EVE General Discussion

Hello.
I would like to start a thread where we civilly discuss the upcoming Awox changes, most notably adding the option to switch corp mate friendly fire on or off.

I believe that such a change has both pros and cons. On the positive side, it means that corps will be much more likely to recruit new players, as beforehand they needed to be much more careful lest a group of spies decimated their PvE ships.
Newer players will also be less likely to ragequit if they are not backstabbed by those they thought were allies.

However, the change does remove a very interesting part of the metagame, which is the necessity of trust in highsec as you recruit new members. This accurately reflects real life as those who are closest to you often have the most power if they choose to betray you.
Many systems such as API checks were developed to check the backgrounds of corp applicants, and it added a very interesting dynamic to high sec when you had to confirm the loyalty of corp members.

These variables created significant risk— and while I think the upcoming friendly fire change may be great for player retention, but there still remains another issue that is important to address: The low amount of risk in high sec.

As the game stands now, there are two vastly different worlds. There are the camped gates of low and nullsec, where recons with blob support crush any unorganised resistance, and there is the pristine peace of high sec.

Current high security space is boring for new players. There is hardly any control or fighting over resources, war declarations are easily evadable, and there is very little PvP in general.

In my opinion, 0.5/0.6/0.7 systems in hisec should be more of a middle ground.
A buff to the wardec system is one idea to create more conflict in hisec, but there are many routes that CCP can take.

TL;DR In conclusion, while I do think the removal of hisec awoxing could be a good idea, there should be other elements of PvP and risk added to hisec to stop it from being stale

I'll quote what I said before, as it still stands.



The last thing highsec needs is more safety, more enabling for people to never get player interaction and bore themselves to death until they inevitably unsub.

I applaud your attempt to have a rational discussion on this topic. In the same spirit, I submit the following:

Awoxing nerf is not required because corporations already exist that recruit new players. As yet, there is no substantive evidence to suggest that this change will encourage corps who previously did not recruit to change their practices.

In your own post, you admitted that opportunities for PVP in highsec are rigid (increasingly so if this nerf goes ahead) and limited. This limits those options further. In general I discourage any mechanic which encourages a player to rely on an in game feature rather than their own wits and resources.

I personally believe it coaches a player to behave in a way that is inherently at odds with the rest of the game. Lowsec, nullsec and WH players understand the risks and benefits of corpmates and accept awoxers as a potential risk. Adding a safety net discourages people from thinking for themselves.

Finally, (and this is my personal opinion) the risk of spies and awoxers adds a layer of danger and excitement that is unique to EVE, and it would be a shame to see it go.

And that's the laziness of carebears.

Yes, it is remarkably easy to spot an awoxer. But it's work in the first place.

It is remarkably more easy to just push a button and get free safety. No matter how low they sink, they can at least push one button. Hell, half of their gameplay has devolved to just one button. Autopilot, mining, AFK missioning in a Dominix. Their entire philosophy is just one button.

It might take them a bit to come around, but they'll push this button, eventually they all will. That's why they should have to pay for it, because it should be a meaningful choice, not just "free safety".

I believe it is a good change based upon why CCP is implementing it. That is all.

You see, bullshit like this is exactly why they locked the last thread. You can say something like this, and then there's a lock, despite other people sticking to the rules. I'm normally tolerant of your style, but this is intentional sabotage, so I'm going to report it, and I hope others do the same.

We were daydreaming on comms over how we could use this to screw with people. The more I think about it, the more I'm looking forward to it.

If for some reason I wanted to utterly kill activity in lowsec and low-class wormholes, this is the one change I would have made.

More safety in highsec = more reason for the few people that carry out ISK generation activities in low/C1-3 to pack up and head to the higher rewards and lower risk of highsec.

Less prey in low/C1-3 = less opportunities for predators there.

Better areas in nullsec and high class WHs *probably* remain worth fighting over, but lesser quality space just got sledgehammered, hard.





I do have several ideas too, particularly plans for a campaign of utter terror against mission runners. Discussions will have to follow to see if it can be made a reality.

I live in a small C3. We'll find a way :)

It's not nearly as bad as you might think it is. Of course, if you're having fun alone, you can keep doing that no problem, but if you ever get interested in associating with groups of people, don't let that "lord of the flies" thing keep you back. Also, a pretty surefire way to avoid awoxing is to join a more pvp-focused corporation, which tend to be much better managed.