Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Credit to CCP for trying to come up with conflict drivers but the current suggested mechanics for the thing suck.

Three major flaws immediately spring to mind -

1) owners of a system only have one minute to try and stop somebody escaping with the loot.

2) the locals could just position a no skill alt at the ESS and take the money every time a neutral or hostile enters system

3) The reward for putting one up isn't worth it.


If I was going to bring in such a device I'd use it at the mechanism which a Corp taxes it's own members. Say the Corp sets a 15% tax rate - when a ESS is deployed the Corp or Alliance deploying the unit starts collecting the tax revenue. The amount goes up by 1% per day so in this example after 15 days the Corp will be getting it's full 15% Tax from it's members. Thus the basic income of the individual is no worse off and at Corp level it will soon get back to normal.

The incentive in deploying the device comes from interest payments. Once the ESS reaches 100% for every week the amount of isk is left in the pot the amount is 'invested' and increases by 2%. Obviously the longer you are able or willing to leave the pot the more your money 'investment' pays out.

The person who anchors the ESS gives it a password, which is automatically mail sent to the CEO and Directors of the Corp. Anybody else can break into the ESS and loot it by hacking into it, thus having to complete one of those mini-games like when doing relic sites which should last between 2-5 minutes dependent on luck and skills. Or you could even bring in a brand new skill 'Security Hacking' and a specific module needed. Once an attempted hack is started there is a warning signal to everybody in that system only. If somebody successfully hacks into the ESS it results in an instant isk transfer to his wallet and a drop of items known as 'interest money'. This 'interest money' created by these ESS units is issued in new forms of currency, Empire tokens of each race, depending upon which racial ESS is anchored in system.

At first you could just have these isk tokens redeemable in a specific Faction NPC bank as isk, but the mere existance of these faction tokens could potentially open up a whole new world of banking and exchange rates! You could have a whole expansion based upon trade in these currencies, new skills needed, making them usable to pay Sovereignty/Corp taxes in the specific Empire regions, perhaps needed to use when making LP transactions with NPC corps of each Empire etc.

You could also expand the idea into Low Sec and High Sec with some thought and perhaps tie it in with FW, for example

Anyway just my initial observations but as they are currently being talked about I can't see anybody ever deploying them.

Fair comment. So that would be a major flaw. How about when you crack the code it starts a de-activation that takes an hour to unwind and also if anybody in Corp or Alliance can get to it can 'freeze' the account as it were for 24 hours till a director or CEO can reset? Of course resetting would take say 2 minutes, hopefully ending in some PvP as the people trying to rob it have to try and stop you?

You could just place them in major systems so they are easy to defend. Anyway I can see the motive behind the ESS and I just have the vision of a space bank robber trying to break into a corporate vault, hopefully ending in a shoot out! :)

the thing is a waste of time and dumb and the dev who thought it up needs to be retrained period

This.

Seems like one to the dumbest ideas in a game I have seen for a long time.

Maybe it will turn out alright after 1.1 is released, but currently on paper it just looks idiotic.

This may become one of the most spacebook liked posts ever.

CCP is looking to introduce isk sinks in the form of consumables, e.g. deployables, and to gradually reduce isk faucets.

Think slowly boiling the frog in how they are introducing these ideas in small doses.

/tinfoil

ESS is basically just a flat 20% nerf to ratting income.

You could make a boatload of isk just flying around in a speed fit inty (get align time under 1.9 seconds and they are untouchable) cleaning out ESS. With less than 60 seconds to catch and kill the ESS thief it will simply never happen.

If you are serious about this please remove all highsec incursions to counterbalance this.

You need to be incentivizing people to live in nullsec, NOT giving them more reasons to do all their isk making in highsec.

If you want to do some kind of ratting bonus module then have this module generate extra bonus isk on top of the normal bounty (maybe like 100% without, 115% with but the extra isk can be jacked).

Also remember that this module is incredibly prone to abuse, there WILL be alliances who put these in all their systems and taking the isk for themselves as an extra form of taxation (*cough* Goons *cough*), and in the current state of nullsec there is little to discourage the practice.

As a WH dweller, I fully support the new isk balloons that will become available as I randomly drop into NS.

The actual "nerf" for those too scared to use it is 5%.

Both scenarios generate stuff exploding.