Aside from my idea on a new area of space exclusively for small gang PvP here… Privateer Space
How to improve FW:
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Drastically reduce the number of FW systems to concentrate players (the majority of FW space empty.) Having a “front line” where only a small number of systems can be capped / fought over would work. The number of “active” systems could be scaled according to number of truly active players in FW (people getting PvP kills, being killed, not just running missions or orbiting beacons in a stabbed ship).
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Encourage actual PvP combat by increasing rewards for killing members of the enemy faction. Right now blowing up another player gives a pathetically tiny amount of LP compared to orbiting a beacon in space for 15 mins to cap a point. We’re talking 1500LP for a player kill that requires time, skill, a lot of risk and effort vs 15,000LP for doing basically nothing for 15 mins. Hence bots. Players vs Player content should not be completable by a bot lol! FW should involve actual PvP only, not consant beacon orbiting or FW missions which are mostly done by people that totally avoid all PvP.
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Limit the number of ships in (some) plexes to stop blobbing and encourage small gangs to form and fight each other on relatively equal terms. Wormholes do it, Abyssal 1v1’s do it, FW needs it (some plexes can be free-for-alls).
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Remove pirate and faction frigs from Novice plexes - they’re insanely better than T1 frigs and it sucks for new players that spend most of their time in a Rifter being hunted by Navy Comets.
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All players entering a FW plex should be tagged as suspect immediately. Pirates warp into a “War zone” to kill militia players if the militia member shoots first they lose security status! If you willingly enter a war zone as a random neutral then you’re fair game.
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Give some proportion of the rewards from FW in isk, so people can replace stuff without being forced to slowly turnaround items using LP stores, which is boring and laborious, and again sucks for new players. Missions do this with cash rewards and NPC bounties.
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The current LP reward multipliers are hilariously bad, especially because you can simply join the side that is already winning with no penalty. I understand the need to reward the side doing well, but decreasing rewards for the losing side by 50%? Why would any player concerned at all about isk / LP or trying to actually fund themselves in FW from the rewards, consider joining a losing side?
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Get rid of standings requirements for joining FW. Empires should take anyone that wants to fight for them (think French Foreign Legion). Maybe players with low standing could get lower rewards until their debt is “paid off” and standings increase?
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Remove defensive plexes, if you don’t want to PvP that’s fine, but don’t be in Factional Warfare.