Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Mission Improvement

Hey folks,

I do mission running to earn my money in Eve. And even if I enjoy it, it bores me more often than it should. The reason why I'm bored is because missions repeat to often and I know exactly how to approach missions to solve it. It’s boring.

So, let’s add some fun to it.

a) Flight Recorder will pick mission
Instead of knowing what type of mission I get, the agent only sends me to a site to investigate it. At the site, I suggest that one has to investigate, meaning using a scanner to scan some wrecks or salvage them.
At this site, there is an item let’s call it a flight recorder. That thing must be hacked and depending on a particular skill the outcome should differ.

1) Ordinary Mission
After hacking I get a set of coordinates which brings me to the next room somewhere in the star system or even further away. I have to clear that room and may get a new flight recorder to clear another room. This idea would remove the acceleration gates from the game.

Example:
I ask an agent for a mission. The agent sends me to a site where a recent battle was fought. I find a flight recorder and hack it. It pops out there is some kind blockade in that star system. I fly to that site and clear it.

Idea is that the agent doesn’t know what’s going on there. This could add to a more realistic game play. If the agent is aware of a blockade, the agent would send the local faction navy to clear that site, right? That’s what I would do. But because he only sends me to investigate a ruin site, it would make much more sense for him to send me instead of the busy local Navy.

2) Hurry up
I hack that flight recorder and got noticed that my favorite pirate faction get some supplies using a big ugly jump freighter. The mission is only open for 10 minutes or so, because they will clear the cargo in the meantime. If I'm too late, there is nothing to gain for me.

3) It’s a trap
I've done so many missions against a fraction and there don’t like me. There lure me in a trap using coordinates stored again in that flight recorder. They use a bubble to force me out of warp and attack me. This will of course only work if I'm flying from the wreck site to the set of coordinates. Maybe there are also sending an officer to make sure I will die. Make that kind of event challenging.

Example:
The agent sends me to investigate a strange radar signature. I fight some enemies and the put a decent fight. I find the flight recorder, hack it and find out there it’s a "Hurry up"-mission. I warp to the set of coordinates only to find myself trapped. A Shadow Serpentis commander oversees that situation far away. So, if I'm in my Dominix, there is no chance to catch him. But if I'm in fast HAC and may get a chance to take him out - if the trap is not strong enough. And I better have a warp scrambler on my ship, because he will try to warp out.

4) No flight recorder found
Go back to agent and ask for new mission.

b) Vary strength of enemies
This is also a new concept in missions. Depending on security status of the solar system I'm in, the enemy faction can call reinforcements. The lower the security state the stronger the enemy. This could also depend on the standing against that faction. Also, let all factions use all electronic warfare modules but in return, I want to do the same. NPC should also be affected by electronic warfare. This will make missions more harder. Also reduce the number of ships in reinforcements.
The more players fight a certain faction in a local area of star systems, the weaker the faction becomes. The area becomes more safely which force players to move on. Make that visible on the map.

Example:
Let’s say I'm in Gallente High-Sec 1.0. The only reinforcements Serpentis can call are frigates. If I move to lower security state, like 0.8 I get cruiser and in 0.5 finally battle ships. After some time I fought so many Serpentis that there lines are thinned out. I should move to another region to get better payment.
I end up in Angel space and start digging around in a mission. A first reinforcement wave arrives with four ships. A fully equipped electronic warfare ship starts scrambling, webbing and jamming me. A battleship, capable of dealing around 500 DPS is firing on me. Two heavy attack cruisers are supporting this situation.

c) Add achievements
It would help to motivate, at least for me. Let’s say; take out a blockade in a T2 assault frigate instead of the battle ship.

Wrap Up:
- Remove acceleration gates because we now use a new mechanic to get to sites
- Remove agent base on levels and adjust the mission difficulty based on the security state of the system
- Agents are not aware of the particular kind of mission and reward them in the end
- Vary the strength of enemy reinforcements by security state
- Repeating attacks a faction by players will lower the ability of a faction to reinforce mission sites
- Increase strength of enemies

Those are only raw ideas I hope that some people will provide positive feedback and refine some of the ideas to improve mission running and to make it more fun.
Maybe it’s possible to include some ideas in one of the next releases. I think it would add a lot of fun not knowing what’s going on.

It sounds like you might have more fun with exploration.

Also, what you're talking about would be rather unintuitive for newer players and be rather hard to balance. If it's balanced then it's going to get boring quickly. It's a rather sad fact of game development that anything you spend months creating will be old and well understood within a few days of its release.

Thank you for your valuable feedback.

@Cade
Yeah, I understand that some of the suggested changes are similar to exploration sites, but I don’t see here a problem. My main concern is not the money making. My main concern is about how mission are distributed. I want to move away from static missions towards more dynamic missions.

I don’t share your opinion that it would be non-intuitive to new players. It’s a simple rule; the lower the security state, the stronger the enemy. Right now, there receive a mission and will try to solve it. With my changes there will receive a mission and try to solve it. The difference now is, that you don’t know what to deal with. There will be no battleships in 1.0-systems but only frigates or destroyers.

I agree that sooner or later mission running will get boring again. But that’s with all content in Eve, right? Mission running did not change in the last 18 months. It’s time for a change.

@Zan
You are right. The vast fitting options in Eve will finally bring up a standard configuration to solve each mission. One can argue, that those ships are overpowered, mission sites are underpowered or whatever. But at least you can put your point in your mighty Tengu to a use. At least, with some of my changes mission sites will be interesting again. Maybe one out of hundred of those reinforcements are so strong to even tear your Tengu apart.

