Stalence
Caldari Colonial Defense Ministry
Templis CALSF
31
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Posted - 2014.10.20 17:00:47 -
[1] - Quote
I'm primarily a Faction Warfare player but dabble in wormholes (both for occasional PVP on my main, as well as for PVE and PI on some alts) so perhaps I can offer some insight from the outside.
Wormholes have some hardcore mechanics that essentially raise the bar for all who are interested in entering them to only hardcore players. The rats are deadlier than any other part of space. The players are sneakier and arguably deadlier than any other area of space and finally, the logistics of living in a wormhole are arguably more challenging most other areas of space (ship repair, affording to keep a POS fueled, while covering ship losses, etc). This hardcore environment all but ensure only hardcore players stick around in wormholes for any considerable amount of time.
I believe, getting more players involved in wormhole space starts with getting more individual pilots into wormholes and not just asking how to get new corps to enter wormholes in droves. High skill point and ship cost requirements dissuade a lot or players interested in wormholes from joining established corporations and being able to actively participate in established corporations. Basically, to improve the ecosystem of wormholes, I think you may need to take a lesson from Faction WarfareGǪ Whether youGÇÖre a veteran player with the ability to fly HACs, Triage, T3s, and Black Ops battleships or a couple week-old character that can barely fit a meta T1 frigate we can find a place where you will have a role an can make valuable contributions to our corp/alliance and fleets. Start recruiting the noobs of today, theyGÇÖll be your veteran pilots, FCs, and corp founders of tomorrow.
If the barrier of entry to wormhole corps requires the skill points and self-sufficiency to fly and repeatedly lose well-fit T2 cruisers, battlecruisers and T3s in PVP repeatedly you can expect to be missing out on a good chunk of the player base.
Additionally, I think CCP should at least look at adding the following to the game or improve it to get more people willing to stake a claim in wormhole space.
1)Lower the barrier of entry for the PVE content in lower-class wormholes. I still think the skill point requirement is too high to run some of the sites and itGÇÖs a detterant to getting new players immediately into wormholes.
2)Allow for medical clones in wormholes. New players entering wormholes are likely not going to be experienced with the loving embrace of a dictorGÇÖs bubbles. When that happens and you lose your ship, upgrading your clone is basically a forgone conclusion. Having the ability to wake up in your POSGÇÖs Clone Vat Module would be a lot more forgiving to players new to wormholes than having to potentially fly back across the galaxy over and over again to your holeGÇÖs entrance as you repeatedly learn that lesson. (Again this may be too hardcore for players new to wormholes, itGÇÖs akin to starting a level all over again without the luxury of save points. It can and will get frustrating learning the ropes of constant D-Scan and burning out of bubbles).
3)Fix corp management roles. The risk of corp theft related to complicated roles management is something that keeps a lot of casual corporations from investing the time and ISK to plant a POS and stock it with modules and ships. Similarly, allowing the ability to have corp or alliance ship contracts in a wormhole may be nice too as an aside from a publicly accessible corp hangar.
4)Remove the mystery of System effects. TheyGÇÖve been published in dev blogs by why not have them in the client itself where it is easily accessible to pilots who are new to wormholes? Veterans will know effects off the top of their head but why canGÇÖt a player new to the environment right-click the sun or show info on the system and see what these wormhole effects are?
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