Player Features and Ideas Discussion

To further your suggestion sov space holders have to install services into structures including gates/stations/ihubs/pos's that report and upload characters it observes on its grid to local chat channels. these 'services' can be shot and disabled by hostiles.
They cannot upload data on characters in ships that are cloaked on the grid, or on grids where such a Structure with these services exist.

it also means we could have a 'watchtower' type new deployable that can have this service installed in, as a lower hp version of the ones installed in other places.

What this will mean is local chat becomes imperfect and with very exploitable caveats that would mean in unwatched systems of systems full of afk people sleeping in a station, entire capital groups can pass through almost unseen. and black ops can truely become black ops.

also characters in local that have left system by means of something other than a gate or grid where a watchtower or related POS module exists stays in local untill either downtime occurs or he appears elsewhere on either the sov holders local intel network, or an allies local intel network.

covert ops frigates could even have a role that means it auto updates local on what is observable on grid with it, meaning beyond scanning for PvE sites, it will actually have a very well defined role in covert intelligence gathering both in friendly space and hostile space.

its fairly well known that its not entirely cloaking thats broken, its the synergy of cloaking, cynos and local that has produced the issue of afk camping.

As many have mentioned in the past, someone cloaked and gone afk is no threat to you, but that someone cloaked but obvious in local and sporting a cyno that can bring in a fleet on top of you at a moments notice... THATS the issue.

So, no effort on the part of the local resident is capable of catching the cloaked player. (Without consent or error of target being involved)
Equally, no effort on the part of the cloaked player is capable of catching the local resident. (Without consent or error of target being involved)

It is not an absence of balance here, it is two absolutes being thrown in, with a stalemate being the inevitable result.

Replace those absolutes with player effort on both sides, and we can play.

Nikk. Your personal opinion doesnt equal game fact. If you read what I posted, i stated it was that I felt i was unbalanced. I did not say it WAS unbalanced.

Please dont correct my statements like your some form of game authority.

I still believe its unbalanced.

just make a restriction on fitting a cyno and covert ops cloak on a ship, where by one has to be offline at any one time or requires a mobile depot to swap the mods out.

I can say I personally feel it is too balanced.

As to my personal opinion, I offered none in the context of the statement you seem to refer to.

What I did offer, was two direct observations, and a conclusion derived from them.

It is a FACT:
We have awareness of cloaks in this context by means outside of gameplay.
That pilot roster in local does not require any action inside the game, for your name to appear in it.
That pilot roster in local does not require any action inside the game, for you to see who else is present in your system.

It is a FACT:
The means to stop or limit cloaks are also outside of gameplay.
Awareness of a cloaked player in your system, cannot be achieved by any action on your part.

The cloak, like the intel which makes you aware of the player using it, are flawless.
CCP has kept these in the game, and by default they are the current balance of power.

If you do something which changes the probable outcomes, and gives greater benefit to one side over the other as a result, you change that balance.

I would like to see possible changes that grant less chance of a stalemate, and more likelihood of resolution.
I would like to see such resolution determined by player effort, and have generalized expectations of success equal on both sides.

wow..... i must say, i like your posts and ideas. Totaly going with this. +1, i support.

An additional idea about the 2nd point: What if there is a ship attribute that consists of scan resolution and 1/sensorStrength? That way sensible ships can dscan better. eccm disrupts dscan ability. Bigger ships are more dependend on scouts/friend-ships and are even more huntable. It feels more consistent that way. Also eve becomes more complicated/complex/interesting and id like that. After all meaningful complexitiy is one of eve's main strengths, isnt it?

Just so noone assumes I am here to shoot down ideas without cause, I am reposting one of my ideas for defensive intel.

Originally posted november 5th, 2013, as a response in a long thread of other items.

Have local operate in degrees of quality.
Give it two dimensions for this as well.

Dimension one, quantity of intel.
Dimension two, quality of intel.

Dimension one, would give ship numbers, then types, finally pilot names.
Dimension two, would give presence of neutrals, reduce delay to zero, then give presence of cloaked vessels.

Dimension one structures, which would be harder targets, would be POS add ons.
Dimension two structures, which would be easier targets meant for roams or smaller gangs, would be only in open space away from overview beacon items. These would need to be scanned down.

Examples:
Dimension 1: Level 3
Dimension 2: Level 3
Full list of pilot names, with faction tag visible.
Ship type listed next to name, highlighted if cloaking active.

Dimension 1: Level 3
Dimension 2: Level 0
Full list of pilot names, with ship type next to name.
NO faction standings listed, not defining cloak status.
ALL UPDATES DELAYED by 30 to 60 seconds, (balance adjusting by devs)

Dimension 1: Level 1
Dimension 2: Level 3
No pilot names.
4 Numbers listed.
1st number is how many friendly pilots (2nd is how many are cloaked)
3rd number is how many neutral or hostile (4th is how many are cloaked)

And for the curious, here is the actual for the 0-3 combo.
(This tactical setup could be anchored on relatively short notice, and has no strategic side as the above do)

Dimension 1: Level 0
Dimension 2: Level 3
A single light indicator
Not lit if no other pilots present
Green light lit if all friendly
Yellow light lit if hostiles present
Red light lit if hostile cloaked present


I figure this eliminates any need for hunting cloaked ships specifically, although that can be sorted into if the devs see balanced opportunity.

If done carefully, it can actually be effective, and a good support for everyone having a great game play experience.

The two dimensional system has one side for sov level support, only truly threatened by massive blob warfare, which only offers mass level intel.
The other side is for pilot level, whether operating solo or in small groups. The intel is more detailed, as well as quicker to install or destroy, depending on your perspective.

Both benefit strongly when the other side is present.

Actually, this is a mining game.
AND... a recon game.
AND... a ratting game.
AND... a mission running game.
AND... a fleet game.
AND... a solo game.
AND... a small group game.
AND... you get the picture by now, I hope.

There is no single valid playstyle, which has priority over the rest.

EVE is a sandbox, which means it is whatever you want it to be, up to the point where other players become involved.
Once they become involved, they also get to insert their actions into the mix, and whatever comes out of that.

You don't have the right to tell other people how they may, or may not, play.
You do have to deal with their choices, when they overlap your own.

So if I want to play a certain way, you can either come and do something about it in the game, or accept it and move on.

Leaving that as a balance issue, is like a code for saying this could work either way.

DO I expect something like this to happen, without being able to hunt cloaked ships? not likely.
But, I do have this nice link in my signature, where I explain how I would set up hunting cloaked ships as well.

The other link, as you may have discovered, is another alternate way to modify local.