Life After Abyssal Space

Communications Center General Discussion
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So this was fun for a week! Having mastered F1-F3 filaments and not being prepared to plunk down 5-billion in a Deadspace/high-grade implant fit to dangle at the end of a suspect rope in high-sec - I’m just curious what’s next for most of us?

With prices on Triglavian items quickly plummeting, other than running these pockets for more materials and components to manufacture ammunition - I don’t see these staying ahead of standard L4 missioning for very much longer.

I know there are some changes coming to the Triglavian ships, but I hope CCP is planning regular updates and expansion to the Abyssal pockets. Otherwise these are going to quickly follow the fate of Resource Wars and Forward Operating Bases…

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No risk, no reward

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There’s no risk in null-sec, so let’s be realistic.

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And every new PVE quickly turns into no reward. :slight_smile:

So, what’s next: I hope some reason in CCP’s PVE department. New missions, for instance, would be welcomed. And by that I mean missions, not the burner garbage.

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There’s not really much of an exploration aspect to Abyssal space (at least at present), so once you’ve injected all the relevant skill books, manufactured the ships and collected the modules for enhancing them - what’s left other than day trips “Into The Abyss” to collect Zero-Point and Isogen-10 to manufacture ammunition?

Filaments continue to drop in price and the most common mutaplasmids are quickly following suit. So much so that if you want to start dabbling in module mutation it’s easier to let others run the pockets to get the essentials for you.

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That’s the entire point of that space. In CCP’s own words even.

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Perhaps for now. I think everyone is hoping they quickly expand on Abyssal space - or at least begin incorporating elements from it into other aspects of EVE, ie: missions.

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To buttress this point, I think this is a good development.

If something were insanely rewarding, people would feel compelled to engage in activity even if they hated every minute of it. But they would subject themselves to it just to get the necessary in-game isk to enjoy other parts of the game.

I hear that, for better or worse, that Incursions are much like that. Not a lot of people find them “fun”, per se, but they definitely need that money.

But Abyss is here, and it’s something some people enjoy, and they can make some isk doing it, so it’s another viable PvE entry for them. For those that might want some more variety than simply rescuing the Damsel again. Overall, regardless of whether or not CCP really had goals for Abyss space, I’d still be chalking it up as a victory. It’s new, it’s different, it’s viable. Let it be. Not everything has to be transcendent or revolutionary. Some things can just be fun new tools you use every so often.

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Is it really that different from the Damsels or Blockades? The only difference that I see is you cannot influence whether you live or lose a lot of ISK. But each their own, as long as I get more new missions that are interesting and not a mindless grind fest.

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My only regret is that I can no longer shoot the Damsel out of spite (she now automatically appears in your cargo hold). I guess I can always jettison her near the sun… Too bad we can’t instead sell her into slavery as a female exotic dancer and then ransom the family.

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Good question @Arthur_Aihaken

I think it is too early to make bets on what will happen, mostly because CCPs behaviour is an unknown factor here. Abyssal Deadspace and procedually created content is their new baby. If CCP learned anything from the past then it would be to not give up too early, stay on top of things and push through the difficulties in a proactive way.

That being said, here comes my prediction:

We had a pretty crazy situation with Abyssal Deadspace these past couple of days. For the first time I can remember it is actually considered not totally embarassing to lose a ship to NPCs. Despite losses of nearly 4T in under a week, players are still high with the great new content, the awesome graphics and certainly the hope to make bank.

At least the latter part of which won’t last much longer and we’ll see a collective hangover in the near future.

While some people made billions building and selling the first Triglavian ships, using trade opportunities that arose and so on, most people just burned through a good amount of ISK/ships in the hope that the high prices from the start would stay. Running anything but Tier4 or Tier5 is already a great net loss for anyone living outside of Highsec, as the lower tier Trig sites don’t pay off for their time investment at all, taken the current loottables.

