Soloing with links is an oxymoron!

The biggest difference between soloing with links and soloing with logistics, is that logistic ships gain aggro timers and can be directly countered.

At least it means we can laugh at them, knowing that without links they would have lost.

It's what I tell myself every time I die.

All the arguments have been presented. All that is left to this thread is trading of insults and the lock.

This idea has probably been posted somewhere already but I'm lazy.

1) Make link range 1 AU
2) GIve massive sig bloom penalty on link activation

So:
- Ships using links always show up on 'short scan' while you're fighting - you get a rough idea of what you're up against
- Parking alt on station or just outside POS shields isn't really viable anymore
- Can be probed down easily
- You stop worrying about ECCMing your booster, so you can make it tankier/more agile whatever

So links remain powerful but become more vulnerable and need a bit more active management. Much less vulnerable than being on-grid though.

Opens up some new gameplay:
- If in a fleet, trying to get the other fleet's booster out of the equation (killing it, scaring it off, trying to engage enemy fleet in another location, ...) becomes a common tactic - doesn't mean it's always worth doing though. Nor will everyone and their mom run around with a 200tf expanded probe launcher all the time. You just get more tactical options
- If in small gang, you can have one guy bait the 'boosted solo pilot' into activating his links while the rest of the gang tries to catch the booster; if booster runs/cloaks the bait guy may then try to solo the pilot without his links, etc. etc.
- Using a booster alt requires some more skill - you need to move it close to the battle, make safesposts on the fly, ...
- You can bait with a booster
- ...

Reasonable compromise maybe?

Nope.
Won-¦t change that links are a solo killer.
Won-¦t change farming "solo" killmails vs pilots without links.
Will make defense too easy in comparison to offense.
Won-¦t change that whole corps quit eve because "oh okay they have links and we haven-¦t so guys stay docked, no pvp today".
Won-¦t change that links are op like hell.

Exactly. The idea was to make link gameplay more interesting, not to eliminate it.

Also, I'm pretty sure a whole corp that would even consider the idea of staying docked, let alone quitting EVE altogether (really???) just because of not having links (that are trainable to a decent level in what, 2-3 months max?) would probably quit EVE for some other reason anyway.

I know 80+ corps that don-¦t exist any more because they weren-¦t able to have 24/7 links

Killing unlinked frig with linked frig is NOT pvp. It is ganking.

90% of EVE PVP is ganking, isn't it? Or do you instruct half of your fleet to go afk when you stumble upon an enemy fleet half your size?

link are fine.

Other day we had 4 guys pvping, everyone had their own fleet and before we could engage enemy stabbed rifter we had to move approx 7 link alts to system and then blob the dangerous rifter.

after we left local and local count dropped form 12 to 1 which was rifter pilot with his capsule.

If CCP eliminated links from the game, I wonder what some of you would use as the excuse to justify your losses then... would be great to see that forum thread.

Actually, I try to hide from my fleet unless it starts getting 3-4:1 or 1:1 against Laney. My corpmates have taken to putting cloaked alts outside my plexes so they know when targets come my way so they can rush in to try and ***** on the kills.

Crying about a freely-available game mechanic just makes no sense.

falcon alts were the bane of solo/small gang pvp for some time but they showed up on KM

I personally will unsub my boost toon over going back to using ECM as dual boxing is not much fun.

But the above quote is by far the main reason IMO that CCP won't ever bring them on grid.

I've heard the same 'CCP will lose money!' argument right before the last nano nerf and ECM nerf. Yawn.

I've heard the same 'CCP will lose money!' argument right before the last nano nerf and ECM nerf. Yawn.

If CCP would just put OGB on killmails, it would help

a) People concerned about killboard rankings would have an incentive not to use them
b) People who had no idea wtf just happenned to their ships would see the booster on the killmail (especially new guys who may not know much about boosters).

+1

plus boosters need an agrression timer, if they start boosting, they are agressed.....that would make things more interesting ;)

Honestly off grid links also bring many disadvantages that people seem to ignore. Admittedly they are practically invulnerable, but being off grid means also they cant switch between systems freely as other force multipliers which are on grid. This forces the guy using links to fight in a fixed system which more often than not completely diminishes the link benefits.
Of course this is less of an disadvantage in (faction warfare) lowsec where most fights dont happen on gates but in deadspace and over a strategic objective. Faction warfare lowsec seems also to be the source of most of the tears so the solution in my opinion would be a incursion like system which forces links on grid in faction warfare lowsec and leave them off grid anywhere else.

forcing on grid links means that there would be no links at all in FW fights in plexes because only large plex allows link ships to enter.