Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Hi all,

I feel that is time to give the game some new content, something that makes old players log in again and make the experience.

The most obvious could be to introduce some "incursion-like" behavior for all NPC groups, be it pirates or drones. In some systems in each region increased activity of NPCs should be present. If not kept at bay by players, NPCs do what they are expected to: control the region (and not the players control it) with the respective drawbacks (less efficiency in player operations). Currently NPC "controlled" regions are a laugh, if NPC competence is concerned. Nearly no skill at the part of players is required to dominate it.

Additionally, more content should be available for experienced high skillpoint players. Currently mostly low-skill players are tended to. Capital Ship pilots would love to have more capital ship related content, e.g. capital ship spawns in certain high level anomalies (or additional ships warping in like in wormholes). Those spawns may drop things useful for capital ships but not necessarily expensive.
Carrier pilots would love to have fighters become worthwile tools again - because currently carriers mostly are sentry drone carriers. Make drone modules work on fighters, and fighters will show up again without being ridiculously overpowered when seen versus damage output of dreadnoughts. If to high a ratting income would be a concern, consider the higher vulverability by warp speed changes. Give fighter bombers enough range to shoot POSses through the forcefield.
Give (Super-)Carriers the possibility to carry player ships with pilots sitting in their ship, so that after jumping to a destination a small fleet can undock from the carrier and wreak havoc. Big fleets still need Titans for bridging, but skirmish fleets could be deployed this way. This would be great for evacuating fleet remnants as well. Carriers would be used much more (and be killed more in battle).
Especially Titan Pilots need some love after being nerfed again and again. Currently these former kings of the battlefield are reduced to mobile bridging platforms but not being placed into combat roles - because most often they are just too ineffective to justify bringing such expensive ships to the field. Make them so good so that people actually want to use them in combat - then more of them will die as well. Reducing the cooldown of their superweapon significantly could be a way. Additionally, Titans should also be used as mobile deployment platform, as proposed for carriers (and they have a larger ship hangar).

Introducing new or changing existing regions to include special navigational or environmental hazards might be useful to promote using specific ship types (e.g. by introducing clouds of corroding gas, as present in high sec missions or by unstable hyperspace giving ships a chance to be dropped out of hyperspace randomly in space or by introducing asteroid storms that could damage ships with the option to scan for safe travel routes using probes. CCP wants to promote exploration - give people a good reason to do so).

Intensify the Dust-EVE relationship, e.g. by
- letting EVE-Players design starbase / POS / planetary installation "dungeons" using specific installation modules so that all these constructs can be custom-modified and specialized. When attacked by DUST mercs, these mercs "automatically" could fight within these structures (and damage or destroy them). Of course, EVE-players should be able to build and deploy defensive structures to defend agains such attacks (like the PVE-drones in DUST, NPC-mercs, gun/missile emplacements etc.). If a fight occurrs, EVE-Players could take over the role of the "dungeon master" and coordinate the defense, see that replacements are brought in etc. (Have you ever played Dungeon Keeper II (TM)?) Note that this minigame might be a first step to "open the door" for Eve-Players as well, if they want to personally join the fray.
- letting DUST-Players be deployed to sabotage the above mentioned EVE-installations, with effects similar to electronic warfare (i.e. sensors or weapons malfunctions) or reduced shields or even structure damage by damage from within. Attacking EVE-structures with DUST-mercs should not be easy if the installation has anti-intrusion systems installed intelligently by EVE-players!
- Have planets (and space stations) have an NPC populations that could provide services (or unlock possibilites) if kept happy and adequately supplied (think of the Anno 1513(TM) game). Population, technical development and available supplies could have effects on planetary or station installations. Examples: planet based production/research slots or production of datacores (special facilities needed like special factories or universities)
- Have planets be "owned" by corporations that could raise taxes from population (like starbases, which could raise taxes on station services and similar to the split PI taxation in EVE-RUBICON high sec custom offices - part to the planet gouvernment and part to the custom office owner).

And give 0.0 residents more possibilities to control and defend their systems by introducing options like available in highsec: gate sentries and/or automated gate patrols with fleet compositions set up by players. Of course, such ships would be lost as with any other ship directly controlled by players when destroyed.

Other ideas for new content are highly appreciated, especially content useful for high skill players that have not received much in the last updates.

Shirolayyn

More incursions is not new content.

Motherships and Titans were originally intended to allow players to dock inside them, but the game engine really really does not like trying to process the idea of a player inside a ship inside another ship that also has a player in it.

They're already working on the idea of new space. The player-owned stargates that are eventually coming one day are intended to lead to it. The trouble is determining the purpose of the new space, what would be in it and how it would work as well as what would serve to make it any different from the space we already have.

It might be a good idea for them to finish implementing the stuff they already have planned for DUST, as well as maybe fixing some of the glaring problems people don't like about it. I keep hearing people complain about the controls.

Nullsec residents do not need gate guns and station guns and NPC patrol fleets. If you don't have the manpower to police your sov space with real humans, consider holding less space.

I think you are misunderstanding who is responsible for creating content in a sandbox MMO.
hint : it isn't CCP.