Pestilen Ratte wrote:I'm curious to know what the reasoning behind off grid links is. What possible reason could there be for the existence this mechanic?
I submit that links are fundamentally at odds with PVP, and further that they destroy PVP content by removing a critical part of PVP, which is choosing your fights. Links change the capabilities of ships so much that they effectively destroy the ability of the pilot to know what they are fighting, and what chance they have of survival.
The great problem with links is not that they make ships ridiculously OP. We already have the Worm, the Garmur, Gila, Orthrus, and other seriously OP ships. I concede that they form part of the meta.
But here is the thing: you know, when you see a worm warping in on short D scan, that a worm is coming. You know, when you see an Orthrus and two Svipuls cruising the belts, what to expect.
Links change this completely. You think you face a tech 1 frigate. You have no idea that it has a much better tank than a tech 2 assault frigate, with more DPS, and can easily destroy 3 or 4 unlinked players by itself.
The only way to avoid off grid linked players is to never fight in a system where you don't know exactly where everyone is, or who and what they are. In other words, stay away from any system where there is more than one enemy or neutral, or where you can't see everyone in local on grid.
THAT is what links do for PVP. If you are serious about choosing your fights, those become the rules. Otherwise, your only option is to use off grid links yourself. At that point, PVP becomes inaccessible for new players, and small gangs are massively disadvantaged because they need to pay for an alt.
So, these are the three big problems with off grid links:
1. They destroy the ability to know what you face, and to choose your fights.
2. They completely unbalance PVP, making ships that would die 1 v 1 capable of taking on 3 or 4 enemy with ease. They are not subtle, but rather they are designed to make solo ships essentially invulnerable in small gang pvp.
3. They can't be countered, short of engaging in an arms race that has nothing to do with piloting and everything to do with spending isk, and time, in the pursuit of simple PVP.
I don't want to complain exclusively. We enjoy PVP in FW space, and when you do get fair fights it is great fun.
But let us not ignore the real problems with Eve, and with the culture at CCP. Last week I logged on and jumped into a navy faction frigate, and went to meet my corp 6 systems away. I was insta popped by TWO svipuls at the first gate, then podded.
OK, that happens. Yes, the meta is in a strange place when 2 players can insta pop a tanky ship a class smaller than them., but........ gate "camps" happen.
So then we go out to find a fight, and we come across a triple stabbed Merlin farming a large plex.
Again, we make the sign of the cross and give thanks for a rich ecosystem.
Then we find pirates using links, and baiting folks with an apparently vulnerable Kestrel that can destroy other tech 1 frigates in less than 10 seconds. That means clearing a field of three enemy frigates of the same class in 30 seconds. In other words, before it uses even 1/3 of its tank.
This is Eve game play. This is what FW space has become, due to the pervasive bullying culture at CCP.
The bottom line is this: if you want reasonably balanced fights, or even if you want predictable fights so you can pick and choose your fights (which inherently leads to balanced fights), then there are a whole biunch of folks at CCP who are absolutely against that.
Those folks developed off grid links.
Why?
Why did they do that, and why do they keep trying to make Eve a game where new players just get smashed by senior players using hidden and deeply unfair tactics?
Eve is the only game I can think of where new players are so deliberately disadvantaged compared to the older players. They suffer massive retardation of ability through the skill points system, as well as not having real player skills. On top of all this, senior players have access to better ships, better modules, better implants and, of course, better chances to pay for all of the above.
This is not "amazing" or unique. It is not inspired. It's not just "a hard game".
It's a bully culture, where the older, bigger kids cheat in order to push around the smaller kids.
Maybe CCP have solid commercial reasons for cultivating a bully culture where the established powers thrill to pick on the weakest in their community.
Or maybe this culture is a reflection of the people who founded the organization.
Or, maybe, this culture of abuse evolved on its own, called itself a "sandbox", and nobody has ever seriously tried to get rid of the degenerate personalities who fuel all cultures of abuse.
Thinking specifically of the goons and the Mittani here.
In summary, we should think about WHY off grid links exist, and more importantly WHO at CCP support this kind of mechanic.
It's the only way to change the culture.