We’ve all exterminated our fair share of rogue drones, but there’s legions of them out there. Events in the SoE Epic Arc Bloodstained Stars and the addition of named Rogue Drone factions had me thinking: Why not use Drone Regions as a staging point to get players comfortable playing in Null? Running with that idea, it became more of an alternate game mode.
Consider that the Rogue Drones see and understand why Capsuleers are so powerful. They decide to replicate us in their own way. The Hiveminds create Infomorphs subject to their own authority and endow them with similar mental faculties. For brevity’s sake here’s the core ideas:
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Vassal Nomads - Sigmas can be organized into Swarms that operate as Corporations. Swarms can build Hive Structures that function similarly to Upwell Citadels. To facilitate constant movement and the lack of sovereignty these structures may have the limited jump-like ability similar to the Hive in the SoE arc. Unlike Capsuleers, Sigmas are always subject to their starting Hivemind which acts similarly to an Alliance.
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Resource Economy - ISK and PLEX do not exist among Drone Swarms. Processed resources are used in lieu of currency. Blueprints and Skill Books are attainable by trading resources to the Hivemind. Everything you have was looted or created from scratch by you or someone else. In order to facilitate this drones also have much higher reprocessing efficiency than Capsuleers, but the Hivemind takes a cut.
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Truly Lawless - Drones have no concept of death or theft. When loss occurs it’s fair game to any other drone that can tear it apart. There is no CONCORD figure and no laws. When you begin playing a Sigma you are actively encouraged to kill and reprocess lesser drones for your own gain. Even the concept of having personal property is a strange quirk of Infomorph psychology necessary to make them what they are. This quirk has very little utility to the Hivemind outside of that fact.
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Mechanical Chaos - There is no pretense of safety in Drone Regions, nor is there safety for Sigmas anywhere in k-space. All empires and non-drone factions are actively hostile. High Sec is just as dangerous for Sigmas as Null Sec, if not moreso. Preventing Sigma players from forming Alliances is critical to keep war declarations from spiraling out of control and prevent current Null Sec hierarchy from being completely shattered in the long term.
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Hive Incursions - An event type that combines elements of Faction Warfare and Sansha Incursions. Hive Incursions occur when a Hivemind invades Empire (or maybe even Sovereign) space via Wormhole to plunder resources. PvE elements are spawned for both sides while Empire Forces and Capsuleers enter into open conflict with the Hivemind’s Drones and their Infomorphs.
I think that about covers it. I was shooting for brevity and I’m not sure if I achieved that. Thanks for reading.