bounty Hunters will keep spawning until the kill is achieved. A 500mil bounty hunter will only stop appearing when the NPC has killed its target in a 500mil value ship inlcluding fittings but not loot.
Neutral Logi in High Sec :
Summary
Honestly… ■■■■’s simple, you repair a suspect or war target. Concord dunks you.
No buts, no ifs. As soon as a neutral circles “aid” on a suspect or somebody at war. Dunk police gon get ya. Doesn’t matter if it is remote tracking, energy or shield. RIP inbound.
Captain Spawns in High Sec :
Summary
Similar to Officer Spawns in Null, there should be a chance of an additional “Captain” spawn in High Sec Missions, Belts, DED Sites and Fobs. The Captain is essentialy a Officer light. Being a hard to kill rat dropping nice loot. Though of course. Not as nice as the officer but also not as hard to kill as the officer. No Deadspace Modules as well. These rats can only drop things such as dread gurstias, true sansha etc. for example.
Graphics – Station and Upwell Interiors.
Summary
Please add more unique interiors to the unique style of stations.
That Station Model that is embedded in an Asteriod for example should have a fitting interior. Not the standard Amarr one, Upwell Interiors shouldn’t be the standard Caldari interiors and so on…
Low Sec Love :
Summary
Please add “Covert Agents” to low sec stations.
These can be faction/corporate standard LVL1-4 Agents (exluding the already existing low sec lvl5 security agents here)
that will offer probing and combat missions with high rewards especially tailored to cloaky ships. Maybe having to probe NPC Complexes similar to DED. Hacking something similar to ghost sites etc. LVL1 being the easiest and can be done in a covert ops or astero to LVL4 being the hardest which requires a tanky stratios, T3 or even BLOPS. These can be high risk, high rewarding as people looking to complete these missions might run into people trying to hunt them down. Especially using the new covert probes mentioned above. This is just a small idea but could breathe some life into all these desolate empty low sec stations and systems.