Jita Park Speakers Corner

So the purpose of this thread is to ask the obvious questions that seem to somehow evade the awareness of the CSM and CCP. I am just going to pose the question, they will able be blatantly obvious and the only explanation required is the one to pettifog the obvious. Each week I will update this thread with another question that CCP and the CSM should answer. Most of this will have to deal with thematic and game mechanic issues.

Question 1: Taxless Hi Sec

Explain to me what government ever has never charged its citizens taxes? Why are their no sales taxes in Hi Sec? Why no taxes for using refineries that no matter what your skills or standings are? Why are no taxes paid on having a POS set up in Hi Sec where the in game racial government has sway, but in Null Sec their are SOV bills where said governments do not patrol or provide services?

We all know CCP has been looking for Isk sinks in the game to balance the economy. We also know that no one in Hi Sec will talk about this obvious flaw because of all tax free money they can make. Look at the cost of a Caldari State Starbase Charter, its 1.8 million a month. How much money can a player using a POS make in comparison to what they put out? Can you really call that Charter a tax? Its become a vestigial game mechanic that was never properly thought through or executed.

Here is my modest proposal that also benefits the recent release of DUST.

Put taxes in Hi Sec. Put them on refining, sales and owning POSes. Make the tax rate vary depending on how faction warfare is going. If the faction is going well taxes are relatively low. If the faction only maintains a few systems taxes are high because the war effort needs a shot in the arm. Not happy with your tax rate, go join the military and fight to extend the factions control of systems. How many people would get interested in faction warfare and provide them with the reward to try it out? How many FPS players who never played EVE would find DUST unique as an FPS because they economically effect the game of so many people, how many EVE players who never went near an FPS would jump on DUST because it now matters to them?

Luckily us Hi seccers enslaved all the null residents, so they can't help but bring us all the delicious materials we need for the forges in hi sec. With out them, we would have nothing to smelt and the fires would end. Well we would have tons of pure veldspar canes to smelt.

Everyone in null is an unconsensual pvper, so no markets can really form down there. So everyone is forced to bring materials to Jita, Where us hi seccers can take advantage of no tax slots as well as all the materials readily available to make mods and ships with.

I think we were suppose to have very little taxes on slots, since we would only have the materials around to make T1 items, so CCP never really cared about it. But now with jita and market hubs only in hi sec really. We get the slots and materials to make T2 and such pretty easily. Besides the clicking.

Taxing hi-sec based on FW impact sounds awesome, which is why I encouraged CCP to do this at the Winter summit.



I have no idea, and its lame. This is why I've explicitly pushed for increased refine rates / manufacturing speed / additional slots in lowsec, where the increased risk justifies the increased reward. However, the existence of near-perfect refines in high sec makes creating this gradient near impossible without making unpopular adjustments to Empire stations. I sincerely hope CCP bites the bullet and and does whats best for the game rather than avoid fixing this core economic issue because it'll ruffle some feathers.

This is where things could get really interesting in low sec and for people who like playing in low sec. We all know there is no Concord out there but what if player run entities stepped in where Concord would be. Take for example your faction warfare people, it would make sense that a military force staging in a system would be actively patrolling it. Why not tie in policing as a apart of their function. Its still as not as safe as Hi Sec and not as effective as Concord but it adds more content and maybe incites some normally timid players to try out low sec.

Now lets say we have an area in low sec that isn't regularly contested in faction warfare and the military wouldn't be around because the front lies else where. We can still have player run entities self policing the system. Imagine a volunteer police force and some of the locals make up a posse when its time to chase someone down. How about some mechanic where the strongest pirate faction can take up a position of control by chasing out the law and order elements. Then suddenly this player run pirate group starts setting local "protection taxes" and having to fend off other rival pirate groups. We already have the players in place for this. There are plenty of pirates and anti-pirate corporations out there and this would really play well to the all around theme of low sec. Pirates can actually make money by squatting on a system while the local law abiding citizens keep the volunteer police force paid with bounties taken off the actual pirates. Then CCP could actually say their dramatic trailer for Retribution is pretty close to what happens in low sec.

Well maybe you can tell us why these ideas never got traction with CCP or is that NDA?

this thread and your questions smells of someone looking to run, based on a "fight the man" type of platform. someone running on that sort of platform probably thinks that sitting on the council, if not the election process itself, would somehow imbue them with the power to "force" ccp to answer questions.

so let us ask you some questions, scooter mccabe: when are you formally announcing your run? and why do you think you'll be able to force ccp to do anything? instead of being marginalized and ignored?

Because he overdoses on steroids, and it would be unwise to **** him off.

^ I like your ideas, but I thought goons were suppose to be against renters, and try to set alliances free from oppressive regimes.
I wouldn't want to go to low sec, just to be a renter to a pirate king. Low could be fun or have mining opportunities but being a renter would suck anyhow.

Well you shouldn't bring up WoW and pandas as well as CCP being a business so close together.

WoW makes a lot more money then EVE currently does, so most likely CCP would be tempted to go pandas, if they are true to business practices. Its best not to give them any ideas, especially now with them intercepting our communications we have to be extra careful.

I don't know though, seems you want markets to be attractive enough to spur that type of activities, but not really sold on that. I can see why people want more taxes though on hi sec, would help those ideas out, without them being attractive.

Markets are nice, but that is some hardcore action and be hard for them to sustain it. Like you said about the carrot and the stick, I think just random ganking and camping a market is too much of a carrot before the players for any real market to work well. Might have to wait for camping and ganking to not be so cracked filled before a market can work well.

It seems only ultra-safe areas like hi sec is the only place a real market can work at.

I mean low sec stations could be given more slots or refine amounts, just so players can try though. Could be fun seeing how far they go, before camping gets too much or if it does go that way really. Also perhaps more DED or exploration complexes and such to low, so combat ready vehicles are more common, in case camping and ganking is common.

These were discussed as recently as Winter Summit, and I've also raised them as part of our talks regarding Summer expansion. CCP has never said "no" to either of them, so as far as I know they're both on the table as -possibilities-. We're currently discussing what features to include in the summer expansion, talks which are currently under NDA, yes.