TiDi is a bad answer for a problem in EVE: as players are usually distributed among the various star system groups (servers), providing low load. These servers are unable to support if thousands of players happen to jump on one system. Such events are rare but crucial moments, shaping EVE. TiDi tries to handle this with slowing down time locally, therefore decreasing the number of actions the players can perform, decreasing server load.
TiDi is bad because it allows players who are not in the besieged system to converge there. Let's say a titan is tackled by a fleet that can destroy it in 5 minutes. Only those within 5 minutes of travel time can arrive, increasing the burden of the server. However a 10% TiDi would allow everyone within 50 minutes range to arrive, making sure the system is full off observers, killmail whores and such, making the battle unplayable for those who are actually involved. Besides increasing the server load, TiDi also changes the outcome, favoring the side with larger reinforcements, practically removing large scale surprise attacks from the game.
I don't even mention the "Captain Obvious" solution: stronger servers, as they are obviously expensive. Keeping every constellation 24/7 on a server which can support an Asakai sized battle is a huge waste of money. Refusing this solution however accepts that the server can't serve everyone, in the crucial moments, leading to TiDi and the problems above.
My solution would be selective service: when TiDi reaches 75%, the system goes to "yellow mode". In "Yellow mode" frigate sized ships, shuttles, noobships, destroyers and pods can't enter the system, nor they can undock from a station inside the system. Also, those of them who are not already in combat (PvP flagged, targeting or targeted by someone PvP flagged) are logged off. When the player tries to relog or undock in such a ship, he is offered the same window we see in Jita: that offers him to magically transported to a nearby system. Fleets would be granted 1 protected slot for every 10 ships that are not "yellow-banned" themselves, so a full fleet can have 24 tacklers, warpins, cynos that can operate under yellow mode. The technical way would be a protection priority list that the FC sets and the first N ships get protection.
Yellow mode would also force drone grouping: Drones of the same type of the same ship would fly to the same spot forming a "drone group" which is a single drone for the server with corresponding damage increase (so you'd control 1 fighter-bomber that does 20x damage instead of 20 FBs). These grouped drones would have two HP bars, one for single target damage, one for smartbomb. If the single target HP reaches zero, the group becomes smaller with full HP and targeting on this group has 1/N chance to break, representing the chance that your targeted drone died (if you had a 20x FB group and a ship killed one, you have a 19x FB group and he has 1/20 chance to be forced to retarget). If smartbomb HP reaches zero, the whole group dies.
The point is to remove the ships that are likely have little to none effect, letting those who actually affecting it operate with minimal TiDi. If TiDi disappears for 5 minutes, yellow mode is cancelled.
If yellow mode is not enough and TiDi is still below 75% for 5 minutes, "orange mode" is invoked. In this mode "yellow-banned" ships are disconnected and immediately disappear from space even if they were in combat, and T1 cruisers can't enter, undock or remain unless already in combat. The protected spots for small vessels is both recalculated (you can't get a spot after T1 cruisers) and decreased to 1/15 (16 small ships for a 255 man fleet). In orange mode subcapitals can only control 1 drone group, capitals 2, supercarriers 4. So if a subcap loses 2 drones (his drone group is down to 3 members), he can't send out a second group, must recall his group and resend it full.
If even orange mode fails and TiDi is still below 75% for more than 5 minutes, red mode is invoked. In red mode everything is instantly logged off and disappearing from space except capitals, battleships, strategic cruisers, logistics, dictors and command ships. Protected positions are recalculated and decreased to 1/20. All ships are limited to 1 drone group/ship and only heavy drones, sentries, fighters and FBs can be used.
This way the server could continue to operate without heavy TiDi with little change of the event. A single black-screened titan or the fact that a dread fleet arrived from the other end of the galaxy has larger effect on the outcome than removing 500 frigates and T1 cruisers, so it's just logical to keep the battlefield clear of litter.
Please spare me from the "everyone has the right to be there" comments. The TiDi is there because the server cannot serve everyone. We can only decide who should be not served.
