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new POSes and wormholes - what do w-space dwellers need?

First post
Author
Myz Toyou
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#81 - 2012-08-08 15:30:42 UTC
Two step wrote:
Things you get from docking: (off the top of my head, and in no particular order)
1) Markets
2) Contracts
3) Secure Trade
4) Ship spinning
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up
6) Assemble/refit T3s
7) Fit from saved fittings
8) Access to personal and shared storage
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining
10) Real container access
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations
12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets)



1) - not needed in WH space
2) - not needed in WH space
3) - not needed in WH space
4) - not needed in WH space
5) - not needed in WH space
6) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap
7) - not needed in WH space
8) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap
9) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap
10) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap
11) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap
12) - would be nice to have and I´m sure it would be possible to implement it without the crap

On my personal top prio list would be 6, 9 & 11, everything else are minor issues or just space barbie crap close to getting Concord into WH space.

Ayeson
Hard Knocks Inc.
Hard Knocks Citizens
#82 - 2012-08-08 15:32:23 UTC
Two step wrote:
W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there.


Yes. Two Step have my babies
Ethan Revenant
Adhocracy Incorporated
Adhocracy
#83 - 2012-08-08 15:40:06 UTC
Bloemkoolsaus wrote:
Relax.. You guys are getting all hyped over nothing...Sounds to me like they are just getting ideas, and haven't thought about possible game-play consequences yet. Wich is good, you don't want to restrict brainstorming because that will block `out of the box` ideas.


Indeed. That's why I, and many others, have stepped forth to bravely do forum battle to bring up those gameplay consequences now, before things get set in stone. I agree that the torches and pitchforks are unnecessary, but now is exactly the time to say "hey, I dislike this idea as you have it presented!" and see where it goes from there.

Two step wrote:
I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


Hate to contradict, but I like living out of a POS. There's plenty that's annoying about POSes, but that's why I, and I believe many others, were looking forward to a POS revamp. I wanted a better quality of life in my POS, not stations.

We all survived just fine without what stations give us. If the only way to bring those tools to POSes is to make them stations lite, then it's not a POS revamp any more. It's a POS replacement. Pretty sure do not want. Besides, wasn't the point of the modular POS to have all sorts of little bits and pieces that you can slap on to let you do these things?
Rroff
Antagonistic Tendencies
#84 - 2012-08-08 15:46:21 UTC  |  Edited by: Rroff
Have to agree, the FF adds to the flavor its not directly relevant to the enjoyment of w-space in its entirety, we want better ability to manage roles within the POS setup for security purposes i.e.:

-Filter FF access based on role or character rather than having it on/off for corp member use and having to enter a password each time.

-Filter CHA/SMA access with better granularity of role or character.

Bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp is another issue entirely.

Docked in a station cuts you off from the outside environment, gives you more of a feeling of safety and makes it harder to passively monitor the system for threats - which is something you don't have to do in k-space and part of what adds to the flavor.


I spend most of my game time in wormhole space because I like to live on the edge a bit, live and die by how well your thinking ahead, how prepared you are, etc. which is much reduced in k-space where you can just cyno in reinforcements, burn back to jita when you forgot a module, etc. etc.
jonnykefka
Adhocracy Incorporated
Adhocracy
#85 - 2012-08-08 16:00:57 UTC
Two step wrote:
Things you get from docking: (off the top of my head, and in no particular order)
1) Markets
2) Contracts
3) Secure Trade
4) Ship spinning
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up
6) Assemble/refit T3s
7) Fit from saved fittings
8) Access to personal and shared storage
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining
10) Real container access
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations
12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets)


I'm a little unsure about the "market" and "contracts" part, but everything else looks good in principle. The concept of player markets in w-space is...weird. I suspect it would be about as rare as player-owned freeports in nullsec, and far more dangerous for the person owning the POS because you're basically advertising "lots of crap in this pinata, come get some". Not inherently opposed, even an in-corp market would be useful for paying for corp mods.

