Update: the idea has been refined, see here.
I control 11 accounts. I used to publish character reports, the last one was in November, then I realized that probably no one cares so stopped. There you can see 7 accounts. Since then I started 4 more, all for training supercarrier pilots for sale on the bazaar. That's 11 votes on next CSM. These votes are for sale. They will go to the CSM candidate who endorse the following change and places into her program. There are many things wrong in EVE, just like in every game, but this one is seriously wrong and I find it the No1 reason for bad new player experience.
You can be killed 6 ways in highsec, where new players start their EVE life:
However the 4. and 5. ways to die can only happen to you if you are in a player corp. You can completely avoid these by remaining in the NPC corp or by creating a one-man corp (and close it if wardecced, starting a new). NPC corp has some drawbacks (mission tax, ratting tax), one-man corp has a one time creation cost but both are tiny compared to a ship loss or even being forced to stay docked.
Let me rephrase: playing together with other players increases the risk of being killed in highsec. People are in highsec because they prefer not to be killed. If your goal is safety then not playing alone is making a mistake. I can't tell how much it is a bad design. It makes miners, manufacturers, missioners having to choose between playing alone and taking extra risks. New players are looked with suspicion as they can easily be freshly created awoxer alts. Also, they can't join serious PvE corporations as there are no such: serious PvE players play alone. I want this to change.
This can be fixed several ways and you can get my vote in either way. Even the "everyone after 1 week must be in a player corp" is better than this, though it wouldn't make much sense as it would just make people move to 1-man corps. The point is to remove the "it's better to be alone" design. I repeat: I don't want to make highsec safer, you can currently avoid wardecs and awoxes. What I want to change is that this safety is connected to lone playing.
I would suggest two changes to fix this problem:
- At first a player corporation can be PvP and PvE. It's decided on creation and can be changed for a fee, but to avoid abuse not more frequently than once a month and you can't change to PvE while at war. PvE corporations have the same limitations as NPC corporations: no shooting corpmates, no towers and 11% ratting/missioning tax paid to Concord. Actually more restrains can be applied to avoid this mechanic be abused in PvP, for example being in a PvE (or NPC) corp fixes your safety on green. In turn no one can declare war on PvE corps and they are safe from awoxers (as you can't shoot corpmates).
- Secondly a flat, non-punishing but non-zero corporation upkeep cost, applying both PvP and PvE corps. I'd guess 100M/month. It's nothing for any real player corps, a few million per member, however it would be significant enough to close down one-man corps. It's paid from corp wallet, if there isn't enough in the wallet, it goes negative at first, upon reaching -200M the corp is dissolved, the members are moved to NPC corp and the corp hangar contents given to the CEO. I'd also implement a significant corporation creation fee, like 500M to avoid reckless creation of corps.
I repeat again, it's just my idea to fix it, you don't need to follow it to get my votes. You just have to offer a solution to the "safer alone" problem.
I control 11 accounts. I used to publish character reports, the last one was in November, then I realized that probably no one cares so stopped. There you can see 7 accounts. Since then I started 4 more, all for training supercarrier pilots for sale on the bazaar. That's 11 votes on next CSM. These votes are for sale. They will go to the CSM candidate who endorse the following change and places into her program. There are many things wrong in EVE, just like in every game, but this one is seriously wrong and I find it the No1 reason for bad new player experience.
You can be killed 6 ways in highsec, where new players start their EVE life:
- You are outlaw (-5 sec status), anyone can shoot you
- You are a suspect, anyone can shoot you
- You have a kill right on you, the owner and those who buy it can shoot you (limited engagement is a version of this)
- You are in a corporation that is under wardec, your war enemies can shoot you
- Your corpmates can shoot you
- You can be suicide ganked
However the 4. and 5. ways to die can only happen to you if you are in a player corp. You can completely avoid these by remaining in the NPC corp or by creating a one-man corp (and close it if wardecced, starting a new). NPC corp has some drawbacks (mission tax, ratting tax), one-man corp has a one time creation cost but both are tiny compared to a ship loss or even being forced to stay docked.
Let me rephrase: playing together with other players increases the risk of being killed in highsec. People are in highsec because they prefer not to be killed. If your goal is safety then not playing alone is making a mistake. I can't tell how much it is a bad design. It makes miners, manufacturers, missioners having to choose between playing alone and taking extra risks. New players are looked with suspicion as they can easily be freshly created awoxer alts. Also, they can't join serious PvE corporations as there are no such: serious PvE players play alone. I want this to change.
This can be fixed several ways and you can get my vote in either way. Even the "everyone after 1 week must be in a player corp" is better than this, though it wouldn't make much sense as it would just make people move to 1-man corps. The point is to remove the "it's better to be alone" design. I repeat: I don't want to make highsec safer, you can currently avoid wardecs and awoxes. What I want to change is that this safety is connected to lone playing.
I would suggest two changes to fix this problem:
- At first a player corporation can be PvP and PvE. It's decided on creation and can be changed for a fee, but to avoid abuse not more frequently than once a month and you can't change to PvE while at war. PvE corporations have the same limitations as NPC corporations: no shooting corpmates, no towers and 11% ratting/missioning tax paid to Concord. Actually more restrains can be applied to avoid this mechanic be abused in PvP, for example being in a PvE (or NPC) corp fixes your safety on green. In turn no one can declare war on PvE corps and they are safe from awoxers (as you can't shoot corpmates).
- Secondly a flat, non-punishing but non-zero corporation upkeep cost, applying both PvP and PvE corps. I'd guess 100M/month. It's nothing for any real player corps, a few million per member, however it would be significant enough to close down one-man corps. It's paid from corp wallet, if there isn't enough in the wallet, it goes negative at first, upon reaching -200M the corp is dissolved, the members are moved to NPC corp and the corp hangar contents given to the CEO. I'd also implement a significant corporation creation fee, like 500M to avoid reckless creation of corps.
I repeat again, it's just my idea to fix it, you don't need to follow it to get my votes. You just have to offer a solution to the "safer alone" problem.
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