PS: spare me from comments that point out that this or that speciality ship (like bombers) are important. Yes, I'm bad with PvP ships, so my example list is bad. But other people are good. The point of the post is to make these people a priority list of ships and as the server can't handle the load, kick out the low priority ships.
TiDi is bad because it allows players who are not in the besieged system to converge there. Let's say a titan is tackled by a fleet that can destroy it in 5 minutes. Only those within 5 minutes of travel time can arrive, increasing the burden of the server. However a 10% TiDi would allow everyone within 50 minutes range to arrive, making sure the system is full off observers, killmail whores and such, making the battle unplayable for those who are actually involved. Besides increasing the server load, TiDi also changes the outcome, favoring the side with larger reinforcements, practically removing large scale surprise attacks from the game.
I don't even mention the "Captain Obvious" solution: stronger servers, as they are obviously expensive. Keeping every constellation 24/7 on a server which can support an Asakai sized battle is a huge waste of money. Refusing this solution however accepts that the server can't serve everyone, in the crucial moments, leading to TiDi and the problems above.
My solution would be selective service: when TiDi reaches 75%, the system goes to "yellow mode". In "Yellow mode" frigate sized ships, shuttles, noobships, destroyers and pods can't enter the system, nor they can undock from a station inside the system. Also, those of them who are not already in combat (PvP flagged, targeting or targeted by someone PvP flagged) are logged off. When the player tries to relog or undock in such a ship, he is offered the same window we see in Jita: that offers him to magically transported to a nearby system. Fleets would be granted 1 protected slot for every 10 ships that are not "yellow-banned" themselves, so a full fleet can have 24 tacklers, warpins, cynos that can operate under yellow mode. The technical way would be a protection priority list that the FC sets and the first N ships get protection.
Yellow mode would also force drone grouping: Drones of the same type of the same ship would fly to the same spot forming a "drone group" which is a single drone for the server with corresponding damage increase (so you'd control 1 fighter-bomber that does 20x damage instead of 20 FBs). These grouped drones would have two HP bars, one for single target damage, one for smartbomb. If the single target HP reaches zero, the group becomes smaller with full HP and targeting on this group has 1/N chance to break, representing the chance that your targeted drone died (if you had a 20x FB group and a ship killed one, you have a 19x FB group and he has 1/20 chance to be forced to retarget). If smartbomb HP reaches zero, the whole group dies.
The point is to remove the ships that are likely have little to none effect, letting those who actually affecting it operate with minimal TiDi. If TiDi disappears for 5 minutes, yellow mode is cancelled.
If yellow mode is not enough and TiDi is still below 75% for 5 minutes, "orange mode" is invoked. In this mode "yellow-banned" ships are disconnected and immediately disappear from space even if they were in combat, and T1 cruisers can't enter, undock or remain unless already in combat. The protected spots for small vessels is both recalculated (you can't get a spot after T1 cruisers) and decreased to 1/15 (16 small ships for a 255 man fleet). In orange mode subcapitals can only control 1 drone group, capitals 2, supercarriers 4. So if a subcap loses 2 drones (his drone group is down to 3 members), he can't send out a second group, must recall his group and resend it full.
If even orange mode fails and TiDi is still below 75% for more than 5 minutes, red mode is invoked. In red mode everything is instantly logged off and disappearing from space except capitals, battleships, strategic cruisers, logistics, dictors and command ships. Protected positions are recalculated and decreased to 1/20. All ships are limited to 1 drone group/ship and only heavy drones, sentries, fighters and FBs can be used.
This way the server could continue to operate without heavy TiDi with little change of the event. A single black-screened titan or the fact that a dread fleet arrived from the other end of the galaxy has larger effect on the outcome than removing 500 frigates and T1 cruisers, so it's just logical to keep the battlefield clear of litter.
Please spare me from the "everyone has the right to be there" comments. The TiDi is there because the server cannot serve everyone. We can only decide who should be not served.
PS: spare me from comments that point out that this or that speciality ship (like bombers) are important. Yes, I'm bad with PvP ships, so my example list is bad. But other people are good. The point of the post is to make these people a priority list of ships and as the server can't handle the load, kick out the low priority ships.
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