Player Features and Ideas Discussion

It was mentioned in the fanfest module presentation that some T1 blueprints for new modules would only be available as copies. I'm thinking that any item that represents base game play should have BPOs seeded somehow.

The presenter mentioned that they would try to control the availability of some of these things. I'm ok with drugs and T2 items not having BPOs. T2 items are just improvements. Drugs are temporary improvements, and I don't see the BPC part of them controlling their availability as much as their legality and price of production.

Anything that would add functionality to a ship while it was on the ship in a T1 variation should have a BPO available. There are reasons for BPOs to exist. If the designers want to get rid of BPOs, fine. They did it with T2 out of a desire to make T2 stuff special or more rare. T1 BPOs being removed would involve controlling base function availability. That doesn't set well with me. BPOs are required for mass manufacture. They're required for colonizing wild space. Way back when, null sec was that wild space. That new frontier is wormhole space. Any new frontier that comes along will need them as well.

I'm not saying that I'm totally opposed to controlling the availability of T1 blueprints. I just think that there needs to be a damn good reason to either be inconsistent and control some or totally remove T1 BPOs.

remember, those are meta 2. BPOs are only meta 0. The capital modules that have BPOs available are also meta 0. Now, if those modules they want to use to fill in holes are meta 1 or greater, I'm all for control. They have no BPs at all for these things and that could be quite exciting.

New modules that bring new functionality though are going to start with meta 0 (presumably) and so should have BPOs.

You have to define "base game play" as you put it. They will not be removing things that already exist. The outcry from the community would pale the events of last year, the disagreement between the community and CCP over Incarna, MTs, etc.

What they are considering is adding new things and then phasing them out to keep the game in a state of flux, so that tactics do not become stale and repetitive.

The more troubling thing they stated was "hard transitions" where they just remove/disable one set of the new things to make room for a new set of new things. The softer transition enabled by releasing these items as only BPCs is the better way to go about it. Stop dropping the BPCs, and sooner or later the items will go away with the few remaining stored up as collector items or used from time to time in PVP to gain an unexpected edge.

As for the seeding, the random rat could drop one of these BPCs, they could be one run items, 20 runs, depending on how prevelant they want them to be. They could be LP store items and require some ISK and some existing T1 module to create them. They don't even have to be "BPCs" they could be a new thing called "Plans" and be stackable. One plan for one use creates 20 widgets, imagine a one run ammo BPC that can be stacked, same idea.

So long as they do not mess around with exiting BPOs in people's posession, this could work out well for Eve in the long run.

It does break convention, which is doubly odd since CCP has been all about convention recently (missile names, implant names, laser turret names). Personally, I would like to see some of these come with BPO's.

Drone damage increase modules should have been available since the start of the game, so should salvage drones. BPO's for both IMO.

Microjump drives, thats a different matter. That's something more specialised, more "out there". I'm not adverse to it having no BPO.