While I understand how you feel, in my opinion there should not be such a thing as ‘inactive cloaking’ where people can leave their ships unattended and cloaked in space in order to have an effect on the game (in the form of getting locals accustomed to the name in local chat).
AFK gameplay with an effect on the game isn’t good, and it’s especially bad if nothing can be done about it.
These mobile observatories solve that last part, as this makes it possible to do something about AFK cloaking.
The flipside of this is that local chat becomes even more powerful, as the only players shown in local chat can be reasonably be assumed to be active and not afk cloaked, which is also not ideal in my opinion.
I’ve always found it strange that we have multiple ingame tools to check for enemies (using eyes to see what’s on grid, using D-scan, using combat probes, keeping an eye on local, gate flashes, communicating with other characters (friends/alts) about their intel), yet the most powerful ‘tool’ is the chat box.
What gameplay reason is there for the chat box to play such a large role in identifying enemy ships? And why can enemy ships not play around the chat box?
I think that, if the chat box plays such a big role in intel, it should be less accurate so that players can play around it. Change it to ‘constellation chat’ for example, and/or add a delay before players connect after jumping into a system.
However, ‘nerf local chat’ is going to be another topic for another thread.
This one is about Mobile Observatories and those are looking good.
no ty. I’m personally still going to avoid playing in a system with a neutral in… nothing will really change.
no, not it doesn’t.
unless the afk uncloaked ship is in range of d-scan, there is no “passive information”.
The egg timer is no joke.
I’m a nerd, I’m at home by my computer 24/7 almost…
setting an egg timer on 15 min to do a re-cloak boogaloo, on my second monitor… or even on my main monitor… while I Netflix or schoolwork or whatever…
Uhm. no. sorry, that does not register on the “activity bar”.
And tbh, if I made my isk by cloaky camping…
I would just “hell camp” all the observatory’s in every system, forcing my opponent to give the f up.
if they counter, plan b, I now troll them to put out an observatory then log off.
until they get tired of losing isk… then it’s back to the old days.
any way you look at it, my isk efficiency would be thru the roof, I don’t even have to be online.
how about offline gameplay having an effect on the game?
quick update. ccp does not agree… Local is not an intel tool, according to them
also. lol. just go live in a wh and be hardcore there.
according to ccp index reports, noone is cloaky camping wh krabbers - so go do that?
instead of trying to change nullspace into wh…
Local chat is an intel tool, no matter what CCP says (also do you have a source to their statement that it isn’t?). People use it to see who’s in system with them and that’s far more powerful than any other intel tool ingame, apart from maybe the overview itself.
And no, I’m rather comfortable here in null space where gates are static and good infrastructure has been set up by my corporation and alliance.
If CCP wants to make local even more powerful and give krabs more easy Intel then so be it. (I will forever be against buffing local further) However that Intel would still be gained even if it didn’t decloak actives.
The way the deployable is now you prove your active by decloaking and recloaking to reset the invulnerability. While at first glance this is just pushing a button, it severely affects hunting or T1 cloaks, anything where you have to position on grid over any time period etc.
You should be able to reset the invulnerability timer somehow without decloaking. If your active, the enemy still knows you are because you didn’t decloak when the deployable pulsed and if your inactive you still get decloaked and caught. They still get the Intel and the “AFK” cloaking is gone. The difference is that it affects active players less which is in line with this deployable being a solution to AFK cloaking and not ruining active cloaking.
well… I think so too… the source is from a ticket response, and I’m not allowed to share that, I think.
but, well. just ask yourself why CCP will not reimburse pvp-ship losses that happen (because) of local chat being down.
Yes, im having fun, in other games.
IF I’m the enemy, I wouldn’t bother, you get a free pass from me.
I will not deploy this thing only to discover that your botting or egg-clocking it while you watch Netflix.
I just avoid the system and/or the game. also again. I get 0 intel. if I’m not actively hunting you…(aka wasting my time and my isk, while you watch Netflix)
And now we circle around again to local. See you complain about “egg clocking it” when that is exactly what you would be doing: Sitting invincible in your citadel (or logged off) and periodically checking local to see if anyone is there. If yes: keep sitting in citadel or log out, if no: Krab until someone appears in local.
So it is ok for the krab to “egg clock” but not for the “cloaker” HMM once again the krab hypocrisy shines through.
Hmm how did you know to avoid the system? Magic? No… LOCAL.
Yeah, I guess it was just a pile of derailment around “cloak fuel” rather than any meaningful discussion.
Speaking of feedback, @CCP_Dopamine -
As someone who does active hunting (and does cloakycamp as well), I also 100% oppose the game mechanics of this deployable.