8-11 should not require docking, just better corp hanger mechanics. 7 can be implemented now if it can take your fittings from your cargohold.

Two Step wrote:

The main point with docking is that we can see from the current system that CCP is bad at maintaining 2 separate systems for how players interact with hangars and storage. Getting docking means that whatever features and improvements CCP makes to the station interface comes for free for wormhole people.


Granted.

Two Step wrote:

Clearly I need to write up another blog post about this, because I think folks are missing the point here. I fully agree that docking would change things, but I also think some change is really good for folks.


The problem is not that we don't want the things you're talking about. I can see the benefits of docking, they are quite obvious. The problem is that we don't want to give up transparency to get it, or have to suffer through the docking games we fled to w-space to avoid. If CCP can promise both of those things, then bring on the docking modules. If not, I would rather stick to the horribly flawed system we have now.

Two Step wrote:

I also wanted to respond to one specific point from Chitsa and Rroff:
Chitsa Jason wrote:
Forcefield is one of the integral parts in w-space. It lets you be in space and have a buffer from the hostile environment. It also allows you to manage your POS without fear of being ganked by some random cloaky SB


I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


I agree with most of this, and I would even say that the exact mechanics of a forcefield are not integral to w-space. However, some of the by-products of those mechanics are.

The point I'm trying to get across in this thread, and what I personally would like you to represent to CCP, is that whatever they design that replaces POSes needs to maintain some of these specific by-products in w-space, even if it does it in a completely different way from what we have now. Aggregating from the thread, these by-products would be:

1. Transparency, transparency, transparency.

2. No timers, clear boundaries between "safe" and "not." In short, no docking games.

I don't care how CCP achieves this, as long as they do. Again, I see the worst-case scenario being that w-space fills up with mini-stations and no one can tell if anyone in a given system is online except for those rare moments when you jump in while someone is actively doing something in space. I certainly don't think we need to maintain current POSes in order to avoid that, but when it comes to the design of new POSes, I think the concern needs to be voiced and incorporated into the design discussion at an early stage.

POS gunning is a separate issue, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who wants to see it maintained somehow.
Chitsa Jason
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#86 - 2012-08-08 17:19:52 UTC
Two step wrote:
Things you get from docking: (off the top of my head, and in no particular order)
1) Markets
2) Contracts
3) Secure Trade
4) Ship spinning
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up
6) Assemble/refit T3s
7) Fit from saved fittings
8) Access to personal and shared storage
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining
10) Real container access
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations
12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets)

The main point with docking is that we can see from the current system that CCP is bad at maintaining 2 separate systems for how players interact with hangars and storage. Getting docking means that whatever features and improvements CCP makes to the station interface comes for free for wormhole people.

Clearly I need to write up another blog post about this, because I think folks are missing the point here. I fully agree that docking would change things, but I also think some change is really good for folks.

I also wanted to respond to one specific point from Chitsa and Rroff:
Chitsa Jason wrote:
Forcefield is one of the integral parts in w-space. It lets you be in space and have a buffer from the hostile environment. It also allows you to manage your POS without fear of being ganked by some random cloaky SB


I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


I think you are wrong again.
Current exact mechanics of FF make wspace exciting because you can rely on it to have your own little island in hostile space. After a fight you can return to your safe POS FF and enjoy a drink or two while still having ability to watch dscan, refit ships, probe - basically everything what you want in station plus ability to be in space.
There are many drawbacks of current POS mechanics but POS FF is not one of them.
If you ask people about top 10 reasons they like being in wspace i bet no one will say that they like being in a spaceship and flying but it does not mean it has to be removed.

I doubt there will be many people saying that force-fields suck and we should remove them hence they should be kept.

Burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from me

Joran Jackson
The Red Circle Inc.
Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork
#87 - 2012-08-08 17:27:38 UTC
We've lived without contracts and markets and all that bullshit for so long, I really don't need it. I truly don't need it in w-space.

What I do need is my PvP to not change. I want the exact same PvP I have right now. And I really think there's plenty of stuff about w-space PvP that changes with these new POSes.

