The recent buff to T1 logi has completely thrown off the delicate balance between small gangs/solo and blobs in Eve. What serious small gangs can engage is seriously limited now by the fact that remote reps are
mandatory due to their prevalence.
As is stands right now (with logi being required to be on grid), blobs have a significant advantage becuase their expensive and vulnerable logi ships are safe in the swarm of bads surrounding them. As a small gang PvPer trying to engage a larger gang, you cannot afford this luxury, and are thus damned to not being able to use the huge force multiplier that remote rep gives, try as you might to use a fast repping ship that stays 70+ km away. Even there, it is
far too vulnerable.
So, idea: move remote rep off grid. They already don't show up on killmails, so it's not as if the battle report changes -- it's still the same combatants. This way, small gangs and soloers can have the same force multipliers that blobs full of space-rich people can afford, narrowing the performance gap and thus buffing small gang PvP.
Other advantages:
- Not required to be on grid = lower SP requirements. Not only does this buff small gang PvP, it is an improvement to the new player experience by enhancing a newbie role and making it more accessible.
- More usefulness for the combat scanner role, in order to hunt down super-vulnerable RR ships.
- More at-the-keyboard play, as the RR pilots will have to be constantly vigilant to watch for being caught.
- Using RR ships inside a POS is a great buff to people who think ahead and are prepared for fights by having POSes set up. Reward infrastructure and forethought, CCP!
- Ed: Another advantage! Since super vulnerable logi ships don't have to be on grid, all small gangs/solo PvPers can have logi! This bridges the performance gap with blobs, making for better balance and fairer gameplay.
Seriously, the current state of RR is unacceptable. Either find a way to make remote reps benefit all, or remove them from the game.
Edit: Hmm... I just realized a problem. RR is
targeted and targeting is not a thing when you're off grid.
How about this? You can rep everyone in your squad/wing/fleet at the same time, but it's only by a little bit (15% or something). That's of course followed up by bonuses and skills, but it should be balanced, right?