Assembly Hall

First I would like to thank CCP for their work on the tournaments, streams, and allowing a practice environment on Sisi server, despite the cost to the company. I believe and hope that they agree that it greatly adds value to the game and attracts new players through the streams of the matches and news coverage thereof.

As so, I believe it would be even more beneficial to improve the already present EVE tournament experience. Why? That new e-sport income. 35 million people watched the LoL finals, EVE tournament finals were a slightly less profitable 12k. There currently is no sci-fi esport scene, there is a lack of more complex competitive games, and EVE has both the graphics engine, and inherent complexity to sell this.

1) Create a player runnable tournament match mode

There have been player run tournaments and they've been of two kinds: purely player run Singularity skirmishes, and CCP assisted (SyndciateCL). They both require a Singularity client download, and either a dev to be online to assist, or a player to run a module scanner in order to enforce fitting rules as best as possible. Both of these are very inconvenient and do not lend themselves to modern competitive gameplay.

This could be greatly simplified if EVE allowed a mode for setting up a match that included teleportation into a AT-like Jove space, while enforcing implant, module, and rig rules. In a perfect world, the tool could monitor boundary violations, keep score in local chat, and end the match at a predesignated time.

This would make it much easier to involve new players in the tournament system and build hype for the tournaments (something that has been decreasing last 2 years).

This mode would also facilitate running of tournaments in a season like format, something very popular with the viewing audience at large. Since it wouldn't require any dev presence, players could self-run the matches and stream the results for viewers at regular intervals, helping build a steady loyal audience. Since the matches would use CCP tools, they would guarantee that the tournament rules were followed, while leaving the option for backstabs and spying that are so crucial to the EVE experience.

2) Facilitate commentary and viewer understanding with a more descriptive overlay for above mode

CCP does a good job providing tools to add information to the tournament streams, but that is not available to player run instances. In addition, I think CCP could definitely do more with their own overview. For example, a ship overlay that uses icons to let a zoomed out camera tell at a glance what ships classes are being represented by the little blue and red squares would be very helpful in explaining what is happening on screen. Instead of a scattering of dots, it would be immediately obvious as a frigate rush at a logi, or something of that sort.

3) Allow recording and analysis of this overlay

CCP provided something similar as an iPad and flash tool for ATXI. This was a fantastic step and it would be great to see more of it, with expanded options that easily provide the public information on ships: velocity, relative transversals, shield %, visible effects, etc.

4) For your consideration: a more stream friendly tournament format

This is a very heavy request and I would be very happy if it simply got a reading and some dev feedback.

The EVE tournament mode is a 10 minute "team fight" with very little plot to it. For your consideration, viewers prefer a more narrative format, one that is entirely in matching with the EVE gameplay philosophy. Forcing the players to start in rookie ships, and then letting them use EVE mechanics like mining and looting to move ore and goods into a home base, sell those, and buy new ships and fittings, would add length and story to the matches. It would be also intuitive to the tens of millions of MOBA aware viewers looking for a more complex and sci-fi fix. Upon death in this mode, the player should return to the home base as a rookie ship (after a set penalty time), with the option to use team ISK to purchase a new ship before undocking. The matches would continue until one team loses their home base.

If "mining with lasers" is to be pursued, the home bases could spawn pirate rats that move towards the enemy base. Killing them would yield bounties.

I don't believe that "laning" mechanic is necessary, but if one was desired, it could be set up through 3 warp-able to asteroid fields per team, each defended by a strong "tower" rat based on a mission sentry gun set to attack one team but not the other.



Again, thank you for your consideration, and please pass to CCP my thanks for all their support of the competitive EVE scene over the years.

I would like to comment on the first point.

A possible idea that could easily be expanded/built upon would be the idea of an arena-esque environment. Something that players and/or a team could queue into for arranged consensual pvp. Almost like a matchmaking system.

I know one of my biggest issues with eve is flying around for 2 hours to only get ONE fight. Not even a good fight, I am talking about those ganky fights where someone wasn't expecting it. As of now, I don't know time to fly around for hours on end just to find a good fight.

I think having some sort of matchmaking system in place in which players could enter the queue for arranged fights would be a great advancement in the right direction.

Just an idea to be thrown around. A Dev/CCP 's thought on this would be awesome :D

Also I have to blatantly thank CCP/Dev/Supporters for their work with the tournaments. It is MOST definitely the best place to get good fights, and those are the only ones I enjoy!

And of course I can't leave out my: <3 Fozzie

Taco

+1 to players being able to launch their own arena matches.

Commentator tools would also be very helpful in spreading the genre to the twitches and youtube interwebs.

yeah, first well ahev arenas, so then a majority fo people who want pvp will stop doing "world pvp" and do it solely in the arena where its "fair" and they can be guaranteed a win ebcause they poured billions into their frigate they ahve maxed out skills for and play 9 hours a day with. then people will start whining about how pvp'ers should stay in the arena and there need to be pvp flags in low/null.

no, if you want some sort of organized mechanic for tournaments, make it yourself, get some buddies in alpha ships, lock up all participants, and say "hey, these are the rules, anyone interferes or breaks one, and you die, here ar ethe rpizes, now kill eachother".