Crime & Punishment

Hey Space Friends,

...There are a couple of points we're not entirely happy with (such as the convo spamming issues)...that we would like to iterate on.

...We think there is some potential for the return of similar, but counterable, functionality in the future. When we have concrete designs we'll share them with you and be very interested in your feedback.

Locator agents are desperately in need of an overhaul. And in my system, they would get a wide array of new buffs...so here's how I would change them.

1:) All locator agents now have unlimited range. From level one to level four, all agents can now locate anyone anywhere. Let's be honest, the level one and two agents are near useless, three may be marginally useful, but I am fairly sure people only ever use level four agents. Since you had to grind standings anyway and you pay for distance of locate, it really doesn't make sense not to use level four agents. So, we'll give all agents a huge buff so they can all be useful. This also means you don't have to do tedious grinding with local NPC's just to be able to run basic locates.

2:) With all locator agents finding people at all ranges, what is left for the level two through four agents? We are going to revamp what intel is given at what level agent.
__A: Level one agents give you star system information only.
__B: Level two agents tell you whether the person is docked (at what station) or if they're in space.
__C: Level three agents tell you what ship the person is flying.
__D: Level four agents give you access to watch list functions. For a sum of 5 million isk, they will enable you to watch 1 person per transaction, for a period of 7 days. Only works in k-space, and while undocked. Further explanation in a bit.*

Note:I know that current locates already give you docked or not (level 2 agent), but I needed levels of intel to fill four slots. I'm also open to the idea of nixing level 1 agents as listed, and just moving everything down a level so we have level 1-3 agents.[/i]

3:) Decreased search duration, decreased cooldown. Locates need to be more accessible, with how few and far between some locator agents can be. So, I'd make the search duration a mere 10 seconds or less, with no cooldown. If you want to toss a ton of isk at an agent finding out where every person of that 30-man industrial corp is, then you should be able to go for it.

Note: the search duration is probably a limitation of the software querying the database. If that isn't the case, then we need to get that turnaround time as close to zero as possible.

*So the watchlist function I mentioned would work differently. Here's how: all things in the game need counterplay. The counterplay for this version of the watchlist is this: It no longer functions as a simple "online/offline" status. It functions as an "in k-space" status. Due to working through the stargate network, it does not work in wormholes. And it does not work while a pilot is docked.

Yes, that does mean you'll have to pair the watch list function to the occasional level 2 agent locate to see if they are actually offline or simply docked up. Yes, that's still tremendously less than the old watch list. But that's still more than what you have now. And it allows people to have some measure of counterplay to the basic intel you're collecting. If you're going to try to convince CCP to bring back the watchlist in a way that has some bit of counter, as they themselves stated, I believe this is a good compromise, or at least a good starting point.

Venturing into C&P to say I empathize with OP and friends. Buddy list hit the WH content creators hard as well. I've spent hours waiting in vain for someone I was literally just looking at, and they aren't even playing anymore. Locators are no help, obviously.

The worst part is most people in WH are spoonfed content by the scouts and don't even realize how frustrating a change it was, so they've all been rather quiet.

I very much hope that any change implemented will fix BOTH the merc use case AND the WH use case (talk of locators and observation arrays makes me nervous ). I would encourage you all to help CCP remember. We minority groups need to stick together!

o/

Wat

Yeah, I left highsec at a good time. 3-4 months later the watchlist change hit and now it's double the effort to find people. So I guess the hub camping scrublords got the final laugh.

I made the decision to unsub last week on all accounts. After a lot of thought it dawned on me that CCP doesn't like the color of my money. It was a sweeping, ill considered and unnecessary change to a long standing mechanic that ultimately massively negatively impacted not only my play style but that of others too.

No. You can't have my stuff. It's being buried with me.

Mort and Melvin signing off.

*shutdown jingle*

I made the decision to unsub last week on all accounts. After a lot of thought it dawned on me that CCP doesn't like the color of my money. It was a sweeping, ill considered and unnecessary change to a long standing mechanic that ultimately massively negatively impacted not only my play style but that of others too.

No. You can't have my stuff. It's being buried with me.

Mort and Melvin signing off.

*shutdown jingle*