And I'm not talking about the actual fights, but the game of intel and the hunt, which is what so much of what w-space is about. If we can't see people somehow moving in the POSes, it's a big problem.
Gnaw LF
Viziam
Amarr Empire
#88 - 2012-08-08 17:39:52 UTC
Two step wrote:

I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.



Actually I have to disagree with you about this. W-space is NOT about lack of information, in FACT everything in w-space is completely wide open and is available to voyeurs. W-space is about WORKING for information, but when the said work / effort is performed you are also rewarded with an advantage over those who have not put in the effort. The current POS mechanic, as much as its hated by all w-space residents, does have an advantage over the proposed POS mechanic in respect to gathering and providing visible clues as to the activities of w-space residents.

Yes, the most appealing aspects of the w-space is provided by mass limitations on wormholes. They limit the scale of the engagements. However, it will be harder to figure out if the engagement is going to happen at all with the new proposed system. If we don't see that the residents and our intended opponent is reshipping into a fleet to fight us, then we might not keep the hole long enough for them to form up. That will reduce the appeal of living in w-space. The proposed system also mentions anchoring poses almost anywhere in the system (at least away from moons), that means we will also need to drop combat probes or keep BMs for the POSes of our intended opponent. There goes most of the stealth aspect of the gameplay, that will reduce the appeal of w-space.

The docking game, there is just too much of it everywhere else and again that will reduce the appeal of w-space. So while you are partially right, the new proposed system of POSes will not completely ruin the w-space. However it will reduce the appeal of what is considered by many and AWESOME system. In the end you should think about this change from a different perspective. All that the w-space people want from POS changes is the ability to fit out T3s, use the Saved Fitting functionality and have a single modular structure so as to reduce clutter inside the Force Fields. All this can be accomplished within the current POS and FF mechanic.
WInter Borne
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#89 - 2012-08-08 18:16:12 UTC  |  Edited by: WInter Borne
I'm skeptical of the POS changes as well, but I wholeheartedly agree they need to be fixed. I'm also willing to give Two Step the benefit of the doubt in this case. Keep in mind a lot of stuff they thought up has not been released because of the NDA and nothing is written in stone yet.

EDIT:
To the people threatening to unsub...do it! If you can't handle a little adversity this isn't the game for you and you certainly shouldn't be in W-space.

What I want more than anything:
The ability to store clones in a rorqual and have the ability to swap them on the fly, in the wormhole. I DO NOT WANT TO JUMP CLONE IN AND OUT OF SYSTEM. I simply want to jump into a slave clone for armor for pvp, then swap out when pvp is over.

The pos changes aren't being released until 2013 at a MINIMUM. Thats a year to offer feed back and come up with ideas, which is what CCP is currently doing right now. Quit ******** like babies because their mommy decided to change what type of milk they make your milkshake with.

TO CCP:
I dont know how much effort or how many resources would be required to do this, but code up and execute some of your ideas and release them on SISI for us to play around with WELL IN ADVANCE of the actual release. Let us offer feed back on what you have in mind before its released on TQ.
Meytal
Doomheim
#90 - 2012-08-08 18:48:11 UTC
Two Step wrote:
As for the NPC corp alt that doesn't feel I am doing a good job representing them, feel free to run against me next time. Of course, I don't think you will do that, since you would probably have to run with your main.

Ignoring the ad hominem, hoping maturity will win out...

You say CCP lives in w-space. I could put up a tower in a 3-man corp and "live" in w-space. But that makes me no more qualified to comment on w-space mechanics than attending a orchestra performance qualifies me to be a conductor. There is more to w-space than shooting sleepers, just like there is more to k-space than Hisec missions. In fact, few things unite the w-space community better than when it comes time to evict yet another Nullbear corp who have only set up operations in w-space to fund their Nullsec activities and hide in their POSes the rest of the time.

By their very suggestions, CCP demonstrates they don't understand the differences between w-space and k-space, and why people choose to leave Hisec, Lowsec, and (heaven forbid) Nullsec to live here. The backlash from the community should be further evidence of just how out of touch they are.

