Player Features and Ideas Discussion

This is an idea I've seen tossed around quite a bit ever since I first started playing EVE some years ago, and overall, I think it's a shame that in a day and age where we're finally getting amazing missile launcher graphics and improved cinematic feel the to combat in EVE, we're still without systems that allow ships to defend against small, fast incoming targets that get in under the big guns of larger vessels and cause havoc. I am speaking, of course, of point defense systems.

I've actually given this some thought and I've often wondered why we're stuck with defender missiles and little else when it comes to clearing the skies of incoming missiles, drones, or bombs. These things can be very big threats by themselves, and in a game where there are lots of options, why can't one of those options be to specialize against opponents who are known for their use?

I can hear the complaints now. "Oh it'd be a hard counter to missiles," or "Drones would be useless why even launch them," or "That's what destroyers are for." Honestly, I don't think any of these are bad points, but if you have a thought as to why these things would be bad, please elaborate! I'm no expert when it comes to EVE Online's balance, in-depth PVP, or the like, so why not enlighten me with your input? Be constructive and add to the idea.

What is a Point Defense System?
Point defense systems are most commonly defined as weapons designed to protect a limited area (such as a location, building, or even a ship or vessel) from attack, usually in the form of anti-aircraft or anti-missile systems. An example of a point defense system would be something like the CIWS, or Close-in Weapon System, employed by naval vessels to defend themselves against small, close-range threats such as missiles or fast vessels that approach under the range of their more lethal main guns. While there are missile systems that serve the same purpose (see RIM-7 Sea Sparrow), I think in that in a sci-fi setting, the rattle of rapid-fire weapons is much more thrilling than missile systems, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

Sci-fi is almost famous for having incredibly large vessels designed for slugging it out in grand, epic space battles, but very few of these bristling juggernauts are depicted with close-range defense weapons to help protect them from smaller craft. The most recognizable example of this can be found in the very first Star Wars film, A New Hope. The phrase "They're so small they're evading our turbo-lasers" is uttered during the Rebellion's attack on the first Death Star. You'd think that at the size of a small moon, the engineers could have made room for some smaller, rapid-tracking, rapid-firing weapons or missile systems to shoot down those pesky fighter craft trying to jam proton torpedoes down the station’s exhaust ducts. Similarly, Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyers such as Vader's Executor were all quite vulnerable to small ships flying up to (or into) them because they only had massive turbolaser banks for attacking other capital ships, but had to rely exclusively on their (terrible) TIE fighter squadrons to keep the smaller fighters off them.

How would Point Defense Systems work in EVE Online?
My idea for a point defense system in EVE Online involves creating a new type of module (and preferably removing defender missiles altogether). These modules would differ slightly between the races, but ultimately would function identically. They are not intended to be weapons to be used against player ships and can't target them, nor can they be manually targeted or directed to attack one of your ship’s targets. When activated, a point defense system would basically just sit there, cycling like any other activated module, until an eligible target came into range. Then it would automatically start attacking that target until destroyed, or until your ship ran out of cap.

Graphically-speaking, I think it'd be fitting to have them use simple turret-like animations, tracking and shooting much like turret-based weapons, even thought they are not strictly a turret-based weapon.

Point defense systems share the following traits:

• Point defense systems occupy a High slot and should use CPU and powergrid appropriate to their size (ie, Small point defense systems should be similar to Small turrets/bays in terms of fitting requirements)
• Point defense systems are activated and have an active duration, consuming capacitor every cycle. A point defense system can only deal its damage to a target once per cycle
• Point defense systems are not manually targeted; they acquire targets based on range or perhaps user-based settings that could be altered to prefer missiles/drones or close vs. long range
• All point defense systems use capacitor, probably justifiable in that their delicate targeting computers are automated and require at least some energy; this cap usage should be comparable to a weapon of similar size (such as a hybrid or beam turret)
• Point defense systems will only target missiles, drones, or bombs; point defense systems should never be able to target fighters, player ships, structures, or depoloyables other than those listed above

Destroyers reimagined
Although destroyers are very useful in the right hands, I think they’ve always had a tough time fitting into large fleet engagements because of their lack of durability and their Small weapons. With the advent of point defense systems it would be possible to turn destroyers into supportive vessels that can take down enemy drones and missiles with ease, possibly bumping them up on the list of an enemy fleet commander’s target priorities and directing fire away from more valuable ships.

Suggestions for destroyer changes to utilize point defense systems

• Change one of the Destroyer skill bonuses to incorporate point defense systems, perhaps by increasing the damage dealt, reducing the capacitor need, increasing the range, or reducing the duration of the modules by 5% per level in the skill
• Change the role bonus to one befitting the use of point defense systems; Minmatar could receive a reduction in cycle time, Caldari could receive an increase in range, Gallente could receive an increase to damage, and Amarr could receive a reduction in cap use
• Change the role bonus to one reducing the CPU/powergrid need of point defense systems considerably so that destroyers can fit Medium point defense systems, or simply lots of guns AND Small point defense systems at once
• Reduce the number of turret slots on each destroyer by 2 or 3 while leaving the number of high slots unchanged; these remaining high slot spaces could be used for point defense systems while still leaving a reasonable amount of firepower for dealing with frigates and other targets

And that is the end of this incredibly long-winded thought process on point defense weapons. Opinions? Suggestions? Complaints about how long the post was? As you were, Internet.

I should hope - and this is just a shot in the dark - that there'd be some sort of code that could be put in to detect whether a missile is hostile or not. It WOULD be required for this kind of system to work, since it relies heavily on support ships to be able to shoot at drones or missiles not targeting them directly.

It could use some refinement, definitely. I actually like the idea of refining the modules into a sort of EWAR-esque thing where you target a ship you want to mitigate the damage of. You might also need to boost things like the damage per shot or something to ensure that the point defense systems are actually useful in stopping missiles consistently. This could also be used to specifically target drones launched by a certain ships.

Scripts would fit better with the theme of an EWAR-like module, wouldn't it?

Your idea is ok but much too powerful. One, you can target drones yourself so you can either use other drones or your offensive weapons against them. Second, they need to be ammo based otherwise as long as you can keep your cap up you'll have pretty much a perfect defense. Third, no way can you have a dedicated defense platform. Just look at the real world Navies, do you see a dedicated defense platform? Nope.

The idea of having the turn on and stay on and only fire when a valid target is in range is good. This is something that currently pisses me off with the current Defender Missiles system. Getting tired of getting pounded by missiles when the Defenders won't turn back on saying "No valid target in range." BS .

I also like the idea of different sizes which would be like their offensive systems and based on type of ship they go on. I do like an idea of having scripts to enhance them like boosting the range or rate of fire but they also increase the amount of power being used of the capacitor. Like the tractor beam , PDS can use any High Power slot.

For example you have the Raven which has 8 Hi-Slots and 6 are for missiles and 2 for turrets or anything else. So if you want you can have 6 launchers and 2 PDSs.

With this system, unlike yours, there is a good chance missiles will get through. This is durring reloading or you ran out of PDS ammo or cap.

Do you know for a fact they don't?

Actually, the only thing preventing this is the curviture of the Earth. The current Railgun Prototype that the Navy is developing has an unknown max range. And the only things that effect range are power and gravity.