That looks like a response to Lugh Crow-Slave. Furthermore, that didn’t address anything I laid out in regard to the salvage probe mechanics. You just repeated your initial statement without qualifying it with any actual example.
Okay, this is what I’m looking for.
To maintain the value and intent of said items those items would need to generate a “salvage probe jamming” effect that obscures wreck probing within a 1 AU radius. Needing to alter existing items isn’t something I had in mind.
This is something I’ll have to consider. Thank you.
Salvage probes would negate the entire interplay between sensor strength and combat probes. You cannot ‘alter existing items’ without completely reworking or ignoring the existing system.
Of course you wouldn’t like it. But it’s not about what we like. It’s a risk we take. A risk for the salvager as well I might add. I don’t like that there are recon ships that cannot be detected with DSCAN and can double the range of warp scramblers and disruptors. I don’t like that a covert ops cloaked ship can waltz right up to me undetected and potentially lock me within 6 seconds and bump me to break alignment for additional time. Particularly considering I could be in the middle of hacking a data container and lose precious seconds before I realize the ship is even there. I also don’t like competing against drone ships that can just deploy a flight of drones and do nothing, being able to instantly attack any target (regardless of size) that attacks them without requiring a target lock. I’m sure there are plenty of freighter pilots who’d love to be able to AFK auto-pilot their ship in high security space without being ganked by flashy reds who CONCORD ignores despite their repeated offenses. But our inconveniences don’t really factor into it. We accept the risk or we quit. We adapt or we quit.
In regard to the ship, the mechanics I laid out make such a thing irrelevant. How are combat probes any less an issue even with a low signature radius? Even if your sig is low, if you see combat probes you’re going to have to make a decision: Stay and potentially fight or abandon the site. It’s not guaranteed that you won’t be found. To use the salvage probe the salvager has to lock down the location of the wrecks within a 1 AU radius via DSCAN first. When it arrives the probe resistant ship can destroy it once it lands on grid or have ample time to leave. I do not see the problem. Would the probe needing a whole minute to become a warp beacon help?
The fear of combat probes is a competent player who narrows down a target with DSCAN and then instantly probes you down with one quick cycle of a tight probe formation. This is impossible with the salvage probe mechanics. There is plenty of warning and even the ability to prevent the salvager from landing on grid. Those ships are immune or partially immune from combat probing. That hasn’t changed. A would-be attacker is still going to have a hard time pinning them down with combat probes. They aren’t entitled to never have to worry about another player ever. They aren’t entitled to be absolved from all risk and inconvenience from other players. They aren’t entitled to be dumb and careless without consequence no matter how much they spend on a ship. With combat probes there is no warning if you slip up and miss them. With salvage probes you’re smacked across the face with it whether you’re paying attention or not. What hunter is going to use this to catch someone? You’d have to be AFK to get caught.
If MTU and Mobile Depots did have a salvage probe jamming capability it would make those even more valuable and maintain the counterplay as the salvage probe is unable probe for ships. Dropping a MTU would solve your issue in regard to ships as well. If I’m missing something, please elaborate.
If I know from intel that the guy in local is flying a T3D when I see his combat probes on D-scan, and I’m flying a ship that’s maximum-unprobable, I can just continue doing my thing as there’s no way he can scan me down. I’m guaranteed not to be found, unless he brings a better ship.
Yes I know, I do combat probing myself. But if the target fit is sufficiently hard to probe down, this trick won’t allow you to catch them unless you’ve brought the right implants.
I don’t think this should be tied to certain deployables. This should be universal for all deployables and ships. If all anchorables and all ships will jam salvage probes, then it might work.
(Here’s my version of how to introduce salvage probing without issues.)
Salvage probing - Introduce 1 object and 1 new signature.
Salvage probes
Salvage signature
Salvage probes can be used in any probe launcher (expanded and core). Maybe add a Sisters of EVE version too.
Salvage Signatures are a new type of Cosmic Signature that show up wherever wrecks are in space, with the following limitations:
Any ship or deployable on grid interferes with the signature, making it impossible to be scanned down (reflected in the name of the signature “Distorted Salvage Signature”)
Salvage Signatures can only be scanned down with Salvage probes
Presence of higher tier wrecks results in a higher tier (harder to scan) Salvage Signature
So it’s like a specialized relic specific probe that detects the faint radioactive frequencies of latent heat dispersing from a newly exploded object in a vacuum? As opposed to the older, colder relic sites found by relic probes which is based on the detection of magnetic fields generated by the inert material. The interference from active electronic components confuses/overloads it, making it impossible to isolate? This is the item description type explanation. Can’t recall exactly how relic sites are described in-game.