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Player Features and Ideas Discussion

 
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Local Communications

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Brockmist
Foolish Intentions
#1 - 2013-06-26 06:15:15 UTC  |  Edited by: Brockmist
What does local mean to you, I have seen it used for the following:

- a primary way to initiate scams in the major trade hubs,
- a place of good fight, tears, rants and rage throughout New Eden,
- a good quick source of intel or hostile fleet numbers or friends in system,
- a channel for communication good or bad) with the others in your system.

Whilst I believe local is all the things and more as listed above, it is both loved and hated at the same time. Wormhole dwellers have not such issue and as such I believe all local channels should be based on this type of system. I propose the following(it may have been suggested before)

A system of Commumication Relays (CR) are installed in New Eden, these relays control local communications (people in system) and are required on all gates within a system in order to activate local and report people in local, if you destroy one relay in a system local would stop as communications is down. The CR's would need to be anchored within 100km of each gate in a system and dont require fuel to run as the interface with the gates to provide the communication links within the system. They would have a interface timer (30mins) once anchored and before they become active and would be player destroyable/anchorable structures similar to POCO's in that respect.

The CR's use the same sturcture mechanics as exisiting structures and like a POS once reenforced they are incapacitated and stop transmitting local information. If you own all the CR's in a system it enables you to set notifications such as friendlies/not so friendly people moving through systems. I see an advance fleet of SB's or the like being used to take these down before the main invasion fleet jumps through (like most campains - destroy communications first).

If there are no CR's in local or not one on each gate then Local reverts to the Wormhole type local until the CR can be established.

How would this affect current systems?

Hi Sec - No change as the every present Concord and Gate Guns would prevent the CRs from being destroyed

Low Sec - Gate Guns provide some assistance however I would expect comms to be patchy in low sec

Null Sec - Welcome to the frontier, if local communications is wanted, the relays have to be installed and would no doubt be fought over.

WH Space - No changes as they dont have gates.
Chitsa Jason
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#2 - 2013-06-26 09:18:41 UTC
In general I feel it would benefit EvE. However in order to initiate change to local better intel gathering tools have to be in place as well. If people have the ability to actively gather intel about their surrounding in more graphical way then I feel local could be removed whatsoever.

Burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from me
Abd al-Azrad
Dodixie Mercantile Exchange Group
#3 - 2013-06-26 19:21:09 UTC
There is already a set of game mechanics in place to actively gather intel: d-scan and probing. Everyone can use d-scan and its limitations to provide some basic intel, but this would give probing ships a new and more interesting role in the game.

Intel would only be as good as the last d-scan or probe scan... and as intel gets old and "goes stale", the local channel list could depopulate.
I don't remember how I got here.  I just remember opening up my eyes and hearing a computerized female voice asking me how I felt and if I knew my own name.
Yoh Ling Goa
Commando Guri
Guristas Pirates
#4 - 2013-06-26 23:15:25 UTC
If players are worried about Brocks proposal not providing enough intel, I would suggest that maybe D-Scan can act as a portable CR. So if you D-Scan and pick up 5 ships 3 of them POS trash but 2 of them piloted the 2 pilots whose ships got found on D-Scan will appear in system local for 30 seconds. The player will have no way of knowing which of the ships on D-Scan are piloted but with some creative positioning and some time that can be determined.

Each additional D-Scan that hits them will reset the timer but if they can avoid another players D-Scan they will drop out of local.
Brockmist
Foolish Intentions
#5 - 2013-06-27 02:31:46 UTC  |  Edited by: Brockmist
This proposal is not designed to get rid of local, rather enhance the mechanics of how local works and provide a basis for discussion on how an enhanced New Eden space based communication network may be implemented. For years space based operas use this sort of communication concept, ie. Communication Relays scattered to the far flung reaches of the universe and they have been used for all those things that make EVE great - the ability to do what you want in the sandbox.

