These are by no means complete ideas just suggestions for brain storming. I’ve been really enjoying the new Abyss sites and the idea behind forward op bases and pirate bases these Ideas came up while running them.
Faction Warfare : Instead of the beacon sites with timers have forward operation bases like those of pirate factions spawn but rather they’d be for the empires in their own controlled territory. To conquer space the enemy faction has to come in and destroy them. Have three sizes small, medium and large. The number of bases is random with 1-2 large 2-3 medium and 2-3 small. After all bases are destroyed a Grand Operating Base is generated and has to be conquered to change the system over to the opposing faction. The requirement of clearing all sites encourages reshipping based on the ship size limitations imposed on them. To improve immersion when an attacking fleet warps in the base spawns a response fleet however the attackers are backed up by a small assault fleet of their own faction. Essentially it would be a fight between the npcs with the players dictating the outcome. When the forward base is destroyed lp is awarded and drops are possible. Have the defenders of such sites earn double lp for showing up to kill attackers. Utilizing the effects of the sites in Abyssal space applied to such a scenario could make such engagements much more immersive and interesting.
High Sec : Mission npc’s award Locator beacons that replace faction missions and can be used by the player or sold on the market. By allowing them to be sold players who want to repair their standings now have a viable option other than grinding lvl 1’s for 6 months. When activated an escalation type site is generated with the location given to the player within 2-3 jumps of their current location. If the beacon is activated within the territory of the agents faction then it is a defensive mission where the player must defend a target structure from the enemy empire faction or pirate faction. If the beacon is activated in a factions territory that is hostile to the faction that issued the beacon then it spawns an assault mission where the target has to be destroyed rather than defended. Defensive missions award bonus sp’s and isk while assault missions drop fancy loot. Again the affects of abyssal sites should be utilized to make it look amazing.
Low Sec : Entrapment beacons can be looted from clones and pirate officer spawns. When deployed in low sec they drop a disrupter bubble. Once dropped they appear on ship scanners but not over views and cannot be deployed near star gates or stations and do not pull players out of warp. After a short period of time a transport fleet of the empire that holds the space arrives and is caught in the bubble. They come in three sizes small, medium and large and have various drops. Emphasis on the fleet would be to keep reps on the transports and after period of time if the fleet isn’t destroyed quickly enough a npc pirate fleet of the faction that operates in the territory arrives to try to steal the kill on the empire fleet and takes the loot.
Null sec : Hidden beacons drop from officer spawns in anoms and essentially replace escalations. They can be sold on the market and when used generate a site within 2-3 jumps of the system where its used.
Anomalies : All anomalies are replaced by a structure dubbed agent hubs that can be deployed by players, corps and alliances. They come in two sizes small and large. Agent hubs generate a site in the system they are deployed in. They do not reward players with lp but instead generate sites with higher than normal sums of isk when compared to high or low sec missions and equal to or greater than current anomalies over all. The sites difficulty is determined by the ship type used to access the hub and the player should have two options. The first option should be focused on a solo pve experience and the second option a fleet oriented experience. When players return to the hub they complete their mission and if completed within a limited time frame they acquire a bonus. The small hub is used in an incognito manner where a player could go into any null space and setup shop to run sites that focus on being run quickly. They would offer shorter sites but require the player to return to the hub more often. Rather than having most of the isk generated via bounties the real reward comes in the bonus’s earned by completing them quickly. If shot down they go into a 24hr reinforcement cycle so they can be retrieved if the player is willing to risk it. Players are limited to the number they can deploy by skill lvl. The second hub is a large one which is deployed by an alliance holding sov. The sites are longer lasting with more waves and better bounties but smaller bonus’s.
AGAIN NON OF THESE IDEAS ARE COMPLETE
I was just brain storming on some concepts that might be interesting and fun to run to expand or replace the current NPC landscape.