Warfare & Tactics

OK, so we need to start out this post asking you as the reader to make a couple assumptions. Not big ones, I think, but here it is:

CCP Developers, despite histrionic forum accusations to the contrary, are rational people. They have built a huge, successful franchise, with a few admitted missteps. And they, by and large, have a vested interest in making a good game, because good games are played by lots of people, and having lots of people play your game is a good thing. Add to that interest the fact that no one wants there name attached to a crappy product, and I think it's a safe assumption that CCP wants to make Eve as good as it can be. So, we can assume that CCP Devs are both rational and have an interest in making a good game.

Are you still with me? I hope so.

Inferno was a HUGE change to FW. It took FW in a totally different direction from where it had been. This was good, as faction war had not been changed in years, so it was due for a new look and feel. People, on the whole, of course are resistant to change, but sometimes it is necessary to keep things from stagnating, improve an existing feature, or just for the shear hell of it.

This is where the Change Curve comes into play. When you make a major change to anything, anywhere, there is an adjustment period. This adjustment period will look like a curve, first down, then hopefully up, as outlined here. There are 4 stages. The first is status quo. This is FW pre-inferno, a rather stale entity of entrenched corps and alliances fighting over a limited front.

The second stage, where we are now, is disruption. The change has been made, and the status quo has been disrupted. If you look on the chart in the above link, you will notice that this is often characterized by fear and anger. Anyone been seeing any fear or anger on the forums of late? Yeah, I have too.

Here's the crucial thing about the disruption stage; it is NOT a good time to make more change. First, things haven't "settled out" enough to fully see the impact of your changes. And if you make more changes here, you don't have a way of knowing what changes are influencing what outcome. In addition, changes made at this point will often just extend the disruption phase and everyone's Wheaties will just have that much more urine in them.

The next step is where we need to be: Exploration. I see some signs we are getting there (at least the more rational among us). The see-saw of tiers, the realization the leaving systems vulnerable can have strategic value, and yes, the filtering out of people, are all signs that people are, in fact, adjusting to the new shape of FW. It's not ideal at this time, but when FW is in the exploration phase is when CCP can really examine the issue and make any needed iterations. This is when the data gets good. What does happen if a major Null Sec alliance joins? How do you incentivize war zone engagement and control for the losing faction? I have every faith that CCP, being rational people with a vested interest in making a good game, will examine these factors.

Stage 4 is the end-game, the new status quo. This is after the changes have been made, the shake up is done and we are all grumbly bitter vets again, waiting for the next big change to ***** about.

So everyone needs to take a deep breath, chill out and calm down. If need be, put a long skill in training and go play some Minecraft for a bit until you feel better about space-life.

TLDR: The sky is NOT falling, Henny Penny.

Yeah, but you're not supposed to play it. You're supposed to watch other people play mods of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM4JcWIpKsI



Correct summary: stop complaining about FW, because CCP interprets complaints as indicating that FW is still in the "everybody complains about it" phase. When FW reaches the "nobody bothers to complain about it anymore" phase, CCP will know to swoop in and fix things.

LOLOLOL. Check the corp. Still firmly entrenched on the losing side, and no, I don't have a minmatar alt. We didn't make a lot of ISK in FW before inferno, not making a lot after, personally.

Dammit. I hate it when I agree with you. But yeah, more time is needed. It sucks that the Amarr got the shaft, but that's how it rolls eh? I fully hope that somehow the Amarr come back. I want affordable NOmens thankyouverymuch.

After reading the thread:
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=146491

I just had to give this thread a bump.

Why thank you!

And just to be clear, I agree that FW needs some changes, I just am glad that CCP isn't rushing into them too fast. I think they should do exactly what they seem to be doing, and letting some of the dust settle before making any major tweaks.

Also, even though the LP system isn't ideal at this time, FW is still a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, I am getting kills in a condor, which makes me squeal and giggle like a school girl, and I can't think of any other mechanic in eve that would let me do that on a regular basis.

Liking an amarrian post....what have you done to me!

bump

Theoretically they are balancing the rats. Assuming they are, you can have a system where everybody can run all plexes in poorly fit frigates, you can have a system where the rats are so tough people need to fit for pve to kill them, or you can have a system with a "kill all the rats who otherwise suck" option that makes it not so efficient for people in poorly fit frigates to run larger plexes and is minimally intrusive to pvp.

BTW, there's two things everybody knows in Eve:
1. You cannot force anybody to fight, and
2. Farmers are gonna farm.

The only way to completely push farmers out of plexes is to reduce rewards to a level that makes it not worth their time. Farming plexes then becomes a supplemental business for the rest of us while we look for fights, and we may have to leave theater to make our isk the old fashioned way (leading to fewer on-demand fights we've grown accustomed to). Your choice.

I agree. I have 20 kills in an Atron this month. An ATRON. No other place in eve can you use all ship tech levels and classes to fight. It's a blast.

Only way to fix this is to give some rewards if you chase enemy away.

If you nerf plex farmers / income you kill all action once again.