Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Modes

Modes would be a new mechanic for all capital and supercapital ships. Mode bonuses will vary based on Ship Class and Race. The overarching strategy would be to make capitals very flexible and able to perform in a multitude of roles but not all roles at once. Each mode will have bonuses and penalties. Furthermore swapping modes will take a longer time on capitals and even longer on supercapitals. Mode skills are a possibility with supplementary skills to affect mode change time.

Offensive - Red Aura
Defensive -Green Aura
Mobility -Yellow Aura
Electronic -Blue Aura

MODE SWAPPING

Base 5mins

Capital Mode Interfacing - 10% reduction in mode interfacing time per level.


Example of current Archon and a Archon after Mode feature.

Current Archon

Traits
Amarr Carrier bonuses ( per skill level)
50% Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter and Capital Remote Armor Repairer range
4% Bonus to all Armor Resistances
Can deploy 1 additional Drone or Fighter

Role Bonus
200% to Fighter Control Range
Can fit Warfare Link modules
Can Fit Triage module


Offensive Mode Archon
Traits
Amarr Carrier bonuses ( per skill level)
10% DPS Increase to all Drones & Fighters
10% Drone Tracking and Navigation Speed
Can deploy 1 additional Drone or Fighter

Role Bonus
200% to Fighter Control Range
Can fit Warfare Link modules (-50% effectiveness of modules)
Can Fit Triage module(-50% effectiveness of modules)

Penalties
-25% Local and Remote Repair systems effectiveness
-25% Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter effectiveness
-25% Structure , Armor & Shield hitpoints
-50% Speed , Agility & Warp Speed
-50% Electronic Warfare Module effectiveness

Defensive Mode Archon
Traits
Amarr Carrier bonuses ( per skill level)
50% Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter and Capital Remote Armor Repairer range
4% Bonus to all Armor Resistances
5%Local and Remote Repair systems effectiveness
5%Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter effectiveness
5% Armor
Can deploy 1 additional Drone or Fighter

Role Bonus
200% to Fighter Control Range
Can fit Warfare Link modules (-50% effectiveness of modules)
Can Fit Triage module

Penalties
-50% Drone and Fighter DPS , Tracking & Navigation Speed
-50% Locking Range and Sensor Strength
-50% Speed , Agility & Warp Speed
-50% Electronic Warfare Module effectiveness

Archon Mobility Mode

Traits
Amarr Carrier bonuses ( per skill level)
10% Agility
10% Speed
10% Warp Speed
10% Reduction of Capacitor Use for all Propulsion Mods
2% Reduced fatigue
4% Increased Jump Range
Can deploy 1 additional Drone or Fighter

Role Bonus
200% to Fighter Control Range
Can fit Warfare Link modules (-50% effectiveness of modules)
Can Fit Triage module (-50% effectiveness of modules)

Penalties
-50% Drone and Fighter DPS , Tracking & Navigation Speed
-50% Locking Range , Scan Resolution and Sensor Strength
-50% Electronic Warfare Module effectiveness
-25% Local and Remote Repair systems effectiveness
-25% Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter effectiveness
-25% Structure , Armor & Shield hitpoints

Archon Electronic Mode
Amarr Carrier bonuses ( per skill level)
10% Scan Resolution
10% Lock Range
10% Sensor Strength
10% Warp Disruption Field Generators Range
10% Warp Disruption Field Generators Cycle Time
5% Warfare Link module strength
10% Neut & Nos Range and Strength
10% Tracking Disruptor Strength , Optimal & Falloff range
5% All other Electronic Warfare modules
2% CPU
Can deploy 1 additional Drone or Fighter

Role Bonus
200% to Fighter Control Range
Can fit Warfare Link modules
Can Fit Triage module (-50% effectiveness of modules)

Penalties
-25% Local and Remote Repair systems effectiveness
-25% Capital Remote Capacitor Transmitter effectiveness
-25% Structure , Armor & Shield hitpoints
-50% Drone and Fighter DPS , Tracking & Navigation Speed
-50% Speed , Agility & Warp Speed


*Notes - Cannot MODE shift while in triage. Cannot receive remote assistance with active Warp Disruption Field Generator. Default mode when boarding hull is Defensive. All of these values and traits/bonus/penalties can be adjusted or removed.

I'd like to see capitals allowed in high-sec space - particularly with the new structure system that CCP is proposing (and because with the lifting of placement requirements, the number of these is going to expand significantly). I think the mooring structure is going to be a really welcome addition for capitals (particularly Supercarriers and Titans).

I might be entirely wrong, but this proposal has already been made some (long) time ago.... I do, however, think that the roles you propose are an interesting idea.

