Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I propose creating items that can be activated against or placed in lootable wrecks or cargo containers that you own that will sabotage or damage any ship that comes to loot it. Also usable to trap your own ship wreck if you get shot down.

A countermeasure to this will be cargo scanning the wreck, and/or using relic, data analyzers or some other device to disarm the trap.

I think at least two versions of this should exist. One will be a trap that explodes blowing up the wreck, or container, destroying everything in it and damage the responsible or nearby ships. And another will be an electronic trap that will instead cause a debuff.

Possible effects other than damage that could occur are debuffs that cause:
Loss of warp drive
Loss of targeting ability
Loss of High-slot module activation or deactivation
Loss of Mid-slot module activation or deactivation
Loss of Low-slot module activation or deactivation
Resistance loss
Increased Signature

Possibly also:
-include a notification message to the owner of the trap, when they are in system, that the trap has been activated.
-Allow Multiple explosion traps to increase the explosion damage.


I see this as being a useful mechanic and precaution against ninja looters, and gankers, and a useful tool for opportunists.

Let me know what you think, or suggest other debuffs or mechanics that would work well with a Loot Trap system.
-Personally I like the idea of warp drive loss for 1-2 minutes and the deactivation of all modules in a random slot position.

I can't see concord intervening necessarily being a problem for most of the time since stealing in highsec gives a suspect flag, making you a valid target anyway. You get the suspect flag, and then are moderately disabled or damaged by the trap. The loot that is trapped may not necessarily be the one that causes the suspect flag but there are usually multiple lootable wrecks that a ninja will be going through, any of which can cause the suspect flag before they get to the trap.

As for the explosion type trap, it could be turned into something other than direct normal damage, like percentage hull damage or module damage. I would love to see AOE damage but that would be too exploitable for harassing NPC and bystanders. The main point of the explosion is less for the damage though and more for spite value in ensuring the opposition does not gain any loot.

So I make a wreck of a newbie ship, I put 500 of these into said wreck, and then I trigger it on the jita undock right?
This also allows killing targets while not being concorded since you can be in a pod in station when this goes off.

Destroys everything in the wreck? Posting in another stealth "nerf ganking" thread.

It still is a straight out nerf to pirates who hunt other players for profit. Why should CCP remove one of the few remaining reasons to attack another player and generate content in the sandbox?

What would be the trade-off for the trapper? What would prevent everyone from using them all the time?

Cost isn't really ever a good balancing factor - it usually either is cheap enough everyone does it, or so expensive only the largest groups in the game can afford it.

If you were going to have some 'spite-enabler', it would have to come with a real trade-off. A module or rig that reduces cargo capacity for example. Or speed. Something that wouldn't just make it a straight-out buff to hauler safety and automatically used by everyone.

I don't think it is a good idea though as it seems like it would just kill content in the sandbox rather than generate content. We need more reasons to shoot each other, not less. It would also always be a better idea for the hauler to spend the effort to avoid being exploded in the first place rather than fit for 'spite'. Besides, players should just offer up a 'good fight' when outplayed rather than be encouraged to engage in childish behaviour and poor sportsmanship.

Lousy idea to start with but Concord mechanics could make a mess of this idea, so lets set up a make believe here.

I place one of these in a wreck.
The OP comes to loot that wreck and his ship is damaged or destroyed.
Do I get the Concord visit and certain destruction because I placed the device?
If I do then why would I ever use them.
If I do not get the Concord visit then congratulations as Nevyn Auscent points out you have just created a new way for people to kill dozens of others and suffer no penalty for it.

Same issue.

Until a player actually loots a cargo container, they are considered a "neutral" (unless the player has less than -5.0 security status, you are at war with said player, or one already has a "limited engagement" timer against said player).

If simply opening up a cargo container sets off the "trap device" then "aggression" has been committed against the player opening the container by the person who laid the trap.
This can set off CONCORD in high-sec as any aggression without the player having -5.0 or lower sec status, war rights, or limited engagement rights is deemed "illegal."


This is actually one of the reason why mines were removed from the game (yes, EVE used to have mines you could lay).
One could lay down mines in low-sec and, upon detonation, would be CONCORDed while cruising around in high-sec (because aggression rules are based on where your ship currently is... not where you originally laid the traps).



edit: I am also going to have to say "no" to this idea in general. I think high-sec ganking has been nerfed quite enough.
People need to learn to think "proactively" when performing a task rather than "reactively."

There are a plethora of "proactive" actions taken by gankers to push the odds in their favor. It is only fair that the same amount of effort be expected of haulers and other potential gankee targets to push to odds of survival (or, in this case, spitefulness) more in their favor.

You'd have to affix the trap to an item in the container, rather than to the container itself. That way they can look all they want.. it isn't until they drag the item over that things go pear shaped.

As for what kind of trap... bombs! That would be hilarious in hisec. I know I know... can't use bombs in hisec... I think we should be able to use bombs in hisec though. Sandbox is sandbox.

If people want to get concorded bombing Jita, more power to them. It would be hilarious to watch from a distance.

Given what we know about EVE's database structure... the code will probably say "no" and try cutting you with a server blade.