The effect of this deployable can be mitigated by adopting the strategy it’s meant to address: large-scale, cheap, low-effort ships. This has been mentioned several times already - all stealth bombers need to do to make themselves hellishly difficult to scan down is change two modules in their hunting fittings (that’s replace 2 low slots with sigamps. That’s all it takes. Really.).
By increasing the operating costs of running hunting Recons/T3s in hostile territory, it punishes people who bring more ISK for risk to the table. When switched to ‘roaming hunt’ type of gameplay, these become more or less essentially gameplay flavor without much distinction - as a normal nano-gang can fill in the same role (and due to its ability to field interdictors, logi and fast tackle - can fill it better.)
By introducing a deterrent mechanic, gameplay between “harmless scout” and “overwhelming force of a hotdrop” is discouraged. I believe this is what’s called “removing sand from the sandbox”. You’re either going to be a cyno or you get out.
This mechanic is designed around principles completely incompatible with the basic concepts of stealth gameplay and the gameplay of EVE as it currently is. Unless it is accompanied by other changes to compensate, it will have effects different to those desired.
no not really dude, like I was saying, just go hunt in wormhole space.
corporation living in null is doing a hell of a (good) job.
You might not know this, but living in null… people have actual space jobs that they do “for free”… when they get off their actual irl-job.
I write “for free” because there are some perks to it, what your describing might be one of them.
But your very wrong and outright disrespectful when you belittle their hard work calling them an “egg timer”.
cool story bro. also offtopic shitposting. I guess you can’t really argue/or discuss on my level so you stoop down to this.
the topic has derailed … but in all honesty,
I really do think that all of your 3 topics can be addressed by having a null-sov cloak-fuel.
that solution might not be what I have “laid out”, but it should be somewhere in the ballpark with a couple of changes here and there.
If you want CCP to change game mechanics to favor you at the detriment of a lot of others, you must not be doing that good of a job. Maybe you should go to highsec where there is already Concord to protect you, there is no “AFK cloaker” problem and you wouldn’t have to pay a “ransom fee”.
No more disrespectful than you for calling players that tirelessly work to hunt and chisel your alliance “Egg Timers”.
Well written. I have to ask, though, what metric would you watch to see if you were correct that it was not having the planned effect?
As to the others saying an egg timer will solve this so lol, useless. No, if you are on a timer you are ‘present’ and not and afk cloaker. The problem targeted has been eliminated.
Cloak fuel? Well CCP did not decide to go down that route so that portion of the discussion is moot for the present time. We are dealing with what is, here, not what might be.
Yes I have been following this thread all the way through but I tend not to look at names or allegiance, just what is said. Thank you, to those who presented their cases and reasoning. Goodbye to those who are ‘unsubbing their x number of accounts’.
I’m sorry… just to clarify…?
me along with lots of other people, want ccp to change game mechanics relating to cloaky camping…
So this observatory happens…
Now im saying that this observatory will get exploited and nothing will really change.
…and for some reason that offends you, you start to talk about local being the issue and that you want null sec to be like wormhole space…
so… really… you are saying that you want ccp to change game mechanics into wormhole space… because that suits you - at the detriment of a lot of others?
I’m saying that all you need is an egg timer to combat this new feature… and somehow you think i call you an egg timer. ok, whatever.
lol. “being at home” or “alt-tab from schoolwork to do the recloak boogaloo” or watching netflix is considered “active gameplay” and “being present”.
Yeah, whatever… ccp can do whatever they want… I can only wonder what toxic waste has found its way into the drinking water in Iceland.
Yeah, all the problems that you are expressing and experiencing would go away if you played in a wh.
none of the problems experienced or expressed goes away with the mobile observatory, the problems just shift into another direction.
That is a damn tough question as picking the wrong metrics is an easy road to wrong choices. I would pick more than one, certainly.
Out of a sample of players/ships that remain in space for prolonged periods of time (Over 1 day?) -
The distribution of ship types
I expect that it will skew even more towards bombers and prospects. From my knowledge (feel free to rectify it - my dataset is far more limited than CCP’s), it is already skewed in that direction due to several factors (price, skill requirements, widespread use by mass campers.)
Quantity of solo kills made by Recon and T3Cs of the above sample
I expect a decrease, as this is currently the domain of cloaky T3Cs and Recons.
General:
Amount of systems cloaky-camped X hours per day
I expect a decrease as well but said decrease will be below projected numbers.
Given that massive threads of complaints about AFK cloaking have existed ever since cloaks were introduced, and that cloak fuel (in various forms) is the most common suggestion in them, why do you think CCP didn’t go that route?
