Warfare & Tactics

Hey guys, just wanted to put some ideas forward, as well as discuss future changes to faction warfare....

As perhaps many have guessed the amarr and minmitar war is currently at a total dead loss due to the complete lack of amarr players willing to PvP. (understandably i might add) Instead of getting good fights the warzone is filled with gunless merlins which is hugley frustrating as i log in to kill or get killed. I would like to put forward a few ideas as some of the problems for faction warfare have not actually been adressed.

1. There is currently no incentive for amarr players to fight back or even make an effort to form fleets and make back lost ground. Obviously CCP have solved the gunless merlin problem and put forward a way to kick start PvP again however we are still left with the problem that we have no amarr to fight. So why dont we allow FW players to dock up in their faction stations in pods and shuttles if the system has been taken by an enemy faction (they cant dock or undock in anything else). There is no tactical advantage to this but allows the amarr to pick up missions and ESSENTIALLY MAKE MONEY.

2.DONT PENALISE the looseing side with huge LP COST... just no. Keep it at standard but dont make it any less than that, HAIHOOO they can then fund their war effort.

3.When a winning side has got to takeing a certain amount of space their should be deductions to the amound of LP they can gain from plexs and it should take longer to take plexs. While the loosing side gets bonus LP and it takes less time to capture a plex. (hence giving them an incentive to fight back)

For example
50% - 50% No plex time increase or LP increase/decrease
25% - 75%
Plex time increase (+25%) Plex LP decrease (-25%) to the winning side
Each percent after that gets a 2% penalty up to 50% (for example)
Were as the looseing side will get.
Plex time decrease (-25%) Plex LP increase (+25%) to the looseing side
Each percent of space loss gets a 2% benefit up to 50% (for example)

Idea probably needs balancing but you get the idea.

This is a way Faction warfare stabability could be sustained.

MISSIONS stay the same its a good source of income (for both sides)

Feedback welcome.
bring back the good fights
Mnemic

I won't speak for the Cal/Gal warzone. But i am pretty sure that whatever happens in Amarr/Minmatar will go for that warzone.

The changes to warp-in and orbit button location will address the majority of the gunless merlin plague. When you have wormholers creating plexing alts because the money is too good, you know the money really is too good. The rat changes, less so. Making rats a PITA and requiring them dead will just see people turn FW plex-4-ISK into Incursions. Roll around in a mob, blat the rats, collect candy. Of course, this will then lead to people rolling around blatting the plexing hordes, so its all g in h.

The elimination of endless LP from vulnerable systems won't neccessarily benefit the Amarr. After all, most of Metro is so far plexed it is unfeasible to deplex the vulnerable systems at this time, even if you actually had alts and "spare time" to devote to the task. It will cut off a source of LP's from Amarr plexing alts.

Gaining a fraction of LP from defensive plexing will be good, but you will probably see the hordes of Minmatar plexing alts at it for a little while. maybe they will even deplex metro! This will benefit the Amarr, because the more Minmatar deplexes, the more Amarr can offensively plex. Also, soo many vulnerable plexing merlins.... But once Metro is deplexed, that is when the lean times will be upon us, and the Merlin alts will starve and die.

Getting rid of this tier system will benefit the Amarr far more than the Minmatar. Sure, we will probably manage to maintain the odd level 5 system, but I can't see us maintaining every system we own at level 5.

As for the actual balance of the warzone, and whether the Amarrr will bounce back...I don't know if all these changes together will put the fire in the tail or swing the balance in player numbers and wealth. But lets face it; there are oceans of ISK washing around EVE, and if the Amarr were in this solely to gain ISK they'd have joined Minmatar already. In fact, they probably have minmatar plexing Merlins.

And good on them. You would have to be a particularly stupid form of stupid NOT to have plexing alts in Minmatar right now. (I don't). This can fund your PVP - and as for that, you'd have to be a particularly stupid form of stupid to be in minmatar and expect to get lots of fights with Amarr - they just don't have the numbers to really makee this a targt rich environment.

Once the ISK faucet is turned off, psychologically, people may join Amarr. I agree with the OP that the mechanism of the war and warzone control should NOT overly penalise a faction which finds itself in poor control of the warzone. Nor should it overly benefit a faction with numerical or territorial dominance. Whether his mechanism is the one, I don't know.

I respect the Amarr players that have stuck it out, because they are trying to put a pickle on a turd sandwich. FW should be about good fights, but there needs to be just enough ISK to allow a player to keep getting those good fights, without resorting to farms and factories.