After a few days of flying the plexes, I felt deflated. The idea of playing as a pirate and expanding influence was appealing, but the insular nature of Faction Warfare (FW) and Insurgencies really limits the impact that player-driven corruption could have. Despite both being accessible via the FW tab, they seem disconnected, reducing their potential for meaningful gameplay.
Insurgencies feel like a quick way to chase ISK, but the enjoyment drains fast. Sitting on a site for 20 minutes, clearing easy NPC spawns for around 20 million ISK per tick (after conversion) just doesn’t compare to ratting in null-sec, where I could make the same or more without dealing with the LP store.
Initially, I assumed there’d be more interplay between piracy affiliation, Insurgency Zones and FW, —especially since joining pirate factions marks you as a war target. However, that overlap and integration aren’t really there, which makes the experience feel hollow.
Here are some things, in no particular order, I feel would make the gameplay loop more exciting, and actually push the “Havoc” narrative of the expansion.
- Move “Insurgency Zones” and their mechanics to pirate controlled regions of space.
- Make all pirate factions be available to align with.
- Revamp FW to allow for pirate Insurgency.
- Apply Suppression Mechanics to current High&Low sec.
- Revamp Incursion and marry it with current “Insurgency”.
- Allow pirate affiliated player actions in security space allow increased pirate activity.
To expand on the ideas from above, and in a bit more coherent order:
Revamp FW to allow for pirate Insurgency.
With the current two discrete sets of the plex, it creates a muddy experience of what can actually be done. Both mechanics are further diminished by the fact neither actually impact the other beyond war decs being in system and allowing flagged PvP.
To make the gameplay more enjoyable and dynamic for both sides, remove the distinction of Insurgency sites and FW sites. Anything that spawns in the systems will impact FW advantage and corruption/suppression. This mechanic should also allow for the pocket of FW to be cleared out and break potential frontlines due to the disruption caused by the Insurgency.
Move “Insurgency Zones” and their mechanics to pirate controlled regions of space.
By moving the existing mechanics to pirate controlled space, this would create a dynamic and meaningful impact in the NPC space out in null. All pirate factions should have the mechanic in place for their respective regions they hold.
Make all pirate factions be available to align with.
Giving pilots more options to engage with the game is always a good idea. It will also pair with the next topic.
Revamp Incursion and marry it with current “Insurgency”.
As players do activities in Pirate space, their actions will contribute to their respective affiliations development of an Incursion. After the total resources needed to start the Incursion is reached, a connecting system to the pirate controlled system will initiate the expansion process. Players can then complete activities to either hinder/help the advancement of the zone of control.
Apply Suppression Mechanics to current High&Low sec.
All activities conducted by players would contribute to suppression. From a mechanic standpoint, all missions would be considered actions toward keeping pirates out of that space. As Incursions as defined above are pushed further and further into empire space, the addition of the suppression mechanic in all security space would create a natural barrier in the .3-.7 space.
Allow pirate affiliated player actions in security space allow increased pirate activity.
With PvP activity in a sec system, allow it to decrease suppression and increase the spawn rate of associated pirates in the system. This would again allow for pirates players to be a dynamic force of chaos in space.