And sadly, your list of "things you get with docking" is also out of touch with life in w-space. The majority of those things aren't needed (or desired) in w-space. Anything that is useful from that list is not w-space specific and does not require docking anyway. Dock up to get better access controls? Really now.


As others have said, w-space is nearly perfect just the way it is, even with the quirks we have to work through. It's one of CCP's rare few crowning achievements. For once in their lives, CCP should just make slow, small changes instead of trying to "fix" what isn't broken just to make some sweeping headline. Start with the issues discussed in this thread. Small, quality-of-life changes will make more of a difference than sweeping headline-grabbing "fixes".

For my part, if you bothered to look, I try to promote w-space life where I can, to try to encourage others to come out here. I do this because it offers differences you can't find in k-space. Differences that CCP is now threatening to eradicate.

We live in w-space because it's unique and challenging, and not like k-space.
We don't want w-space to become like k-space.

Two Step wrote:
How are docking games any worse than forcefield games right now?

Try executing a Starburst from within a station. I would have loved to have been present the first time that was used, on either side, because that is pure brilliance -- emergent gameplay at its finest.

And I rather like watching my targets cower inside the forcefield. If they log off, the next time they log on it will be into a bubbled death trap. If they stay to watch their tower die, they die too. If they self-destruct, they still lose their assets. Win-win.
Bane Nucleus
Dark Venture Corporation
Kitchen Sinkhole
#91 - 2012-08-08 19:14:38 UTC
Two step wrote:

Quote:
CCP Greyscale suggested that perhaps the larger power cores might require freighters to move around, which would prevent them from getting into lower class wormholes.
(Note that this might also apply to the docking module)

One thing that wasn't in the minutes, because it was talked about outside the summit, was that mooring would be the primary way that people interact with a POS, and the docking module would be more expensive (and/or perhaps require a freighter to move).

As for the NPC corp alt that doesn't feel I am doing a good job representing them, feel free to run against me next time. Of course, I don't think you will do that, since you would probably have to run with your main.


I have a really big issue with this, as I live in a c2. At no point should people in lower class wormhole be "gimped" with lesser POS's. Having lived in both deep and shallow wormhole space, I can safely say shallow wh space is far more dangerous and active.

On top of that, having a corp the size of KAIRS requires a lot of space for ships, industry, storage, etc...

Just remember that when you make these changes that wormhole space isn't just C5 and C6 wh's.


No trolling please

Malken
Sleiipniir
#92 - 2012-08-08 19:18:40 UTC
the idea of no large towers in c1-c4 is tbh pretty silly.
cant shoot them down?, we do so whats the problem?
it just takes manpower and skill to do it.
if you dont have manpower and skill then gtfo of wormholes.
go back to mining in rens or whatever.

☻/ /▌ / \

Lexylia
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#93 - 2012-08-08 19:28:18 UTC  |  Edited by: Lexylia
Two step wrote:
Things you get from docking: (off the top of my head, and in no particular order)
1) Markets
2) Contracts
3) Secure Trade
4) Ship spinning
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up
6) Assemble/refit T3s
7) Fit from saved fittings
8) Access to personal and shared storage
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining
10) Real container access
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations
12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets)

The main point with docking is that we can see from the current system that CCP is bad at maintaining 2 separate systems for how players interact with hangars and storage. Getting docking means that whatever features and improvements CCP makes to the station interface comes for free for wormhole people.

Clearly I need to write up another blog post about this, because I think folks are missing the point here. I fully agree that docking would change things, but I also think some change is really good for folks.

