Should the Passengers be Allowed to Fly the Plane?

~or “Should the Coalitions allow CCP to change Nullsec?” 

On Sept. 28^th 2014, a TMC post entitled “The Null Deal: A Statement from Sovereign 0.0” by Das Mittens. This is a “…joint statement agreed upon by the leadership of sovereign nullsec.” 

This “Joint Statement” is signed by 28 Null Alliance Leaders and 11 current CSM members (of the 28, 3 have ‘CSM’ after their names denoting past CSM membership). There are also 4 “Opinion Leaders” who signed…

(This one baffles me a trifle TBH as 2 of em are Goons, 1 is from PL and the last is from EVENews24... none of whom represent MY opinion nor the opinion of anyone I know ingame... so meh).

Basically it specifies 3 key points;

They (the Nullsec Alliances) are deeply concerned by the risk of: 

   a. another Dominion-style expansion that would make the SOV mechanics even worse than they are today… and 
   b. They hope that this ‘announcement’ “… gives game developers at CCP the freedom they need to make the following drastic yet necessary changes.”

Due to this they propose the following changes to EVE Online SOV Mechanics.

1. Occupancy-based Sovereignty: 

Ownership of conquerable space should be reflected by Alliance occupancy using an “occupancy index”. This should: 
   a. Shrink the footprints of current absentee empires, 
   b. Free up large sections sov space for smaller entities and 
   c. Remove the need for Coalitions.

2. NPC 0.0 in every SOV Region: 

   a. The belief that NPC regions inside SOV null are good for PVP and small Alliances, 
   b. They wish to see small footprints of NPC 0.0 in every SOV region that does not now have them.

3. Increased Player Density:

   a. Belief that ‘vast swathes’ of SOV Null are worthless to THEIR line members and can support limited numbers of players. 
   b. They want the value of these systems increased to support a larger player population.


OK, let’s take this a step at a time… Please understand this is just one (wormholer, not nullseccer) 4 yr veteran player’s reaction…

Intro A

   - Current Nullsec SOV and power projections mechanics are not healthy for the game as a whole  - Agree
   - (inference that) CCP is incapable of making good changes without Nullsec Leadership advice and consent - Disagree

Intro B

   - This one bothers me greatly as it makes the assumption that the players in nullsec have the power to stop or allow CCP to do ANYTHING they want to or feel is necessary to THEIR intellectual and real property.

Point 1.

   - Reduce current SOV holdings – Agree

   - Free up space and systems for ‘other’players – Disagree
Does anyone seriously see CFC/GSF et al NOT immediately taking full advantage of this the second it drops? I mean really?
   - Remove current need for vast coalitions - Disagree 
As I see it there never was a NEED for Coalitions and they are, in large part, responsible for the reprehensible peaceful situation in nullsec today. Coalitions were and are a political and power tactic that happened between the nullsec Alliances as they grew in power and size. And I doubt they will “just go away” with these or any changes that don’t break the Large Alliances grip on Nullsec SOV.
   - WTF is an Occupancy Index? and who gets to code that? Goons? Too much grey area, not enough "Here is what we propose." for me.

Point 2.

   - NPC regions inside SOV Null are good for PVP & Small Alliances – Agree… except

I see CFC et al being careful to use these ‘surrounded’ players as ‘diversions’ and ‘training grounds’ for their bored line members…  They would have to be very careful to not force their new ‘chew toys’ back to Empire.

   - Increased NPC regions inside SOV null – Agree 

Point 3.

   - Vast Swathes of Null are (underused) worthless to THEIR line members - Agree

   - Systems value increased to support larger populations – Agree… except

Again, does ANYONE believe the CFC et al will just ALLOW non allied players, corps and Alliances to freely move THROUGH their SOV and take over these systems??? Oh please.

So let’s sum up…

Sov Null needs fixing, that’s easy for anyone to see… but these are not the changes that will do it. Reduced or removed Power Projection via Ttian bridges AND decreased Coalition political power will. But Das Mittens and his followers have left those little points interestingly off the plate and not up for discussion.

And the sheer damned hubris that THEY can write anything that can stop or allow CCP to do ANYTHING that they want to their game actually pisses me off just a bit.

