Player Features and Ideas Discussion

We've all seen the threads on boring mining...this isn't a thread about changing mining. Mining works perfectly fine and is, in fact, perfectly built around the greater structure of industry: while you mine (virtually no effort), you manage your industrial operations at stations or on planets.

Unfortunately, Planetary Interaction is...less than exciting, and so is manufacturing. Compounding this is a simple truth, but one often forgotten: anything in EvE done alone becomes boring quickly for most players. Its called a MMO for a reason. The tools available to industrial corporations though are lacking in excitement and THAT is what this thread is about:

Proposal: Planetary Interaction

New Skill: Site Management - 5% increase per level in planetary interaction processes while in the same system as the command center.
New Skill: Long-Distance Delivery - 5% reduction per level in reload times for long-distance delivery payloads. Enables the use of long-distance delivery payloads.

New Mechanic: Long-Distance Payloads - Command Centers are upgraded with heavy duty rockets capable of flying up to 100 AU away. Due to the intense amount of fuel and logistics equipment required to launch the payload, it can only be launched once every hour. The payload has a capacity of 10,000 m3 and will target the capsuleer's current location at launch, delivering a bookmark to the capsuleer upon arrival. The payload can be scanned down.

Why:
While not able to deliver at the speed of a customs office, or its frequency, long-distance payloads enable a capsuleer to easily collect from multiple planets a small portion of resources produced every hour. The payloads can also be accessed by corporate members as per normal containers.


Proposal: Manufacturing

New Skill: Assembly-Line Processes - Enables the usage of cooperative manufacturing lines. One line per level.
New Skill: Factory Communications - Enables the remote usage of cooperative manufacturing lines. First level enables usage within current system, each subsequent level increases range by 5 jumps.
New Skill: Large-Scale Factory Management - Enables the usage of additional cooperative manufacturing lines. One line per level. Requires Assembly-Line Processes level 5.
New Skill: Corporate Unions - Structured corporate unions and guilds enable cooperative manufacturing to function at a higher efficiency, resulting in reduced startup costs. 5% reduction in cooperative manufacturing start costs per level.
New Skill: Union Alliances - Corporate procedures are stream-lined and red-tape is reduced, resulting in higher levels of organization and effectiveness. Cooperative manufacturing jobs are able to take on one more capsuleer per level.

New Mechanic: Cooperative Manufacturing

Cooperative Manufacturing are manufacturing jobs that are made available to corporate members to support, resulting in faster manufacturing times. A cooperative manufacturing job is able to take up to two capsuleers initially. The Union Alliances skill enables the capsuleer to increase this to up to seven capsuleers (themselves included) working on a job.

How it works:

A blueprint is selected and loaded into the industrial interface per normal. It's PE and ME are factored in as normal.
-The Capsuleer can select 'Single Production' or 'Cooperative Production' on the interface.
...Single production is how it works now.
...Cooperative production enables capsuleers from the corporation to assist the manufacturing job (pending they have the base skill and are in range to do so). The number able to help is based on the skills of the capsuleer who starts the job.
-Cooperative Manufacturing jobs are tracked separately from single production. The industry skill and its variants have no bearing on how many lines a capsuleer can start cooperatively. However, the other industrial skills affecting job costs, materials needed, etc. do impact cooperative production.
-Cooperative manufacturing requires a larger line and is thus three times as expensive to start. EX: if a BP costs 100isk to start normally, cooperatively it will cost 300 isk.
-Once the job is submitted, it begins manufacturing at the normal rate of a single production line and becomes available via the corporate job tab for other members to support.

Members Helping...

-Upon announcing to his corporation he's started a cooperative job, fellow members who have the base skill (Assembly-Line Processes) and are within range of the job (at the station if they don't have Factory Communications) can opt to use one of their cooperative lines to assist the job. They do not pay any isk to join the job.
- For each capsuleer after the first that supports a manufacturing job, the production time is reduced by 5% up to 30% faster (six additional capsuleers). Supporting a job takes up one cooperative line for the supporting capsuleer. A capsuleer cannot support a single job multiple times.
-When the job is finished, the supporting capsuleers automatically regain their line to their queue. The capsuleer who started the job must still deliver the job to free up his line.

Notes for Reference: At most a capsuleer can support and/or run 10 cooperative lines (max skills). Each of those can have six capsuleers support. Thus, seven capsuleers would be needed to gain the maximum efficiency across ten lines (assuming max skills). All of those jobs could be started by just one capsuleer and the other six exclusively support those jobs.


Cooperative lines are more expensive than single production (3x the startup cost in isk). The value is in speed of production, not efficiency in materials. Thus, cooperative manufacturing enables more product out the door faster but at a price increase.

1st: I think there was a dedicated post for this.
2nd: Massive repeat of ideas - though new(ish) still along the same lines for other threads on PI and COOP industry.

3rd: besides those two above items - I support changes to PI (will happen someday with new structures) and COOP industry

Didn't really take a good look at the manufacturing portion of your post, but enough to see the merits of it, but I feel that having a launch per hour, with a capacity of 10 000 m^3 is too much. It could have a cooldown based on the volume, with a minimum cooldown of 1h going up too one day with a full load. I wouldn't mind seeing it being able to ship to other planets over your ship, which would help with some setups, but would cost more compared to using the normal customs office, and take 5 minutes per AU traveled, and capable of being interdicted if a bubble is placed between the planets. Of course, if this does get done to be between planets, then it should only be able to launch 4 times/day, with a max volume of 2500 m^3 per load.