tldr; more attention given to content in space and improved systems around travel on top of rewarding active gameplay will solve a lot of the issues expressed in this thread.
The way EVE does sp is in it’s DNA, you wont be changing that.
That said, you do raise some legitimate concerns about pvp availability. I think the only way you’ll get what you’re looking for though, is in an arena environment. I know there’s been some call to bring back proving grounds, but that doesn’t really solve the issues of the sp gap.
Another potential option, would be to expand the ship simulation, not just for testing fits against dummies or npc controlled simulated ships, but also to do a simulated fight with another person, and be able to do it under a max skills setting so the playing field is leveled.
That of course comes with it’s own issues, such as lowering the amount of people in the open world, but there are a lot of people who like competitive play more than open world pvp. So it’s possible a feature like that might draw in people to the eve universe who would be mostly interested in the simulator, but then also show interest in the rest at a later date.
That mostly comes down to execution on how well it’s received after it’s introduced.
As to the lore, local is handled by the gate network, it’s why you’re not automatically updated in wormholes, since there aren’t any gates.
As other’s have said, you’re not going to be getting rid of local without first giving null blocks a real intel tool that functions in a similar way. Blackout already proved just turning local off will not work.
Also… you’re not going to get more kills by making it easier to hunt, all you’ll do is make it undesirable for those who live in the area. So what you’re really looking for, is to make the prey complacent, because they feel safe.
Besides, these types of players aren’t the type you’re interested in fighting anyway, based on your earlier remarks in your post. I suggest trolling around in fw space. You’ll find a lot more solo and small group content. The seasoned players are very good at it though, so you’ll die a lot learning.
Yes, you’re not alone in noticing the issues with the warping mechanic. In most other games, you have to actually travel places, but in EVE it’s kind of like you’re fast traveling everywhere. undock, warp, do content, warp, content, dock, undock, warp, ect.
There are a couple solutions to this, but the first deals with what you said about adding content to the systems. I have a fairly sizeable thread that spoke about redoing the mission system to incorporate procedural generation. But that’s not jsut limited to mission agents, all dungeon sites (anomalies, signatures, DED statics, ect.) can make use of the concept.
What’s more, in the thread, I mention the concept of making planets and moons a central part of this plan. Points of interest on and near the celestials for content, and the mass shadow of the celestial itself to keep people from warping away would create large grids people have to fly and navigate through to do content.
Other types of similar content could be created in space, such as making actual asteroid belts:
image sourced from the same mission thread
Imagine having to actually fly around in a belt to search for objects and have that belt be endless in every direction. Maybe interesting tidbids would show up when scanning signatures, or would be created through the mission generator, which would then populate in the belt. But you’d still have to use some sort of mechanic (preferably something more visceral than what we currently have) to scan the various points of interest within the belt - then when you’re close enough, it would either show up on the overview, or on a scanning module fit to the ship.
Finally, instead of changing current mechanics related to warp in a major way, I propose adding a hyperspace option that requires fuel to engage. This would allow travel between the stars without the gate network, but it would not be instantaneous and if you get close enough to another player (say 1-100 au - dependent on signature radius and scan resolution), you’ll both be knocked out of hyperspace - with no concord protection.
This could function not only as a travel mechanic between stars, but also a way for ccp to create more content locations without creating any more static solar systems. Large objects in space, like a Jovian station might create a 100 au bubble that kicks people out of hyperspace when they get near it. Or there could be derelicts or large battlefields out there in the deep black.
On top of this, allowing this alternative method of travel also gives CCP the ability to allow sov holding alliances to turn off gates without destroying counter play options.
Obviously the suggestion also means we’ll be able to warp in any direction without the need for a destination (since without it, you’d be immediately knocked out of hyperspace when you tried to engage it.) To balance this with the current destination warp… I suggest the current method will eat less capacitor, and require a module or rig slot for the new version of warp.
If players also get the tools to see other players while in hyperspace and warp, it will open up the gameplay to so much more than just being reserved to gate camping.
I agree with you that multiboxing is bad for the game, but it’s not something CCP is going to police. It would be too difficult to enforce, and they make money allowing it, so the incentive structure isn’t there for CCP to want to get rid of it.
The best we’ll get, is content that requires enough attention that it would make multiboxing not workable. For example: a hacking mechanic with a continuous attention requirement, like tetris.
I’m not saying EVE should use a ui like that, it’s just an example of something simple that could be done that requires the player’s attention. CCP would probably want to still keep the current hacking game’s theme, with it’s circuit board style and monochrome graphics.
You should fly more frigates.
EVE is kind of in a weird place, that the hardest things to fly well, are also the most accessible.
I do agree with you that there’s a large part of the pvp game that is rock paper scissors, but to be blunt, that sort of thing exists in every competitive game that has large amounts of choice. League of Legends and Dota are famous for having their meta champion rotations.
The issue here isn’t that EVE has a rock paper scissors balance, it’s more that it factors so heavily in determining the outcome of a fight.
What if you could hack another player’s ship to affect it in various ways, turning off modules (would require turning them on again not to eat your capacitor,) doing extra damage to overheated modules, lowering resists, lowering hp by %, scrambling ui elements such as the overview or dscan for a limited amount of time, ect.
And to make this more fair, the person being hacked could defend using a similar ui. This mechanic would require an actual person to be present in a ship, rather than rewarding multiboxing. It of course wouldn’t do anything against blobbing, unless you just only allowed one hacking attempt per ship, but then you’re back to not really punishing multiboxers other than just increasing the amount of things a player needs to pay attention to.
Those are coming. We’re not sure how it will be implemented, but fw mechanics are coming to null. ESS probably wont change (unless they’re going to work that into the corruption mechanic for null) and I don’t really think they need to (other than bringing them to empire as well.)
CCP just needs to reward active play more. They should still keep the current mechanics, but if you have the ability to actively control some element of your ship, you should be rewarded for it. (ie: passive mining vs active mining.)
In a game like EVE, that would probably come by way of a series of minigames. You could ignore the minigames, and let the character’s skills do everything for you or active play and not get the benefit of the character’s skills, but if you’re good at the minigames, you could out perform a player with max skills.
Null, at least in the case of sov null, is a strategic territory control game. Obviously it allows for other gameplay modes, but it’s primarily a much larger game.
Npc null and lowsec is more inline with what you’re talking about. fw mechanics coming to null will do some to mitigate some of your concerns, but there’s still quite a bit else that could be done to make the situation better (some of which I mentioned earlier in this post.)
To be fair, you’ve not earned it, until it’s safe in a station.
But to your point, this is also another place where CCP could reward active gameplay. Instead of making it a timer, make players hack the bank repeatedly. Let us use those mercenary items we have to give us the illusion of sending people in to extract resources (which also gives us a good tie in to vanguard if CCP is brave enough to do it.)
Regardless of how it’s implemented, using some sort of hacking mechanic (whether it’s themed for data hacking, or combatants clearing out a structure, or w/e) instead of a timer will allow a player to decide for themselves how long they wish to invest for their reward.
Ultimately though, EVE is an open world game, so you’re going to have to deal with blobbing. The best the developers can do, is create mechanics that reward spreading out.
I could probably say more about this, but I think I’ve written enough of a novel.