Reducing SOV holding to just those systems their members ACTUALLY live in and HOLD via boots-in-station as twere is fine… but to play it off like the null alliances/coalitions would not take full advantage of these changes FOR their members benefit is just more of the ‘same ‘ol same ‘ol’ line of BS from Mittens… never ever forget his origins and experience as a spymaster and propagandist. Yea I bet they want to see all those poor systems values increased for OTHERS to enjoy the benefits and income from… yea… right.

No, as I see it these changes are more of the same shit we always get from nullsuc… all dressed up to sound like it’s for the good of ‘other’ players while actually being of real benefit to the large nullsec Sov holders and members. Nothing offered here makes ANY guarantees that non allied corps and non coalition groups or individual players would actually be able to effectively fly and live in any of these freed up null systems… and I would bet much we never will see any such guarantees unless or until CCP gets the balls to make it so.

Remember the guy who wrote this is here to ‘Ruin YOUR game’… he does not believe in honor in this game (I can quote him on this) and he is NOT on your side. Believing he is doing anything for YOUR good is like believing a gunbarrel is a lollipop…  go on, suck it.

OK, some additional info has come to light...

I think I agree with blastradius1 over at his blog, Blastrad Tales. His post, "Hmm..." he also looks at the "Null Deal" and I agree with his assessment.

He says generally the same thing I did, that you have to be wary when it comes to the leaders of SOVnull (and evidentally even some NPCnull entities). He asks two very pointed questions...

"Why did they do this?" His answer... and I quote; 

"These interested parties are doing their best to ensure that CCP has a tough time implementing any changes that fall outside of their manifesto by giving it the strongest unified voice possible."

Changes that fall outside of their manifesto huh? And it is in Evehermit's post, "Invalid Space" where he takes us to the first episode of CCP's WebTV show, "o7" where I believe we find the answer to this and Blastrad's second question...

"What the hell have CCP come up with that might actually make a difference to null-sec that these chaps don’t like?"

In the show "o7" there is a segment with CCP Nullarbor (Sr. Software Engineer) and CCP Greyscale (Sr. Game Designer) about 0.0 and some 'changes' that they are working on. Changes that are not about adding some NPC null inside SOV null and are not about Occupancy Based SOV... oh no...  =]

Go here... "o7". The segment in question starts at 33:30 and at 34:30 CCP Greyscale states... unequivocally... that Nullsec has become boring. That the Nullsec players have "won" EVE and you aren't supposed to be able to do that... and this needs to change.

At 35:24 they discuss changes... Imminent changes to...

Capitols, Force Projections, jumpdrives and Movment in Space. They want to "slow down" and "constrain" Force Projection in Null.

Oh my. Now that would 'bout piss off the Great Nullsec Coalitions, now wouldn't it? CCP Nullarbor speaks of "...groups of players refusing to engage because they know of the threat of a huge force that's just within a few minutes reach..."

OK well I don't know about you but I am pretty fairly convinced that the whole "Null Deal" manifesto was exactly what Blastrad thinks... A premptive "...open statements to head unwanted disturbance of the status-quo off at the pass."

I mean, do the great Nullsec Coalitions really wants to lose their biggest tactical and strategic advantage, Instantaneous & Overwhelming Force Projection?

CCP Greyscale and CCP Nullarbor both flatly stated these are, "significant changes" and they are "in motion" now and WILL BE included in a release BEFORE the end of 2014. 

All I can say is... FFS CCP... finally!


Fly Wreckless and see you in the Sky  =/|)=

Too Much Talk Talk, Not Enough OMFG…

~or “Telling Us What to Expect is Expecting Too Much of Us.”

I was perusing Noobs latest post… “Day 832 : Roid Rage and the End” and at the end he tells of a “thing” he found in space… something unusual… something unexplained… something… weird.

As he puts it,

“…encountered some weird station scenery attached to the bizzaro Gallente science station model. I'd go and make sure it's common scenery of some form but I'm rather attached to the notion that it's an alien UFO.”

It was a UBGL… (Unidentified Blinking Green Light)... seemingly attached to nothing… like a beacon, but (mebbe) not. Now Noob didn’t say if he tried to pull a show-info on it or whether it was something he could even click or target, but I prefer not to know if it was… you see, I really really liked that it was mysterious… unknown… weird.