I also wanted to respond to one specific point from Chitsa and Rroff:
Chitsa Jason wrote:
Forcefield is one of the integral parts in w-space. It lets you be in space and have a buffer from the hostile environment. It also allows you to manage your POS without fear of being ganked by some random cloaky SB


I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


1) Markets <- yeah in WH´s ... bullsh.....
2) Contracts <- yeah in Wh´s bullsh.....
3) Secure Trade <- yeah in Wh´s bullsh....
4) Ship spinning <- no comment
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up <- WOOOOW i can run around in my 2m³ room and do nothing WOHO
6) Assemble/refit T3s <- really nice but still can also be done without docking BUT WOULD NEED WORK to
7) Fit from saved fittings <- normaly u know what u want to fit so np.....
8) Access to personal and shared storage <--- ??HELLO?? corphanger rights overwork and fine... but would also cost some time to Develop
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining [/i ]<- also can be done without docking..
10) Real container access <--- also can be done without docking
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations <- JUST OVERWORK THE F..CKING POS RIGHTS INSTEAD OF IGNORE THE FACT ITS just need some love
[i]12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets
) <- not needed

....Also i take bets WH space = new 0.0 space with all the fun docking games in 3-9months anyone take me bet ?

p.s CCP actualy looks, like they dont give a f..ck about WH´s in a serious meaning. It sounds like : yay lets improve WH space yeah cool idea.... oh shi... would cost much time to fix all the broken stuff... just give them """"stations"""" and fine... sounds lilve
cool idea... yeah we are genius.... yes we are... we are....
Mr Floydy
Questionable Ethics.
Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork
#94 - 2012-08-08 19:41:27 UTC
Worried by the idea of the lack of a Force Field... Two Step mentioned there is a genuine reason for this under NDA and really, until that is explained in full it makes it hard to really put too much thought into discussing the pros and cons.

Personally I'd like to see a tweaked POS system, I like the idea of the modular parts. Say for example you build your main tower - and other bits just stick on as modules. Less overview junk, less things to bump off of...

I'm sure there must be a better way of handling assets without having to move the whole thing to in station whilst docked. It just needs a bit more control, an ACL with varying groups can't be that difficult to implement surely...

ps. Please for the love of god, no station game style mechanics...
Malken
Sleiipniir
#95 - 2012-08-08 20:01:10 UTC
if all the nullsec ppl cant adapt to the wormhole life and pvp by downsizing the 1500man fleets to shoot large pos's in wormhole space then they should stay in nullsec.

☻/ /▌ / \

Aradiaa
You Can't Fool Owls
#96 - 2012-08-08 21:18:13 UTC
Regardless of any other changes, I think any kind of docking mechanic in w-space is a terrible idea. We already lack local (which is awesome, in my opinion) but taking active pilots out of space leaves us no intel tool at all to assess hostile fleets. Dscan is our only way to see who's in system (and track down a POS to see what's piloted, what's not, etc.) and if you introduce docking, you take our only tool away. Cloaking already does this to an extent, but at least it's balanced by the fact that covert ships trade significant damage and utility for their ability to cloak.

POSes need work, but find a way to fix them without introducing a docking mechanic.
Angus MacDoom
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#97 - 2012-08-08 21:21:43 UTC
Dear Gods of w-space,
Please don't bring docking games to w-space,
Please let me repackage items,
Please let me refit my T3 subs,
nothing else needs to change, w-space is a harsh environment, and I like it that way.
Amen
Darren Fox
Overload This
#98 - 2012-08-09 00:05:27 UTC
Starbuck Raider wrote:
If this is in fact that CCP is unwilling to put the time and effort into developing two seperate UIs, one for docking and one for nPOS hangar functionality (which would be a true POS re-work, as we have now been promised for ages) then I neither find it reasonable as an argument or reasonable to NDA it; we should have the right to know if this boils down to a lack of willingness to commit resources to spaceships in space by CCP.


