Even nicer, a quick option that moves the selected probes to useful geometric configurations.

ie: if you select 4 probes, they get moved to form an equilateral tetrahedron.

Even nicer, a quick option that moves the selected probes to useful geometric configurations.

ie: if you select 4 probes, they get moved to form an equilateral tetrahedron.

Even nicer, a quick option that moves the selected probes to useful geometric configurations.

ie: if you select 4 probes, they get moved to form an equilateral tetrahedron.

This could be nice but as has been stated in the past it could make scanning too fast, now if they took, lets say 5 seconds per probe, placed into configuration making it up to 40 seconds to auto configure all probes that would be balanced.
This could be aided with a new skill that reduces the auto configuration by 5% per level

When you buff the probe scanning window, hotkey/keyboard shortcut for the Analyze button, pretty please with a cherry on top!

The D-Scan is your friend.

I fail to see why the extra time is needed. The fact of the matter is that the time is inconsequential. If you are playing and paying attention instead of botting or some other nonsense you won't get caught by someone having to use probes to scan you down. The D-Scan is your friend.

[...] no we don't need an auto-dscan it makes the game too easy.

In terms of less clicking I'd be more in favor of them allowing a hotkey to active the dscan as opposed to making it any sort of automated.

I am a scanner I know the difference, and as a heads up, while in Null the standard rule is click D-scan as soon as you can every time you can if you are concerned with people being in space with you. It's no different than W-space in this respect. You are spamming D-scan every 10 or so seconds, and no we don't need an auto-dscan it makes the game too easy.

Edit:
Also, any chance of making the 'flat' 3D arrows for each probe a bit thicker, or maybe cylindrical?

And a way to remove some of the text on the map would be great.

Make it easier to center on probes or anomalies.

Have you ever sat in a cloaky T3 on-grid with your corpmates who're busy mining, and all you're doing is overwatch via d-scan? You'd sacrifice your soul for any kind of automatic dscan ping.

I do think that anyone being able to ping dscan every 10 seconds just as a matter of course would be kind of dumb - maybe set it up so the auto-ping repeats at 15 seconds stock, and every level of Astrometrics reduces dscan autoping time by 1 second. Thus at level 5 you'd be pinging every 10s but as a noob you'd be pinging every 15 seconds - which means that Astrometrics V gives you a slight advantage while not screwing over the noobie in lowsec simply because he has low skills.

As for the other suggestions regarding scanning: alt+scroll expanding/contracting probes is a great idea, please do this.

Automatic geometric setups or presets? Oh yes please. Maybe link it to your Astrometrics skill - not by the time it takes to set up, but how perfect your shape is. At Astrometics 1 it'd be recognizable as a given shape, but rather inaccurate as though it were drawn freehand. Astrometrics V would give you a laser-cut-accurate 3D geometric shape for your probes.

Here's a hint to good design in regards to EVE: Introduce as few new skills for new functionality as possible. Astrometrics and other scanning skills already exist, so it's better to link new functionality to them than to add in more skills for just one or two uses. It's also important to make sure that having a maxed skill gives an edge over no/just trained skill, while not being out of balance. EVE is a game where minor things - like 5 seconds on an autoping or the accuracy of a computationally assembled 3D shape - can confer a large advantage while not having that advantage doesn't screw you over.

I haven't done it in a T3, but I do do it in a Falcon. Does that count?

And again, automation is the enemy. Its really not hard to click a button every few seconds. Even better if they add a hotkey option. Is there something else you would rather be doing? You are supposed to be watching the D-scan after all.

Maybe to counter these improvements probing time could be increased? That would mean less clicking around for the probers but would still allow mission runners to do their thing.

On that note (disclaimer, I'm an evil pirate) I might actually be in favour of making probing harder, if only to attract more mission runners to dangerous areas.

[The number of low-sec mission runners] all went downhill within a month or so when the initial probing changes first hit and ship scanning in mission rooms became much much easier. Afterall, scanning down a multiple bilion isk ship in less than 30 seconds in a mission that took 20 minutes and more to run is not only unprofitable for the mission runner, it is suicide.

Hmm true, the interface's clumsiness shouldn't be what keeps mission runners alive so any improvements to that (such as probe layout presets) would be nice. The thing that makes me say that maybe probing should be harder (not interface-wise but in some other way) are statements like



(from this thread).

I.e., if that poster is right then making it harder to probe down ships might help revitalize low-sec. Then again it might not, I'm mostly just throwing around (other people's) ideas here

I've seen your idea proposed in the forums before. It was beaten down (or trolled maybe?) with some arguments that it will make scanning too easy though this made be think... I know people who, piloting a T3 cruiser, can scan you down with 1-2 moves of the probes, which can take roughly 15-20 seconds, all this given they have rough idea of where you curently are. If this change is implemented the time to scan you down will be even less (<15s?).

I personally would welcome such quick predefined geometric positioning of the probes.

What I tried to say is that with the current mechanics you have to CLICK the D-Scan every 20-30 seconds. If this thing gets implemented you will have to CLICK it every 10 or so seconds.
Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind having this implemented. Only if we could get some auto d-scanning option and we can still keep an eye on the d-scan.