And I think we need more of that in EvE. What I mean is I think we need less from CCP…

Less “discussion” about what is to come…

Less “transparency” over the mechanics of what is to come…

Less “What do YOU want?” asked about what is to come…

No, what we may really need is more of CCP responding like this on the forums…

“Wait, what did you say you ‘found’ out in space?”

“What’s that? You say
/you were mysteriously pulled out of warp
/you warped to a mission and instead were confronted
/you were attacked at a [wormhole/gate/sun/planet/moon/etc.] 
/your POS was camped
/your POS was bubbled
/your POS was attacked
/your POS was taken down

by 
/[unknown] NPC faction(s)
/NPC pirates
/NPC fleet(s)

that had 
/X ship(s)
/X fit(s)
/X mods

and that you

/watched them from a distance 

/barely escaped from them

/killed them

/got totally pwned by them

/had your fleet wiped out by them

/ran screaming from them

/got PODDED by them(!?!)

and they
/used mods you had never seen before
/dropped loot you had never seen before
/had salvage you had never seen before 
/looted and salvaged YOUR ships!!
/LOLed in local... using your NAME(S)?”

"Oh my... Now that’s very strange aint it?... I wonder just where (that/them/those) came from?” “Please keep us updated on what you find ok?”

IRL we don’t get updates and blogs posts from the almighty or the gods on high entitled; “What’s Coming Soon to a Universe near YOU!” So why do we in New Eden? I mean it’s a Science FICTION Space Game right? OK, so when I read a new Sci-Fi novel or see a new Sci-Fi movie the LAST thing I want is all the spoilers given to me ahead of time… so why do we expect, or even want, all the spoilers laid out in advance in EVE? Not just laid out for us but laid out in detail, with forums and debate and even voting FFS?

I actually do wish CCP would reintroduce the wondrous element of DISCOVERY, bring back an air MYSTERY and add a touch of THE UNKNOWN to our game. Oh maybe not on every planned, proposed or considered change and/or addition (but in truth would that necessarily be ‘bad’? Really think hard on that for a bit before you answer…) but to make some, mebbe lots of the smaller but impactful, additions or changes… like say the burner missions and/or frigate only wormholes… as UNANNCOUNCED changes and/or additions… and allow us to DISCOVER them all on our own. Imagine being offered a mission or scanning down a wormhole NO ONE has EVER even heard of before…  Now THAT would be something wouldn’t it?

So CCP, if you want players to get or stay interested in EVE then let us DISCOVER the game on our own.… consider shutting up for a while, write some new and interesting code, and let the ships fall where they may. You sorta did that back in ’03 and you did a bang up job of it when you released Apocrypha… and that worked out fantastically.

Give us back a ‘verse like the one that those very first players in ’03 undocked into and the verse those lucky players first found when wormholes first appeared in the skies of New Eden… a ‘verse full of DISCOVERY and WONDER.

Modern day EVE has wayyy too much talk talk… and not nearly enough WTF and OMG… and we NEED more of that… lots more.

Fly Wreckless and see you in the Sky  =/|)=

PS.  Cripes... my brother and sister bloggers will understand this...

I have re-read this post a few times since I published it...  and the problem is... now I know I have no choice but to try and come up with some :words: for a post entitled

"Let the Ships Fall Where They May...."

<facepalm> gods help me...   =\

Crime & Reward…

~or “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...”

First, heed not the doomsaying of others… I am still here, just going through some RL>EVE that has kept me unsubbed is ALL. My CARBON Based Life is not dead nor has it gone dark… just got the shades drawn and the lights low for a spell is ALL… ok? on to the meat…

Risk = Reward is the EVE mantra. In EVE, it is supposed to be that the greater the risk taken, the greater the reward received. But we rarely talk about the Risk & Reward corollary, Crime & Punishment.

In pure PVE the Risk equals the potential loss of the total cost of ship, fit and cargo.

In pure PVE the Reward equals the ISK Payout + bonus and potential High ISK Value drops (this also used to include Loot & Salvage back in the day).

