WNT TK
Fremen Sietch
DarkSide.
1
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Posted - 2013.01.21 23:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
CCP Seagull wrote:When calling out Solo players, and calling them "lurkers" - I don't do it because I see them as a problem - I do it because I believe it's a style we must support and cultivate - but as a part of the sandbox. Solo actions and activities should still have meaning as a part of the EVE universe, but through for example indirect interactions with other people, like the market, or like depleting resources that are gone when someone else shows up too late, and through interactions you can seek out when playing solo - like solo piracy - not through forced social interactions, that require time and organization and syncing with other people and dealing with them and their schedules and wishes and troubles before you can play EVE.
I believe we should not be building activities in EVE that you could just as well do in a single player game - and that solo play does not mean immunity from all effects of other people in the world - but I also believe that forcing people into direct social participation is just the wrong strategy.
I hope that clarifies my approach a bit.
/Seagull
I see a great difference between social participation and social interaction. i dont think that forcing interaction between players in 0.0 space is wrong, i think its what this place was created - for unmitigated interaction between players. You can be solo and force yourself on a group, or a group could ivade in your play and get in your way. And right now 0.0 space sorely lacking places where this interaction can be forced.
i cant help but remember how things worked "back in the day" - people had to travel by foot both to move character and his stuff/ships. To provide safe passage armed escorts were assembled, pacts were made - and ofc. there were those, who seek to prey on the weak, those who hunted hunters and gangs - whole live ecosystem that was destroyed both by inventing means (and players accumulating wealth, stations and means) for safe travel with and without goods. On the other hand since its so hard to catch anything - special camps arrived. They have very high chances to tackle and kill their mark - i'm talking 2000+ scan res, 90% webs + scrams, decloakers etc, etc - they on one hand make solo travel on pvp ships very dangerous, on the other their specialization make them not combat capable - they evade any situation when a fight might happen. on the other hand two ships who accidentally meet on one side of the gate have minimal chances to have pvp unless both want it or one have tackling buddies (ideally 1-2 bubble fellas, long webs, some points/scrambles and ofc damage) . This factors make (small size) roaming less interesting and camping more interesting which is fundamentally wrong for obvious reasons.
Same were true with npc hunting - as base fish food is plankton, in eve basic life form is npc hunter and ganker (who only seeks easy targets) both being consumed by small groups of pvp players, being consumed by larger, but unorganized groups and it goes on and on. Since most pve was conducted in static plexes and belts - pve players were easy to get both by pro and casual players. Pilots warped between belts a lot and it was possible for pve player to die even if he made no mistake. This was a reason for response to invaders because they posed real threat.
Now most pve was moved to "closed space" - only available with scan. Which creates situation where only careless, stupid and afk are being killed. Which is their own falt and no reason to help them, so there is no reason to have pvp ship nearby. Invaders pose no danger and its safe to wait them out. With no npc player to catch, gankers dont roam, small gangs have much less solo targets and other small gangs, bigger gangs also have much less food etc. etc. At the same time when mostly-pve player do have pvp - it happens so rare, so there is such difference in their performance and know how - that they get raped even if they seem to have all advantages. Lack of practice does that to the best of us - both in eve and in real world. Another problem is that closed space works both ways - if someone is caught there, help have as much trouble getting there as attackers did and its often impossible not only to protect pilot, but even to avenge him.
Dont get me wrong - i dont seek the return of good-old-times. World have changed, so did Eve and its players. So its not restoration that i seek, but moving forward and creation of ecosystem that would work even better and would bring more joy (grief) to all participants. But to create something better - lessons of the past must be analyzed.
So to make bullet points - what i think is wrong (no examples how to make things better, but not sure you need them from me) :
1) traveling is essential - extra safe travel on non-combat ships in 0.0 is wrong, on the other hand static camping is bad and ther should be ways to evade or ambush camps (plus ofc power projection - titans, caps, cynodrops)
2) "open space" vs "closed space" - open space is belts, gates, stations, planets - pve there is dangerous, while rewards are lowest. closed space - anomalies, missions (0.0 npc), plexes, proff sites, expeditions - they have 1 entry and million exits which is wrong, players there are separated from other universe and may easily evade interaction with other players - rewards are high and its less dangerous (anomalies most dangerous also have most risks)
3) passive income is super bad (moons, planetary interaction). No flying in space - no interaction, no player created content, no emotions, no explosions - nothing.
4) small-med scale pvp is meaningless. Killmails and loot is good - but people usually fight much better and with more passion if they have reason to do so (apart from fun, killmails, and isk).
Ofc this is only one way to look on things and there is a lot more to pvp, interaction and 0.0, but wall of text is big enough, so i better stop writing while i can. |