Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Load of Crap

"A quick view of the Eve Online forums can always find someone complaining about being suicide ganked, whining about some scam they fell for or other such tears. With the Goons' Ice Interdiction claiming a vast amount of mining ships, there were calls for an "opt out of PvP" option. 


Should this happen? Should people be able to opt-out of PvP in Eve Online. Should CONCORD prevent crime rather than just handing out justice after the event? Or do the hi-sec population already have too much protection from the scum and villainy that inhabits the game?"



As a female, I tend to be somewhat softhearted toward the less fortunate in EVE. I always cringe a little when my evil corpmates steal loot, troll noobs in general militia chat, or grab point on an unfortunate nuetral Orca that accidentally jumps into the warzone. I'm fiercely loyal to my corpmates when push comes to shove, but I'm always a little saddened.

I become downright upset when people do things that outright endanger someone elses enjoyment of the game. After all, who are we to say that one type of game play is 'right' for all players? This is supposed to be a sandbox afterall.



I was playing LOTRO last night, trying on different dresses that I had acquired and trying to match them to various cloaks while clicking a button a thousand times to level up my cooking/crafting skills. (I'm trying really hard to get good enough to make Blackberry Tarts. They look really yummy, virtually wise.)  As I was running around killing various deer afterwards, I thought, if only EVE was like this. Relaxing, enjoyable, without the stress of worrying so much if people are going to target you when you undock if you're not particularly in the mood to pvp at that moment.

But it's not, and here are a few things that need to change:*

High-sec should have no pvp whatsoever. Drastically reducing a suicide pilots standings to make it difficult to constantly suicide gank is not good enough. High-sec should be a protected area where people can mine, haul, and roam around looking at the new nebula in peace. Not only that, but they should make it so wardecs and faction war have no effect there as well. It should be like a 'friendship' zone of sorts where people can get away, be friends, and take a break from the war struggles around them.

Bubbles and points should be completely removed from the game. If a pilot wants to get away, they should have the right to get away without another player doing something to keep them there. Warp Disrupters, Warp Scramblers, Interdictor bubbles, and anchorable bubbles limit the sandbox and make it easier for the evil pvpers to carry out their evil plans.

Thirdly, low-sec should be made safer. Right now, it's the home of pirates, theieves, and griefers. Low-sec is supposed to be Empire still, just not as perfect as high-sec! So why does it sometimes feel that low-sec is almost more dangerous then null-sec?


  • They should increase the GCC timer to at least 30 minutes.
  • They should make perma-flashy like being permanently GCC, with the gate and station guns always firing at them.
  • They should make it so that no pvp can take place on empire owned structures, such as gates and stations.
  • If there is someone GCCed, or with bad sec status in a system, a popup should come up when you jump in warning you that their are bad people in local. 


They could even add a game mechanic, similar to the private chat mechanic, where a popup appears on your screen from the leader of a gang to another saying, "Individual X would like to initiate combat with you, do you accept?" If "Yes" is pressed, then the fight would commence, otherwise, the gang would be unlockable.

Fourthly, They should make it very, very difficult to help a pirate in empire, even if they are in the same corp, militia, alliance, etc. Right now, if you help a pirate in your corporation, you only get temporary GCC at that time! It should be that your standings drop significantly, based on a formula that takes into account the standings of the pirate you are helping, vs the people he is shooting. (The people you are helping him kill.) Therefore, the better the standing of the person he's shooting will make your standing hit greater, and the lower the pirates standing, the even lower the hit will be, whereas helping a sort-of pirate kill another really evil person won't be as bad, based on the formula.

The formula should also take into account the level of the system you are in, therefor if it's .4, you will get a worse hit then a .1, etc. It should also take into account the size of the system, because how fast you can get there to help him does matter, so you will need to calculate the average distance between the two further points in space. And then, apply a factor based on the mass of each ship involved, so that if you use bigger ships to help, it costs more, and if you help him kill bigger ships, it also costs more.

That would help against people using neutral logistics to help them. It would be best to make it so that no logistics can be applied on a pirate whilst in battle, but that might be pushing things a little.

