The main problem is that hisec only provides sustainable content for certain types of player - mercs, mission runners, industrialists and gankers (please add more if I’ve missed any).
The rest of the content is in low, NS and WH. A brand new player is never going to get hooked on EVE by running missions or afk mining (if they are they’re in the minority). The PvE experience in EVE is shockingly bad and always has been whereas hisec mining has an appalling isk/time ratio. I would wager that most people join EVE after reading articles about the battle of BRB5, WWB or other such once-every-2-years-if-you’re-lucky events. These events only really happen to NS groups.
From my perspective, players should be encouraged to cut their teeth in Null. It’s arguably safer and there are established newbie groups that will happily take on low SP characters (Karma, PH, TEST etc.). These groups will show you the ropes and get you involved quickly. Free ships are given out or at least SRP’d and every new player can be given a role that’s meaningful in a fight. Once they’ve learned the game and earned some isk and built up their SP they might move into other areas. For me, this is the route to getting players to stick with EVE.
I think there are several factors that have dealt a blow to veteran activities. First, they’re getting older and may not have the time to devote that EVE can command. Second, NS is in a pretty stable condition at the moment. The coalitions are huge and are mostly if not blue, then NAP.
The days of NS space rapidly changing hands are long gone. Players can’t/won’t use the Caps that they have put so much time and effort into skilling up (and isk buying) which will mean they’ll only plex those characters when they need them. Why keep a dedicated Titan pilot subbed when you only use him every few months?
The last eighteen months I spent in nullsec we were throwing Capitals in all over the place and saw some pretty massive capital battles. Furthermore with Keepstars they can use those high SP characters to do other things, so many are actually subbed, that was what I saw.
You keep editing your comment again and again, and include quotes from all over the place now. Typically Dracvlad, too afraid to comment properly like any normal, decent person.
And none of what I write is wrong. What is wrong is you making an entire comment on just me. Wouldn’t you rather want to post on topic? Am I that much more interesting than the topic?
You assume senior players spent all their time in highsec, that’s not even close to true. Trips to low, null, and when it opened wh space was common. We owned POS in up to a C5, so we would bring our highsec newer players in for day trips to mine and whatnot. But most spent most of their time flying in highsec talking/teaching/spending time with ‘newer’ players
I’m liking this idea. What Ima Wreckyou and others have pointed out is, no matter what the change is, if it is boring and unrewarding then it will just generate more complaints and less play. What Neuntausend says is also key:
EVE will benefit from a WarDec style that encourages continued operation, and even upping your game, while under a Wardec. This needs to be something dynamic that people can participate in under their own schedule and shouldn’t be something that requires a full-on corporate and alliance slugfest to decide.
Turns out, we already have the required mechanic in game. Agency events. They break activities down into 2-4 different smaller pieces, which you can complete solo or as a team, and award points.
So, make the WarDec corp post a bond as part of their wardec. The Wardec type or possibly the Target corp type/goals would set the template for the tasks they need to complete to earn points. If they earn enough points, the WarDec is over and they get the bond (or some other corp benefit, perhaps). For the WarDeccer. they get hunting rights.
I would probably set the ‘number of points required to end war’ to something based on the Target corp size at the time of the Wardec. Although as mentioned elsewhere, possibly factor in corporate activity levels in the previous 30 days or something. That way, corp jumpers would be considered ‘undesirables’ as they abandoned their corp to earn their points with fewer members, and ‘corp membership would mean something’.
I suppose Concord could toss in something like Faction LP or something, in which case Wardecs could be a bit like a mini faction wars that don’t nuke your faction standing. These rewards could go to either side, possibly scaling on how rapidly they win the war (fast resolution = more points). Some careful design needed here, possibly based on actual ship losses or something, so that people don’t simply set up milk run wardecs for the points.
(Edit: Had a PM on this, it wasn’t clear: The target corp would have smaller Agency-style goals like ‘earn 1 mill in bounties’, ‘Complete 4 Security missions’, ‘Mine 5,000 m3 of ore’, ‘Complete 3 Relic sites’, etc. Those mini-goals would be repeatable and earn X points each. A certain number of points would be needed to resolve the war. The attacking/declaring corp could earn points by attacking/disrupting the target corp activities, and win that way.)
I’m making no assumptions about those senior players to mention, only that they are very much a minority even within hisec. Using hisec as a base for other content does not make you a hisec player imo. It just means that you enjoy different areas of the game, which is nothing but positive. But you can’t say that you’re a hisec player.
By your logic, merc groups could be LS or WH players because they utilise that space to jump on their hisec targets. Most merc/wardec groups stick to their areas because that’s where their investment and content is.
I still maintain that keeping brand new players in hisec for more than a week or two is not good for the vast majority of them
Actually they weren’t a minority in 2006 - 2010, there were many corps like them. The fact that they are a minority now is a part of the current problem.
And we always considered ourselves a highsec corp since most of our players spent most of their time there, as well as making most of our isk there.
As are handy celestials, for example the undock on Jita 4-4 is directly in line with a moon, warp to it spamming bookmarks in a shuttle. Next time you undock, during the invulnerability timer warp to one of them; the timer will end on the keypress and you’ll be in warp instantly because of the kickout velocity.
I think you’re trying to be helpful. I’ve payed for 15 years and know how to exit a station. I cannot discuss my recent ticket but I can say that I was happy with the end result.
… Did you try to write them a ticket yet? Have you called the police and told them about it?