EVE Search - Bye Bye AFK Cloaking

Jenn aSide wrote:

Lucas Kell wrote:

Jenn aSide wrote:

This is where unintended consequences happen. AFK cloakers do serve a purpose, they do put a damper on the liquid isk generation in null. Without them sometimes scarring off the fair weather ratters, their would be even more isk in circulation that it is even null, because null is the primary liquid isk faucet in the game (because CCP decided to make anomalies the center of the Domino Sov upgrade system, anoms were never designed for that)..

No, AFK cloakers allow people who aren't playing the game to have an effect. Removing that ability has very intended consequences. The intention is clearly across the board to make actual activity, not passive activity the driver in null, hence the entire sov revamp too.

Jenn aSide wrote:

Eventually, if CCP does away with afk cloaking, people will try to cloak ratting systems less (because every once in a while they will have to pay attention to that cloaker ship. That means that people LIKE ME are gonna absolutely STUFF isk into this economy.

People already stuff isk into the economy. I think the number of players affected directly by afk cloakers is relatively minimal, and the effect of their removal on the economy will be much the same. People on both sides will oversell it as having some profound effect, but realistically it's the removal of a zero risk passive activity which added the appearance of risk to a limited number of systems. I'm all for making sure that when you are logged in and undocked you have to play the game to have an effect.

What the above is is dislike of a particualr aspect of a thing over-shadowing the entire thing (which happens in real life politics, people don't like a certain thing, ban all of it without looking at the beneficial parts, and then wonder why other things went **** up)

If you focus on the 'afk' part you miss the entire rest of what I'm saying. It's the same thing that happens with gankers, people dislike gankers and want everyhting about ganking to go away not understanding the good things that activity adds to the game (like in some case how getting ganked creates a need for revenge, which is enough of an emotional "tie" to keep someone in the game who might otherwise have left out of boredom).

In other words it's a short sighted way to look at things. There are already ways to deal with cloakers (afk or otherwise) and standing on the 'afk is always terrible' ideology is as senseless as saying "all afk miners must die" lol.