Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I was just bee-bopping around the forums and various eve-related sites/videos when I came across two threads
concerning the new-player experience and player run corporations when I hit upon an epihany.

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Problem 1: Find a way to encourage new players to interact with more players and to spur eventual application/
admission to player run corporations vs. staying in NPC corporations, growing idle and leaving EVE.

What is important to address for this problem statement is that any notion of "forcing" players to forego their "solo"
playstyle and remain bound and shackled to the 11% NPC corp tax rate be utterly unacceptable. This is an MMO
after-all and everyone's playstyle should be fully supported, whether they elect to stay solo in an NPC corp, go
about and create a solo tax shelter corp, or join up with five of your closest friends to run missions together. There's
plenty of room in EVE for all of them.

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=3758639#post3758639

Problem 2: Find a way to encourage more non-FW lowsec/NPC 0.0 activity for those non-risk averse players that
have no problem losing assets through PVP, but that feel constrained by the nature of backing themselves into a
corner simply to enjoy PVE activity (e.g. station x has the only level 4 or 5 agent within seven jumps of lowsec
system y).

great example of an idea along these lines: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=3406904#post3406904

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Potential Solution: What I propose would be a multi-tiered re-organizational shuffle of the way PVE is handled
in EVE, using the COSMOS agents-in-space coupled with a couple of new anchorable agent structures as a broad
model.

1) Highsec:

Retain Level 1-3 agents in high-sec stations. This permits newer players to experience EVE from the safety that only
stations can provide and permits easy access to refitting/retooling as skills and experience permit. Additionally, if
you are a solo-player only, this provides a readily accessible income source.

Remove Level 4 agents from STATIONS! This is important! As the premiere solo PVE activity in the most risk-less
area of the game their should be a tiered advancement from less advanced PVE to more advanced PVE (wading a little
deeper into the pool if you will). Instead, level four missions would only be dispensed from agent's in space that are
placed there by corp-owned modules. This would require standings to both be able to access the agent via the module
as well as to anchor it.

If progression is incentivized, I think there is a far higher probability that newer players will forego the NPC corp
shackles in search of greater rewards through teamplay.

In-space agent modules provide several benefits. First off, the "solo" playstyle can continue uninterrupted. Simply form
up a 0% tax corp, drop the module and voila, personal level 4 agent. What about refitting for specific mission hardeners?
Simply warp to a station, 30 seconds certainly won't crimp your income stream if your skills necessitate this. Heck
allow the agent module to provide a limited refitting service (e.g. low/mid slots only)!

For newer players however, this can provide the much needed impetus to gang up and tackle the higher level PVE
content that highsec offers instead of staying in the NPC corp. Joining a player-run corporation provides a means to
this access since the modules, as envisioned, could only be anchored by corporations.

To ensure our true sandbox remains in the fray, I would propose that these new agent modules be scannable and
attacking them would only result in incurring a suspect timer for those so inclined to destroy them. Module access
should only be permitted by those in the owning corporation and could deliver a single L4 of each type (security, dist,
mining), if desired. Add in a reinforcement timer and now mission running corps have the option to defend their turf.

I'm unsure of the server effects of having thousands upon thousands of these agent modules lying about. Perhaps a
restriction should be placed whereby corp size determines how many of these can be anchored by said corporation?
The larger the corporation, more access to Lvl4 mission content becomes available.

I'm almost completely sure that your idea hands the lion's share of highsec income over to.. well.. griefers.

so your incentive to a new player is join a corp they may even hate...or suffer? Not really an incentive, well incentive to unsub maybe.

Corp membership is a 2 part thing, player has to like the corp, corp has to like the player. These don't' always mesh well.

Lets say a noob likes system xyz. He does not want to leave it atm. And he has talked with all the corps in the area but nothing is clicking. If not able to put up structures due to faction standing in a 1 man he has 3 choices. Grind level 3 till he can. Join a corp he hates the least. Or leave eve.


Last one would be best one. I have done my time on one char in a corp that was not me. Makes the game not fun when you are hoping its the asshat's in corp or alliance night off from eve so you don't have to deal with their ****. If the asshat is a director or even ceo there goes your hopes of seeing them kicked.....they are not going anywhere.


We could say well he'll have to pack up and try a new area. Kind of defeats the idea of sandbox. Make your home where you want for as long as you want.

1. You are fixing a problem that doesnt exist. If a new player wants to join a corp it is easy to do so and plenty of trash-cans around space advertizing corps looking for members as well as an in-game tool to find corps.

2. Screwing over highsec missioning when it isnt broken is a waste of development time.