Ali Aras had a very interesting take on intel and (AFK-)cloaking, but stopped a step before the really important conclusion. Let me summarize her post: in WHs you can control your entrances, in nullsec you can't, since every ship can light a cyno pouring hundreds of enemies. To make it worse, they can do so next to you, while they are tackling you (hotdrop). Therefore if we remove local, no one will undock as he will rightfully assume that he does it into a massacre. She finished by adding that she still considers AFK cloaking a valid mechanic.
I don't argue with her. I just finish what's missing, because she also mentions how she is unhappy that nullsec is almost empty. However, because of what she wrote, nullsec will always be almost empty, even if the EVE playerbase and even nullsec alliance membership doubles. There would be twice as big Asakais, but in the meantime, nullsec will be just as void as today. Why?
Because local channel is actually an emptiness checker. If a player finds the system not empty, he docks/safes up, therefore removing himself, making it emptier. If we remove the tool, they will just leave nullsec forever. Currently a nullsec system has two states of emptiness outside of a timer battle, either there are a few ratters/miners are in the system, only blues, or one or more hostiles (neutrals) enter the system and everyone docks up, leaving only the hostiles to linger. Some are lingering for long due to being AFK-cloaker.
To make nullsec not empty, we must change the mechanics that makes "ratting while neut is on local" equal to "being a suicidal idiot". In WH it's not the same, people run sites, despite rightfully assuming that there can be hostiles on the system. However they have a chance to win. Unless the hostiles sneaked in a large force and logged it off, waiting especially for you, their gang is facing a few roamers that can be easily disposed. In WHs, you can't just jump around looking for someone to kill, because you can only enter in a wormhole which is camped by a local scout if they aren't totally incompetent. Your scout who is already in the system can find the siterunners, but by the time you roll your static to them, they'll be gone, and even if you are very lucky, the scout has to be tanky enough to keep someone tackled long enough for your fleet to jump the hole and warp from it to the site. A 1-day old rifter with a T1 cloak won't make it. In nullsec, you just gather on a titan, send out scouts and as soon as any of them finds anyone outside of shields/stations, your fleet can instantly appear on top of him.
What about lowsec? You can cyno in too, and low isn't that empty. At first, most lowsec PvE is done behind acceleration gates where you can't cyno in. You need at least 2 pilots to "hotdrop" a missioner, one who lights the cyno on the gate and another inside the mission tackling. The missioner is also pre-warned by the incoming scan probes. Also, most lowsec entities don't have titans.
The force projection of the cynos needs to be seriously decreased to decrease the emptiness of null. I'm not sure if titan and blackops bridges add anything to the game instead of taking away. If you could only drop unsupported capitals or a fleet of blackops battleship alone to a cyno, it wouldn't be so undefeatable. There could also be a spool-up period for cyno: after you press the button the cyno starts to form for 2 minutes. The beacon that others can warp to does not appear until the cyno is complete, but it is visible for anyone on grid. So you need to be off-grid to light the cyno, giving a chance to the targets to get away. Obviously you can't tackle and cyno with the same ship, unless it can live 2 minutes under fire and somehow prevent its target to just slowboat out of tackle range in 2 minutes. A commenter made an even better idea: to make the bridge, the titan must jump first, leaving behind a bridgehead. People can use that item to jump after the Titan, as long as it is next to the cyno.
There can be other fixes, but the point is this: as long as force projection is so powerful, everyone will remove himself from the system when he sees a neutral coming, making the system forever almost empty.
PS: tomorrow (if the administrative work won't be even longer) you'll be very surprised, don't miss the post.
I don't argue with her. I just finish what's missing, because she also mentions how she is unhappy that nullsec is almost empty. However, because of what she wrote, nullsec will always be almost empty, even if the EVE playerbase and even nullsec alliance membership doubles. There would be twice as big Asakais, but in the meantime, nullsec will be just as void as today. Why?
Because local channel is actually an emptiness checker. If a player finds the system not empty, he docks/safes up, therefore removing himself, making it emptier. If we remove the tool, they will just leave nullsec forever. Currently a nullsec system has two states of emptiness outside of a timer battle, either there are a few ratters/miners are in the system, only blues, or one or more hostiles (neutrals) enter the system and everyone docks up, leaving only the hostiles to linger. Some are lingering for long due to being AFK-cloaker.
To make nullsec not empty, we must change the mechanics that makes "ratting while neut is on local" equal to "being a suicidal idiot". In WH it's not the same, people run sites, despite rightfully assuming that there can be hostiles on the system. However they have a chance to win. Unless the hostiles sneaked in a large force and logged it off, waiting especially for you, their gang is facing a few roamers that can be easily disposed. In WHs, you can't just jump around looking for someone to kill, because you can only enter in a wormhole which is camped by a local scout if they aren't totally incompetent. Your scout who is already in the system can find the siterunners, but by the time you roll your static to them, they'll be gone, and even if you are very lucky, the scout has to be tanky enough to keep someone tackled long enough for your fleet to jump the hole and warp from it to the site. A 1-day old rifter with a T1 cloak won't make it. In nullsec, you just gather on a titan, send out scouts and as soon as any of them finds anyone outside of shields/stations, your fleet can instantly appear on top of him.
What about lowsec? You can cyno in too, and low isn't that empty. At first, most lowsec PvE is done behind acceleration gates where you can't cyno in. You need at least 2 pilots to "hotdrop" a missioner, one who lights the cyno on the gate and another inside the mission tackling. The missioner is also pre-warned by the incoming scan probes. Also, most lowsec entities don't have titans.
The force projection of the cynos needs to be seriously decreased to decrease the emptiness of null. I'm not sure if titan and blackops bridges add anything to the game instead of taking away. If you could only drop unsupported capitals or a fleet of blackops battleship alone to a cyno, it wouldn't be so undefeatable. There could also be a spool-up period for cyno: after you press the button the cyno starts to form for 2 minutes. The beacon that others can warp to does not appear until the cyno is complete, but it is visible for anyone on grid. So you need to be off-grid to light the cyno, giving a chance to the targets to get away. Obviously you can't tackle and cyno with the same ship, unless it can live 2 minutes under fire and somehow prevent its target to just slowboat out of tackle range in 2 minutes. A commenter made an even better idea: to make the bridge, the titan must jump first, leaving behind a bridgehead. People can use that item to jump after the Titan, as long as it is next to the cyno.
There can be other fixes, but the point is this: as long as force projection is so powerful, everyone will remove himself from the system when he sees a neutral coming, making the system forever almost empty.
PS: tomorrow (if the administrative work won't be even longer) you'll be very surprised, don't miss the post.
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