Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Currently we have the ability to train a particular weapon/weapon group skill up to level 5, then use a specialized advanced skill to increase the damage output for that weapon. This would bring about a Tertiary skill that would be a second advanced skill. This gives higher SP players something to skill into that pertains to their area of expertise (and upwards of 70-75 million SP they have most of the non capital weapons and support skills maxed). This also gives a reason to finish Level 5 of a specialization skill as it would open up the ability to continue training into that group.

Examples:

Small Projectile Turret (Rank 1): 5% Bonus to small projectile turret damage per level.
Small Autocannon Specialization (Rank 3): 2% bonus per skill level to the damage of small turrets requiring Small Autocannon Specialization.

This brought a rank 1 skill to a rank 3 skill (multiplied factor of 3) and decreased amount of damage from 5% to 2%. Total increase to damage with both at 5 is a 35% increase in damage from weapon. The specialization skill only required Gunnery V and Motion Prediction V. The next tier should look something like this:

Small Autocannon Expert (Rank 9): 1.5% Bonus per skill level to the damage of small projectile weapons that required Small Autocannon Specialization.

This would require Gunnery V, Motion Prediction V, Surgical Strike V, Trajectory Analysis V. From your previous base of 35% increase in damage (not including support skills such as surgical strike V) you would have a base damage increase from these three tiers of 42.5%.

At max skill training speed (which I am pretty sure is 2700 SP/h) Small Autocannon Specialization should take approx: 9 days 18 hours. This rank 9 skill would result in a Level 5 (alone) of 29 days 6 hours.

Looking at Large weapon types your looking at 78 days. So these are not skills that can be finished by a high level immediately. This also favors newer players who specialized as it was as a 8-10M SP character who specialized surely has small and med weapons or frigate and cruiser/bc sized missiles inside of their specializations.

These skills also dont increase optimal, falloff, tracking, etc so their advantage is only if the ship can hit its target. Its a time based reward (as all skills are) that favors those who specialize and gives older players interesting alternatives to delving into mining, manufacturing, races/ships they arent as interested in, etc.

id reverse that and say the nice thing about EVE Online is that your rewarded through specialization and dedication. By focusing on a ship type and weapon type you like early you can compete with a wide variety of many of the oldest players.

The issue with changing tracking or missile velocity drastically is it can make certain weapons become useful in ways not intended (such as torpedos being able to catch up to small ships, or large electron/neutrons one shotting HACs). My proposed damage modifier only allows you to apply more damage to targets your ship and weapon is intended to be used against. Otherwise we will be destroying other ships niches. Imagine Rokhs, Vindis and Throns out there with higher tracking, longer falloff, etc with Neutron Cannons. Or Drakes with Heavy Assault Launchers that can hit from 35km out.

As for your second comment about other modules I agree that trees such as navigation aren't expanded on much, but thats a delicate subject since the nano nerf.

Which is why I wouldnt want to change any attributes beyond damage, this way weapons will act the same functionality wise but with a small increase to dmg.

As a new player (that's been starting/stopping the game from 2008 due to the skill point mechanics) I'm strongly against any sort of additional deeper tiering of skills.

The fact that you need a year to be able to properly fly most sub-cap ships is not something that will get any new players into EVE. Create more tier 3 ships if you want (they aren't so hard to train, if you go for one race), frigates, battleships, additional fleet support vessels, capital ships that can use stealth detecting probes, heavy bombers (battlecruiser hulls) that can destroy capitals effectively but suffer against sub caps.

As some people have said before me, introduce new, independent ships/skills that older and new players alike can train, rather than training forever for perfection. While I don't like it, I can live with the fact that an older player can do more roles or be 5% better having trained the last level of the skills for the last 2 years, but being defeated easily all the time and knowing you can never catch up would make it even less competitive than it already is.