I could go into details for all of the loot, but let me just say there is only one stabilizing factor at this point, which is the Isogen-10 as a needed ressource for Triglavian ships, which has a low enough droprate to keep up the necessity to farm sites in order to deliver the Damavik/Vedmak/Leshak and their modules. Mutaplasmids were the other big hope for continous use of the sites, but as I’ve said many times before the launch, their droprate and nerfed strength make them a very niche thing, with little to no use for the vast majority of players. Some dudes will keep on working in order to get their AT ships even more powerful, but that’s it.

Personally I think the sites are fun, but they offer so little in other rewards considering the high risk and need to be extremely concentrated, that many people will pretty much just stop running them soon.

The one big question is wether or not many people in Highsec will see it as a viable longterm commitment to grind these sites in order to source Triglavian ships. For highseccers the higher tier sites could prove to be good income at least for the near future, if they can manage to not lose so many ships. The demand for Triglavian ships will not vanish over night.

So in short:

  • most non-highseccers will stop running them soon
  • mutaplasmids will be even more niche than predicted before
  • Triglavian ships and Isogen-10 will be a stabilizing factor
  • AD needs concentration and people could burn out, when profits starts to fall

That being said, we can’t predict what CCP will do with it, once the curve drops down.

They might reconsider their somewhat anxious approach to Mutaplasmids and this might fuel the desire to run more sites anew. They might also reconsider a lot of other mechanics around Abyssal Deadspace which may or may not shift what players do with them.

Personally I would like if they basically flooded the sites with Mutaplasmids. While making the single Mutaplasmid way less valuable, a tenfold increase (or even more) in droprates, would actually push them from being the unviable thing they are now to a spot where they are interesting for many players. This would of course result in the giant material sink some people hoped for and others feared. Anyhow, I think it would be an interesting although a brave choice to make.

P.S. not to forget, that what we see now may just be the first step in a series of developments using the new mechanics. For better or worse, CCP has started something and there is no good reason to back off.

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@zluq_zabaa Excellent writeup! You summarized it perfectly!

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thanks man, appreciated

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They have done just that in the past, innumerable times. There is no evidence that this time will be different. It would be nice if it were, but don’t count on it.

Something something Stockholm Syndrome.

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Agreed, they could back off, but I hope they have learned that this would be the worst of all choices.

I don’t count on anything, I will just see. If they raise Mutaplasmid droprates significantly, I will start caring about the sites again, if not I’ll buy Triglavian ships once the competition drove down their prices. There are still plenty of other things to do in EVE.

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It is Highsec, there are a ton of options to make this almost 100% secure. I hate that I’m the person who has to tell you this, but:

Have an Orca somewhere in a savespot off-grid but near the entrance aligned to you. If there are people waiting outside, warp Orca in. While he is entering grid you can already open the hangar and the ship array, As soon as he is within 2.5k you store your loot and then your ship before they are even able to bump it and insta-warp your pod out by hammering warp to some nearby citadel where you will instantly tether on exiting warp.

I mean you can even test that and practice it. And I’m sure most of the time this will not even be needed and you can just warp and dock because no one is waiting anyway.

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@Ima_Wreckyou I wish it were that simple. The OSX EVE client is unstable to the point where I get unexpected crashes. I’ve had two in-pocket (both survived) and one on exiting (also survived). These are just the most memorable ones I can recall off the top of my head…

So suspect status is a no-go unfortunately, because I just can’t rely on the client remaining open. But I appreciate the helpful suggestions (thanks).

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Well I can tell you with 99.99% accuracy what CCP will NOT do:

Expand with new instances the PvE content that’s kept PvErs engaged and subscribed for 15 years: agent missions, aka scripted dungeons.

Since it’s worked for 15 years and nothing terrible has happened after abandoning them for 9 years, and since people will use them no matter what because they push a button and get bacon to bet on riskier content, all this means that that scripted dungeons absolutely need no love, no care, no attention and certainly no expansion.

(Also, think of the developers: “I coded AI” is like 10x sexier than “i designed levels”)

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Expand them to allow multiple ships entering (much like WH entrances that have mass limits). Increasing the spawns and rewards in the sites accordingly. These could even be higher level filaments than the current offerings. Group participation would enhance the gameplay and variety.

Just one idea…

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It would be funnier if it weren’t sadly true…

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