Player Features and Ideas Discussion

This is probably a bad idea, but I just wanted to spit it out. Don't blame me, people laugh at me for the stupid things I say everyday. No need to be different in a forum heh ? Maybe it's a waste of resources and could cause lag to the server bla bla bla. However, I think that it is a great idea and could add many strategical layers in lowsec conquest.

I'm talking about assets such as small booster producing facilities and small bunkers owned by pirates ( such as these in anomalies ). Said structures can be conquerable, just like stations in nullsec. There would be a set amount of special areas in each system where pirates have bases set up. A corporation can ( for free ) claim these structures and use them as ancillary production facilities and as defense platforms. Other corporations can assault these areas and claim them as their own. Like nullsec stations, these structures will also be invulnerable to ( complete ) destruction but can still be ( re ) captured.

To promote small scale engagements, these areas would exist within deadspace pockets, where only smaller ships, cruiser and lower ( NO strategic cruiser, yes industrial, exhumers, barges ), could enter via a warp gate. No capitals can cyno in either, no cyno can open in haven ). When near a corporation gate, the starbase manangers of the corporation can turn it on or off once per day, as they wish. This way, when the gate is closed, the structures and pilots inside will be completely safe, but once they warp outside the pocket, they have to wait for the 24 hour period to pass in order for the gate to be able to reopen again by a starbase manager. ( logging off in a haven wont warp you away )

So to summarize, these areas create "relatively safe havens" for corporations in lowsec to refit ships, store stuff, manufacture, produce and copy blueprints, boosters, modules, ships etc. like the pirates do, without the need of POSes in system. In order for items to get in, the respective gate must be open. However, stuff can warp out normally, just like in normal deadspace pockets. The warp gates can be camped normally. These gates can be easily probed out and will appear as corporation gates in the scanner, so the prober will know if the gate is just a pirate complex or a conquerable haven. When at the gate, everyone will see whether it's closed or open. Gates inactive ( noone used them to warp to the haven ) for more than two consecutive weeks will open automatically if they were closed.

Smuggler Stargates: some lowsec systems should have a smuggler stargate that connects to another smuggler stargate in a nearby lowsec system that the system's normal stargates have no access to. I have seen them in some missions. They should exist in some conquerable havens and cannot be seen / probed without entering the haven. They create waypoints previously nonexistent in the starmap, only accessible to the corporation members owning the haven. Of course, it's a two - way pipeline : if the destination haven is controlled by another corporation, they can immediately access your haven, and vice versa. The stargate will be somewhere inside the haven but one will need to probe it down and save its location to access it. This means warping within the haven's limits is allowed, even if it's considered deadspace. However, you still cannot warp to a specific spot in the haven while outside the deadspace.

There you go. The rarest havens will have smuggler stargates, opening new waypoints for corporations, and means to escape the system, new trade opportunities. If the haven on the far side of the pipe is closed, a corp member / fleet can use a smuggler stargate to access the locked haven and warp into the rest of the system ( quick hotdrop while the haven is already secured, since the warp gate is closed ). Many other tactics such as that one could be used, and, as the havens are accessible only to cruiser and lower ships, new players can compete easier and with fewer / less expensive losses. It will also be something new. Make it that the havens have a certain bottleneck of mass that can pass through its acceleration ( warp ) gate each 5 minutes or so in order to give smaller corps some chance to compete against larger corporations, preventing the large corps such as eve uni to ( immediately ) blob with massive frigate fleets all havens in low sec and take them by storm . A reinforced timer could be added to the haven structure ( using strontium ) so that the corp has a few hours to organize and defend their haven if it was attacked, just like POSes and stations ( the structure must be able to get reinforced by a 20 man cruiser gang in less than 10 minutes. If no stront, the haven changes hands instantly and the winner steals all the items in the haven's hangars 11!!!1!!!1 ). Normal POS reinforcing rules will apply.

