Had a few thoughts on the current blackout that I want to share.
Blackout is surely a nice way to generate more content, at least for a short while, through cranking up risk. However, in the long term, I think some improvements have to be made to the reward side of the PvP sandbox. Null is stale not primarily (but also) because of too little risk, but also not enough incentive to actually risk combat. Combat needs to have value by itself, not only by being a means to an (most of the time) unsatisfying end.
The following brain dump tries to outline a mechanical change in the pvp sandbox that might be used to incentivize more PvP in Null and can provide a reason, even for big null blocks, to invade neighbours on a more longer lasting time basis.
Lore
Angry Concord guy hates capsuleers, especially those not aligned to high sec (essentially a very powerful pirate faction)
Blanket Concord bounty on all capsuleers in null
Fight fire with fire/divide and conquer/ etc.
Risk vs. Reward
PvE is more or less fine if blackout is improved upon with observatories (see section āObservatoryā)
PvP is seriously out of whack, especially with blackout (almost no reward, all the risk)
Bounties for ship kills in null, based on destroyed value
Replaces current bounty system
Bounty + Salvage + Loot + Insurance < value of destroyed ship (everything included)
KDR >= 2 against ship of equal value = net win (bounty + salvage + loot)
Adjust insurance payout or remove the mechanic if it gets in the way
Value of destroyed ship is based on manufacturing cost (small stopgap to work too much in favor of RMT, see also: āSpiceā section)
Payout: ISK vs Capsuleer Tags
ISK
easy to fine tune
easy to tax
earnings from a kill are untouchable the moment the kill is made
instant payout helps poors to get started easier
is a source of ISK
ā¦
Tags
basically LP as an ingame item (like ESS tags)
drops in wreck of destroyed ship
no easy transport
allows to āget back atā killer transporting winnings
hard to calculate actual value for fine tuning
especially during large block wars
probably easier on the servers
enables counterplay through shooting a wreck
ā¦
Observatory
only in player owned space, NPC null stays with delayed local
one per system allowed, enables undelayed local, no fuel required
supposed to bring risk for null PvE back in line
easy to destroy, one damage phase
promotes small single grid fights
probably creates a no mans land between blocks
hard to deploy due to long onlining phase
cheap
no killmails via API in null systems without an observatory
no activity stats via API and ingame map for null systems without an observatory
small, tight-knit groups can burst farm in āblackout-modeā
Spice
Items that are not raw materials, that can not be produced by a player with a blueprint, and that are not ship modules or ammo are always destroyed (this includes plex and injectors) and have zero value with regards to bounty calculation
Ships and ship modules that can not be produced with a blueprint have the value of the similar T1/T2 ship/module
Yes, the game needs more ISK faucetsā¦ Not. The problem with PvP is indeed because it is often not worth taking a fight. Your view of it being ānot worthā seems to be based on monetary gain. I think it has far more to do with the player base and ease of access to capitals and supers or BLOPS. If you want to have some fun small-gang PvP, youāre likely to get dropped on by a massive fleet and/or caps/supers because they are expendable. The people (botters, ratters, miners, etc etc etc) who have drastically inflated the EVEconomy and so widely proliferated those powerful assets, combined with the difference in the power of groups (Goons vs. anyone, really) just makes PvP stale. There isnāt a conflict driver anymore. Owning territory is irrelevant; it just expands/recedes your defense umbrella. The recent changes DRASTICALLY help the smaller groups who want to hunt and find fun content, for sure, and I think that should be expanded upon. EVE needs scarcity. The blackout creates a scarcity of information. NPC mining in highsec has created somewhat of a scarcity of resources. Expanding that feature to null (imagine NPC rorquals stealing Goonsā ore?) would be beneficial. It would be a VERY LONG TERM thing that would very slowly increase the cost of powerful assets over time, but it would work. As for a conflict driver, I honestly donāt know what to suggest. Those are just some thoughts, Iām not trying to be super antagonistic, but rather looking holistically. I welcome your feedback and will continue to respond as Iām able.
Imagine now many ratters and miners would switch to pvp if only they could make a decent isk out of it if theyāre good at it. With that mining fervor youāll see stuff exploding all over the place!
The problem with pvp now that it makes extremely low net margin profit. Spending some time pvping makes orders of magnitude less profit compared to any form of pve.
Just a flat 500m per station destroyed? Hell, buck dat rocks, get rollinā!
Consider the Roman Empire: everyone wanted to be in the military! Even with all that risk and hard labor. Because it pays well
I would think if those miners or ratters look at taking the fight to the enemy to defend their fields of iskā¦I would think they would be more motivated to do so. I look at ratting and the like as way to fund my ability to shoot others in the face. Not looking for profit to fight, and most donāt.
The ones looking for a payment to fight (outside of the mercenaries) are normally who I wouldnāt want to share a fox hole with in the first place.
I am writing today to give my opinion on the current Blackout, and its effect on EVE Online.
First, why the Blackout and the invasion of Drifters? I think everyone knows, but we need to keep inflation in the game, and therefore lose ISKs / decrease the gross creation of ISKs, whose bots are for many. And in my opinion, the Blackout partly serves that.
However, there are many other ways to do it rather than prevent a lot of the game from playing. But Iāll talk about it later.
Then, the effects of the blackout on EVE Online? Itās simple ā¦ A wave of massive churn is coming for many players, see a final stop of the game against all these changes that can be described as āanti-casualsā.
But, what are my ideas for fighting inflation, you say? Here are some tracks:
ā> Increase taxes: itās simple, but effective. Trade taxes, planetary interaction etc ā¦
ā> Tax the great powers: especially when recruiting members based on the number of members in the corporation / alliance. Recruitment = a tax.
ā> Power pay in ISKs to raise his standings / security status. But beware, not a small sum, a real sum.
ā> Pay ISKs to raise a skill level.
ā> Players who are concordoken could also pay the price of the intervention at Concord.
ā> Decrease loot fairy.
ā> Increase the cost of production: taxes, minerals needed for example.
These are just ideas, but put together, they could have a real impact on the game economy.
Thus, a permanent Blackout could be avoided. But why not put it randomly, coupled with the Drifters invasion in one or two regions on the same system as Sanshas? Or to make sure that there is a Blackout 2 days a week, weekend excluded to avoid the more casual of us not being able to play in Null-sec ā¦
First, congratulations to Goonswarm for winning this game a long time ago and for maintaining top dog status for so long.
Now imagine something probably closer to reality. How many will win the game by terminating their account(s). I expect that many pve players tolerate pvp as long as it remains a low ranking nuisance in the game.
CCP: rewrite your rules such that pve players are unnecessary. Many winners, more pvp, and less complaining. Something to consider.
Have you heard the null sec whiner babies, PvP and PvE alike?
Seems less complaining would be to increase the risk and decrease the rewards in Null until it is actually the second most dangerous space again and just wait for the whiner babies to leave.