Warfare & Tactics

Little things – Factional Warfare, Wormholes
Present: CCP Soundwave
Factional Warfare

CCP has begun some concept work on how they want FW to evolve in the medium- to long-term. Some iterations to FW may be possible as soon as summer 2012. They would like to merge the FW and 0.0 sov system capture mechanics somewhat, but are not happy with either of the current mechanics.

CCP would like to inject some of the drama that surrounds the CSM election system into FW, by having some sort of in-game election of militia leaders/admirals. This would help move some of the 0.0 style politics/revenge/spying into FW. Another important addition to this system would be some real power/consequences for system ownership, such as the elected leaders being able to set things like tax rates in lowsec stations that they control (and having some of this tax ISK flow to the faction). The leadership would be able to set strategic goals as well as adjust settings for the new FW benefits.

Some of the CSM members expressed some concern that FW issues would greatly impact pirate organizations that live in the area, and wanted to make sure that non-FW entities would be able to neutralize FW control in some way (by blowing stuff up, preferably). CCP agreed to take that into account when designing the system, but that the important thing was to make FW meaningful and fun.

CCP mentioned that letting alliances join FW was supposed to be a Crucible feature, but was not completed in time. It will be released in the very near future, so that groups that want to participate in FW don't need to break up their existing social structures in order to join. Some CSM members noted that this, in addition to the election mechanics, would allow nullsec entities to co-opt FW groups.

On the question of where FW revenues would go, CCP suggested that they would be able to be used for system upgrades; an example was to increase LP payouts or something similar.

The CSM suggested that one of the major issues with lowsec was the large increase in risk with a much smaller increase in rewards. It was suggested that allowing FW upgrades to decrease risk, such as making probes less effective in a system, would help draw people into lowsec. This brought up a side conversation about how the current probing mechanics has negatively impacted tactics like sniping, which is an issue CCP is aware of. CCP suggested that in the long term, they would like to see the possibility of FW folks taking over nearby high and nullsec systems, and turning them into FW-controlled systems. Some CSMs suggested that FW could be used as a testbed for new capture mechanics, since FW would be smaller scale than nullsec.

The CSM presented a list of smaller issues that were raised by the FW community. CCP promised to look at the list, but pointed out that issues that had to do with Crimewatch (the system that manages aggression timers, security status hits, criminal flags and other lowsec mechanics) were unlikely to be addressed without the Crimewatch rewrite that CCP is planning.

(Reference to 'Crimewatch' points to the introductory chapter in the minutes which says this....)

The first planned step in this direction (and remember, plans CAN change) is to take a look at War, i.e. what is it about conflict that needs to be iterated on so that all groups of players can enjoy it more? How can we further encourage conflict? Obviously the term ‘conflict’ is a very broad term, but it does encompasses 0.0, factional warfare, low sec, high sec, official war declarations, etc. The technical debt behind those systems is substantial and looking at those systems has become a priority. One particular example of this is the system called ‘Crime watch’ (an 8 year old system with countless patches and band aids) – the mechanism that handles all aggressions, who is flagged to whom, what timers are running on what characters, etc. Who isn’t familiar with the question of ‘can I shoot this can thief?’, ‘can I shoot the logi pilot repping that hostile?’ or ‘if I fly to this station will the sentry guns shoot at me?’ Thinking about it, players shouldn’t have to ask those questions, the information should be readily (and easily) available to them.

CCP would like to inject some of the drama that surrounds the CSM election system into FW, by having some
sort of in-game election of militia leaders/admirals

Just what FW needs.. EMO raging arm chair generals, structures to shoot and MOAR carebear! It will be awesome..

Why can't we have hats?

The entirety of plexing mechanics has promise for variety of ship types to be used instead of just battleships, logi, and caps as the order of the day. All we needed was a meaningful reason to fight over plexes. Lower skilled pilots could have an impact on the "war" by fighting in minor plexes forcing the enemy to ship down in order to capture the complex. You had all sorts of fights, frig/dessie brawls, cruiser skirmishes, and BC engagements in majors, and then the eventual cluster **** where everyone flies as big as they want for the bunker bust. CCP should understand that having all shiptypes meaningful is really important to the playstle most of us enjoy in faction war. Players have the option of hoping in a frig and brawling cheaply, or flying bigger ships too. I enjoy the variety. All ship sizes are relevent.

Didn't a few frigs/dessies just recently cap a minor plex making a system no longer vulnerable while a minmatar blob was busting a bunker, buying time for the amarr to rally a counter fleet? I think the current system has a LOT of potential for something dynamic. You could have fights in multiple sized plexes as well as the bunker simutaneously. This excites me. Having one big fleet shooting a structure is kind of boring. I hope they don't completely scrap what's in place. It just needs improving, not removing.

If i were CCP I would give new meaning to the victory point system. As militia corps/militia alliances kill the enemy and capture/defend systems/plexes (earning VP) they then could use their earned victory points to "bid" for stations on a corp/alliance level (note that you have to be in militia to do this) to control whatever benefits/upgrades from having occupancy would be purchased. Of course there would be upkeep on having control, not just having isk to throw at maintaining a station, but also having to continue fighting for their faction and earning VP having to spend it to keep the factions favor in order to keep the station under their control. It'd be like fighting for your lord and them rewarding you with a little bit of real estate. Something like this would implement safegaurds that those participating in faction war reap the benefits, not some entitiy with enough numbers to make mass alts to vote in a mock leader to steal isk (or at least would force outside entities to really work at it). Also this would allow for corps/alliances that participate in FW to choose where they want to base, they could all base in one system like how heyd/enaluri used to be. But there would be incentives to spread out (especially if the warzone is expanded by making all of lowsec FW) to get their own slice of the pie by bidding for stations that are not in the "main systems".