Kael Attrell
Merch Industrial
Goonswarm Federation
9
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Posted - 2015.03.04 18:38:10 -
[1] - Quote
I generally agree with both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 sov changes, although I think it is unfortunate that they are delivered in the form of a stick without any corresponding carrot, or at least a discussion of it. Here are my thoughts, from the perspective of a small/medium corporation (~50 active members, 10-20 online at a time, though admittedly in a huge alliance), for what kinds of "carrot" (incentives) I'd like to see.
All I really want is a sov system where a corporation (or small alliance) can live in one system and do things together.
What I currently have:
- PvE - Sprawl. Currently, PvE is not worth doing together (wildly inefficient if active ratting, plus afk-ratting gives similar rewards) and PvE cannot support more than a handful of members per system. This gets further conflated by being in a large alliance, and we end up spread all over a region.
- Corp PvP - As a result of being so spread out, it is difficult to form for PvP fleets, either for home defense or roaming. In addition, because it isn't realistic to form up fleets to defend ourselves, attacking players can only realistically hunt for ganks, not fights.
- Alliance PvP - Join fleets, shoot things, no real complaints here except for the lack of reasons to shoot people and the relative scarcity of people to shoot. It's far more optimal to harrass sov holders than actually try to claim their space.
What I want:
- PvE - Increased player density within a system, either though increased anomaly count or some mission equivalent (see Endie's proposal) or through something like an incursion equivalent (group ratting for decent isk in actual pvp-capable ships).
- Corp PvP - Assuming greater player density, we can be in one place and thus form up to fight people who want to fight us.
- Alliance PvP - A strong enough incentive for small alliances to risk moving into nullsec, and still be able to get decent fights and make some profit even if they are quickly driven out.
Here are some things that I think would help:
1. Provide bonuses to system income based on sov level:
- Sov Level 0 - no change
- Sov Level 1 - X% bonus to bounties received / ore mined
- Sov Level 2 - 2X% bonus to bounties received / ore mined
- Sov Level 3 - 3X% bonus to bounties received / ore mined
- Sov Level 4 - 4X% bonus to bounties received / ore mined
- Sov Level 5 - 5X% bonus to bounties received / ore mined
Result: An incentive at the individual level to live in your sovereign space.
2. Provide group PvE content
Sov Level 0 - no change
Sov Level 1 - Scout incursion site on constant respawn
Sov Level 2 - Additional anomalies (of the good ones, or rebalance so they're all "the good ones")
Sov Level 3 - Vanguard incursion site on immediate respawn
Sov Level 4 - Additional anomalies (of the good ones, or rebalance so they're all "the good ones")
Sov Level 5 - Assault incursion site on immediate respawn
Result: Increased player density and actual group PvE content.
3. Provide bonuses to alliance income based on sov level:
Sov Level 0 - no change
Sov Level 1 - X% of bounties / ore mined / industry fees / market taxes are placed in the IHUB and can be taken by anyone - basically an ESS-style system where friendly players can take for their corp or alliance and hostile players can steal.
Sov Level 2 - 2X% as above
Sov Level 3 - 3X% as above
Sov Level 4 - 4X% as above
Sov Level 5 - 5X% as above
Result: Corp/Alliance-level incentives, based on player activity, to both hold and attack sov.
4. Incentivize smaller-scale conflict
Sov Level 0 - no change
Sov Level 1 - Command Nodes gated for Frigates and below
Sov Level 2 - Command Nodes gated for Destroyers and below
Sov Level 3 - Command Nodes gated for Cruisers and below
Sov Level 4 - Command Nodes gated for Battleships and below
Sov Level 5 - Command Nodes not gated
Result: Larger alliances will always be able to push out smaller alliances; this way the smaller alliance can afford to fight back - if they keep their sov level low, so they can defend effectively with cheaper ships. Heck, they can probably spam the Sov Lasers at lower sov levels and just hold off an attacker indefinitely. Mess with how exactly a system like this works and you get all sorts of neat tactical/strategic outcomes (ex: different types of command nodes spawn, so instead of only having the ones listed above, you have every type spawn at every sov level, but mostly the ones listed above at each sov level).
I fully realize that I'm not a game designer, so take this more as "examples of mechanics that do things" than "things I expect to actually happen". I do, however, think it would be incredibly useful for CCP to start discussing the benefits of holding sov, and certainly to consider (and explain to us!) how those benefits can lead to increased conflict.
Edit: I don't talk about industry at all because I know nothing about it. |