zus
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Posted - 2011.08.01 23:27:00 -
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Stats
Raised by: Dierdra Vaal
Submission Date: 27-05-2008
Issue ID: 0017
Summary
Current war declaration mechanics are very one-sided, they favour the aggressor for two main reasons:
The aggressed has no control over how long the war lasts.
The aggressor tends to be better prepared for the war.
Since it is highly unlikely a corporation/alliance will declare war knowing/thinking they will be steamrolled, it is fair to assume parties will only war dec when they are prepared and ready to fight, and when they know/think they will be able to handle or beat their opponent. The party being war dec'd does not have this luxury, so on average, you will find that aggressors are better prepared to deal with the war than the aggressed.
In addition to this, empire war is one of the few mechanics in Eve that has no direct consequence associated with it for doing badly. Whether a party is performing excellent during a war, or whether they are being steamrolled, it has no impact on the actual war. This makes war almost meaningless, turning them into little more than a license to kill. Of course, ships will be lost, and excessive losses can get expensive, but ISK is not too hard to make and losses can be sustained for quite lengthy periods of time before they become a real reason to end a war for many players. This and the very low war declaration cost mean that wars can be sustained by the aggressor indefinitely.
Potential Solutions
Meaningful war through victory conditions
I propose the introduction of a Victory Condition. A victory condition could be ISK damage done (calculated by Jita median price of the destroyed ship). The aggressor would specify the exact Victory Condition in their war declaration (for example, 1bil ISK damage done), and the aggressed is notified of this in the CONCORD mail.
If the aggressor makes or surpasses his Victory Condition, and prevents his enemy from doing the same, the aggressor officially 'wins' the war. This gives them the option of continuing the war another week. Should the aggressor fail to meet their Victory Condition, or be unable to prevent the enemy from reaching the Victory Condition, they officially lose the war, and will be unable to redeclare war on that specific target for the duration of the previous - lost - war.
By allowing both parties to meet the Victory Condition, we encourage the use of a fair Victory Condition. After all, if the Victory Condition is very low, it will be easy for an opponent to meet this as well, while a very high Victory Condition will be a difficult mark to reach for the aggressor. A Victory Condition also gives both corporations a real, strategic goal to work towards, giving more meaning to empire war declarations.
Wins and losses should be announced or visible somewhere ingame, whether it is the Wars page in the corporations window, or on CONCORD billboards.
Pros
Both aggressor and aggressed have equal control over the duration of the war.
Wars become goal oriented, giving it more meaning to the players.
Performance in the war matters, and encourages involved parties to actively participate.
Cons
Corporations can stay docked (ĉturtleĈ) for a week, denying the aggressor kills and thereby forcing a loss on the aggressor.
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