Science & Industry

The only reason I haven't gotten involved in FW thus far was because of the faction standing hit. Unless that's changed in the last year since I played last? I don't want to be inhibited in high sec travel and standings grinds are a beesh!

I think you just made Soundwave's point for him. Which is that he doesn't like passive income, i.e. people getting isk for not playing the game.

Yes and no. I see the datacores as a reward for play previously invested, not only in terms of the time spent training the necessary science skills but also the long hauls that can go into generating standings to increase RP generation. It's one way my care-bearing actually reaps rewards, and as much as those that play in hi sec might be maligned by those oh-so-hardcore in this game, there's a fundamental set of industrialists who are going to be put out by a move to decrease passive datacore production.

I came to the forums after hearing on a Chicken Licken grapevine that R&D agents could be removed altogether, rubbing my belly badge and prepared to do some serious Care Bear staring, but have calmed somewhat after reading that it might just equate to an increased RP cost, making factional warfare the faster way to earn cores. This seems far more reasonable than the removal of a system being "abused" (I'd like to see the details of the abuse in a blog, please. Be specific as possible. Show everyone on the doll where the bad men are touching)

Okay, gameplay should reap greater rewards. Sure, more cooperative style play should earn greater rewards....

...but the suggestion that the R&D system currently in effect is to be "torn apart" bugs the bajeezus out of me. Primarily as it requires PvE players to get involved in PvP - and while I can see the plus side of that for the game, I don't like design decisions that come across as an attempt to shoe-horn players into particular activities, most especially when it renders previous investment of game time obsolete.

Not to mention getting data from researchers is more logical and immersive than obtaining them for participation in factional warfare. What do those fighting a war care for the spoils of scientists? Why have those rewarding combatants decided to give out datacores and where and why are they obtaining them?

Soundwave's interview also talks about the possibility that successes in factional warfare mean that prices of datacores will fluctuate on the market, especially for those races not using their factional rewards to get datacores or not generating them as much as a race that has supremacy. While an exciting prospect, it also makes it more vital that R&D is still providing an alternative and stable avenue for datacores, albeit less rapidly should factional warfare become the main avenue - especially for those players that will still have no desire to engage in factional engagements.

As I've stated elsewhere, removal of the current R&D agent system is the wrong approach. It's not an ISK faucet, it doesn't contribute to the inflation issue.

The correct approach is to simply *add* datacores to the list of things that can be bought from those R&D corp's LP stores. Or add them as drops from NPC haulers. Leave the existing mechanics alone.

Natural market forces will then grind the passive R&D datacore farming down to a lower income level. Which is what has already happened over the past few years. Those L4 R&D agents used to be worth about 20-30M ISK value in datacores, but since datacore prices have naturally deteriorated over the years, now you only make 8-15M ISK value per month per agent. By adding a new source of supply through the LP store, that will probably drop to 4-5M per month per agent via the passive method.

Those who still want a bit of passive income are free to do so, but the payback time will start to be measured in months instead of weeks (right now, it takes you about a month to recoup the costs of the skillbooks).

Bob, watch the interview.
Soundwave intends to completely REMOVE getting datacores through RP.
He says they will start slow by lowering the RP /agent, but says eventually the game mechanic will be completely removed.