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Content killer

First post
Author
Ulfgar Ambraelle
Kraken Exploration and Janitorial Services
The Initiative.
#1 - 2017-04-26 00:34:41 UTC  |  Edited by: Ulfgar Ambraelle
Ok, I know this subject has arisen countless times before and that alone should emphasize that this is a problem to the game.

I notice that the habit of "cloaky camping" is one of the biggest content killers I have encountered. Case in point is the system RNF-YH. This was formerly a very active ratting system. Consequently there were frequent roaming gangs attracted to the area and we had many enjoyable fights. Since one cloaky camper has moved in, the system has essentially become deserted and the volume of available content has sharply decreased on a day to day level. Now I have no issues with the actual campers provided they are actually active (Hell, I sometimes cloaky camp too). But in many cases it is obvious the individual logs on first thing in the morning and then goes to work or whatever, leaving his account running AFK. This just sucks. It only serves to deny content to others and detracts from gameplay in every way.

I will highlight here that my own corp has lost players to other games directly due to this practice. While it might be easy to just say "HTFU, this is EVE" do we really need that attitude when we are already facing declining subscribers?

Therefore I would suggest a simple fix in that cloaks are altered to cycle like many other modules, but say a 30 minute cycle time, and then must be reactivated manually with no autocycle function available but can be deactivated manually and instantly to drop cloak. This will still allow camping but ensures the camper is actually present! Otherwise his ship will decloak allowing him to be scanned down. A simple solution that will serve to create content as opposed to destroying it.
Just a thought.
Cheers
Ulf
Black Pedro
Mine.
#2 - 2017-04-26 12:49:00 UTC
Ulfgar Ambraelle wrote:
I will highlight here that my own corp has lost players to other games directly due to this practice. While it might be easy to just say "HTFU, this is EVE" do we really need that attitude when we are already facing declining subscribers?
Yes, yes we do. I know it seems like it would be a good idea for CCP to make you safer, and your ratting/mining more lucrative, and thus you richer, but it is the exact opposite of what makes Eve an interesting and worthwhile game. If everyone is safe and only subject to consensual PvP, and has more resources than they can use due to 100% safe resource generation in nullsec, then not only does ship-loss not matter, anything you do has no meaning. It's not even a competitive game at that point, but just a exercise gathering useless stuff. There would be no meaningful content to be had, nor would the game be very interesting if everyone can fly and lose the most expensive ships without a second thought. It would be like the strangely lifeless version of Eve you find on the test server - it's still Eve but without perma-loss and assets with value, it is just a pretty, but not very compelling experience.

Cloaky camping is the only counter to the 100% safety afforded by local. I'll agree it can pretty frustrating, but without it you can always warp to safety before a hostile can get on grid to interact with you. Nullsec is suppose to be the most rewarding, yet most dangerous space there is, but when local serves as such a powerful source of safety, it is pretty hard to say that it is succeeding at that with a straight face. Cloaky camping is literally the only risk to your income generation, and with the current record levels of ISK flooding into the game from nullsec bounties, the last thing we need to do is remove that only risk for operating in nullsec.

I hope the long-term plan is still to release Observatory Arrays and nerf local and allow that free intel to be clawed back a bit with some vulnerable infrastructure. Then, I think it would possible to add a direct counter to cloaky camping while still keeping some risk in nullsec. Until then though, I see little chance of CCP deciding that nullsec needs to be even safer by nerfing cloaky camping, and even if they did it wouldn't be by hamstringing the usefulness of cloaking devices which are central to much other gameplay, especially in wormholes.

There are counters to aggressors that don't involve fleeing to a station or safe spot every time a non-blue enters local. Perhaps you should consider getting your corp to invest some time in them instead of watching all your corpmates drift off to other games because you are all too scared to put anything at risk and succumb to a self-induced and terminal case of boredom.

If anything, New Eden is suffering from a lack of conflict drivers and a glut of resources. We need to be more at risk to each other and resources more scarce if there are to be reasons to fight with each other and use all these tools of war we keep accumulating month after month. We definitely do not need more safety anywhere, but especially not in highsec and nullsec both of which are too safe for the amount of resources they generate by far.
Bjorn Tyrson
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2017-04-30 14:12:32 UTC
1) if it is "very obvious" that they are just logging in then going to work, then why should it disrupt anything? they are at work after all.

2) your suggestion has been made hundreds of times before, and its just as bad now as the first hundred times its been made.

3) there is a dedicated thread to post your cloaky camping whines... I mean suggestions.

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=397030
ISD Max Trix
ISD Community Communications Liaisons
ISD Alliance
#4 - 2017-05-06 21:59:58 UTC
There is a dedicated thread for "AFK Cloaking" .

ISD Max Trix

Lieutenant

Community Communication Liaisons (CCLs)

Interstellar Services Department

I do not respond to EVE mails about forum moderation.