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Exploration feedback and suggestions
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Raw Matters
KRAUTZ IN SPACE
Macabric Trick
#1 - 2014-05-18 11:32:30 UTC  |  Edited by: Raw Matters
After coming back to Eve after a long pause I had to learn that a lot of things changed, including Exploration. I left right after the first Exploration change (which wasn't really satisfying, and the stupid Drone changes then booted me from the game), but I missed all the ship changes, so bear with me if I am not 100% correct on these atm.

I am a great exploration fan and was basically waiting since I first found the core scanner for an update on this, and here it is now. I think many things have been done right, especially those new exploring focused ships (which are built surprisingly close to the suggestions I made when I left), but there is still a good amount of room for improvement.

Scanning

With the new scanning changes this is... let's say idiot-proof. When before I spent most of my time adjusting probes for the perfect result, I can now probe down even the most difficult sites in less than 30 seconds, which is mostly time waiting on probes to get done scanning. One can say this is dumbing down, or one can say this is taking out the annoyance, I think it is somewhere in between. It would be good if there was some player skill involved in this as currently it is 99% char-skill based.

The effects on economy are clearly visible: scan loot isn't worth much and high-sec scanning nets about as much ISK as high-sec mining (as far as I can tell from my low samples), which is probably a good thing, considering that in both no risk is involved. Low-sec exploration however needs a fix, as currently all low-sec sites are heavily over-farmed. So low-sec exploration has higher risk but no higher income. Null-sec exploration seems fine, as this is the usual logistic/surveillance issue as everything null-sec, but offers a high income. WH exploration seems pointless at the moment, as you have a very high risk vs a low income, or - if you own the WH - close to no risk vs medium income.

I strongly suggest to build in some mechanics that allow spawning of sites when you enter a system. I would implement a system that uses a system id (name) as seed for a random number generator, so sites spawn in specific systems for players (= no total random, sites spawn for you in specific systems that you need to find = exploring), with a chance modifier based on sec status and how over-farmed the area is. A player then could fly around and know that eventually he/she will find something, the question is just where. There still would be an incentive to fly to less crowded systems as it increases your chance for sites, but you no longer have the issue that players fly around through low-sec for hours without a single site to loot.

Sites

The new sites offer no variety, it is basically cans with some decoration around. The new hacking system is fun the first time you do it, but gets boring as well very soon. Many things could be done here, but either there is a strong lack of creativity at the team that develops this, or exploration is supposed to be a very boring activity. I'd really love to see some change here.

The new ghost sites are close to pointless. You can circumvent the entire system by just opening the first can and ignore the rest, while a look at your watch tells you exactly whether this is still safe or not. If you could write addons for Eve, someone would come up with a stop-watch addon and disable the entire danger from these sites. This follows the same pattern as seemingly all Exploration: fun the first few times, then boring as hell once you understand it.

I would love to see some sites here that includes forms of puzzles that challenge the mind/player and not the left mouse button. A memory game style hacking site, or one where you need to maneuver your ship through moving obstacles are simple ideas that would still be a lot more fun than smashing Mr left mouse button till hacking either succeeds or you need to try again.

[...]
Raw Matters
KRAUTZ IN SPACE
Macabric Trick
#2 - 2014-05-18 11:32:58 UTC  |  Edited by: Raw Matters
Exploration ships

I totally love that those have been added, although they are not yet perfect and imo need some tweaks, the general direction is very good. The problem that needs to be solved is to have a ship that is good at scanning, can reach difficult to reach areas, can fight/tank NPCs well, but is not the prime choice for PvP. You currently try to solve this dilemma by making the ships very expensive, but I am not sure if this is the right way to go, considering the insane amounts of money you can make in null-sec.

All Exploration ships however suffer greatly from the Drone changes made a long time ago. NPCs targeting and destroying your main weaponry is neither fun, nor controllable and violates the concept of not having to reload. It forces Exploration ships to equip a target painter, just to grab "aggro", a concept with makes no sense in the Eve universe and is neither intuitive nor fun. I can just hope that one day you admit that this drone change was a mistake and revert it, until that day all drone boats are limited in use. And especially with the planned summer changes, where you can no longer rely on sentries with all ships, this will get even worse.

While the ability of exploration ships (Nestor excluded) to get into dangerous systems is supported well through the use of a cloaking device, they really lack a concept of exploring the unknown. I would really love to see a mechanic added that allows your ship to enter unkown/random systems. My last suggestion on Exploration featured a worm-hole style jump drive, and I still think that would greatly enhance the Exploration experience.

Concept: Wormhole Jump Drive

In order to allow exploration players to enjoy the feeling of discovering the unknown, all SoE Exploration ships should be equipped with a jump system that I (in lack of a better name) call the "Wormhole Jump Drive". It allows those ships to jump into other systems in the same way as other jump drives, except that you do not need a cyno as target. Instead you can select any wormhole as target that is sufficiently large enough to (theoretically) support the size of your ship and it will sap mass from the WH on jump, eventually destroying it and throwing you at a random location (as with all collapsing WHs). In addition this does not require fuel (to follow the explorer concept), but to balance this (mostly in terms of PvP) this device should have a "reload" time of 10 minutes, and cannot be used to warp into cyno-jammed systems. So once you jump you better fly safe for a while as you cannot escape again for some time.