Additionally, many havens would include some ( limited, regenerative ) mining potential, such as some rare ore, where one can mine without rat presence. All these features could make many corporations consider claiming a safe haven if they got implemented. Since their number would be limited, there would be a lot of competition especially for the rarer smuggler stargate rare ore infested ones. Since these havens ( in lore ) would be owned by pirates before them being conquered by players, one can, while in one, scan and find secret acceleration gates that lead to misc pirate non conquerable complexes ( cruiser / frigate suitable and somewhat profitable ).

tl;dr Conquerable stationary structures in lowsec havens with limited storage, refitting, researching, copying and manufacturing ( you cannot manufacture ships larger than cruisers in there ) facilities where only cruiser and lower ships can access. Have reinforced timers just like POSes. May have smuggler stargates present. Acceleration gates within the haven, leading to new hidden complexes scannable and accessible only when in the haven.

Yeah, they share similar qualities. difference is :
Only cruiser and lower
Small new corp / player friendly
Would get more people interested in lowsec
Easy and free to capture from pirates
Free science / manufacturing slots

Also, you cannot control where the smuggler gates lead to, unlike normal nullsec jump bridges :D

It would actually involve some strategy instead of just blobbing the haven with supercapital fleets :D
It would also be loads of fun, make you feel your corp actually owns something in lowsec, you can also profit from it.

Nullsec is just so inhospitable. With this, players would get a just for laughs-no-drama-corporation-lowsec-conquest-pvp action and also make some isk from it.

Since only cruiser or below are allowed, the players are limited to smaller losses.

There is a problem here. What makes you think these massive null sec alliances wouldn't be interested in these pockets?

Lately, I have been seen a thread with all the ideas people propose. Which is that they don't take time to think about the game as a whole, just the tiny corner of the sandbox they have personally experienced.

Then they see a barrier to their expansion of interests, and suggests

You are idea, on the surface, sounds super fun and awesome. Until you realize the goons will claim all of the havens between them and jita to install their cynos for the jumpfreighter train. ANd so will all other alliances. And then they will have the same stuff they have in null.

Oh wait, you say, ban cynos in haven? OK, you still have a place the cyno ships can camp along with their defensive fleet.

Oh but only frigs/cruisers allowed, you say? Tell me what did burn jita?

So all you are proposing is in fact an expansion of nullsec into lowsec, not as is your apparent intent, which is providing hisec dwellers with a null-sec light experience.

Essentially, the reason goonsec exists is not because the goons love zero security (they did burn jita, right? no amount of concord stood in their way), but because they love sov, and the wealth sov produces. Give them the same thing in 1.0 and they will expand into it.

See the problem?

No. Because the game's system has no built in ability to block cynos in specific areas in a system ( only systemwide ) and also there is no ability to add anomalies that are only probe able while you're in a specific area. If this would be implemented, CCP would need to modify the code and that might take a lot of their resources.

This gets into a lot of the previous discussion about improving nullsec that happened last year.

It basically boils down to: solar systems are too small.

This has been a deliberate design choice on CCP's part, keeping solar systems relatively small in a misguided attempt to encourage conflict by bumping people up against each other.

A Isk/resource boost is needed I agree, however this seems like a good idea but many angles would have to be worked out like limiting how far the "smugglers" gates could jump say constellation only or something, making them use fuel from ice products, also instead of not being able to scan down the site make it where you would need some skills in scanning and maybe/or implants to boost scanning as the havens have system scan dampeners at least for finding it and not limiting other site at all, if you have skills,implants, T2 scanning ship to a certain level you could scan the site down and run in otherwise you just get to a certain signal strength and cant warp to or see while scanning. I would also say it should be a build-able structure like a pos/station and look like a small structure a pirate would use (a base built into a large asteroid or something). It should fall under similar rules as FW, lose the station you cant dock but your stuff is still inside in your hanger and certain ones have stuff like med bays others refinery and they are limited by say 2 upgrades (which also cost isk to build on and further upgrade a lvl or so).