Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I view this proposal as complementary to Evelgrivion's excellent "dead horse" modular POS idea. Modular POS's could provide meaningful sub-objectives for small gangs to fight over, or to punch into enemy territory to diminish infrastructure (incapacitating a reactor, hacking/stealing from a refining array, etc). However, with the current POS defense paradigm in the event of any attack all online defenses automatically attack the aggressors which would make the desired small gang PvP all but impossible.

Challenge: If you simply gimp the automated or onlineable defenses, then by making the sub-objectives become a reasonable target for a small gang you are also making the POS as a whole much more vulnerable to a larger gang and more susceptible to blobbing.

Goal: Encourage small-gang PvP at POS's while still allowing meaningful defenses against larger foes.
Goal: Continue to allow a manned POS to be more effective than an unmanned one.

My proposed solution is a system of layered defenses and objectives.

POS Layered Defenses

• At the less important/lightly protected level, you have small-gang-friendly objectives protected by basic automated defenses.
• At the more important/heavily protected level, you have more significant objectives such as attacking the POS core itself but with much more robust defenses.

This would support meaningful small-gang PvP centered around diminishing or disrupting key POS capabilities, while still allowing epic "big fleets fighting at deathstar POS" combats where everything is on the line. Both events possible at the same structure.

How do you explain why these other defenses are sitting around doing nothing while your stuff is under attack?

I think there are some good options centered around activating full defenses being costly in some way. Here are a couple ideas:

1. Defense-Automation arrays: Perhaps always-active automated defenses are enabled by special arrays. This would have the side benefit of allowing the POS owner to choose their level of automated defense, but with a built-in tradeoff: onlining more of these defense-automation arrays would consume cpu & grid forcing POS owners to make interesting choices. (Alternately, perhaps defense arrays could be offline/online, or in a Triage-ready state; end-result being the same that having more perma-Online automated defenses would consume more cpu/grid.)


2. Panic/Triage/Death Star mode: Perhaps running the defenses full-on consumes something like Strontium. A new POS mode could be implemented that enables the full defensive capabilities but with consequences such as consuming a limited stront-like resource, or pausing all active jobs, etc. Some sort of tradeoff to prevent the full defenses being perma-active. This "Panic" mode would be auto-triggered when the enemy goes after one of the big objectives (E.G. gets shields below 90%, attempting to destroy rather than just incapacitate a refining array, etc).

Would you still benefit from having pilots online?

• Humans should still be able to take manual control of additional POS defenses. Humans would be better able to focus fire and engage relevant targets. Perhaps pilots also gain the ability to overheat POS defense arrays while manually operated, to further stretch the effectiveness of human-operated defenses.
• Someone online with the proper roles could make the judgement call of activating Death Star/Triage mode early, or reverting to normal operation if an attack was merely a feint.
• The tradeoffs for activating Panic mode should be substantial enough that groups are actively encouraged to fight off the attackers with PvP rather than automatically activating Panic/Triage mode every time someone tickles a manufacturing array.

Possible benefits of this approach:

• Additional interesting choices regarding POS composition. Borderland POS's could have stronger defenses online 24/7 while Industrial/Service centered POS's in the hearts of alliance-controlled space could be soft squishy targets dependent on manned defenses.
• Meaningful small-gang PvP objectives.
• Groups are encouraged and rewarded for protecting their assets with the strength of their pilots rather than the strength of their structures.

Any and all feedback is welcome!