As for caps and supers in high-sec, why not, if some roles are limited in some fashion, e.g. logistics and support only.

This is a valid point. I think the wardec mechanics could use an overhaul, so perhaps this could be done with high-sec capitals in-mind.


Simply dismissing the idea based on current capital mechanics (which are subject to change) is a tad shortsighted, as is the notion that carriers or dreadnoughts would become the new L4 mission of choice (as this disregards the fact that the majority of L4 missions are gated and would be incredibly easy to restrict). Quite simply, there are cheaper and faster L4 alternatives.

I have a habit of little making little pedantic points that don't really contribute to the greater discussion I feel.

In this case, I'm wary of having raw hit points being modified in-space as modes change - maybe instead a minor penalty to resistances (although that already sounds awkward and awful), as already pictures of archons with negative hull hit points due to shenanigans spring to mind.


Also wouldn't the electronic mode role bonus need the ability to fit a warp disruption field generator? :P


Back to silently reading this thread + replies with a box of popcorn

Edit:


For the year that I'd been playing I'd come to view capitals as more of a group tool than an individual toy/ship - the need to use cynosaural fields to move, the fact it costs fuel to jump, siege/triage roles yadda yadda yadda - and I feel that allowing them in hi-security space would enhance the 'next biggest ship to buy'. When I see a carrier or dread currently my immediate response is "oh, something interesting's happening here'. TL;DR it feels like it'd be nudging them to become bigger, better(?) battleships

Yea every capital and supercapital would gain modes. Perhaps not all the same Modes perhaps different bonuses/traits/penalties per Mode. The MODE system allows the ships to be very flexible and allows CCP to tweak add/remove change things without effecting the overall ship.

even then you come across the issue that you could never really fly a freighter i have no problem spending 1.9b on a nag +fits to troll some guy in a charon and good luck flying JFs in HS

You're presenting the modes from the point of view of one capital ship being fielded, but with a blob of them all "modes" will be covered to saturation, making mode selection per each ship just a statistical exercise.

In addition to color-coding, I'd like to suggest shape-changing (like T3 destroyers), because the bright nebula backgrounds will render the colors difficult to see. Or, color-coding in the overview.

CCP seems to want very few capital ships to be fielded per fight. The null alliances have many capital pilots (with ships), who are going to suddenly feel unwelcome when it comes time to x up. I wonder how CCP will handle that. How would you?

First, let me say that I think its great you're already active in communicating. You communicated before but I honestly believe you'll step that up as a rep.

I think the idea of modes is not a bad idea for capitals. It's probably not a bad idea for a whole number of ships, but I see how it could be useful for trying to fix capitals. Hell, even the dread could get in on the game, but obviously carriers will garner the most immediate attention. On the other hand, just be done with supers. Or, in case you're going there, Super supers.

As you've said, EVE may need more ships. I'm not convinced they need ships larger than capitals. Supers were a grand idea back when the game was younger. However, as ISK and skillpoints accumulate in the game over time, especially a game this old, they eventually just chase the big ticket items. That eventually just leads to the arms race we've witnessed in recent years. It wasn't just the sov system that led to this arms race. It was the age of the game, the wealth and skillpoints acquired over time, and the easy access to PLEX-based pay-to-play alts. Tack on the endless ISK and resource faucets in the game and its just a constant spiral.

I fully recognize that players will want something to do with their wealth and something new to train for. In other words, end-game "stuff". But that doesn't have to be ships that play into the old n+100 meta. Then again, without players being able to push farther, they may just get bored. But larger and larger ship classes aren't the answer to that dilemma. Real content is.

In the end, I think you're going down an interesting path with the modes. But let's not look back 2 years from now and see that we've just continued to kick the can down the road with the fact that we and CCP can't figure out that bigger and more expensive isn't a better path for the game. Getting rid of supers will be a difficult choice, and one I am quite certain will result in unsubs from all those alt accounts that were built around them or from people who only play Supers Online. Thus I don't ever see that decision being made.

I don't see how we ever put the genie back into the bottle with supers. For their cost, they need to have value and that's the issue we continue to battle: nobody wants them to have a commensurate value because that makes them OP when used on the scale that EVE is capable of producing. It might be better to simply kill the genie and take the entire game down a different path altogether.

PS - Best part of this thread is it's getting the convo started. Worst part is it will be repeated in its entirety when CCP starts its own similar thread.

Perhaps a tiered approach?

Carriers and Dreads get 2 modes. Supers 3 and Titans 4?

I'm not opposed to your suggestion. There is merit in this. Let's not make capitals into the next drakes: nerfed to complete uselessness.