Yes, I totally agree with you in that HS Wars need to follow a FW style of functionality!
In terms of being able to join a war on the side of a defender as an individual pilot the same way as the current FW mechanics, I couldn’t hope for a better outcome! I think that with the ability to render remote assistance between Allies as I have proposed, together with this it will provide progress towards helping small and independent groups work together easier to push back and fight the good fight!
As I see it, anything which can better leverage a defensive ability for small mining groups in lowsec and NPC null is a benefit! This is the reason I have suggested acceleration gates for mining sites in that;
A) It would be deadspace so regular cynos won’t work and,
B) once inside a gated site you can at least use your D-Scan to warn yourself of incoming / avoid BLOPS drops (limited to the outside only as normal) so you may have a chance to escape / reduce the size of the potential fleet you have to fight whilst in barges! Same mechanic as FW sites as you are aware.
So to answer your question directly if mining sites are too “extreme” then yes procurers should have an option to fit Industrial cynos, at the very least allow for better self-defense options. That way it limits their use to mostly smaller scale operations so that big blocs aren’t as interested in multi-boxing with them during regular “locust” style harvesting operations.
I would also like to see Procurers receive an ECM drone jam strength bonus to allow solo miners a better chance of escaping in lowsec. But I won’t hold my breath haha!
I’ve quit again. Lost 4b in a suicide gank in Jita yesterday - the game is completely moronic that you can hit dock to warp from a gate then it lands you 4km off Jita station at the mercy of the lowest ‘pvpers’ in game.
Completely stupid mechanics, especially given the game is so skewed to one hub these days, it just feels like a tax on your time (its my 2nd suicide gank since returning a couple of months ago) which as a solo indy player just isn’t worth it in terms of time vs reward. There’s minor mitigation you can do, but let’s be honest - haulers, especially T2 haulers are not up to the job since a couple of T1 fit arty tornadoes can pop and end literally days/weeks of reacting/researching/inventing and real work and player effort in seconds - it just doesn’t stack up correctly anymore in terms of effort for me. Industry is a complete time sink and when ■■■■ like suicide ganking on Jita undock is so relatively easy, mechanically low risk and simple… The game is more broken than ever.
The idea that the navy and concord just allow these people to sit there all day nuking people stupidly trying to warp/dock (with the bait CCP dock button) is so immersion breaking - the timer is a joke. 15 mins for being naughty then… carry on! Compare that to the hours/days to invent/react/build/haul just to make the hauler let alone the contents - it is a pitiful balance and just shows how little CCP actually value their ‘contributive’ players time.
Anyway I figured I’d rant to you before quitting again - maybe you’ll get a chance to relay this imbalance to CCP. They are losing actually economy contributors and seasoned players due to these crap mechanics not just newbs; But anyway tbh I feel CCP are on the wind-down and know their game is nearing the end so are in the final milking stages - changes at this stage are like sanding the deck of the Titanic after the iceberg. Still hope you win your trip over there.