This is an attempt to conciliate the demands of players who don't want to be forced into a style of play they don't enjoy (PVP) and The Sandbox principle.
On the one hand, we have players who don't want to be forced to PVP when all they want is either PVE, mine, etc. within the boundaries of High Security space without having to live in fear of being ganked.
On the other hand, we have players who want to be able to shoot and kill anything they see anywhere it goes. Players who believe that the one thing that makes the game what it is, is precisely that there is nowhere in the whole of EVE space that is 100% safe.
I suggest that it is possible to devise a set of game mechanics that accommodate both. In short:
- 0.5 to 0.7: Keep systems with security rating of 0.5 to 0.7 as they are now, that is, systems where non-consensual PVP is possible although it will provoke the intervention of CONCORD or, better, the Navy of the faction who controls the system.
- 0.8 to 1.0: Consensual PVP only for systems with security rating 0.8 or above.
- Dynamic, player regulated security rating system: Introduce a set of mechanics to allow players to affect the security rating of a system through their actions. It should be possible to affect the rating of the system through non-PVP methods, as well as PVP and PVE ones. A good starting point would be current Factional Warfare mechanics that allow for a hybrid of PVP and PVE, but it should also be possible to affect it by non-PVP/E means.
For instance, these are some ideas about ways in which the security rating of a system could be increased other than doing PVP/PVE:
- Players could donate isk to the GÇ£war chestGÇ¥ of the Navy that controls the system, be it Caldari, Gallente, Amarr or Minmatar. Donating goods like ships hulls, modules, ammunition might be a better way to do this though.
- Build and deploy infrastructure in space for the faction. This could be done by requesting a mission through a special agent who gives you the coordinates to a dead space pocket where players can deploy and anchor special type of Sensors that will help the Navy keep the system safe for instance. When the mission is finished, the pocket disappears and the server can redeploy it at a later stage if necessary.
- Another method to increase the security status of a system could be by contagion, that is, increasing the security rating of adjacent systems
The principle of a self-regulated sandbox in which players govern their interactions would be respected, but at the same time it would give those who want to avoid PVP a set of game mechanics that they can use to earn the privilege of a safe heaven where non-consensual PVP is not allowed.