Darius Caliente
The Pinecone Squad
96
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Posted - 2015.03.03 20:57:00 -
[1] - Quote
These changes look (almost) awesome!
I include the (almost) for a single reason, which breaks the entire design. The "4 hour vulnerability window" is a horribly flawed concept. Anyone who has fought over POCOs will tell you that you always set the RF timer to the time when your enemy has the least people on. For the majority of groups in EVE, this mean setting your timer from 09:30 - 13:30. Not only do you avoid most major groups but you limit your threats to Aussie players who are interrupted by downtime. I fear that this same tactic would be employed for Sov defense, making it impossible for the majority of EVE to take part. With downtime occurring at 11:00 and an active system requiring a 40-minute capture time time, the ability to capture is slim.
Let's assume that I know the system I want is active (40-minute capture time) and they used the classic 09:30 - 13:30 timeframe. I have a 50-minute window before downtime to active my Entosis link. Let's assume an average downtime of 30 minutes (this can of course be slightly shorter or slightly longer). I have a 120-minute window post downtime. You've now take my 240-minute window and turned it into a 170-minute window.
In another scenario, assume I'm smart enough to review the EVE Offline activity graphics ( http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility ) and determine that the lowest point of activity is between 07:00 and 08:00 each day. I use this number to set my timer for 08:00 to 12:00. I remove 40 minutes before DT + DT, that's 70 minutes gone, again taking myself to the 170-minute window but I've now ensured that the largest active chunk of time (08:00 - 10:20) sees the lowest activity with ~17K active players.
At this point, I've greatly increased the difficulty in taking the system.
Instead, why not use the true activity level of the pilots to indicate the true prime time. Allow a corporation to indicate their prime time when they first take a system. However, adjust the prime time automatically on a rolling 7-day average, similar to how corporation and alliance standings are calculated. If 95% of NPCs are killed and 80% of Ore is mined between 20:00 and 21:00, that should become the middle of the 4-hour vulnerability window. This prevents the window from being used as a defensive mechanic to limit the threat.
It would also then be possible to add a mechanic that says a system with no activity over the 7-day average loses it's window and is always vulnerable, making it even easier to take inactive systems.
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