EVE General Discussion

oh. look at this super original thread!

I would love to make an in-depth response, but I'm not sure it would have the same level of originality....

If you can be bothered, you can search the forum for one of my replies tho. oh wait...

Well, in the light of the new uncloaking device presented at the fan-fest I thought it is appropriate to open an old, crusty wound.

Fine. I don't think this will lead to anything not said already, but its your thread, not mine. Here's my opinion:

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5559482#post5559482

Thanks for posting the link.

You do, however, have corp chat and any other chat channel.

If they add a module to find afk cloakers then local should be removed (at least outside empire space).
Would prefer a system where local is delayed the lower the sec status goes from instant in 1.0 systems to removed in 0.0.

Can't see local ever being removed though sadly (even if wormholes are proof people can get by fine without it), so maybe using this new anti-cloaking module could have a drawback of jamming system signals so local doesn't update while it's active.

the problem im seeing with removing local is that we regulary form fleets based on intel we are getting. if we dont get intel we dont know what out there then we won't form up and have a fight.

on the other hand it will probably be very nice for hunting ratters:)

As long as they create other ways for new players to meet established ones, I'm all for it.

Removal of local might not work that well from a new player point of view.

whole post dedicated to the topic of sector scanning can be found here: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=413956&find=unread

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT BELOW

Local cannot and will not be removed from EVE-Online, ever. It has shaped the way this game has been played to its core since the game was created.

Now should CCP change the mechanics to better balance the meta? In most people's opinion, and mine as well, YES they should.

The most effective way to change local mechanics, not **** people off too much and still make things fair? That one is a doozy.

This idea may have been suggested before, but I haven't seen it around recently. Local should lose it's member list settings and just be a chat window with TOTAL PLAYER COUNT displayed and no member list (immediate updating, read below to see why)



Firstly, the directional scanner and scanning menus all need a serious art/graphics/UI overhaul... If you change DSCAN to show 1) name of each player in the current system (could be in a completely separate dscan tab) and BOOM, you have just solved the first issue of local, free intel. Now players have to ACTUALLY press a button to receive information about their surroundings. Just one button press and essentially the same information is available to you.

2) Change from DSCAN to SECTOR SCAN. Some of the current limitations of the current scan system are a) its directional, meaning if you're trying to pinpoint a target, if you're off by a slight bit you'll lose him. This adds in more meta, as you have to familiarize yourself with the system layout and then focus on angles between celestial to pinpoint targets. B) Distance: DSCAN's current distance limit keeps it from being the powerful info tool it should be. This also adds more meta. C) Current UI for the scanner is GOD AWFUL. It needs serious work...

3) Change local chat window to simply reflect TOTAL PLAYER COUNT (immediate), and leave it at that.



SECTOR SCAN:

1: GRID: Map solar systems into a 16 sector grid. Break down each individual grid square into 4 sub-squares (for accuracy and precision) for a total of 64 sectors in each solarsystem (Sector 1A-D, 2A-D, etc..). Overlay onto Solar system map.

2: ICON Filtering: Icons for ships, structures, probes, drones, etc to differentiate them. (SECTOR SCAN FILTER instead of using active Overview Settings)

3: Display: Icon, Ship/Structure Make (harbinger/medium caldari tower, etc...), SECTOR Location



Hunter:
- Pilot X enters system and presses SCAN. Up comes a nicely filtered list result of everything he wants to have displayed to him.
First tab shows the SYSTEM SCAN result. (Total Player Count, Total Players Docked, Player Name, and Picture). Second tab shows SECTOR SCAN results (Icon, Ship/Structure Make, Sector). Third tab becomes DSCAN, as to not completely remove its functionality for locational pinging.

- Pilot X spots a hulk in sector 4. He then uses his solarsystem map to pinpoint what exactly is in that sector. He notices a planet y, multiple moons, asteroid belts, and a ore field. From here, Pilot X decides to take a closer look. He selects Sector 4 as his area of interest, and performs a SUBSCAN, this time giving him sub-sector results. Pilot X observes the Hulk is in Sector 4B, and there just so happens to be two belts surrounding planet y in Sector 4B. Pilot warps into DSCAN range of Sector 4 to further pinpoint his target between belt 1 and 2.

Prey:
- Pilot Y notices a fluctuation in the total player count from his local chat window. Since the system is usually pretty quiet and this value doesn't change very often, he decides to perform a SCAN to make sure no one is sneaking up on him.

- He notices a new face among the typical crowd of people in his system (Pilot X). He has neutral standing. Pilot Y decides that since this new character doesn't seem like an immediate threat, to simply start pre-aligning out from the asteroid field just in case.

- Pilot Y then checks the sector scan results and looks for unidentified Pilot X by filtering just to ships, and notices a new ship that has just appeared in sector 13. Stargate Z to the adjacent system in located in sector 13, so Pilot Y can immediately identify where Pilot X came from.

etc...


As I hope you can see, fixing local chat or removing it really isn't the problem here. CCP has interesting choice on there hands. They can fix simple gameplay mechanics and meta with a change to the DSCAN system without really needing to touch local. This would solve LOCAL's free intel problem, but would still keep the scouting meta fair for both sides of any engagement. Lastly, CCP could finally update and fix a very broken system and UI screen and update it with something fresh, new and much more user friendly. Along with the upcoming changes to sov and structures, I believe this could be something CCP could look at as a step in the right direction

That's exactly the point of this thread. A huge part of gameplay mechanics revolves around the local chat.

I think d-scan is fine as it is. I'm pretty sure there can be found a less cumbersome solution for the already rather lengthy learning curve.

Like the scanning array device presented in the fan fest.