But in nonconsensual PVP the only concession to Risk [potential loss of the total cost of ship(s), fit(s) and cargo(s)] against the Reward [dropped cargo, dropped mods (this also used to include Salvage back in the day)] for committing a crime (awoxing, ganking, etc.) is in actuality only the loss of Security Status. The loss of the ships is easily factored in and due to the current ship balancing, a fleet of low cost T1s is far below the potential Reward for taking down a loaded hauler or freighter.

Then there is the one Reward CCP does not talk about as it is not a part of the code… Tears. The intentional emotional upset caused by one player on another. There are many greifers and scammers and suchlike in EVE who’s primary Reward in the game is just that… to cause other players grief.

They could care less about the Risk vs Reward mechanic as it has NOTHING to do with their personal Risk vs Reward philosophy. So for them the only real ‘cost’ for doing the ‘crime’ is the loss of Sec Stat… and CCP has made that far easier to deal with via the Sec for Tags gambit. A griefer can now simply buy his way back into HighSec and go a ganking again.

IMHO CCP is not thinking clearly on this. In the post, “EVE Unbalanced – The Sandbox is a Lie” over on “Solitary Pilot” (by Sakaane Eionell) Sakaane talks to this point. She makes a very good argument for a much needed change to how the Security Status Mechanic works.

To put is simply:

Lower status players killing Higher status players should LOSE Sec Stat;

Higher status players killing Lower status players should GAIN Sec Stat…

That’s Right, if you gain Sec Stat for killing Guristas or Angels, IE known NPC pirates, then you should also GAIN Sec Stat for killing Lower Sec Stat players, IE known player 'pirates'.

I am going to simply allow Sakaane to speak for this as I am in absolute full agreement with her idea. Go to her post in the link above and read it all, but for the real meat, scroll down to the “CONCORD Needs to Math” section.

Again, quoted here for truth,

“If I want to play the hero then I do want to make a habit of attacking people who habitually go after the people I want to defend. Those are the villains, the pirates, the scum...and I should be rewarded in the eyes of CONCORD for being picky about my targets. I want my sec status to show how badass I am at killing bad guys.”

Her basic scenario is as follows, again quoted as I can’t come up with better…

“If negative sec is the hallmark of the PVP pirate, shouldn’t positive sec be the hallmark of the PVP hero? Why doesn’t CONCORD reward pilots for destroying other pilots who are villains?

In my mind, security status should only take a hit in three scenarios:

·  when a player destroys another player with sec status equal to or higher than their own (for example, -4.8 destroys -2.6);

·  when a player with sec status above zero destroys another player with sec status at or above zero (for example, +3.4 destroys +2.2 or +5.0); and

·  when a player gets caught transporting illegal goods past customs NPCs.

The hit for destroying a player should always be larger than the hit for trying to sneak past the NPCs. The size of the penalty should be proportionate to the difference in sec status between the players, meaning that someone at -5.0 destroying someone who is +5.0 should get a bigger hit than someone at -2.0 destroying someone who is only 0.0. The hit should be largest for players with positive sec destroying other players with positive sec.

To balance this out, security status should get a boost in three scenarios:

·  when a player destroys another player with sec status below theirs, provided the opponent’s sec status is not at or above zero (for example, +1.8 destroys -3.5);

·  when a player turns in tags for sec; and

·  when a player destroys bona fide pirate NPCs.

Like above, the boost for destroying a player should be larger than the boost for destroying pirate NPCs (or using tags). The size of the boost should be proportionate to the difference in sec status between the players, meaning that someone at +5.0 destroying someone who is -5.0 will get a bigger boost than someone at -2.0 destroying someone at -5.0.”

Kudos for this idea all the way around.

My only note here would be that Anoikis, IE Wormhole Space, remains as it is today as re Sec Stat. You see in W-space there is no CONCORD, no Local, no Gate system... they know not what we do and therefore cannot place either loss or gain on us for any actions taken on the other side of the sky… and thus it is, and thus it always should be.

Another area of difference, she discusses Noobkillers, and I feel her ‘noobs start at +5’ idea is actually too low. IMHO all Noobs should start at +10 and the cost for killing new toons from day one to say, 1 month old (only while in their ORIGINAL NPC corp and in anything other than an agreed Duel) should be prohibitively higher… then scale back down over the 2nd month to game normal levels.

This change would mean that for the first time in EVE, proactively fighting on the side of Defense and yes, Honor, would have REAL merits. 

