Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Here's my lovely idea.

The ability to buy NPC workers and utilize military personnel to defend PI installments.

New Eden is full of common folk looking for work, who better then rich and powerful Capsuleers to hire them?

This would add a variety of NPC's that can perform various tasks for you. Mainly my idea is to use them for semi-automation of Planetary Interaction. Skilled workers giving a small boost to resource extraction or a time bonus to material production.

Examples:
☼ Core Engineer giving a boost to power-grid & CPU output
☼ Logistics Coordinator giving a boost to link efficiency and transfer times
☼ Resource Overseer giving a boost to resource extraction
☼ Factory Technician giving a boost to production speed
☼ Planetary Manager granting the ability to automate transfer of materials* & re-installing resource acquisition programs

* Managers can automatically transport materials to storage facilities on the planet to prevent overflow of Launchpads and storage facilities. They cannot transfer materials off planet.

Military personnel are used to defend against Dust 514 raid missions against your planetary supplies. During a raid you would be unable to control any part of that planets interaction systems until the raid was over. This would basically be an objective based PvE mode for Dust 514 players, and a way for them to steal resources from players.


Command Center Slots:
Level I Command Center : One Worker Slot : Five Military Slots
Level II Command Center : Two Worker Slots : Ten Military Slots
Level III Command Center : Three Worker Slots : Fifteen Military Slots
Level IV Command Center : Four Worker Slots : Twenty Military Slots
Level V Command Center : Five Worker Slots : Twenty Five Military Slots

How does that look for Military Slots?

Let me know what you guys think about this.

Criticism is welcome!

EDIT:
Removed monthly salary idea for workers. To difficult to implement.
Added the Dust 514 military aspect.

And I'd support this strictly on the implementation level.

If they could make a system that allowed us to have Planetary Industrial workers, they could augment it to allow us to have Planetary armies and apply them to Dust interaction. Once the system is there, it's roles and having Marines on the ground to defend our Planetary Industrial facilities means Dusties can try and attack them.

PvP through PvE interaction, us making the armies for them to fight. Intelligent PvE.

Among other things.

Most of the Consumer products in EVE have no use and seeds are far too low for the typical Capsuleer but a Dust player could loot them and make a lucrative business out of it. You or I might discard 500 units of Dairy Product but a Dust player would see it as a score. Attacking my Livestock PI facility for it would be very much on the table for them.

Everything is there for the system to work. It's just a matter of making it happen.

I do not like the idea of anything that gives other players the ability to steal my stuff with no way for me to react, preserve my possessions or stop them. Explain to me why people should be able to steal my stuff and why I should not be able to directly prevent them from doing so.

Not a single one of those is a way for me personally to directly prevent the theft of my stuff. Why should people be able to steal my stuff in such a way that I cannot, in any way, shape or form, prevent them from doing so myself?

Steal stuff that would, with the implementation of this mechanic, require very little input on your part and a few million ISK in investment. Stuff that just appears from the aether with no interaction on your part except telling it to appear.

Wait, what?

So, because PI is an AFK activity, it should be physically impossible for me to defend my assets?

Explain.



And yes, most things carry a risk of someone stealing my stuff. The thing is, those things ALSO have ways for me to directly prevent them. Your idea does not, you do not want me to be able to defend my assets at all. You need to explain exactly why that is a good thing.

Neither using dust mercs, nor using orbital bombardments (Which need to be called in by said mercs) are direct interaction. You do NOT give me a way, entirely inside the EVE client, to defend my stuff. Setting up defences beforehand does not allow me to directly defend my stuff.

EXPLAIN why my stuff should be able to be stolen from a planet deep in friendly SOV, with a POCO owned by my alliance, while I am at work. Repeatedly saying 'But you can get someone else to do it!!!11' is not an explanation, nor a method of defending my stuff.

As an aside, while I do occasionally play DUST, my dustbunny is not in this corp, so I wouldn't be able to do anything. And also, what about all the EVE players who don't even own a ps3?

Alrighty then,

In literal definition of 'direct' interaction you are mostly right, except for when you press that button to do the orbital bombardment. However, the combination of the three things I have mentioned should give you plenty of ability to defend your few million in planetary resources.

"But you can get someone else to do it", as you have quoted me saying in apparent whiny voice for some reason, is in definition a method of defending your 'stuff'. When a fleet of dreads comes down to POS bash your POS do you go out by yourself and then complain because you lost? I assume not, I assume your corp gets together a response fleet. When a group of dust mercenaries come to raid your resources you can't rely on just yourself to fend them off.

"my dustbunny is not in the corp, so i wouldn't be able to do anything." Simple solution; put your dustbunny in the corp. Additionally, not all corps are created equal. Some will be better at Dust Merc integration then others. If you want successful raid defense then learn how to utilize mercs.

Now onto the SOV issue.
It doesn't make any sense for DUST mercs to be able to easily get to systems deep in enemy SOV. That being said it would probably be best if raids were limited to border systems of your corporation.

Also I learned something new today:
TIL Americans and Europe spell Defence / Defense differently.