This could be implemented either as a standard feature of all SoE Exploration ships (which I would prefer) or as a module that can be equipped (but that would currently conflict with the slot layout). A use-case example:

1) Player right-clicks on his ship and selects 'Jump to'.
2) This menu lists all systems with appropriate wormholes in range, with "Local system" on top (if it is a valid target) as a fast bail-out system and to make it usable in WH space.
3) If the player selects a system, the cap is drained (as with standard jumping) and - given enough cap - a wormhole animation appears and the player is transported to the target system a few seconds later. He/she will reappear at any random wormhole in that system that satisfies the ship's size requirement.
4) The Wormhole Jump Drive then begins to reload and will be unavailable for 10 minutes.

Using a list of systems instead of using the star map is for once easier to implement, and then it is supposed to enhance the exploration feeling. A real explorer knows the map and has a much easier time to use this than someone who doesn't. And if in danger you maybe have to make a 'blind' jump if you do not know the area well.

Astero

The Astero is an excellent Exploration ship for all security spaces, but lacks the fire-power to do combat sites of difficulty DED 3+. It suits well for all high-sec exploration and low/null/WH sec data/relic sites.

While there is probably no complaint from any explorer, this ship doesn't feel balanced well to me. It is out-performing all T1 frigates and many T2 frigates as well. A good fitting features close to 150 DPS with a solid tank, good mobility, high cargo, cloaking and no drawbacks beside being a frigate. If this ship would be cheaper to buy, everyone and their Minmatar would use this for PvP. As I assume that the price will drop eventually vs the high income of null-sec, I am sure this will be used in PvP a lot in the future, forcing you to come up with a balance change eventually.

As tank and fire-power is required for proper exploration, I previously suggested to limit mobility to limit the use for PvP. Instead the Astero (and the others) has a very high mobility for fast retreat, and all I ask myself is: how does it even manage that given the huge cargo? Should you decide for a PvP balance change, I would suggest to make explorer ships too slow/inert for PvP and maybe add a +1 warp strength for escape, but leave the rest as it is.

Stratios

As the Astero this ship is an excellent exploration ship for high, low and easy WH space. It's fire-power, tank and speed allow to clear up to DED 5 difficulties and thanks to the high drone bay/bandwidth a pilot has many options to deal with incoming threats. I don't really see the purpose of the additional high-slots as the damage is extremely low, but then they do no harm either.

As the Astero, this ship is probably too strong in PvP, but not as excessively as the Astero. Mostly because T2 cruisers are much more specialized than T2 frigates and can out-perform the Stratios with their special abilities well. However if you are in a T1 cruiser fighting a Stratios, you will have a very bad time. To adjust this balance even more, I would take away a high slot and add a +1 warp strength, to focus more on getting out than to actually kill stuff in PvP.
Raw Matters
KRAUTZ IN SPACE
Macabric Trick
#3 - 2014-05-18 11:33:44 UTC  |  Edited by: Raw Matters
Nestor

While the other Explorer ships are performing well in their role, I consider the Nestor a complete failure as an Explorer. It is an interesting ship, but it is useless for exploration in its current form. With the lack of a covert cloaking device (which is an understandable balance decision) it cannot reach dangerous areas, nor can it avoid enemy fleets. It cannot fight well and lacks a proper tank for harder DED difficulties. It lacks the cap to sustain the remote repair, so flying in groups with this ship is not a valid option either. Most other battleships with a core probe launcher will out-perform this ship.

I would re-design the ship with the following changes to make it a good solo/fleet Exploration ship:
- 15% reduction in cap usage for remote repair per level of Logistics.
- 3000 m³ fleet hangar, -250 m³ cargo capacity.
- 100% reduction of cloaking device scan resolution reduction (as both a hint to the player on how to equip this and a survivability change).
- 10% increase in cap recharge (which should be a good value in combination with the RR cost reduction above).
- Able to use covert jump portals (so you can actually warp with your friends through a Blackops jump bridge).
- +1 warp strength.
- Able to equip Wormhole Jump Portal generator (see below).

This change should bring it in line with the other Explorer ships and make it a good ship for solo or small group exploration. The fleet hangar and the WH Jump Portal generator makes this the Black-Ops for Exploration. The removal of scan resolution reduction should be a good compromise between not being able to warp cloaked, but at least being able to hide. As the speed will still be reduced, you are basically stationary (~30 m/s), so you cannot use it for surprise attacks and if spotted you first need to flee to a safe spot. With the reduction of RR cost and the slight cap increase this ship should be able to sustain self repair and run a medium RR at the same time (almost) cap stable (depending on the fitting focus).

Concept: Wormhole Jump Portal generator

This module (only fitable on the Nestor) is basically a mix of the covert jump portal generator and the Wormhole Jump Drive as above: no fuel, 10 minute recharge delay, targets semi-random WH instead of cynos (CL3+ as this is a BS). As reaching new, unexplored space is a requirement for exploration, this module should fit well for small-gang exploration. While the other exploration ships can use this internally as well (as suggested), there is still a need to get the other ships 'down there', namely covert transporters, covert defense ships and probably the (soon to be implemented) covert miner.

In terms of PvP surprise attacks I consider this well balanced, as for once you cannot enter cyno jammed systems, you can only send in covert ships, and you appear at a very predictable location. Whoever lives in the target system can scan down the currently existing wormholes, bubble them and if the Nestor appears on the directional scanner immediately launch an attack on them. Alternatively wormholes can simply be destroyed to prevent any jump into the system if a cyno-jammer is not available.