Also, shooting player-pirates should increase your sec status in the same way killing rats does. You are, after all, helping CONCORD.

Finally, they should have a space jail. It apparent to me that standings losses, GCC, etc., are not helping to win the battle against griefers. People who are griefed upon should be able to 'press charges' with some sort of created tribunal, allowing that tribunal to throw the offending party into the space jail.

In this space jail, you could force the pilots into labor, making them mine and manufacture things for the good of the empire. They could be forced to work until they had made up the difference of whatever they stole, killed, etc. to repay the injured party.

You could have the CSM oversee this jail, as a part of their duties, or even have the CSM be the tribunal to which we complain. As elected officials, they would be expected to keep the peace, and judge the offending party. All player petitions regarding griefing, and other atrocities would automatically be forwarded to the existing CSM Chair's inbox.

And that's all I have to say about that. For now.




*No pirates spontaneously killed themselves while writing this post, nor was bribery involved. The author of this post may have been under the influence of a brief bout of insanity during the writing of this post. Individuals with no sense of sarcasm should not read this post, and those who find themselves heartily agreeing with the opinions and suggestions herein should be systematically taken out and shot.

34 comments:

  1. Coming from you, this is frackin' hilarious Susan... brilliant! Should have been called 'A Modest Proposal' though...

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  2. I totally agree. Baddies in space jail, yo.

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  3. Clearer Minds PrevailJanuary 18, 2012 at 11:48 AM

    I would tend to disagree with the entire premise of this post for one major reason really: EVE Online is meant to simulate the realities of real life if it where to occur in the future and in space.

    In reality, there is an assumption of relative safety. You have police to enforce laws and protect the locals. Concord does that, but it does not mean that crime is non-existent. People still get murdered, robbed, conned, etc. The police reacts as fast as they can, but it is typically reactive. Their presence discourages crime when they can be seen (i.e. Concord already sitting at a gate or asteroid belt).

    What you are asking for is a social utopia, isolated from reality. Such things do not exist because of the human factor. Where there are humans, there will be evil.

    The fact is that most highsec residents can make a living in highsec without risking much. Their profits almost always exceed what they lose to crime. Crime does happen though, and just like when I step out of my house in the morning I take calculated risks to minimize the chance of becoming a victim. I don't go into bad neighborhoods that a lot of crime occurs. If I'm walking around downtown at night I usually do so with a friend around. I try to keep a reasonable amount of situational awareness about me and know what to do if I run into trouble.

    Bumbling idiots who think they can go through life unscathed while ignoring precaution are the most likely to become victims, like that autopiloting shuttle a cargohold full of PLEX who gets suicide ganked, or that miner in a 0.5 system that doesn't set known ganker and griefer corps to bad standings so he can see when trouble might be brewing in the system.

    People play EVE because they like risk. It's exhilarating...kind of like playing a game of chicken with a freight train or jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. If this isn't the sort of thing you find enticing, then you are playing the wrong game. There are others out there which have PVP free areas.

    I'll tell you what though, I've lost far more in "Market PVP" than I ever have in combat. Should we have a Market PVP area too so I don't have to deal with competition? Obviously not.

    The criminals and gankers are also essential to the economy. They destroy things which creates demand due to the need to have those things replaced. This benefits the miners who produce materials to build those things, the industrialists who actually build it, and the marketers who sell it. It's a circular and symbiotic relationship. Without loss there is no economy, and when there is no economy there is no reason to play EVE.

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  4. Replies
    1. I especially liked the disclaimer!

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    2. Apparently no one else saw that. Good post.

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  5. Boy am I glad you aren't making decisions on the future of the game.

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  6. Heh, you had me right up until:

    Bubbles and points should be completely removed from the game.

    Very amusing post lol

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  7. Boy am I glad you aren't being tested on your observatory skills. :D

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  8. They could call the expansion EVE Online: Fluffy Pillows of Zen. Thank you for this post, I feel like a better person, like I should skip around my home wearing my wife's clothes, then cavort outside in the flowers and sunshine. Thank you for enriching my day.