This is right on. What we need in W-Space is the ability to refit ships, repackage items, and a place to store our stuff. I don't think getting rid of forcefields will fix these needs in anyway. If CCP doesn't want to spend the time to fix poses the way they should be and just copy and paste stations into their place they should not do anything at all. I believe the ability to sit in my forcefield press my d-scan button and man my pos guns are very important parts of living in W-space. If I wanted to sit in my station and watch local I would go to null sec. Docking Games belong in high sec with the neutral RR **** that still hasnt been fixed. Thats my opinion.Straight
Miriena
Big Johnson's
#99 - 2012-08-09 01:41:17 UTC  |  Edited by: Miriena
Two step wrote:


I also wanted to respond to one specific point from Chitsa and Rroff:
Chitsa Jason wrote:
Forcefield is one of the integral parts in w-space. It lets you be in space and have a buffer from the hostile environment. It also allows you to manage your POS without fear of being ganked by some random cloaky SB


I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


I think that there are a few things you're missing when thinking through the issue. Sure, survival will become somewhat harder, but that's not really a big deal. What IS a big deal is that the interaction between unrelated groups of people in w-space will become quite a bit more scarce. Currently you can be sitting in your POS, tooling around with, say, your ship fittings or just chatting with buddies, pinging that d-scan button, when SUDDENLY a group of ships running sites in your system / a string of haulers using your system as a route to k-space / a fleet doing god knows what in d-scan range / etc. You see this and you get some folks together and perhaps have a fun little engagement or just a quick gank or what have you. Or you're on the other side of things, and you jump into the system to see some ships on d-scan at a POS, find out that they are manned and set up bait or whatever. A decent number of engagements in w-space are influenced indirectly by the ability to sit in a FF bubble. It may not be that hardcore more you're envisioning by saying w-space should be harder, but it still requires interaction, attention span and is still more difficult than having the crutch of a local channel. The level of difficulty you seem to be suggesting borders on being bad game design because it threatens boredom. Without the aforementioned scenarios of "d-scanning while in POS, spotting possible pew" and "spotting possible pew chilling in their POS" w-space will become that much more boring. Not dangerous. BORING. There's already plenty of boring content in the game, let's not add to it.

Turning POSes into mini-outpost is an easy solution to a difficult problem. Taking the easy way out is the right thing to do sometimes, but not when it's going to kill the way quite a few people play the game. I know I'm not looking forward to w-space where everyone is docked up and probably can't even see that you came knocking on their door unless every player has an alt outside, or is sitting outside themselves (which questions the usefulness of "stations" in w-space).

PS: you can spin your ship inside a FF, too. I know I do on occasion Big smile
TheGunslinger42
All Web Investigations
#100 - 2012-08-09 08:26:45 UTC
Two step wrote:
Things you get from docking: (off the top of my head, and in no particular order)
1) Markets
2) Contracts
3) Secure Trade
4) Ship spinning
5) Captains Quarters/Whatever other Incarna stuff shows up
6) Assemble/refit T3s
7) Fit from saved fittings
8) Access to personal and shared storage
9) Repackaging, repairing, refining
10) Real container access
11) Real access rights, including the different corp hangar access for "based at" vs "other" stations
12) Possibly in the future, the ability to switch clones (not jump clone into and out of w-space, but switch implant sets)

The main point with docking is that we can see from the current system that CCP is bad at maintaining 2 separate systems for how players interact with hangars and storage. Getting docking means that whatever features and improvements CCP makes to the station interface comes for free for wormhole people.

Clearly I need to write up another blog post about this, because I think folks are missing the point here. I fully agree that docking would change things, but I also think some change is really good for folks.

I also wanted to respond to one specific point from Chitsa and Rroff:
Chitsa Jason wrote:
Forcefield is one of the integral parts in w-space. It lets you be in space and have a buffer from the hostile environment. It also allows you to manage your POS without fear of being ganked by some random cloaky SB


I think this is 100% wrong. W-space is about lack of information, and making people work hard just to survive there. The exact mechanics of a forcefield or no forcefield has nothing at all to do with the reason people enjoy living in w-space. I'd challenge *anyone* to ask people for their top 10 reasons they like w-space and see POSes *anywhere* on that list. POSes (in their current form) are something we all *suffer* through in order to live in w-space, not the reason w-space is good. People like w-space because of the small gang fights, or because there is no local, or because the PVE is harder than most k-space, they don't love bouncing off POS mods when trying to warp or having to enter a POS password every single time you want to pick up some ammo.


And you can ask *anyone* if they'd like ******* docking games added to w-space and you'd get nothing but screams of NO