CCP Rise wrote:If you have any feedback related to the clone system (especially in terms of how it affects your play-style) we would love to hear from you.
Clones (and implants) have always been a mechanic that turned me off of pvp and nullsec.
When I was a young player, I never went to nullsec because I did not want to slow down my training due to learning implants. PVP for me isn't a weekend thing, it's what I do nightly when I log in so jump clones did not solve this for me. I just stayed out of nullsec. Clone cost wasn't a big deal for me.
Now that I am a high SP player that likes to pvp frequently, I don't go to nullsec because I have an expensive clone. I also don't go because it would mean I would have to jump clone out of my hardwirings for 24 hours. When I pvp, I enjoy pvp where I have a good chance to lose my ship, and in nullsec with bubbles, that generally means a dead pod.
Finally, on the topic: The current system to save your clone in lowsec which is spam the warpout button with all your might as you hit structure is awful. It ruins the enjoyment of the last part of the fight, makes you turn off explosions and notifications so you don't get lag during those precious fractions of a second as you are trying to warp your pod out. Noobs who don't know any better lose (for them) expensive learning implants, and get turned off of pvp. I am strongly of the opinion that if you lose a ship, your pod should immediately begin an emergency warp to a random safespot (in nullsec, a bubble would prevent you from doing this). There is no "skill" in spamming the warpout button as fast as you can to keep your clone, it just detracts from the combat.
I know I deviated off the original request for feedback, but it is related. IMO, Lowsec is so much more alive for pvp than nullsec because lowsec is about pvp, while nullsec is about controlling territory. And if you pvp, a large part of that is generally reducing the cost of loss so you can fight more.
In lowsec:
a) Bubbles don't exist, people can move freely and generally choose not to engage in combat when they are at a stupid disadvantage (And the RSB nerf will help here too).
b) In lowsec you get to keep training, keep some hardwirings, and not pay clone costs once you figure out how to spam the warpout button on your pod
Another suggestion could be that in addition to the removal of clone costs, the jump clone timer could be based on the distance you travel. If for example, you are jump cloning within the exact same system, there's no cooldown timer so you can decide "I'm going on a nullsec roam, and when i come back I can continue to train with my implants in". The further between your jump clones, the longer the timer before you can jump again.