Monday, December 14, 2015

BB 70 - Dreaming

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 70th edition! For more details about
what the blog banters are please visit the Blog Banter page.

Dear CCP, I want a Space-Pony and a Space-Puppy and a....
If CCP was Santa and you could ask for anything (in-game obviously) what would it be? A new type of ship that is tailored to your game-play? A change to mechanics? A battleship mini-doomsday weapon? Proper hats for your avatar? Opening of that bloody door? There are so many different options depending on what you do and what you want to get out of Eve Online. What would you like to see in your virtual Christmas stocking from CCP?
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I've had many wishlists in the past and sometimes I get my wish (like new overview icons) and other times I don't (like starting up avatar development again). Sometimes CCP delivers things to me I didn't even know I wanted (micro jump field generator) along with something I did want (small ship/gang command ship, i.e. Command Destroyers).

Its fun to dream.

So for this blog banter here are some new ideas that I hope someone in Iceland can steal from this blog, claim as their own, and get them into the game.

1) Assault Carriers

I'm glad that they are breaking the current capital carrier class into carriers and Force Aux, and I think its cool what they are doing with fighter controls and mechanics. I think its a shame that there is not a mid level ship between a drone battleship like the Dominix and a full on capital carrier such as the Thanatos.

I would like to see a class of sub capital ships (or small capital ship like an Orca) that can go into high sec, does not have a jump drive, but can utilize fighters. Not as many fighters and squadrons as a carrier, but enough to allow the mechanic to be learned and utilized in a less all-in manner than current carriers are.

Call them Assault Carriers or Pocket Carriers. A wider audience to test and expand on fighter mechanics, more combat options in non-capital scenarios, a gentler rise from sub-cap to capital warfare... its win-win all around! Make it so!

2) Flagships

As a Fleet Commander, one thing I find myself doing when not in actual combat is listening to my scouts, looking at maps on Dotlan Maps, and trying to picture where all the ships of my fleet and known enemy fleets are located. It can be tough sometimes, and this is one instance where I think it should be tough as the skills and expertise of the FC and scouts combined can make the difference between a successful fleet and a complete debacle.

That being said, at a certain point the number of chess pieces on the board as fleets and parties grow can become very unwieldy and it would be nice to have the option to command from a flagship with the tools to allow a fleet commander.

What tools you asked?

I want a ship with a command deck map that I can use to visualize the battlefield from my scouts and fleet automatically. It would connect with my fleet's transponders and my scouts d-scans and grid visuals to feed into my screen a map of known and previously known ship locations. It would also allow scouts to tag groups of ships as hostile or neutral or friendly, and give up to date status on my fleet position and composition.

I think it should be tied to a ship, a tech II battleship based on the Rokh, Abaddon, Hyperion, and Maelstrom, so that the reward of having so much information at your fingertips is balanced by the FC having to field a delicious target. (PS make sure the Command Map mode does not work under cloak or in station or in POS bubble.) You want it balanced so that not every fleet includes one, but only the Super-Serious-Internet-Spaceships fleet includes them.

3) Low Sec Jump Bridges

Ok, so I'm going out on a limb here as the overall structure and space shaping meta in EVE is rapidly changing with the upcoming Citadels and future plans for building stargates to new space, but I'm going to go with it.

I think corporations/alliances in faction warfare should be allowed to construct jump bridges as long as they are in systems in faction warfare space and their faction currently occupies both systems of the jump bridge. If the other side takes control of one of the ends, the bridge deactivates.

While this would give huge advantages to the side who owns the jump bridge, it also paints extra large targets on the systems and prompts battles for control of the system or battles to destroy the bridge itself. Plus all the intrigue over getting jump bridge passwords. But most of all it gives a reason to own and protect space in faction warfare on top of the current reasons.

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Check out the other blog banters for more wishlist ideas!

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