Im writing because of the game letting me down. The problem is structures in highsec that are offline. It makes the game feel abandoned and it makes me less interested in playing. I think other people are in the same boat. They dont really care what game they play, they want to be part of a community, they want to play what other people are playing.
Although this could be considered a minor issue, i still think the abonded structures takes away from this experience. The game feels abandoned and its always disappointing going to a structure thinking you can reprocess or compress ores and then its offline. Sigh.
Why not make the structures set and forget. Why do they go offline? What is the point of that? Im sure they can be balanced in a better way. Offline structures are just terrible. Please fix.
When “structures 2.0” hits in 2018, all Upwell Structures without fuel and an active service module, will be considered “offline” and will have lowered defense/offense, to get rid of them easily.
As it stands right now, no Upwell structures is considered offline. They are in space and usable to either the corp or to everyone, depending on docking rights.
Are you talking about offline services, like reprocessing, clone centers and manufacturing? If so, then the owners forgot to tip off the fuel on the structure.
yea the problem is the services are offline. and the reason most likely is that the owner doesent play anymore, but the structure remains in an inactive state. Imo it sends the wrong message, like, kinda that the game is dying! Im serious. And its something devs probably want to take into account. Its important to make the game feel vibrant. I understand this is kind of next level game design, but its essential none the less.
So public structures needing refueling is bad game design because they end up like zombies. They have to be more or less set and forget imo. Instead of needing to refuel them, maybe they should just be able to switch owner if original owner is not around to claim it or something. So when it becomes time to renew the structure licence, if the original owner doesent do it, it goes on auction or something so it can get in better hands. You will effectively have a real estate market, and the sandbox and possibilities for players just got a little bit bigger. This seems much better than the mundane refueling mechanic.
An interesting question if such a mechanic was to be implemented is where does the money from an auction go after a structure has been repossessed? Does it go to the original owner or is it just taken out of the game, like an ISK sink… Lots of stuff to think about.
Thats exactly why the new structure update in 2018 will introduce active/inactive states of structures, to make it easier to get rid of the structures that are just floating about.
The point of a system like this, is that its ALL player handled, player created and player destroyed.
Fuel isnt something new, its always been here for POS’s and now we use them, at a very reduced rate, for structures.
I totally understand it sucks to go to use a structure that will run out of fuel in 2 days, but then a timer for remaining fuel on “freeport” structures would be a better solution, then simply forcing the structure on some kind of auction, just because the owner forgot fuel.
You need to remember that you are using a structure that another player payed for, therefor you dont have a say in it. If you dont like that, go to NPC stations and do your thing, they dont run out of fuel
A lot of people built structures hoping to profit from fees paid by players using the services. Few of these structures earned enough to cover the fuel bill and if they run out by accident, there is a substantial fuel cost to bring the services back online. Owners saying “to hell with it” is perfectly understandable.
Industrial corporations who actually use the services themselves are more likely to keep their structures private. Less visible to predators and a lower system cost index are worth more than the taxes you are likely to collect.
As pointed out by @Hipqo the structure rebalance expected early next year will make unfueled structures a lot easier to kill - hopefully attractive and profitable targets for mercenary groups. This should help clear the oversupply - perhaps to the point where the remaining structures are profitable and owners have an incentive to keep them fueled!
Hmm… No wonder rigs cost more then the ships they go on now. Chilling in highsec to take a brake from all the space violence is a no, no. Now EVE is no longer input-broadcast-bot vs player but server versus player also.
With that CCP has the recipe for making EVE kill once and for all.
No it’s actually more about making EvE ok again. The new NPC should begin to hassle and remove cluttered stations, offline POS and AFK miners from hisec. This can only be a good thing, and is no issue for you if you’re at the keyboard.
The very bad thing is that they will attack you when you least want it. Sometimes you don’t want to shoot at things or you are moving things or you are doing relic sites and then the server comes in and shoots you down.
It is the very definition of server versus player in the Tranquility-wants-you-dead-naow Online, instead of *Ima go and mine ice a bit" sandbox. The decision is made for and taken away from you.
Interestingly, there is a mission in EvE Online which contains an additional lore blurb about abandoned structures.
There it is said that many corporations simply abandon and clean out space stations if they prove not to be profitable rather than decomission them, just because of expenses, and said stations remain as wrecks or attract unsavory sorts of people.
And that’s what just happens here.
Maybe it would be an idea that some pirate faction would (sooner or later, if ever) come across and repurpose an abandoned Citadel as a FOB?
Less NPC mechanics and more player driven mechanics please. Former is maybe easier to design and wrap your head around, but latter is more interesting.
People didn’t clean up abandoned structures in Hisec “just because” in the past, only if there has been some incentive to do so. Why would they start now unless they is a good reason for them to do so - like having to wipe out a prospective pirate hideout lest they’d be harassed?
