There is a common theme against the CSM platform of James 315 and the balancing of EVE economy at large: many people are highsec casual players, a new player will very likely start as a highsec casual and nerfing highsec would make them quit, ruining CCP.
At first let's define the "highsec casual":
However I fully agree with him that the risk/reward ratio is completely out of balance. It can be fixed by decreasing rewards too, not just increasing risk. My point today is that even huge nerf to highsec income would remain unnoticed by highsec casuals and would only hurt two kind of players: one is the low/null players who don't farm in low/null but in high via alts. This player should be hurt as he is a faker and liar. He kills others in low/null while he can't be killed there (as he is in high, farming), and also he brags about him being a PvP-er while in 90% of his time he is the cliche highsec carebear that he bemoans.
The other kind of player being hurt by highsec income nerfs is the "carebear publord", the one who just counts his ISK and gathers pimped ships without taking any risks or providing content to anyone. Before you'd comment, I am fully aware that I am one of them. These players can be hurt because they don't pay for the game anyway and no one would miss them if they'd quit.
Now to the point: since the true highsec casual enjoys his activity, he can't care less about getting 10M or 10K ISK, doing 100 or 1000 DPS. These are meaningless numbers for him. The newbie casual starts with his Merlin, Cormorant or Venture gained from the newbie missions. He can do lvl1 missions or mine veldspar and he enjoys these activities. If he doesn't enjoy it he either quits, or he is farming for some other goal, which makes him a hardcore by definition. So he had fun with his spaceship. Mission accomplished. To have fun in a frigate you need a couple hundred K ISK. Due to the ship rebalances and the levels of missions in highsec, you can fully experience PvE killing cruiser sized rats with a T1 cruiser. You can easily complete lvl 2 missions in a T1 cruiser and can do lvl 3 missions with care. This needs a couple 10M ISK.
So a highsec casual can fully play his chosen game if he has a couple ten million ISK income per month. Even if his level of income doesn't allow him to buy a battleship or T3 in a year, it doesn't hurt his fun, just like it doesn't hurt the fun of lvl4 missioners that he can't earn for a titan or even fly it in highsec if he PLEX-es one.
Even if we mix PvP into the picture, it doesn't change. My critics always spam "frigate PvP is lot of fun". Let's turn it back: if the highsec income allows you to regularly replace lost PvP frigs, you can have PvP fun casually, so again: mission accomplished. Being able to replace battlecruisers is just as unnecessary for casual highsec PvP-ers as it is to be able to replace hotdropping dreads.
In my vision highsec is a place for newbies and casuals where they can play the way they wish, without being forced by anyone, but also being unprofitable and generally irrelevant in the EVE story.
Hell, maybe the best idea is not nerfing highsec income but nerfing highsec ships. Ban battleships, strategic cruisers and exhumers from highsec, just like capitals are banned. In a similar step, ban titans and supercarriers from lowsec. They are banned from WH space already. This would place a natural limit on income in highsec (how much you can earn with a battlecruiser?) and would create a niche for lowsec too (no supers).
At first let's define the "highsec casual":
- Self-definition: he calls himself a highsec casual, and not a lowsec or nullsec player. Those who claim "I'm a nullsec PvP-er, just farming ISK" are not highsec casuals.
- Pays for the game via subscription. If you farm enough ISK to PLEX your account, you aren't a casual player. "farming" and "casual" are mutually exclusive.
- He lives in highsec. Doesn't farm in highsec and spend it on lowsec PvP roams. Those who do are lowsec players, since they... [intense drumming] play in lowsec.
- He doesn't really care about metagame or in-game "success", just plays as he wishes. Caring about the game and doing things in it that you don't like, just to reach an in-game goal defines the hardcore.
However I fully agree with him that the risk/reward ratio is completely out of balance. It can be fixed by decreasing rewards too, not just increasing risk. My point today is that even huge nerf to highsec income would remain unnoticed by highsec casuals and would only hurt two kind of players: one is the low/null players who don't farm in low/null but in high via alts. This player should be hurt as he is a faker and liar. He kills others in low/null while he can't be killed there (as he is in high, farming), and also he brags about him being a PvP-er while in 90% of his time he is the cliche highsec carebear that he bemoans.
The other kind of player being hurt by highsec income nerfs is the "carebear publord", the one who just counts his ISK and gathers pimped ships without taking any risks or providing content to anyone. Before you'd comment, I am fully aware that I am one of them. These players can be hurt because they don't pay for the game anyway and no one would miss them if they'd quit.
Now to the point: since the true highsec casual enjoys his activity, he can't care less about getting 10M or 10K ISK, doing 100 or 1000 DPS. These are meaningless numbers for him. The newbie casual starts with his Merlin, Cormorant or Venture gained from the newbie missions. He can do lvl1 missions or mine veldspar and he enjoys these activities. If he doesn't enjoy it he either quits, or he is farming for some other goal, which makes him a hardcore by definition. So he had fun with his spaceship. Mission accomplished. To have fun in a frigate you need a couple hundred K ISK. Due to the ship rebalances and the levels of missions in highsec, you can fully experience PvE killing cruiser sized rats with a T1 cruiser. You can easily complete lvl 2 missions in a T1 cruiser and can do lvl 3 missions with care. This needs a couple 10M ISK.
So a highsec casual can fully play his chosen game if he has a couple ten million ISK income per month. Even if his level of income doesn't allow him to buy a battleship or T3 in a year, it doesn't hurt his fun, just like it doesn't hurt the fun of lvl4 missioners that he can't earn for a titan or even fly it in highsec if he PLEX-es one.
Even if we mix PvP into the picture, it doesn't change. My critics always spam "frigate PvP is lot of fun". Let's turn it back: if the highsec income allows you to regularly replace lost PvP frigs, you can have PvP fun casually, so again: mission accomplished. Being able to replace battlecruisers is just as unnecessary for casual highsec PvP-ers as it is to be able to replace hotdropping dreads.
In my vision highsec is a place for newbies and casuals where they can play the way they wish, without being forced by anyone, but also being unprofitable and generally irrelevant in the EVE story.
Hell, maybe the best idea is not nerfing highsec income but nerfing highsec ships. Ban battleships, strategic cruisers and exhumers from highsec, just like capitals are banned. In a similar step, ban titans and supercarriers from lowsec. They are banned from WH space already. This would place a natural limit on income in highsec (how much you can earn with a battlecruiser?) and would create a niche for lowsec too (no supers).
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