Assembly Hall

Problems:

EVE combat comes down to either a very exhausting game of rock-paper-scissors or a competitive social networking match with little in the way of decisions that can be made during the course of combat to alter the outcome.

Lack of “terrain”

I included fleet control tools, as well as ship control, in this discussion as they are imperative if line of sight mechanics are implemented in EVE.

System:

* Ships of your class can block line of sight to the target you are attacking.
* They must be within the critical distance for your weapons.
* The critical distance for your weapons is calculated as a percentage of your weapons base range, optimal + 1x falloff, with your skill and relevant ammunition bonuses applied.
* If this requirement is met, then your weapons do not fire until there is a clear line of sight to the target.


Fleet Formations:

The ability to for formations with greater ease would be necessary if these changes were implemented. This feature would only be one of many potential changes that would target the role of fleet commander in an effort to simplify current mechanics and add new ones with the hope of diversifying and rewarding the role of the fleet commander.

System:

* The fleet commander should be able to form and save fleet formations utilizing a new, light, and easy user interface before forming a fleet.
* During a fleet, the commander should be able to broadcast formation plans to the fleet.
* These could appear as waypoints in space that fleet members have to approach.
* The fleet commander should have the ability to designate a center to their formation with ease (say by indicating a fleet member as the center).
* The fleet commander should have the ability to dictate the orientation of the formation around the center.
* When warping the fleet, the fleet should maintain the current formation.

Ship Piloting:

This mostly applies to smaller faster vessels, but the mechanics could be added for all ships regardless of class. Frigates should be able to utilize their maneuverability to take advantage of line of sight.

System:

1st control method:

* The pilot may choose to enter this control mode.
* This mode changes the function of the mouse’s right key.
* When the right key is depressed and held, a line will appear extending along the longitudinal axis from the bow of the pilot’s vessel.
* When the mouse is moved from its initial position, the line will deflect in that direction and the ship will maneuver in that direction as well.
* The distance that the mouse is moved will affect how radical the turn is.
* Pilots should be able to modify the sensitivity of this control method in game.

2nd control method:

* Pilots should be able to create and save maneuvers within the user interface.
* These maneuvers can be used at a later date using hotkeys.
* The orientation of a maneuver may be rotated along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pilot’s ship when it is performed.


Changes to the Universe:

All POS shields, asteroids, NPC stations, player outposts, and other structures will block LOS completely for all modules except mining lasers.

I apologize if things were unclear.

Assume you are flying a battleship that is currently engaged in firing upon another vessel.
Another battleship crosses between you and your target intersecting the line designating LOS to your target.
If the second battleship is close enough to you, then your weapons are unable to fire until your LOS is clear.

It is limited. And it seems to be a relatively simple check. There is an invisible line that extends from your ship to your target. If this line intersects with another ships volume within the critical distance of your weapons, your weapons do not fire. It seems like this feature would be using data that is already tracked by the servers and the client. I may be incorrect though.

This is wholly foolish and full of fail.


1: 1000 vs 1000 fights are stupidly insane..no one would get a shot off or disconn due to lag.

2: A reasonable solution is loss of los results in "Friendly fire" or "misfire'...you get in the way..you get your ass blown off....also results in serious issues *see point 1* (i do like this....it would be more realistic...but its problematic)

3: OP has never been in a large scale fleet fight...


Point 3 alone kills this proposal.

Not supporting.

You once again prove point 3.

I can pull goonswarm in here along with my alliance...they have been happily invading branch these days to make it even more clearer.

Care to try again?

EDIT: Heck..why bother asking...come up to branch and check out the fireworks... you can see for yourself.

Your kidding right?

Your an 1 year old plus toon NPC'er.... I seriously doubt you have any credence in what you claim..and even then no one would make this outlandish proposal making such clamis without some sort of proof hiding behind an alt.

even if you did...you still show a remarkable amount of ignorance.

You also have confidence in a system (time dialiation) that has yet to be throughly tested (NOT sisi...final product on Tranq)....your lack of expernice is obvious.

Alright well, good luck with that.

Tell me about it.

I'm stuck behind a desk doing my job with little to no time to get invovled in gradiose epic battles but I've watched...studdied...yearned....wantted...maybe "lusted" for such things but alas must pay bills and care for my lovely wife.

But the point remains...I have enough comon sense to not make such assumptions without people giving me a great deal of insight into large scale battles. It's never as it seems and you end up fighting a number of problems...mass numbers..traffic...compliexty...a FC that expects you to pay attention.


And now your going to complicate this with the crap concerning of LOS.

Oh don't get me wrong...I get it..I think its great in reallity...but in EVE?

Your asking for pandoras box.

Snow balls chance in hell.

It also would distract people from their blobs to actually have to keep track of line of sight and positioning in microcosm and most people who are out to massacre other people are mostly looking for minimal risk and effort despite all the complaints about how boring blob combat can be.

Agreed. Good idea in theory but perhaps not in practice.

If anybody actually reads the OP's post and takes into consideration all that is proposed (and if they have a brain) they would realize that it would actually work and probably quite well at that.

What he is proposing is a mechanic that would not only bring in more of a tactical feel to the game but utterly change the way PvP is played today.

Formations would allow fleet commanders to adjust the fleet accordingly to allow the maximum number of ships to be able to hit targets without getting in the way of each other. As the opposing FC's counter adjust their formation to protect one ship or fire on another the other FC would have to do the same.

It would also start making people think about where they are going and where they are right then and there. Do I keep moving forward to get a better angle on that ship or do I move in to protect my buddy who is about to die?

This would also likely break up the blob mechanic of current fleets as nobody would want to be in large fleets with a less likely chance of being able to hit anything. They might break up into smaller multiple fleets part of the same operation. Flanking would then have a purpose for example. Sniper fleets might become useful again...