Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Currently Orca and Rorqual are unbalaced that's why both ships need massive re purpose from the mining perspective.

Both still have strong role in running mining links.
On the other hand both ships have currently inadequate ore cargo size when you compare it to dedicated T1 haulers , new t2 haulers , or freighters that can pickp stuff from space.


So changes i propose:
Orca / Rorqual :
- increase ore cargo hold to 800k m3
- shift main cargo hold to corporate cargo and increase it by 50%

Orca :
- add 2 additional highslots and increase link numbers so that this ship can run more links

Rorqual :
- add ability to mount Capital Strip Miners*

*capital strip miners - work only in deploy mode , harvest at rate 1000 m3 / per cycle all surrounding asteroid at range 10km.
So the more asteroid in range , the more ore you can harvest.

Now what is most important.
Make mining links to be only applied to "on grid" ships.

Whilst I'm all for a Rorqual balance pass I'm not convinced about this part. Whilst it might, on the surface, appear to be a good idea to get Rorquals on grid all you're doing is allowing the larger entities in EVE the ability to strip an entire system of ore in a very short amount of time.

So, imagine [insert nullsec coalition here] want to do an ore drive to fund their srp/super program. With your proposed change it looks like you'd take one Rorqual and a mining fleet into a mining site or belt. Well, there's nothing to stop them taking 50 Rorquals and stripping the system of ore in a very short amount of time. Cyno jam the system and keep a pvp fleet on the gates and you have massive devalue of mineral prices due to massively increasing the amount mined. The CFC, for example, could cyno jam one system a day and locust strip it then move to the next system the next day.

Allowing the Rorqual to mine insane amounts of ore isn't going to work because of this. Whilst I'd love it, it would be way too open to abuse by the top groups which would further strengthen the need to be the biggest and have the most space. The ripple effect of this would be horrendous and probably remove mining as a viable profession for anyone else.

It seems a bit silly to keep buffing the largest entities whilst nerfing the smaller entities in this game. If anything it should be the other way around.

Ok, that's a good idea. As long as only one per grid works it should be ok. It still makes it easier for larger entities to use one than smaller but I don't think anything can be done about that short of giving it a POS-like bubble of immunity.

+1 for general concept

I quite agree with this. It could do with a larger ore hold though and as this wouldn't impact on all the other uses people have found for the Orca I can't see a problem with increasing it.

Yes, I agree too, the primary function is served well and won't be hindered, but its secondary function, the actual 'mining thingy' and its (active) support for that falls a bit short.

I also agree that with the mining drone bonus some might get a 2-in-1 and thinking about it I would change my suggestion to +50% per level or +225% as a role bonus.

How about we get rid of the Orca's ore bay entirely and add that space to the rest of the ship, dividing it up neatly between the main cargo hold and the fleet hangar?

well if it didnt lead to a nerf in total cargo space then it wouldnt really matter.

however, the presence of an ore bay suggests that it is allowed a larger capacity than it would otherwise have.

This 800k m3 is for ore only.

On the Orca:

1) The ore bay should be higher than it is. 800,000 is alot, especially when considering Compressed Ore (the Orca would turn into the best Ore hauler in Eve Bar None). Not necessarily a bad thing, but you have to consider the new Ore Haulers that exist and the uselessness they would come to. 200 to 300,000 would be a bit more sane.

2) Why not just allow the Orca to compress Ore and Ice? Yes it takes the job away from the Rorqual. I'm fine with that. (see below).


On the Rorqual:

Note: this is completely made up fictional crap, but lets make the Rorqual Something insane.

1) It should just be able to convert itself into a mobile starbase that can be anchored anywhere (near belts, away from belts, near planets, away from planets, basically anywhere). Throw out the anchoring, the compression, etc. It transforms and turns into a POS, equipped with shields, based on the amount of stront in the ship.

So basically it turns into a deployable MANNED POS with benefits (Yes the Rorqual Pilot MUST be present while the ship is in normal ship mode OR deployed mode). The person goes offline/crashes, shields go down in 10 minutes, ship stays in space another 5 before logging out. Ample time to blap it.

a) It has its own built in Cyno Inhibitor, Cyno Jammer (Jams Both Normal Cyno), increased sensor strength (to resist 1 shot easy probing). And also has its own Mobile Scan Inhibitor. All built in. So with the Rorqual in Deployed mode, all these effects activate. Note that the Inhibitor on the Rorqual has a much MUCH higher Sensor Strength.

b) It has the Limited ability to bridge ships and now jump Covert Cyno's (can jump a normal cyno, or a covert cyno).

c) The ships it can bridge, 1) Orca, 2) Barges (t1 and t2), Mining Frigates (Prospect and Venture), Miasmos.

d) It takes 2 minutes to go into deployed mode, and another 3 minutes for its shields to go up (basically it has a vulnerable area).

e) POS modules CANNOT be equipped/anchored inside the rorqual shields.

f) the rorqual's shields is physically VERY small (smaller than a small pos small).

The main question would be, why all the effects.

A ship like this would basically be oneshot by anybody with a cyno capital on standby, so it needs a little defense.

This removes the issue of a cloaky hot dropping an entire black ops fleet 3 inches from the ship (can easily drop in other area's of the system and warp to, just removes that issue).

This gives a route for mining ships to mine other area's of null and to have a support vessel prepared for ferrying ores back to more central places. In otherwords, it removes the POS issue from Lowsec/Nullsec and leaves the pos more for wormhole space.

This is a ridiculous example for a Rorqual though.

I support this! Give rorqual super OP mining rate so carebears have an incentive to save up and buy a rorqual, move to low sec, and mine belts with the rorqual. <333333