CCP Ytterbium
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Posted - 2009.03.12 16:42:00 -
[1]
I cannot comment about Tech3 possible usefulness in theoretical situations if X and Z conditions are met or if/and/why not/when all the planets of the solar system are perfectly aligned to summon the divine power of the Spaghetti Monster, because that is not what I am responsible of. I belong to the team taking care of the Sleepers, so I will share my thoughts with you on this matter.
Of course, you are concerned about the profitability of killing Sleepers in the first place in W-space, which is understandable. Profitability depends on difficulty, reward and time involved in the process.
Rewards on the Sleepers has been studied before the release, despite what may be painted here, and thinking tech3 components are the only ISK value output you receive for destroying them is just incorrect; donÆt ask, you will have to find that out by yourselves  .
Difficulty is highly linked with Sleeper capabilities, time needed to kill them and also tempers reward in terms of player casualties. As explained before, some Sleeper encounters may be done solo, others require a small gang or even a fleet; rewards are proportionally varying on such cases, so gangs will not be shafted by attempting a harder site over a solo pilot.
It is expected for players to face heavy losses at the time being, precisely because the unknown is hazardous. I am totally confident in player abilities to adapt to the Sleepers with time, as this kind of situation already happened in the past when we released new NPC types. Look how easily these old NPCs are being dispatched now. Look at level4-5 missions, look at asteroid belt battleships when they were first introduced. It is normal to struggle against novelty. But even now, we already noticed creative and effective ship setups being used to face Sleepers.
For that is the whole point of Apocrypha on this PvE aspect. That is where the challenge lies, to research, analyze, adapt yourselves to face and destroy the Sleeper with minimal losses. And no matter which kind of AI our NPCs may have, players will always have the upper hand in the end, because you all come up with a very efficient high-slot module named ôbrainö which will allow you to adjust your ship setups and tactics the more you get to know them. Should I remind you all that we are only on the second day after the expansion release? Did you seriously expect to be able to start slaughtering Sleepers without adapating first? 
No matter what the difficulty is, Sleepers bring feelings in PvE situations which were needed: fun, challenge, adaptability. That alone is the reward for some people and I also believe the fact of achieving hard to impossible odds against NPCs has been lacking for too long. I am aware I forget PvP engagements that may disrupt this activity, but you were mainly worried about Sleeper difficulty and thus I am responding to that.
Of course, the whole situation may need to be tweaked with time; due to the sheer complexity and richness of the game, we unfortunately cannot foresee everything. Especially not with this release, which remains the most ambitious expansion we brought to you so far. So yes, if we estimate any changes are needed we will intervene, for we are watching. But in all cases, please do not assume, get the facts  . |