I’m not saying that you replace all 400k battleship with 1.8M battleships but reduce the number of 400k battleships and create a battleship that is worth calling a battleship. If that means to introduce 1.8M battleships to high sec, well there you have one solution. If you decrease the number of ships in a mission and want to keep the profit at the same level, you must change income parameters. Another solution for this could be to increase the mission payment. At the end of each mission you have to report back. Tell your agent what you stood up against. It’s his task to reward you. One could also increase the salvage value. After destroying a ship the salvage value is too low. I mean, you need a high amount of minerals to produce a battleship, let’s give some of it back. This would do without increasing the bounty.

I’m not interested to increase the overall profit in mission running, that’s quite ok.

Thanks for your insight.

@Gimmi more Cynos
You have a valid point. Traveling is not exciting, even with the new fancy animations. But I think traveling and moving around is better than sitting in a system with a level 4 agent for an eternity.

If you want to move with all your stuff, that’s fine. I think it would suffice to move only with a couple of ships, maybe even one. If people have ruined standing, let them face consequences. This is something which gives those pilots a reason to improve their standing. If they choose not, they will stick in a system with low paid missions. Even if there are engaged in factional warfare they should be able to move between two empires. And I’m not saying there should move like 20 star systems. Let them move like five or six star system to get a nice mission. If you concerned about the income, it would be an easy adjustment to increase bounty, salvage, loot or mission rewards.

What’s the sense of having over 5.000 star systems? Even right now life in New Eden is concentrated around High Sec. For most professions you don’t even need to move. You can do everything in one system. Mining in (hidden) belts, producing, researching, mission running and even exploration. As a player life in Eve concentrates around a small number of star systems.

You were also concerned about the fitting. Well first, I’m not a game designer and this would be something they have to think off. But we both know we can fit, without ease, ships which can sustain more than 1.000 DPS. But please, don’t stick to the actual number. Let the phrase “challenging enemies” wander in your mind in search of something to connect with. (That’s more or less a quote, actually more less but close enough)

If one faces a battleship, player or NPC, it should be a deadly encounter. If I can take out five or more battleships including their “support” in an Extravagance mission, then there is something wrong with balancing. This is something we should address.
I do understand that PvP and PvE are not the same. But did you ever question yourself why it’s not the same? It’s the same game. It should not be different. NPC and players should employ the same techniques. At least let them use the full arsenal of weapons available. Let them use drones, let them use electronic warfare let them be real challenges.
I see we can agree the randomizing would help a lot. That’s good, we share the same opinion. The question is how to approach this.

A system, as proposed by me, would add a more realistic touch to the game. If you fight a faction it becomes weaker until it is no match anymore. Players will move on, the faction will recover. Its natural, it’s organic.

Reinforcements will depend on that influence of certain fraction. This is also natural. The stronger a faction is the more ships can they employ. As the faction becomes weaker reinforcements become weaker.

Also: Removing acceleration gates will improve atmosphere. (I really don’t like them and can’t stress enough how alien there are in a game with warp drives)

You wrote quite a text!



I do not want to move mission hubs, but in my idea there is no spot for them. Your main concern is moving. Well, if you do mission nowadays, there is a lot of moving involved. First, you may need to get to another star system. You start taking down the first pocket and now you need do move to an acceleration gate in 50 km distance. Eventually you will make it and you will start taking the second pocket down. Then go for the third pocket. Moving is an essential part in that. Finally you have to move back and bring salvaging equipment.

Here is what I have in mind. You get a mission from an agent and he sends you to a site, maybe in the same star system, maybe in the near area. You do what you have to do to get the coordinates of the next site. You move again and finally you will take down the final pocket. Now you open the mission report and report remotely that you finished all sites and receive payment. You can now go back to the agent or dock at a local station and ask for another mission. Remember, we don’t have agents based on levels anymore. Moving becomes more and more naturel.

What about salvage? Easy! Increase the time before the wrecks despawn and keep a log of all visits sites for several hours. Forgot your drones and warp away? No big deal you have a log. And you have enough time to finally salvage the sites. Or you can ask another player to clean after you. Or you can simply ignore the loot.

You still have a central place to store you stuff. At the end of the day you can move back. When moving around, you can also start exploring, because you visit more systems. There are so many benefits of moving around.



CCP constantly changes things and you have and will eventually deal with it. Only because there did a decision in the past doesn’t mean the decision is for eternity. Your example is a little too extreme and not even comparable with the situation. And even if they would employ the idea, there is a good chance there will adjust your standing or find another way.



The problem exists right now -- only vice versa. The missions are too easy for old players. Right now we have a situation where missions are challenging for new players but not for olds one. This is something I want to change. Mission should also be challenging for old players as well. If new players can’t stand a chance against the mission, well then there have a goal to train for. If a three month old can do the same mission I do, then there is something wrong.
I don’t care about balancing. I’m not here to do the job of a game designer. But it can be balanced, for example, against my tank and DPS including standing and security status. Simply adjust the parameters of the reinforcements. If I bring a strong ship into the fight, the enemy better brings reinforcement which can actually hurt me.



Yes, it will make a difference and the missions will not repeat because there are randomized.

You have to think how to take them down. Maybe you can employ electronic warfare to weaken them and save some tank. Of course, electronic warfare only works if the enemy does not outnumber you too much. Another solution to solve that situation is to fit more DPS and tank. With my ideas, you get more fitting options, which makes things more interesting.


And please stop calling ideas stupid. There are very shy and sensitive. If they got hurt, they move away and won't come back.