Current State
As they stand the current ESS deadspace mechanics are not ideal. The provide a place of relative safety in nullsec as the deadspace means any fast ship can burn around on the deadspace grid on either side of the acceleration gate with no real risk to themselves. This can also be abused by defenders who can put very long range ships like Golems and Paladins 200kmn outside the bubble of an ESS and shoot whatever comes in with impunity as there is no alternative to scan them down, warp to them etc.
Proposed State
The ESS is unstable and outputs electrical damage to all ships in it’s vicinity that ARE NOT inside the bubble with the bubble providing protection to the ships inside. This damage should start low and apply more damage over time in a stacking fashion. Perhaps starting at 50dps worth of damage and increasing over time potentially up to 2-3k dps which would be impossible to tank for any prolonged period of time. Any such stacking debuff should remain on the capsuleer for 5-10 minutes to prevent just warping off and back to reset the damage. This would mean
-
No major changes to ESS mechanics
-
People could still use the outer ESS area for short period of time without facing significant damage
-
Silly games involving ESS’ that cannot be countered in any way would cease to exist
-
ESS fights would be the inside the bubble brawl they were intended to be without all the kitey rubbish that goes on currently
-
It would make it easier for smaller corps / alliances to defend their ESS’ since the enemy would actually have to stay and brawl meaning they are going to warp into a sniper trap.
-
Brawly ESS fights are a bunch of fun and ultimately that’s what we are here for
That’s my 0.02 isk. Keen to hear what others think about it