    In all seriousness, I actually like the idea of a labour camp, well at least the idea of performing mining/manufacturing missions to recover security status. This could boost low-sec industry and create more targets of opportunity with the lolsome bonus of the victim having previously been the aggressor. Karma.

    Does this mean I have to go outside and sarcastically shoot myself?

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  9. You know when you write it it's a troll. When Ankh wrote it in her CSM platform it was deadly serious.

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  10. I totally approve these ideas. PvP is ruining Eve.

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  11. I came, I laughed, I loved.

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  12. This is the funniest thing I've read in a while. Props for trollin'. Sadly someone may actually take you seriously. :/

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  13. You are playing the wrong game, woman.

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  14. Did You die In Empire then Jump Into Low Sec Then Die Then End Up In Null-Sec Then Die Because To Me You Sound Like You Genuanly Suckz :)

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  15. I was bummed at the end cause I thought we were gonna get Blackberry Tarts in Eve. Really, seriously, unless we can bake pastery goodness it isn't really an improvement. I want pie!

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  16. You could become a Pie eating a Pie!! :)

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  17. Korg, seriously, the Pie People of Pielandia up in Molden Heath are not to be mocked!!

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  18. I think that the eve simulated market is too dangerous for a wee nublet to buy things...they should control that too...and I think that everyone should get fuzzy ship outlines and cool decals

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  19. Yea, Hummmm Well What comes to mind I will not type. But Care Bear comes close... Not that the whole accept aggression thing wouldn't be handy instead of can dropping. But Seriously the rest is totally Crap.

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  20. SPACE JAIL.

    CONSEQUENCES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

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  21. Ok this totally defeats the purpose of the game. How the game is setup when in low-sec or nu-sec is completely player controlled. Why would you want these things to change? It's a damn sandbox game and the beauty of the game is what is EvE online today!

    Horrible Blog... Really horrible this is TOTAL CRAP!

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  22. So it's now proven...no one reads the fine print!
    +1 would visit again

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  23. Haha awesome post!

    I like the space jail though. This could be interesting and it is in fact realistic and fits the sandbox concept.
    Would be hilarious seeing some of the notorious pirates mine asteroids in jail :)

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  24. First this typed "A Load of Crap"

    it's the title of the entry, which makes it even more entertaining to read people bashing the position and calling you a carebear

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  25. Actually, in all seriousness, I agree with almost everything in the OP... with one condition.

    These rule changes should be isolated to one system. Only one system.

    And that system must only have one exit. And that exit must be into a null-sec system.

    So I can camp it.

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  26. How about pirates check in their weapons at the gate with Concord when they come from low-sec to high-sec? And to symbolise the peaceful transformation, all ships in high sec get a new paint-job, pink and purple with rainbow-coloured unicorns. /dance needs to be enabled urgently, please run for CSM and make it so. Glad carebears have finally found their champion! Thanks for the awesome Trolling, made my day! ;-)

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  27. Damn you Susan. I started reading this and thought; "are you kidding me?"

    Then I thought; "nah, she must be trolling."
    I kept reading looking for the admittance to trolling and you only got more and more ridiculous.

    I literally thought you might the Ankhdontknowhername forever long name former CSM carebear whack job who was booted from CSM in disguise. She advocated in game jail for criminals.

    I totally glossed over the "fine print". And completely missed "Troll" in the key word list at the bottom. In bright gold, I might add.

    Great writing darlin'. You had me fooled.

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  28. I am not sure what I laughed more about. The whole text before the disclaimer, the disclaimer itself or the posts of the people who didn't get the joke.

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  29. (Ok, so I choked a little when I read this till I got to the bottom. It probably means I need to get to know Susan a bit better!)

    You guys all laugh, but someone actually got elected to the CSM before using this platform. No joke!

    Don't worry...the story ends with them throwing spoons at other CSM members during meetings, a breach of NDA, and subsequently being booted from the council.

    But yeah, there are those out there that feel this way....more than you'd think.

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