Hi Everyone, I would like to propose that CCP re-evaluate the current mechanics and policies around AWOXING within the Faction Warfare mechanics.
For those who do not know it is possible for players to insert their character into a corporation and which allows them to anchor themselves into a Militia, even if they have negative standings themselves. This is not a negative mechanic in of itself as it allows some players to swap sides and have the freedom to move between militias.
However, this mechanic is intended in sorts to enforce the removal of players (or corporations) who engage in too much Militia on Militia fighting. It should be noted that the Faction Warfare system is controlled by Mechanics, where as Alliances and other player driven entities have a human-to-human element. If someone AWOXâs a friendly Alliance those Alliances can adjust their standings, declare war or engage in other punitive actions against the entity without consequence.
In the context of Faction Warfare, if you engage another player of your Militia pre-emptively your standings will fall. Due to changes in the War Declaration System, you are also not able to pre-emptively declare War on an unruly entity within your own militia. Because of this players are able to anchor their standings to a corporation and explicitly hunt âbluesâ or other militia pilots.
This type of activity should be considered different from disagreements or âin the momentâ blue on blue militia incidents (which themselves should even have a forgiveness option). By anchoring your standings to a corporation and explicitly hunting friendly players the perpetrating party should be considered to be engaging in either harassing behavior or a circumvention of intended mechanics. This should be delineated by them having a clear history of engaging friendly militia without warning.
The mechanics should be adjusted to automatically kick such a player from Militia from an extended period of time if âpunishedâ by other Militia players for friendly fire incidents or the EULA should be adjusted to consider such behavior against the spirit and intention of the mechanics. This is because those defending against the action are punished for taking the initiative while the perpetrator is not.
I would like to see peoples opinion on this. I am all in favor of people flexing mechanics, engaging in anti-social behavior and pushing the rules. But for example, if you suicide gank someone and circumvent Concord vaporizing you, it is a bannable offense because it is against the intention of the mechanic. At the very least I would like a better mechanic for defending yourself against such players or ensuring they are temporary barred (as a character) from joining the Militia as a whole.
CCP does not iterate on things that are already in the game. They just release some low hanging ânew contentâ fruit. Like a new solar system, new ship or new NPC every now and then so you are going to have to live with the way things are.
How come the corporation still has standings to join FW?
Does it take the mean of its pilotsâ standings including inactive alts in the corp?
If so, maybe NPC corp standings towards player corps could have the math weighted so pilots with a higher âactivityâ metric have a bigger impact on the corp standings than those with a lower activity metric. (Take your pick - kills, FW kills, FW lowsec deaths, hours logged in, packets sent)
Yes, if the average standings of the corporation are higher; then individuals with negative standings can join that corporation and remain in FW. So you can either anchor a corporation with multiple high standings characters or you can put a character into multiple corporations and place a low standing character in there until it adjusts down. (So for example, some guys will have 6 corporations they bounce between to keep ahead of the adjustment).
At the base of it I believe that negative standing characters being able to join is great. If you are Gallente and want to play Caldari or vice verse it allows people to make room for those individuals. Nor do I even have an issue with AWOXING happening once in a while; sometimes people get tired of seagulls, have a disagreement, etc.
Where this issue exists is where someone is chronically attacking the same faction with no warning, no motivation, they are solely doing it to pad their killboard and get an advantage. When those same individuals anchor their character to the standings of a corporation - it should really be considered a bannable offense or at the very least have the mechanics adjusted to kick that character specifically from FW.
I would argue that when they do this they are attempting to circumvent the mechanics (being kicked from the faction) for killing friendlies. At the very least they should be forced to re-earn standings or have a grace period before they are allowed to return back. The reason this stands as a difference between Alliance AWOXING is because it isnât human driven but instead mechanical. Social elements and defenses and hamstringed by the fact that if you take pre-emptive defense you will destroy your own standings and be punished.