Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Here is an idea to incentivize activity in null sec, particularly sov null.

The expected result, is that space that is not active becomes a security risk to the surrounding areas.
Either Alliances keep their space active above the 20% cutoff, or they risk a gate popping up inside their borders.
Better to dump unused space and consolidate rather than have this risk.

A secondary aspect, is this is the bottom 20% of null overall, so if you can keep your space above this, your opponents must also up their efforts or find gates appearing in THEIR space.
Competition to avoid this could be interesting.

How it works:
Throw in drone gates to systems with activity rated in the bottom 20%.
These gates would link to each other, as the drones are using the space noone else is.
The systems would periodically cross link very near high sec, if not directly in high sec.
The high sec gate connections could be very stable, not moving at all, giving aggressive corps a convenient way to access today's targets of opportunity.

Removing these gates would only be possible by increasing the activity inside the systems. The drones would then relocate the gates to less active locations. This means that successful systems will be self canceling if they move above the activity cutoff to be in the bottom 20%. The drones will move the gates elsewhere.
Such changes would occur after each down time, so logging out in deep null is never safe.

Expected effect: Players will use convenient connections to mine and rat in null, bypassing defenses.
Gate camps will be very difficult, since the drones themselves will be running camp like operations at these gates continuously.
They want to shoot everyone, but are not very good at stopping those passing through quickly.

Added details:

Incursion style aspect! (Suggested by Maximus Aerelius)
If we follow the incursion aspect, any drone gated system below the 10% mark could have drone forces present in an attempt to take over the space completely.

The motives of the Rogue Drones....
Why are the drones doing this? Noone understands them well enough to be certain, but many guesses exist.
One popular theory is they ultimately want the space for themselves, and are using the competitive nature of pilots against each other to further their own goals.
Once the area is destabilized enough, they send in their own forces to finish the job.

I have not fought against incursions directly, only knowing about them from others descriptions, and the system effects anyone sees when they are present.

From what I understand, and what you just said, it might just be a good match for the below 10% rankings, to have this kind of event as a draw for that space.

Ok, im for this ONLY if it spawns incursions. This gate crap makes no sense, only wormholes to non-wormhole systems. The thread owner doenst make any sense in his writing, so that others could understand it.

Stealth Null-High trade thread?

I like the idea. Anything to help reduce the overall number of unused systems in null.

It could also be a nice way for people who normally play in high sec to get out to null for a bit.

+1

Bump for attention

I appreciate the attention, I believe this idea brings positive changes to the game.

+1 for a "Use it or lose it" mechanic in Null sec.

Though, I'd just have it so that null sec incursions never end without player intervention, and spread to adjacent constellations if not dealt with, and if the incursion goes uncontested for X days, the alliance loses Sov and Sansha gains it.

How about just a Drone incursion variant + the above mechanic where sansha incursions last indefinitely in null sec (ie, until the mom is killed), if X days go by and its still up, then the NPC rats start to tower bash/Sov grind

+1 and friendly bump