Michael Turate wrote:All good stuff.
Re: the FC thing, you need to set up another branch of the volunteer programme where qualified (and vetted) players who wish to assist CCP with FC duties for live events can be brought 'in-house' and briefed properly prior to the event. I've heard some great names bandied around so the talent is out there and willing to help. Let actors act and FC's FC.
I know CCP are not totally in love with the RVB model but that organisation has repeatedly shown that they can deliver 'good fights' when both opposing FCs are in contact and willing to put aside their own desire to win in order to deliver an enjoyable experience for everyone taking part. Yes it is a little staged in terms of balancing numbers and ships but if the goal is a fair crack of the whip for everyone then sometimes that is required.
There is currently no way that you can take a disparate hi-sec group and pit them against organised null sec and be in doubt about the result. As much as CCP want to leave the result up to 'chance', you actually remove the chance by running things the way you did with this event. Anyone who knows Eve, knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as Doril was mentioned.
If however, you have volunteers from high sec organisations (RVB, UNI etc) and Null groups who are willing to join a volunteer organisation and cooperate to help CCP deliver content then you might have the magic ingredients you need. On a basic level it might simply be an agreement between the two main opposing FCs not to bring certain ships (supers) or not to bubble camp the surrounding gates or to run security to prevent other player groups causing trouble. It's never going to be perfect and if it's in null then you'll only ever have a modicum of control over who attends and what goes down. But if you at least have hi-seccers hearing a friendly organised voice that marshalls them and instructs them to the destination and some part of player controlled null agreeing to let people get to the event and be faced with ships they can shoot then what comes after that is all OK.
The end result will mostly likely be a curb stomping for hi-sec but that can't be avoided due to the facts. But hi-sec will get some mails, will get to be in a proper fleet and will get the experience. Safeguarding that but allowing normal Eve mechanics to govern the end result is the best of all outcomes.
it is entirely possible for a high sec based fleet to oppose and overcome a null sec fleet, all that is required is time and the proper information regarding deployment.
we (high sec fleets) cannot oppose months of preparation on just 2 hours with no prior warning as to our engagement zone, with two hours and knowledge most will field a powerful fleet that is poorly suited for the task, those with knowledgeable FC's will field a fleet that is at half standard capable of the task and will stand a fighting chance and at five hours a full fleet could be fielded.
as it was, fleet commanders had approximately 2 hours with no clear engagement context in which to form a fleet and educate its pilots as to the doctrine they would need, organise communications and intel lines - without actually knowing what it is they would need, where they would be operating or who would be there when they arrived.
your comment and suggestion i find insulting to the competence of many of the pilots who made the attempt to lead and fly in the empire fleets during this event, we're more than capable of standing on our own feet without such petty 'training wheels' and in many ways are capable of doing more with far less organisational tools more established entities have - but we are only capable of so much in any length of time with any amount of information.
it is not to a lack of skill or competence but information and time that the empire fleets could not mount significant resistance on the scale asked of them.