EVE General Discussion

For those who haven't noticed, CCP is overhauling Heavy Missiles and changing TDs, TCs, and TEs to affect missiles.

This is but one step in an overarching plan to enable work on WiS again (but without the rioting.)

CCP's plan is to slowly change Mission Running to require more PvP oriented fits in order to get more carebears into PvP! Players thus generate their own content and the PvE dev resources are then shifted to finishing WiS... This time *everyone* is too busy PvP'ing to notice the lack of updates over the next 18 month WiS dev cycle.

Proof:
0) Carebear Mission Runners (CBMRs for short) are predominately missile focused and run missions in Caldari space.

1) CCP fixed NPC ECM to actually work properly. This forces folks to fit ECCM since "everyone" runs missions in Caldari space against Guristas, i.e. get CBMRs used to the idea of fitting modules that don't center around tank/gank.

2) CCP introduced the ASBs. They provide such a huge shield boost so that CBMRs will want to use them and get used to the idea of cap boosting, buffers, and picking the time and place to shield boost instead of just perma-tanking with a Gist-X XL or Pithum-A MSB.

3.1) CCP is nerfing HMLs. CCP is just saying, "Stop using missiles! They're not that great in PvP or PvE! Train guns so you'll be ready for PvP-esque missions that are coming next year, you dolts!"

3.2) CCP is buffing TDs (which buffs NPCs that use TDs.) Just another attempt to get missile CBMRs to consider fitting TCs instead of another tanking module as a step on the road to PvP fittings.

edit:
3.3) CCP nerfs Heavy Missiles due to their popularity in PvE and as a means of encouraging more active maneuvering during missions, i.e. get in range or switch to guns (and battleships) and learn how to manage tracking.

4) CCP is overhauling the ship lines to ensure that *all* ships have a PvP role. This is a content rush by CCP that should keep the players busy for a couple of years trying to optimize for PvP before the players get bored and want new ships, modules, content, nerfs, buffs, tears, and whining.


The Future:
5) CCP buffs NPC target painters. Officially, TPs get buffed to avoid making them mostly obsoleted by TCs and TEs. The Reality is that missions in Minmatar space become much harder as Angel TPs allow Angels to do more DPS to player ships.

6) CCP buffs sensor dampers. Officially, Sensor Dampers get buffed because the other e-war is so much better now. The Reality is that missions in Gallente space become much more difficult and tedious.

7) PvP-esque Missions. Missions now have dramatically fewer NPCs, but the few that remain are tougher and require PvP fits (but without the need to buffer tank, see ASBs.)

8.1) Sleeper AI in missions. Requires PvP fittings, buffer tanks, spider tanking, etc..

8.2) Level 4s require groups to complete (i.e. spider tanking, logistics.) Level 3s remain for the solo MMO player.

9) Moar PvP! Now that most CBMRs are now PvP fitted and "trained" in PvP basics, Faction Warfare and null-sec see a boost in numbers. Low-sec sees an initial population boost until low-sec people realize that *everyone* in low-sec shoots back now.

10) Profit! (for CCP)

11) Players generate more of their own content, aka "Emergent Gameplay(tm)". PvP'ers are busy blowing up ships. Industrialists are busy making ships. Miners are busy mining minerals. The Goons are like, "Excuse me! We're still the center of the Eve universe! Pay attention to us moar!"

12) The majority of developers are re-allocated to work on WiS. A core team remains to implement tweaks and buffs plus the occasional over-zealous hatchet job to keep the players distracted.

13) WiS enjoys an 18 month dev cycle before the players realize that they've been too busy HAVING FUN to notice the lack of content updates.

Possible Side Effects
a) Fewer NPCs in missions, less bounties, reduction in ISK faucet.
b) Deadspace market for tanking mods spikes and then crashes hard. CBMRs are initially desperate to buy perma-tanking modules until they realize that they're not needed (see ASBs.)
c) Mission running bots get hit hard. Harder to bot for the short term until the PvP AI scripts are written.
d) T2 market takes off. Lots of people unwilling to risk faction/deadspace gank/tank mods until eve-survival is updated.
e) Chribba adds a few servers to the eve-survival cluster.
f) Tears become harder to harvest since everyone is PvP fit.
g) The calls to make low-sec more useful increase.


tl;dr - The missile changes are all part of a Plan(tm) to work on WiS again.

Op is a horrible troll and should be ashamed of himself.

What does that have to do with missiles?

Sounds a lot more like they want to eliminate the "pve" vs "pvp" build, which makes a lot more sense than the op.

People tend to avoid mission running outside of high sec because the ship fits to run the missions tend to be counter to what you would need to survive a pvp encounter. There's little incentive for a mission runner to put themselves into a position that they might have to fight another player when their ships are fitted to deal with npc's who require a different approach.

CCP should have been setting up NPC's all along to mimic pvp encounters, instead of making them require entirely different fits. This is a common problem with most mmo's that have uch a focus on pvp. Developers tend to develop different gameplay for each aspects of the game, which has a tendency to turn people off because the experiences are completely different.

If the NPC's behaved more like players, and required the same types of fits as would be needed when fighting other players, the transition from pve to pvp would be much smoother and organic to those players who aren't actively seeking other players to fight against.

If shooting an NPC ship is relatively the same as shooting another players ship, then that distinction between doing pve, and "omg another player is shooting me" becomes much less defined and it really just becomes "shooting ships" regardless if that ship is an NPC or another player.



However, I'd like to see them start doing real work on WiS, I just think your speculation is way off base.

Ignoring for a second the questionable logic used to arrive at this list, point to the entry you think is a bad idea?

The problem would not be, "omg another player is shooting at me" but, "omg several other ships are shooting at me"

Solo mission running is very popular in Eve.

Exactly.

And then they merge EVE, WoD, and Dust into a single game?

Stop drinking Or change pils...

Nerf Hi sec NPC belt rats i cant take em!!!




*relevant as,