Player Features and Ideas Discussion

(This is a repost of my contribution to the developing thread over on FHC which started as a discussion of the Mittani's latest Traffic Control article.)

Well everyone's got an idea so here's mine.

Right now it's all about numbers. The side with more is always going to win. Nerf tracking titans? Ok now supercarriers and wrecking balls are the problem. Nerf those and swarms of BS will be the problem. Nerf those and whoever can bring the most BC/cruisers will be the problem. And so on and so forth.

To reverse the calcification of nullsec the game mechanics need to somehow de-incentivize the formation of super blocs of players. Right now the sphere of concern that that corps and alliances have is too big. It needs to get smaller.

Jump drives, titan bridges and jump bridges make this sphere of concern to balloon to cover essentially the entirety of sov null. When you're worried about what people are doing on literally the opposite side of nullsec then you're more likely to seek friends close to home. I think this polarisation of nullsec into two massive blocs is the natural conclusion of this combination of game world mechanics and human nature.

If a corp or alliance controls Cobalt Edge they should be primarily concerned with what's happening in Outer Passage, Perrigan Falls or Tenal. At an extreme maybe they need to be concerned about Geminate or Insmother, but they shouldn't have to give a damn what's happening in Delve or Period Basis.

So, how do we shrink that sphere?

Every corp in Eve can designate a headquarters. It's been in the game forever but it's largely meaningless. What if we make where a corp puts its headquarters mean something? What if we make where a corp puts its headquarters mean everything?

- What if a corp could only join an alliance if it's HQ was within X jumps/lightyears of the HQ of the executor corp of that alliance?

- What if a corp could only anchor TCUs within X jumps/lightyears of their own HQ?

- What if a corp could only put certain POS modules, like jump bridges and moon mining arrays within X jumps/lightyears of their own HQ?

Suddenly your world just got a lot smaller. Your neighbours are no longer your most obvious allies against the threat from the other side of the map but rather the biggest rivals for control of space in your vicinity. A single alliance may only be able to control one or two regions with the member corps spread around among its space. It would be undesirable to grow too large because there would only be so many local resources to go around to provide your members with ISK. Fights would occur on the borders of your territory with your neighbours as alliances vied for access to moons, ratting space, ice belts and so on.

Benefits may include:

• Reduction in the scale of fights, reducing TIDI and making the experience more enjoyable for all.
• Upstarts who wanted to enter into the sov game would only need to contend with one or two alliances when trying to carve out some space instead of being set upon by half of nullsec for invading their blues.
• A greater sense of identity and purpose stemming from a closer tie to your home in sov null and smaller groups means your contribution is more valuable rather than just being "expendable F1 drone no. 1,436" in a massive bloc-level strat fleet.
• Exponentially more friction points around sov null leading to more content overall.
• An actual role for mercenary corps? In a conflict between two groups of several hundred players, a 30 - 40 man mercenary corp in subcaps might actually make a difference.
• Wouldn't actually require any changes to the range or functionality of capitals or their jump drives/bridges which would otherwise be difficult and divisive topic to approach.

TL;DR - turn nullsec into a a bunch of warring city-states who fully utilise their space instead of two gigantic empires with vast holdings to protect.

Straight off the top of my head I can think of a few ways to game or work around a change like this to maintain the status quo so this would have to be something that was done in the context of a broader change to sov mechanics. I'd like the develop the idea more. What do you guys think?

+1 To get around the Mega Coalitions having more holding corps you could make the holding corps less AFK and hold X number of members.

How do you mean make them less afk? and what would you say is a good x number of members because the higher you make this number the harder it is on new alliances trying to form


I don't feel null sec is in all that dire need of power projection re balance but i'm always a fan of mixing up the metta and sending players scattering those times tend to have the most content

In principle this is a good idea but you also need to create a reason for them not to be as 'co-operative' with one another. Make them compete for resources, make it not be in their interest to have NIP / NAP arrangements, because by doing so you are screwing over your own dudes...

Make it a competition between regions for isk, reasources as well as space, make regions affect one another as well to encourage people to make thier space more concentrated and better rather than larger and just average.