Just wondering, what is your opinion on the Proving Grounds? Should CCP bring them back?
I mean, the infrastructure with the filament and leaderboard is still there (go to Neocom → Activities → The Proving Grounds). Would basically just require to start new events and done it is.
Instanced PVP and PVE should not be a thing in EVE.
I don’t often agree with you, but on this we share an opinion.
No, instanced PvP should not be brought back.
Instanced PvP has no place in EVE.
It is true that Proving Grounds added an easily accessibly option for quick small scale and 1v1 fights to EVE. However this kind of content already can be found in EVE in faction warfare space.
CCP has put effort in updating that part of space so players can find 1v1s in an organic setting as part of the unpredictable and unscripted open universe. Unlike Proving Grounds this content does not require CCP to babysit the content to create new events for the 10 people competing on the leaderboard every other week.
Yes, they need to come back.
I’d like to see them back, but in a different and more accessible design than before.
They have brought EVE attention and media presence through videos and streams that could attract viewers. Much more viewers than regular EVE content.
And what EVE needs the most is fresh or returning players that can bring more life into the game. Much more important than repetitive mantras about ‘EVE is this…’ and ‘Thisandthat has no place in EVE’. As long as player-interaction is part of it, anything can be designed to be a longterm benefit for the game.
Noooo…….no un-sandboxy stuff in our alleged sandbox.
Absolutely they should come back.
I’m in EvE for the fights, and theres plenty to be had.
Unfortunately in nullsec these days that devolves into hunting for 3 hours and either finding some muppet to gank who didn’t pay attention and should’ve lived had they paid attention, or getting completely and utterly shut down by bringing 3:1 numbers just in recons + equal numbers of logi + whatever other dps was left.
Not much good “fighting” to go around there in null, esp. if you have a life outside the cluster and kinda ask to get results from a play time window 1-2 hrs long 1-2 times a week.
So yes, proving grounds was a way to get a bunch of sparring.
It doesnt really take away anything from the sandbox either, if you don’t like to partake in it by all means keep camping your bubble or bringing a spread of 10 recons to a solo vagabond in an ess.
Don’t expect the rest of new eden to go “yea i’ll happily feed into that”. Guess what, those of us smart enough to spot those traps wont give you any content either, so saying it detracts from the sandbox is unfounded.
Give the sandbox more options, incl the sparring ring which proving grounds ultimately is.
Well, it can be found there theoretically. In practice, you have Frat with twenty people on side A, twenty people on side B, and if you try to do any of the sites they’ll summon people from the other side in mass to shoot you.
Not to mention the typical low sec players who will send an interceptor fitted for pure speed/tank who’s only job is to hold a solo plex player in place long enough to get dog piled by the rest of their fleet.
There is an alternative way I could see the Proving Grounds as a good addition to EVE.
Give it a location in the universe and make it always available.
My main problems with the old proving grounds are in the first place how it’s instanced teleported content disconnects it from the rest of the universe, and in the second place how it’s temporary nature makes participating annoying for players who don’t have the entire weekend to figure out the meta, theorycraft a fit and then repetitively do fights. This also requires ongoing CCP efforts to keep these events running.
If I’d like to hop on, do a couple of 1v1s and a couppe of days later again, the event is gone or I need a new fit.
As it is now these events are not for players who casually play a session every now and then. And it’s disconnect from the universe makes it feel out of place too.
If CCP could fix those issues I’d be much more welcoming of the 1v1 nature of instanced fights.
Example suggestion:
As result of this change players can at any time travel to that system for ‘fair 1v1 fights’ at any day instead of just every other weekend. As an evergreen activity it wouldn’t need new CCP work either once it is correctly set up.
Giving it a physical location enables the open world aspects this game is known for, including transportation contracts of ships and fits to the proving grounds system, space shenanigans of ambushing rival players who won fights as well as an inevitable enthousiastic group of players who forcefully try to ensure players can run proving grounds without getting killed.
In other words, it adds a lot of the sandbox elements that proving grounds currently are missing.