Assembly Hall

This is a proposal to CCP to iterate Faction Warfare for the winter expansion 2013.

I will be brief and address specific issues first then more general ones that this system has:

1. AWOXers from allied militia
2. Plex farming
3. No front line
4. Faction tier system
5. General lack of incentive

Awoxers are a problem in FW. It's an accepted part of life in every other part of the game and I'm not seeking to remove this, however it does need addressing when committed by people from the allied militia. Currently if you awox someone from your own militia you get a standings hit and eventually cannot join that militia any longer. The same penalty does not seem to apply for members from allied militias. My fix is simple; a severe standings loss with the victims militia HQ and a smaller loss with your own HQ. Awoxers will eventually find themselves unemployable by either militia.

Plex farming has been an issue ever since the FW overhaul some 2 years ago. The truth is its still very easy to farm plexes. There is a difficulty in balancing this to make it harder to farm and also not imposing on solo pilots such that they are at a disadvantage when a hostile warps in. Therefore I propose a bonus and a nerf. The buff is plexes count down faster at a rate determined by the number of people in the plex. Transpose the mechanics of SP generation and you have a ratio that is acceptable. With just a couple of people the effect is not very noticeable but with 20 people you can capture a complex much more easily. The nerf is that the button now warp jams any HOSTILE ships that enter the complex up to 50km away. This should function like an infini-point and leave MWD available for use so that normal combat can occur with the exception that the invading ship cannot escape so easily. The aim here is increase investment in capturing plexes and incentivise group play.

The lack of a front line hurts FW a lot. It's hard to get any kind of meaningful fleet on fleet fights unless there is an established front like the Enaluri>Nennamaila conflict. Gameplay suffers as a result as there is little reason to take ground in a logical pattern and becomes a matter of whose farmers are more dedicated. My solution is to disallow systems that are next to enemy systems to be reinforced via system level. Similarly as you move further back from each of these front line systems (which are increasing in system level) you get diminishing returns on offensive plexing them (because logically they're more resistant to capture via being further from the front line and by having a higher system level). If a system is captured and flipped over to your opponent, you are blocked from further reinforcing the systems back up the line until they are plexed below their maximum reinforcement level. This will allow flanking tactics to be established and will condense farming activities to fewer systems instead of the exploitable system we have had for 2 years.

See this graphical representation of point 3.

Faction tier system needs reviewing again. I think the current system works well but its difficult to hit tier 3 without already being in a position to over-run your enemy just from the way that plexing works. Hitting a higher tier in reference to my 3rd point will become a tangible objective as holding a higher warzone control becomes more feasible. Disrupting an opposing faction from getting/holding tier 3 is also a real consideration as they'll constantly be within reach of it and the only way to keep them from it will be to be very aggressive in defence and offence.

There is a general lack on incentive to actually participate in FW instead of farming it. Super low barrier to entry and easy farming of plexes (or using a stealth bomber to run *most* missions) as well as the mechanics of LP payouts encouraging selfish behaviour are allowing characters to cheaply and efficiently punch well above their weight in ISK generation. There aren't really any other parts of the game where you can make 50 mil in an afternoon with a 100k SP character flying a meta-1 atron.

Within limits yeah. Do you even FW? Having fleets be the primary objective instead of solo-plexing would be a breath of fresh air. I guess you wouldn't understand.

I'd prefer it if you just debate the points in my OP.

I support OP's ideas.

Another thing that I would like to see changed would be to make the system tier bonuses worth something. Right now I have a very hard time understanding how they would help anyone. Plus station slots? Cheaper clones and broker fees? So what?

2.)

Just ban two modules from plexes smaller than large, cloak & wcs. Problem solved.
I dont think i need to explain why