It’s the game mechanic design I’m having a problem with, not a particular fit.
But if you wish to talk fits, take a combat-capable nano gang of your choice and tell me what kind of equally capable gang could take them on while flying 2km/s faster in order to catch up?
The issue with that is you’re applying a “fix” to a game mechanic you aren’t actually engaging with, based on a premise you’ve established 0 logical basis for. Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards for game design, we are both players, let’s talk about the actual game.
If there’s no specific ships nano gangs actually use that you can think of that you genuinely can’t catch, then none of your suggestions have any merit, because they aren’t addressing an issue actually occurring in the game.
What ships are you fighting on the ess, that you can’t catch?
When you log in to pvp another player in this video game, what ship/ships are they bringing to the ess that you struggle with?
It’s not a specific ship, it’s the design of the grid I have issues with.
You pretend ships exist which could both outrun a nanogang to catch up and also fight them.
And even if such a hypothetical ship existed it still would take you an unnecessarily boring long time to catch up if the nanogang has a head start.
And in the hypothetical situation your hypothetical ship did catch up and pose a threat they would see it coming long in advance and could simply warp off.
I think this safe zone without counter created by the ESS is a problematic design.
I’ve encountered plenty of ships I had trouble catching up in all sorts of situations depending on my fit and theirs, such is EVE’s gameplay.
But that is not what this is about.
It’s not about whether I was flying the counter, but whether a counter even exists.
Here I just want to hear your hypothetical counter that apparently can outrun and kill people who are burning away on the ESS grid, are 800km away and keep burning.
After reading the whole topic again, I fail to see the “problem”. And I have to confess, contrary to my initial statement, I don’t see much changes needed any more.
React quickly by teaching the locals how PvP works. If you let them into the ESS and let them kite for 5 entire minutes, thats entirely your fault. If they make a run for it, there are long-range ships (Nagas, Oracles, Tengus) that can easily hit over 250km and with 2-3 Booshers you can insta-jump 300km after them. That gives you up to 600km projection range with just a handful of ships required. Or send 2 Carriers, Jump 2x250km after them (they can jump each other) and send Fighters after them wich are way faster than even a Nanogang.
And since Nanogangs can’t tank very well, you will force them to warp off. Fine thing, bubble the ESS grid and they don’t have that chance again. Now you can try to catch them with combatprobes. Which in 95% won’t work anyway, since they are still uncatchable unless they make some bad mistake.
There absolutely is counterplay. Booshes, pre-placed dictors/hictors, etc. I also don’t think there should be a space in any system of nullsec which is effectively ‘safe’ that anyone can go to if they’re not feeling the combat.
I think a lot of issues with the grid could be solved by simply having a combat timer applied if you warp onto the site. That way sure you can burn off into the distance as a nanoganger, but you can’t burn off and burn down to filament out.
Ultimately you can’t force a fight if one side in EVE doesn’t want it - but I think this would go some way to resolving a lot of the issues without funadmentally changing the play possible on the ESS grid. It lets people who go there as a bit of respite to burn away do that and the people who want to chase, chase - without it being a parking spot for filament timers or whatever to burn down.
You probably force more organic content that way since in the process of burning to and fro from tac to tac you could get probed, but you also could pick off the probers and keep those running gun battles that people tend to enjoy from this style of fighting.
Saying there’s no counterplay though, is utterly WILD.
“There is no counterplay to players being on the ess grid”
“Do xyz”
“But that makes them leave the ESS grid”
So Kane, logically if your issue is players are on the ess grid, and players give you solutions, that at worst, result in them warping off the ess grid, that is by definition counterplay.