Player Features and Ideas Discussion

They can very much be run solo with the skills fully trained up and actually learning how to defeat the defenses. All explo should move in this direction rather than asking for it to be degraded further.

How is OP’s suggestion different, in principle, from calling for a merger of all the minerals into one? Minerals can only be used for one thing—building things—so it's pointless, on the logic of the original post, to have eight of them. Better yet, combine all the ores into one as well. Then no one would need to waste time on training different skills for refining them, or ISK on different mining crystals. These things are just as much »needless complications« as the fact that Archaeology and Hacking are two different skills, or that the activities require two different modules.

Eve has traditionally entailed a great deal of delayed satisfaction: one waits longer here than in some other MMOs in order to do the things one wants to do. The theory has been that this enhances the sense of achievement when those things finally become possible. I would be sorry to see the game give this up. OP’s suggestion, in its original form, seems to me to want to go in exactly that direction.

I do, however, support the suggestions for making Archaeology and Hacking more distinct; I can think of no good reason why these activities should be identical.

Strawman arguement, OP isnt trying to homogonize loot, but instead get rid of an activity nobody participates in.

Excuse me? What activity is it "nobody participates in"?


I liked the spew containers. It actually made you vulnerable while you were trying to catch the most valuable cans. Now it's again just opening the container, grabbing the stuff and moving on to the next can, all in a range from the container where you can just cloak if someone decloaks next to you.

You better watch your own straw. My fingers could just slip a bit and light a fire under yours. And we don't want you to fall from it, right?

If you are talking sleeper cache sites I do them all the time with one ship and no refits.

Once upon a time the sites were very different. In fact you needed different probes to hunt them down. The mechanic of opening the target was the same.

Over time probing was streamlined with the advent of WHs. It was an overall improvement to game play.

With Odyssey came additional probe changes for scanning that further streamlined the scanning activity. This update also brought the mini game.

• Scanning became very simple. Everyone could find near everything with minimal scan skills and enough time. Practice was all that was required.
• The mini game was generally regarded as being better than just click/wait/receive bacon. Some people hated it because of the distraction away form D Scan and the fact the hacking window was huge and could not be moved. Others liked the new challenge.
• The loot spew was despised by most and liked by few. It was eventually removed.

One thing in common with these events was the barrier to entry or hacking exploration was continuously reduced. There was a time that scanning required planning and lot of practice to become competent. Anoms could only be discovered by the ship scanner which only had a range of 4AU hence you had to want to discover anoms and travel from planet to planet ship scanning. Not everything was available as soon as you enter system.

Now a suggestion comes along to combine the hacking skills. This suggestion continues the trend to lower the barrier of entry. Everything listed above has devalued exploration. Dramatically. Of course it is possible to make a living exclusively on exploration (hacking not combat) but it is a ghost of its former self.

CCP has done some good things recently. They have added more hacking content. This is a good thing. However it could be better.

As mentioned several times in this thread, hacking needs to be iterated on. With Odyssey it was suggested by CCP that the hacking tools be an item to put into your cargo hold to be used else where. To have the tools as manufacture items that can be sold. It never came to be.

I only do combat exploration now. I recently gave up on the hacking sites. The rewards were butchered on the market with Odyssey (easy accessability) and the mini game became very easy and predicable with practice.

Chance, your observation of the hacking being basically the same is correct but merging them is the incorrect approach. To merge them is to take away an opportunity to breath life into exploration again. The "hacking" of both sites needs to be iterated on in two opposite directions. Data sites should be very modern and futuristic (and should include abandoned POSes). You are attempting to steal secrets etc.. Relic sites should be OLD, delicate and dirty.

Do not merge, iterate in opposite directions. Remember, we want new players but please remember that older players, old vets, would like something worthwhile.

Edit: I just can't help myself. There is this thing called a mobile depot. Your ship does not need to be equipped with scanning mods until you need them. Running out of cargo space? Bring a secure container that can be anchored at a safe spot and put your loot in it (ghetto exploration base). Worried about the depot being scanned down? Either get a higher grade depot or scoop it. The ways and means of achieving a goal is limited only to your imagination. Suggesting that there is a loss of slot space is disingenuous.

If nobody was hacking data sites they would be valuable.

Excel for decryptors which only come from data sites and are required for invention.

Hi

Just to mention, that introduction of Exploration sites possible escalation (like expeditions) while the trigger is that all cans are opened by one player (or members of one fleet, in this case escalation if happens is granted to the one who has opened the last can) might positively affect the issue of long despawning of partially hacked sites. Please, CCP, make it happen!

Thanks

They also frequently trigger another sig when cleared which can give you a nice headstart on it if it's a combat site.