This sort of system has the advantage of providing a new dimension of player driven content, for example:

- CR's being hacked to provide intel to the enemy fleets,
- CR's destroyed to create conflicts on gates,
- CR's placed in key systems to provide intel
- strategic objectives for intel gathering networks
- strategic objectives when planning a campaign
- industry / market content.
- skill requirements

Modules for ships could be implemented to provide a means to spoof CR's by either spiking or hiding ship numbers

Key points

1. When a CR network is setup (a CR on all Gates) it sets up local channel in system that behaves the same as the current local,
2. If you have no network you get a wormhole local
3. If a CR's is 'hacked' it provides intel to the corp/alliance that has hacked it however it is limited to movement through the gate it is located on.
4. Hacking a CR would be for a limited timeframe (new skill or two required...lol)
Kinis Deren
Mosquito Squadron
D0GS OF WAR
#6 - 2013-06-30 09:52:09 UTC
+1 supported

Having been involved in this discussion on the Nyan forums, I fully support Brock's proposal on changing intel from a freely available resource to one that has to be obtained, managed and defended. The latter points, especially for null sec, would provide additional conflict drivers outside of the usual global moon goo & sov mechanics. Furthermore, the proposal maintains the mystery of WHS and the ever watchful eye of hi sec.
Brockmist
Foolish Intentions
#7 - 2013-07-03 01:46:59 UTC
Anyone else have thoughts, comments on this sort of idea or is it in the too hard basket ?
Aliventi
Rattini Tribe
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#8 - 2013-07-03 07:10:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Aliventi
This isn't a bad solution. I have 2 small issues. First, I would like the HP of these to be low enough that a small gang of 8-10 pilots could take them out. Some where in the neughborhood of 2.5-3 mil HP before going in to RF. So not as strong as a POCO, but not a trivial amount of HP. That way they could have fun playing cat and mouse when the Sov holders as they are RFing it and when they want to restore their local. Also, it gives small gangs objectives to hit to balance POS, SBUs, iHubs, and stations needing a large number of people to take out.

The other issue I have is how much protection local provides ratters, miners and others from a solo or a small gang because local is an effortless intel source. It wouldn't take much to being this protective edge back in to balance. This is more geared for the smaller gang/solo roam that has no interest in RFing the relays but would actually like to have a shot at catching something. It would take maybe a 30-45 sec delay from jumping in before you appear in local. That would be enough to d-scan and have a guess as to where the carebear is and get in to warp without giving you all day to figure it out. This would also create the incentive actively d-scan by the miner/ratter.
Aliventi
Rattini Tribe
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#9 - 2013-07-03 07:11:06 UTC
Double post.
Ellendras Silver
CrashCat Corporation
#10 - 2013-07-03 08:01:39 UTC
a cross post form a cloaky thread. i posted this solution and i still think its very good but i seemed to be the only one. it might need some changes or tweaks but i think this can realy give great options and will be more realistic as in the higher the sec stat the safer you are. true sec systems which are loved for their ratting are more dangerous

Ellendras Silver wrote:


high sec
+1.0 = no delay
+0.9 = local delay 1 min
+0.8 = local delay 2 min
+0.7 = local delay 3 min
+0.6 = local delay 4 min
+0.5 = local delay 5 min
low sec
+0.4 = local delay 7.5 min
+0.3 = local delay 10 min
+0.2 = local delay 12.5 min
+0.1 = local delay 15 min
null sec
-0.1 = local delay 20 min
-0.2 = local delay 25 min
-0.3 = local delay 30 min
-0.4 = local delay 35 min
-0.5 = local delay 40 min
-0.6 = local delay 45 min
-0.7 = local delay 50 min
-0.8 = local delay 55 min
-0.9 = local delay 60 min
-1.0 = no local at all

this will give great options to kill people and cloaking can remain how it is now but if you stay claoked AFK you come in local so you cant AFK cloak for hours and hours but you do have time to sneak arround unseen. and the lower the security the higher the local delay and true sec no local like in WHs (unless you type text ofc) so most profitable space is also more dangerous Big smile

[u]Carpe noctem[/u]