I have absolutely no problem that EVE IS a dark and harsh ‘verse… but that does not mean it cannot also be a place for players who want to fight what they see as ‘the good fight’, and right now, fighting AGAINST players who gank and play pirate has the exact same cost as being a ganker or pirate… and it should not.

This also could have a very interesting side effect for the ongoing discussion about NPE/NPR (New Player Experience an New Player Retention). This change in the Security Status Mechanic, especially if CCP changes it so that new players are in essence ‘protected’ by a prohibitively high Sec Status, (IE gank a one day old toon and go straight to -10…) means we would not need the 'Noob Safe Zones' that have been talked so much about that even Das Mitten himself himself has jumped on that particular bandwagon.

I find it interesting that he states CCPs reasons for not separating the Vets and Noobs as…  ~reasons~…

And here I thought he was a lawyer and intelligent and all, and yet he resorts to childish repetition instead of a reasoned statement... but, one must needs consider the source. CCPs ~reasons~ are that EVE is NOT WoW nor is it like ANY OTHER MMO out there… and they don’t ever want it to be WoW IN SPACE and they don’t what it to ever be LIKE ANY OTHER MMO… They are trying to do something NEW and DIFFERENT… and that means, to use Mittens own words against him, to do that one has to find and publicly murder a few sacred cows along the way.

I also firmly believe that any “Safe Zone” or “Safe System” will set a very bad expectation in noobs NPE… I vastly prefer the idea of noobs being safe as compared to space being safe. No space, no system, no gate in EVE should be safe… but noobs should be safe from the predations of other players in their first 2 months and most especially in that critical first month. By giving them personal 'safety', by making exploiting and ganking them far far too costly, and yet having them out in the real New Eden with all the rest of us at the same time to acclimate them to the realities of life and death in EVE.

To have them enter the game and play for any length of time in a system devoid of normal player aggression and normal player activity will most likely set them up for a very real shock when they are finally transferred to a regular system.

And I have always felt awoxing (risk free inter-corp PVP) was one of those idea's that works in theory but not in practice. That should have been removed at the same time Duels was instituted.

And lastly and JIC, for all of you who are gonna jump immediately on the “But EVE players are gonna game the fuk outta this!!” soapbox, uh… yea, they are, So? EVE players game the hell outta EVERYTHING CCP does… so what? Mebbe you think CCP should stop working on the game out of fear of its own playerbase??

Well, yea… ok, mebbe that might actually have some merit, I mean, have you met us???…

But I hope they don’t and gamed or not, this change in the Security Status Mechanic has the potential to be a really good change for players who want to play the hero role and for NPE/NPR.

Fly Wreckless and see you in the Sky  =/|)=

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertiiiime!

Well. it's happened... I'm unsubbed for the first time in almost 4 years... and not doing anything about it... for now. Not all rage quitty nor any proof of apathy for Dimmy's Tale of Woe for EVE... nope, I am simply too effin busy is all.

Work-wise I am between contracts, again. Several months into my last contract the ubiquitous 'they' cut the WHOLE first level support team (6 or 7 FT employees laid off) and outsourced it to some firm in Mexico... Mexico?? and then they cut the only contractor on the support team... me (go figger huh?). It sorta sucks but, when life give ya lemons... make lemonade right? So we are kinda taking advantage of this as the wife went FT at her job several months ago so I am doing the SAHD thing... being a stay-at-home-dad... for now. Oh I am actively looking, calling, talking and putting out resumes and such just nothing much really moving much in my area (at my rate) ATM.

So of course there is the neverending honey-do list of yard, house, sailboat and such projects and chores... but we also have the pool up and usually full of kids, the hottub bubblin and the grill and firepit both have seen much use in the first half of summer, and I expect it will not slow down until we start heading into school prep for my young ones. Huh, young ones... both are starting Middle School, what we called Junior High in my day.

No idea what's happenin in the hole and really not even keeping up with blogs and the meta to be honest... again, just too damn busy is all... heck as I write this the kids are calling me back outside...  =]

Hope all of ya'll have a great summer... I am looking forward to getting back to the unfriendly skies of New Eden... but right now we got burgers on the grill and company on the way and the water is fine... See ya'll in a month or so.

Fly safe and see you in the Pool...  =/|)=