Lienzo
Amanuensis
51
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Posted - 2015.03.17 04:06:15 -
[1] - Quote
We need reinforcement for formup timers, and some role for capitals in the new environment. Otherwise, massive super blobs would just steam roll every hp based structure and then log off. New Eden would largely become devoid of fortresses, and POS there are essential for forming fleets. It would actually be harder for new alliances in subcaps to actually marshal force against the established entities.
If we didn't have new timers in the system, ihubs and the like would just instantly blow up, and I'm not sure you could even have sov levels with that scenario. Not 100% sure on that.
To keep a role for caps in the new ecology, I think seige mode should parallel the entosis module. For capitals, they should simply be the same module.
That sounds weird, but it kinda works because it's not an hp dependent process. It doesn't speed up just because you bring more caps. That means you could have a single cap backed up by a subcap escort fleet, and it would have the same effect on structures. You could even have 10 caps spread across 10 anomalies.
Additionally, seige prevents remote repping, so the anti-logistics effect is very similar. Seiging for half an hour is pretty risky, but the timers are expected to be cumulative.
The real question then would become, how do we distinguish capital entosis effects from trollcepters?
The best solution I can think of is to do two things:
1)Only allow trollcepters to activate entosis in sov level 1 and maybe 2 systems. Allow seige-entosis to be activated in sov 2 or maybe even 3 and below systems.
2)Require that every level of sov in a system have a strict requirement of having all adjacent systems be within one sov level. So if you have a Sov 5.0 system, then it must be surrounded by sov 5 or 4 systems. If any of those systems drops to level 3, then the sov 5 system goes to a four after twenty four hours.
This instantly creates a center and a more vulnerable periphery. It makes campaigns important, and modulates the effect and focus of trolling. It allows defenders the options of falling back to chokepoints. It makes fortresses strong and sprawl hard.
In sov 5 systems, super fleets can reinforce and destroy POS, but Stations, TCUs and Ihubs remain invulnerable.
Another good, but largely separate idea is to create a four general shield amplification modules. Each of them requires a different sov level to activate, and cost exponentially more in resources at each level. Sov V would be so high that even absurdly large super fleets would groan at the idea of it. It would be offset by the ability of dedicated lesser forces being able to chip away at it over time, the naturally exponential nature of sov periphery creation, and a concomitant weakening of base stats on vanilla pos shields in sov 1.0 systems.
Perhaps we could even halve reinforced timers at each successively lower lower level of sov, just to make the process at the periphery quicker, and see more turnover of the front lines. |