Player Features and Ideas Discussion

What could this expansion be called?
If I had a chance of naming this expansion, I would name it "Escalation" which pretty much sums up what kind of expansion this will be. After all tensions are on the rise due to the close proximity of the faction borders. The idea behind this is that all factions will be waging proxy wars against each other at the borders, hence the name, shy from full out declaration of war. Also a arms race will be ignited in this expansion as well, with new weaponry being experimented and tested by all factions. This expansion could be used as a prologue to an Galactic War between all factions.

Could this Expansion be used to release new ships?
Most definitely! Having new tier ships or equipment introduced to the game will definitely make it more anticipated by all Eve Online gamers. Everyone loves new content that refresh the Eve Universe after it gets dull after years of playing.

What about new types of equipment?
If developers decide, they could add new type of weaponry to the arsenal of the players. These new weapons could be plasma based weaponry which doesn't even have a foothold in the game. Being plasma based weapons, they would have an ideal use against armor. Plasma based weaponry characteristic will can be very slow projectiles with added ability to track their targets, which means they are great for close quarter combat than long range. This type of weaponry could be released through either an arms race between factions or by Alien contact, I lean towards the sooner than later, because it seems to be the more likely way to introduced this new technology to the game.

Will factions NPC's attack each other?
To maintain the illusion of small scrimmage between these two factions, AI will covertly warping in and out into other faction owned solar systems. Only time AI will attack structures located in other faction's space is when a player leads the attack or they warp near one. Players could sometimes warp too an faction owned structure and find it being attacked by their faction. Also players will be able to call for reinforcements while attacking one of the opposing faction's structures, the player will receive help from their faction AI from in the solar system or from one gate away.

Does this extend to pirates?
Why yes it does. Pirates will be able to aid the player, but asking for reinforcements doesn't guaranteed that they will not attack you. They are pirates after all, it could actually make the attack much more harder if you get the attention of the wrong type of pirates.

Where will these scrimmages take place?
They can take place on the edge of faction own space when they are bordered. AI will not travel too far into other faction's own space, because it is not ideal for an Caldari AI to appear in Gallente's home solar system which is deep .

Can they have scrimmages without players?
Of course they can, if they bump into each other while traveling throughout the faction own solar systems which is near the borders. Scrimmages will be waged throughout the solar system, players will be welcomed and even encouraged to join in these small scrimmages.

How will I know if there is a attack?
There be an distress call signal that could be picked up by pretty much any probe, then relayed to players who are located in the solar system. If they choose, they can warp to the area and help defend the station against attacks by opposing faction's AI.

Are there going to be new types of structures?
Of course there will be new types of structures added to Eve's Universe depending on the type of military installation that is chosen randomly. Here is a few types of structures that will be available: Military Outpost, Experimental Technology Centers, Intelligence Agency Headquarters, Military Headquarters, Ship Yards, etc, etc. All these structures will offer different types of loot depending on the type of structure that is available.

If there is loot from stations, can certain stations drop faction blueprints?
Why yes, this is the reason I am putting forward this idea. The most heavily armed stations with the best loot will be the Experimental Technology Centers designed for building on par with level 5 missions and putting forward experimental ships or equipment. Faction blueprints will be an extremely rare drop too, which means players will have to raid Experimental Technology Centers multiple times.

What this about intel?
By raiding an Intelligence Agency outpost or headquarters, players will gain valuable intel on other structures located in the current solar system. This requires hacking or downloading data from the servers located in these structures. Be prepared to face stiff opposition from the structure with massive amounts of reinforcements. Some items gained from the station can be handed in too Special Faction Agents who will in return, send players in an rare special ops missions. The upside to this, this will put to use of mass amounts of trade goods that are for show.

Will the attacks different in types?
Players could have a choose depending on their roles of what kind of attack they will lead. After reinforcements arrive, players will be able to give commands to the faction AI, allowing for them to dictate their targets and actions. Players can set the objectives of the AI, changing how they react in battle or how they interact with the structures. All Faction AI will be set on Type One AI till player sets their objectives for their goal.

Can I set my own objective?
Of course players can either raid, aim to destroy, retrieve valuable intel which can be used by Faction Players, or scout the station if they want too. Scouting is different from the others, because players can gather intel for the AI, allowing for them to battle much more effective against the faction they are faction and giving them a boost.

Not in Traditional Sense, it is mostly Caldari vs. Gallente and Amarr vs. Minmatar in the story-line. The suggestion here is to have a four-way story-line battle involving all factions. I even added ideas for pirates as well, not being solely based for factions. You don't see Amarr attacking an Caldari NPC in any of the story lines.

By the way, your post is not constructive feedback at all.

Oooooookaaaaay...

1. It sounds like you want a PvE game.

2. Your system sounds like it could farmed very easily.

3. No player should be able to control NPCs. Ever. Simply because if you can control some... so can everyone else... and when everyone else can control their own NPCs they will bring them... everywhere... even into fleet battles... turning a 10 on 10 skirmish into a 50 on 50 brawl... which will further discourage solo pilots and small gangs...
Also... it's an MMO... not a single player game. Why should mechanics that discourage player cooperation be introduced?

4. Blasters = Plasma weapons.

edit:

Leave the comfort and safety of high-sec... go past the badlands of low-sec... and join up with a group in null-sec.
Climb the ranks and you'll eventually have your own personal army of zerglings/lemmings to throw into hundred man battles for wealth, killmails, and your glorious masters' epeens.
When you get tired of it (and you WILL get tired of it) come back to low-sec and enjoy the [FAR MORE] relaxed tactics of skirmishing.