I applaud you on trying to collect the opinions and knowledge of the w-space community. However, I think this thread is going to cause a problem rather then provide a solution. Since all that will happen is that the issues with the Force Fields will be drowned by a bunch of other, albeit great, ideas. So I will try to list all the problems that will arise with the removal of Force Fields and then we should probably try to offer solutions that will allow CCP to transition to the new POS system without breaking the w-space game.


FORCE FIELDS

- Biggest issue with removing Force Fields in w-space is the fact that it has to be replaced by some other item or status that can be seen on the overview. See where I am going here? Imagine for a second that the new POS system has been introduced and the Force Fields are gone. You jump into your static only to see 6 Player Own Starbases on d-scan. Great, awesome, someone lives in that system or do they? Without the Force Field on d-scan you have no idea that the POS is online or occupied WITHOUT warping to EACH and EVERY POS on d-scan.

Now, think of what will happen if a corp does a FULL MOON coverage. Think of how the w-space is littered with defunct and offline towers and without FF there is no way to know they are defunct or offline. CCP will have to come up with a solution that will indicate that a POS is offline/online on d-scan, otherwise the w-space game will be come extremely tedious. Maybe one such way is to make a Ship Berth an object that will only appear on the online tower and will be visible on overview / d-scan.


- Intel gathering. Without ships lingering behind a Force Field and without cloaky scouts, fight in w-space are going to be hard to come by. Lets for a moment dismiss the fact that getting intel on your opponent's fleet comp is beneficial. Lets just ignore that. There is another massive benefit that transparent force fields provide, they help you determine if the said opponent is forming up for a fight. The nature of w-space and the lack of local means that the ability to see ships appear on d-scan is EXTREMELY important in determining if a fight will occur. The ability to figure out what their composition will be is only a secondary benefit in my opinion.

Don't know how this can be maintained with the new system. Docking will remove the ship from d-scan and there will ability to figure out if the fight will be brought is diminished.


- POS gunning, like stated already by Rodney, is a must in w-space. Especially critical in lower class w-space system. The new POS docking / berthing system must provide intel or info to the owner on what is happening outside of the POS. However, if such info / data is given to the owner / defender then the attackers will have additional disadvantages on top of multiple obstacles they already face in invading a foreign system.

As you can see there are many aspect of the current POS setup that work really well for w-space and their removal will impact the entire aspect of this game play. I am a bit shocked and extremely appalled that CCP is making this massive proposals without actually knowing how their game is played or actively consulting with all of the communities.

I honestly hated just about every single idea they had about the new POS system. I like that they are thinking outside the box, but as it stands it sounds like it will be even more complicated, and more suited to nullsec alliances.

A POS should be just that, a player owned station. It should be, for all intents and purposes, a station similar to NPC stations. Have your main structure where you fuel it, and have compartments where you fit modules in, but let it be interacted with like an NPC station. Dock into it, spin your ship, go to your quarters, etc.

I don't see what is so difficult about this.



Want to fix our current POS system? Start by allowing us to unanchor offlined towers. That would make a lot of WH people very happy, myself included.

CCP has their reasons for not wanting to have forcefields anymore. The exact reasons got NDA'd out of the CSM minutes, but they are reasonable. As for sitting outside a new POS's docking point, you might be able to do that, but they might also have webs, points and guns to cover that exit. So if you attack that person undocking, they can just dock back up and let their defenses attack you.

I do agree that having some sot of indication via scan probes or d-scan of a pos being offline/out of fuel would be a good thing. I also agree that showing how many people are docked or maybe even what ships they have active would be a really important part of a new system. Frankly, if I have to give that up to get all the other benefits, I think it is worth it though.

CCP has their reasons for not wanting to have forcefields anymore. The exact reasons got NDA'd out of the CSM minutes, but they are reasonable. As for sitting outside a new POS's docking point, you might be able to do that, but they might also have webs, points and guns to cover that exit. So if you attack that person undocking, they can just dock back up and let their defenses attack you.

Frankly, if I have to give that up to get all the other benefits, I think it is worth it though.

As long as they don't gimp lower class wh's with "lesser POS's" I am good with change.

CCP has their reasons for not wanting to have forcefields anymore. The exact reasons got NDA'd out of the CSM minutes, but they are reasonable. As for sitting outside a new POS's docking point, you might be able to do that, but they might also have webs, points and guns to cover that exit. So if you attack that person undocking, they can just dock back up and let their defenses attack you.

I do agree that having some sot of indication via scan probes or d-scan of a pos being offline/out of fuel would be a good thing. I also agree that showing how many people are docked or maybe even what ships they have active would be a really important part of a new system. Frankly, if I have to give that up to get all the other benefits, I think it is worth it though.

The real way forward would be to create some kind of station environment that still leaves you in space. Zoom in to see your ship hangar and indulge in ship spinning, zoom out and see the space surrounding the POS/station. Including access to d-scan.

And when viewing such a POS, we can see a 'guest list' like in a station from the outside.

If there has to be POS-docking, one way to go could be to give POSes multiple undock tubes we can select, like up, down, left, right, front, rear if it's cubicle-shaped. That way in a siege the attackers would have to block all six undock tubes to prevent the inhabitants from undocking.

Of course it's only one aspect, but an important one. I'm a little concerned that Two steps personal opinions (which are legitimate of course) will pass for "what wormhole dwellers want" in sight of CCP (who obviously have little to no own knowledge of wormhole life for the most part ).

Docking is in itself a bad mechanic. A player leaves the universe and suddenly is in a windowless environment, unconnected to space and completely safe. It's even bad from an immersion point of view. Most modern games simulating a world try to be seamless, have no loading times and not have separate 'levels' but only one world where you go from one place to the next without interruptions.

The real way forward would be to create some kind of station environment that still leaves you in space. Zoom in to see your ship hangar and indulge in ship spinning, zoom out and see the space surrounding the POS/station. Including access to d-scan.

And when viewing such a POS, we can see a 'guest list' like in a station from the outside.

If there has to be POS-docking, one way to go could be to give POSes multiple undock tubes we can select, like up, down, left, right, front, rear if it's cubicle-shaped. That way in a siege the attackers would have to block all six undock tubes to prevent the inhabitants from undocking.

Perspective people, perspective. The defining difference between w-space and k-space is security status, lack of local and completely different requirements for navigation and logistics, not that w-space dwellers live in POS:s. K-psace has the exact same POS system available after all. Claiming that POS:s alone are the reason why w-space is what it is seems like a massively exaggerated kneejerk reaction to a so far uncertain change, since change is SCAAAARYYYYYYYY, and uncertainty is DOUBLEMEGASCAAARYYYY.

Seriously, current POS mechanics suck hairy monkey balls. I trust the judgement of CCP and Two Step on what could be done to change it.