Missions & Complexes

Actually, I rescind my earlier wish that the tags be found in lowsec. It would be better if LP could be converted to tags and sold on the market. That way missions runners would have another LP conversion option and not be so bitter about it.

Apparently you thought it was good to do when you chose to do it.

Who am I to second guess a responsible person who weighed the pros and cons and made a decision.

Well, I hope you will keep your cheerful ironic tone when some dev finally pulls the trigger and standings grind will go away. Just as sec status went away. Or skill queue 24 hrs limit will go away tomorrow. I remember those threadnaughts on F&I where we all trolled such proposals as defiance of core Eve values. And look at us now, fools.

Well... In case like this we would know that this 'some dev' is not very good at thinking. Like in many other cases.

some thoughts on the topic:

one thing the EVE devs seem to regularly forget is the difference between the game universe and the UI. for example, the probe scan UI was terrible for the longest time (and still is far from perfect) but that does not have anything to do with the probe scan mechanic as a part of the EVE universe. if the scan mechanic itself is obscure and hard to understand, then that's the ~harsh~ universe you have to deal with, and CCP should never have tinkered with it.

the same is true for standings. if you are not able or willing to grind standings for a day to get to lvl4 missions, or if you chose to deliberately ruin your standings, you have to carry the consequences of your actions. the only problem i see is that in the case of standings, the UI is even worse than probe scan or other examples in that you get barely any information on what the consequences will be. for contrast, when you commit criminal actions, aura happily tells you that your security status has been lowered. it is still up to you to find out what that means, but at least you get some feedback.

just like the consolidation of item names, the reduction of standing benefits and drawbacks is an attack on the EVE universe itself; CCP is literally patching the game out of the game. following their train of thought, there is nothing wrong with getting rid of missile flight times, tracking and falloff mechanics. after all, they are similarly obscure and confusing to new players and prevent you from blapping your opponent as quickly and easily as you would want.

in contrast to the above, new functions like multisell, the new manufacturing UI (apart from the rest of the industry changes) and the infinite skill queue are strictly changes to the user interface; they do not change the universe but improve the players' abilities to interact and cope with it (and i approve all of them).

You know why Smash the Supplier pays out so well, right? Because they have to reward you extra to make up for the fact that it tanks your standings. Nobody twisted your arm and forced you to run missions against the same faction over and over and over again until they hated your guts.

Besides, it's not like you're locked out of the space. You can get around just fine in a frigate or a destroyer, or anything else that can align about that quickly. Just don't autopilot.

That said, the game could be clearer about how and where and how much any such mission hurts your standings. Right now they're buried in the character sheet, and a newer player might not even know that they've tanked their standings against another faction until they fly a hauler or a mission boat through that faction's space.

Oh, I know. But with CCP in Fix All The Things mode, with at least two whole teams dedicated to a PVE overhaul, it actually seems useful to talk about how things could be improved.

One of the things they're going to have to deal with is the tension between making space and location and investment meaningful and having in-game mechanics limiting the options of their players. There's no clear way to reconcile those. The direction CCP seems to be taking is the latter, but there will be consequences to that: not only with the Empires become essentially pointless (and yes, the lore says that they're losing their grasp on power, but that would imply that they would start trying much harder to maintain it! Nobody gives up power without a fight.), but, for example, corporations will become even more meaningless shells that can be discarded and reconstituted anywhere, immediately, with no incentive to settle anywhere, which will make wardecs even more pointless.

Seems like a good idea to bounce them off fellow people in Missions & Complexes first, no? Maybe get a little discussion?

I don't have anything fleshed out well enough to go running off to F&I yet, and I don't want to be one of those people who posts some half-baked crap in there. There's already too much of that.

Probably sth along the lines of "NPCs should be more important than people hence make more grind, less fun or I unsub my 17 accounts".

I completely agree: concentrating mission runners is A Good Thing™. It helps with low-end industries such as Pro Synergy, it helps with introducing new players to trading opportunities (e.g.: haul ammunition from Hek to Lanngisi, mark it up 30%, profit!), and it provides a decent start for people who want a "more colourful" entry into the game via ninja looting, baiting or suicide ganking.

Forcing mission-runners to spread out enforces the social isolation, and will drive people out of the game because they quite enjoy the status quo: say hello to some folks who are just as shy as yourself, perhaps talk about the weather, or just be happy knowing that you're one of the crowd of people with bling-fit spaceships quietly going about the business of shooting little red crosses.