Warfare & Tactics

Simply put, because it is/should be easier to bolt a door than to break it down .. crude analogy perhaps, but fairly accurate.

Also based on assumption that people will act as they have done for years and not actually do much of anything unless critical mass is achieved. In plexing terms (after the 3-5x change is added) that means blobbing the crap out of a system for a few hours and then leaving an alt force/skeleton crew to prevent too much defensive work from succeeding .. almost exact replica of null sov "fights" back in the day (still get ticks thinking of all the damn pos mods I repped up *shudder*).
The only way to discourage the urge to blob is to neuter its effectiveness .. with timers being 'equal' it is possible (and most often used) to have a single semi-mobile blob that comes in to swat anyone interfering with the timer babysitters. Were timers to be 'skewed' with defensive ones taking only 1/5th or less time, the attacked HAS to be 'in force' in each and every plex which removes the blob from the equation quite nicely I should think

Attacking sovereign space should require constant pressure and vigil. It was semi-present at the height of the post-DT plexing era when several systems were held in enemy space .. take a plex anywhere and it could pop elsewhere, was a horror if occupancy was spread out all over the place .

Mission runners will only leave if they have no alternative to make the LP. If NPC balance/Plex mechanics are not addressed there is a high probability that most of them will swap bombers for stabbed interceptors and get LP from plexes instead.
If you were around back when it occurred to people that raising militia rank/standing was a fast track to maxed faction standing and the free Navy BPCs it yielded .. goddamn stabbed mothers were all over the damn place

Can a CCP dev please answer if they planning on implementing the lockouts with the rewards?

Yes, this is a loaded question.

OK its our "fault" that we like to pvp and you can't get enough of it in low sec without going gcc.

But we are at least asking ccp to change the mechanics so that there will be more frequent pvp.

What has happened to player proposals like Jack Dent's?

They are lost in ccp's mad rush to make fw like null sec.

There has been plenty time for planning leading up to the patch, I'd rather it came down to the depth of planning and giving people a chance to try and hold systems than just CCP saying 'no'.

Even a small force can defend a system if they are willing to use slightly grey tactics, less of a pain than moving 50 odd ships per pilot. Also a reset is basically saying 'you know what you have been fighting over for the last few years? yeah that was all for nothing, absolutely nothing, now that we are adding consequences to what you do we are undoing all that.'


At the end of the day people with fewer systems will always argue for a reset and people with more will always argue against it. I'm sure plenty of people will quit FW either way its just up to CCP to decide which way it will be.

Well we have 2 weeks before inferno hits and they still haven't told us whether they will do a reset or not.

Should players do plexes now or is it time completely wasted?

I tend to agree that a reset would be a slap to people have done plexing for the last few years - especially if ccp has any plans to do station lock outs on may 22nd or any time in the future.

Plenty of time planning using a plexing system that offers no tangible reward and too easy to take in short if you have the numbers when your opponents sleep.


A small force cannot defend a system 24/7. We saw that yesterday in Rakapas. I don't think it had been contested more than a few times in weeks. Last night, during Cal militia's slow time, Gallente's worked plexes and took it. There's a very good chance we'll get it back, but if that were the day before the patch, there would be little to no chance of getting it back.


I ask you again: Several weeks of warning or several hours?

I dont agree on the defensive plexing thing - I see the kind of fights you describe now.

I do think they should give LP for defensive plexing once a system goes contested. Otherwise people will only fight for station systems...

And I wish they would make an announcement on the reset thing. I have 33 combat ships in Nenn, and a host of others spred around. I need to get busy moving.

Here's a solution to the reset question:

Have a grace period until the lockouts go into effect. Give time to draw people into FW for the rewards and work within the new framework where it will be easier to defend. Those plexing under the "easier" mechanic now will still get systems that are easier to defend, but those who live in low sec and will likely easily hold their home systems after the changes won't have to worry about being locked out from enemies using the easier mechanic. If they can't take and hold their homes during the grace period, it wasn't really their home to begin with.

I would go with a grace period of at least a month.

So on your proposal would ccp reset after a grace period or not?

I really think the fact that many of the players are so concerned about a reset just proves that ccp is making faction war occupancy more of grind instead of more fun. If they were making it so the plexing involved more fun quality pvp then no one would care whether there was a reset or not.

I know I would be looking forward to plexing and getting tons of great pvp if I had thought that is what there changes would accomplish.

Instead, the lock outs will make faction war more of a hassle and the long times to flip systems will make plexing even a longer grind. This is why a system reset is such a hot topic to begin with.

I think ccp is trying to implement some bad ideas here. However I am betting they are not putting out a dev blog because they are in fact reading to see if there are good reasons to change the system.

I think there have been allot of good reasons posted why the station lock out will not be good for faction war and I think ccp will listen.

I think once that horrible lock out idea is jettisoned then they can work on faction war through iterations so that many of the other issues can be sorted out over time.

That is becoming a pretty obvious course for anyone who is reasonably listening to the feedback. And I think ccp is reasonable and they are listening.