Assembly Hall

Everyone is anticipating the announcements that are due in the next couple of weeks. Even moreso, the bulk of the residents of null are holding their breath before anything significant occurrs (ie no real wars etc). Not only do we want to know how sov is going to change, but we want those changes implemented as soon as possible. Don't worry about 'shaking up' current null, its already broken.

Absolutely this. Pushing for a quick fix to a problem this complex is how we ended up with this mess we have now.

You understand why CCP went to a six week release cycle, right? Because they tend to break things they rush to finish in time for release.

Also, we want a solution to the problem that is null sov, not a half-assed rush job that will make CCP do even more work to fix what the players break.

OP: lets give you a small history lesson of rushed sov mechanics shall we?

In 2004 CCP launched Exodus, which was the first the first time players could actually claim sov. For some odd reason, CCP decided to link PoS' to sov. You needed more pos' then anyone else and it gave you sov. CCP in there brilliant wisdom never saw how stupid this idea was. So started the PoS spam wars (if you have a system with 5 moons, and my alliances placed 1 large tower and you came along and placed 4 small towers, at dt that day I would lose sov to yoru 4 towers.)

Later CCP resived this and created a weight system. 1 small tower = 1 point 1 medium = 5 points and 1 large = 7 points. Thus starts the era of spaming large towers.

Later CCP revised this yet again, and made it so alliances can only deploy a max of 5 towers a day, and sov would take effect in 7 days.

Shortly after this, (07/08 i forget) CCP decided that if the above was not bad enoughm they would implement Contalation Sov. Which would lead to a stupider idea of regional sov (never implemented thank gods) Essentually, if you owned 51% of the systems in a constalation, and 3 stations, you could declare a station system yoru capitol. And EVERTHING in that system could not be attacked until the sov fell below 51%. Thus you had the skyrocketing rise of titans, and suspers, and the start of more meta gaming then spaming. An established alliance like BoB or Goons was near IMPOSSIBLE to remove without a crap load of effort. Worst idea ever. Still tied to pos. Was suppose to give us new tools but was left for "oh shiney!"

Then in 2010, ccp FINALLY got smart and untangled PoS' from sov... sortof. And created Dominion sov. This new fee based sov, tied to structures not pos' and the proliferation of titans and supers due to 3 years of every alliance making them with zero issues, brought us to the new renter alliance system. As no small alliance could compete without being steam rolled.

Yea.. half assed ideas that once made took years to adjust and were left to fester. No, I think ccp can take all the time they need to do it right this time thank you very much.

You forgot to mention the old E.T. game that Atari made, and then had to literally bury it was so bad. Another good example on why you don't rush game development.

And most importantly, one that doesn't make me literally wish I was having a root canal instead.

This thread is exactly why I stated in my Cap Stable interview that the greatest challenge CSM 10 will have is making sure that CCP's execution is measured and thought-out instead of botched due to high player expectations and pressure.

Everyone seems to agree that null is broken, but can we step back and say, for sure, how we know this?

To my mind, we know it is broken because..........

.... wait for it.........

..... nothing ever happens in null.

I mean, right?

Null has become empty of content, and the same power players are holding the same positions. Null has stagnated.

In simple terms, null is a chat room for "friends of CCP". Big deals, who have always been big deals, get to sit in space and be big deals.

We need to confront the psychology and leadership being displayed here. This is not a "broken mechanic". In fact, it is working perfectly well. CCP want a chat room for their buddies, somewhere they can be big deals. Best friends forever! So, CCP made that. We call it null.

And what is wrong with that?

Seriously, what right do you or I have to tell the good old buddies of CCP that they ought not be big deals? Do they hurt us? Do we really need to rain on their private chat room, and smear envy everywhere?

What about loyalty, as a virtue?

What about looking after your good old friends? Aren't these virtues, when they apply to us?

So, there is a lot of hypocrisy on display here. We all like our own friends. We all want to be big deals with our friends.

Be fair, and be reasonable. It is CCP's game, and their employees look after their friends. No harm, no foul. Indeed, the joy of special friendships is one of the things that separates us from, say, plants.

Furthermore, high sec is full of fun. you can gank bears, or run missions. So, it is not like null is some big chat room and the rest of us can't play Eve. We can play, we can enjoy the joy of life in Empire space.

Do not throw out the good in search of the perfect, is my advice.

Eve is loads of fun, and full of happy times for interesting people who are prepared to just get on with it and have fun.

Do not let that go because CCP and special friends want to sit in a massive chat room and have everyone look up to them in awe of their giant ships.

Most of all, do not expect from a pig but a grunt.

If there were to be real strategy in Eve null, the fundamental premise would be an entirely different game. Wars would be fought for strategic locations, and NPC events would constantly confound the best strategies of the best players.

When you see a chat room where nothing changes and the same people are sitting in the same places, forever, that is no accident. That is stasis, a condition very difficult to achieve in any dynamic organisation.

You could even call it a culture.