Player Features and Ideas Discussion

let's work out a pattern of log in times without knowing when someone logs in.

People don't really still pay merc corps, do they? I thought people would have figured out they were just another scam ages ago. I always thought it was smart that they got paid to do what they were gonna do anyway.

I think you are forgetting one basic concept here: EVE is a game. Nobody is going to set up a team of observer(s) on 24 hours shifts for days, sitting in a station to see if War Targets are actually loggin in. Do that in 10-20 systems to cover all of the targeted corp characters. And that is ONE contract.

That's called a job, and a ******, very boring one at that. That would be better done, in RL, remotely, with camera systems and recordings.

Now I know you are just trolling, that or you have really no idea.

Mispost.

As the attacker that is your issue to deal with, not the defenders. You can do something else you know. Sounds like the life of merc/bounty hunting is not for you.

A troll is a troll, and a parrot troll at that, safe to ignore when you have read it once.

Thus, blocked.

For hours and hours.
Typically only 10% of a corporations members are online.
Regardless of size that's pretty much the wartime rule of thumb.
Now, out of a 60 man group ,whom do you look for?

Let's assume they're activity profile matches your own (research ftw)
But in the 24h before the war going live they've moved, some to wh space, some to solitude, some dropped
We now have 40, most of whom are not going to login (and that's fine)
We can assume an 8 minute return on locates and a pool of maby 4 level 4 locates per constellation (5. Standing isn't quick to get with a range of corps)

Starting to see where this is going?

You have to run the locates, scout them out, if they're not there you need to run them again to verify location,
if they're moving fantastic, you're hunt is on but by and large you are told they're still docked in the top station ...
Now you're looking at this another 39 times,
you're going to spend an entire night at this and it's the least engaging thing I can possibly imagine doing in EVE.

But GOOD NEWS , luckily for you in this scenario there's one facet of mercenaries that were completely unaffected by this! remember those degenerate hubhumping undock queens we all love so much?
Yesssereeebob they're almost 100% unaffected and they're growing.

You say maybe we should go do something else,
well most of us did,
they're by and large sitting in or near one of the hub's or connecting pipes.

I dont care if CCP makes locator agents more efficient, institutes a purchasable service to access Watchlist as it was before, or any number of potential options.

Just as long as its not free or automatic.

Participation in this thread and doing some thinking has finally congealed my previous nascent undifferentiated antipathy, into abject hate of the availability of free information in EVE.

Intel being free devalues the most valuable resource in EVE, information, to zero.
I find that unacceptable, and directly harmful to content creation, competition and opportunity.

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BUT

I have contempt for the fact that what finally broke the Watchlists back, was the concerns of NS Titan/cap pilots.

I get why, but I find it a petty and self-serving justification as compared to the argument that free intel is bad for EVE throughout.

The premise and impetus is all wrong. The change was made for the wrong reasons, and thus did not consider its repercussions.

So now NS Titan/Cap pilots are happy, but the results of the change has caused serious problems for other content providers which seemingly where not considered or represented in the change.

Leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

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I recognise that the removal of Watchlist as it was, is a serious problem for some content providers., Mercs in particular.
But I would argue its not the removal of Watchlist itself, as a free and automatic service, that is the problem, its the inefficiency and inadequacy of underlying systems/mechanics to take up the slack thereafter.

Im all for options to reconcile this difference, but they MUST require effort/time/SP/isk, or some matrix of these.

Im perfectly fine with even massive buffs to locating and gathering intel on targets, to the point of immediate pinpoint accuracy and even target tracking, as long as they require a rational expense in some intermix of effort/time/SP/isk.

If someone wants intel, ranging from ambiguous to perfect, and is prepared to invest for it, by all means, let it be so.
Buff the hell out of locator agents, as long as people pay something for it,
Just as long as its not free of investment in effort/time/SP/isk in some configuration.

Merc Corps can then adjust their fees, margins and operations accordingly.

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PS: It really is **** that the self-serving interest of super-rich NS entities was the petty straw that broke the Watchlists back, and then cascaded without compromise/compensation in mechanics onto the necks of Merc Corps and the already crippled Bounty Hunters profession.

The argument and basis, should have been removing free universal automatic intel on the login behavior of other players, not the whining of NS Titan/cap pilots whom are a tiny minority of EVE.

Basically Merc Corps got f***ed, just so NS Titan/Cap pilots can be even safer.
Nobody seemingly bothered to consider the repercussions, or make plans for change accordingly.

PPS: Buffing the hell out of location/tracking possibilities is the natural counterpoint, at commensurate investment in effort/time/SP/isk in some configuration.

I was mercing before hubcamping became the done thing - including when the playerbase was a fraction of the size now. Im saying you need to go back to the oldschool. Not this wardec everything and pop a hauler in jita lark. Im quite dissapointed on how the recent methods have blighted the profession.

Eve is all about the long game - not COD mechanics. Information is key, and use of that information is crucial.