(OOC) CK’s Blog Banter #25: How To Break EvE.
This month’s topic comes to us from @Tetraetc – “Tetra’s EVE Blog” – who asks: “Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? Imagine a Null Sec where anyone could build outposts wherever. Would the reduction of the alliance game mechanic, and the removal of the sovereignty game mechanics (or the modifcation of it from Alliance level to Corp level for that matter) force more PVP into Null sec, or would giant power blocs like the NC still form themselves?”
One may wonder why CCP often seems guarded about player suggestions. This topic is a pretty good example of why. This “suggestion” could also be read as, “Imagine CCP totally ruining any sort of believability in the simulation they are trying to build, while breaking a slew of mechanics at the same time”.
Let’s take a look at the imagry used in the topic above. Could you imagine every corp having to maintain their own POS? And what about defense of that POS? The cost and pain-in-the-ass nature of such an endeavour for all but the VERY largest corps would be so skewed, most players would either sit in hisec and occasionally take trips to lowsec for PvP, or quite the game entirely. So suddenly nullsec AND lowsec are dealing with a lack of paradigm and CCP would probably be looking at a mass exodus of subscribers.
From a gameplay perspective, removing alliances would only cause such mechanics to be handled off the grid and would thereby annoy so many players that CCP would probably have a subscriber sustainability issue on their hands. If I remember my EvE history, the inclusion of allaince mechanics was one of those “fraking finally” moments, right alongside the skill queue. CCP would be insane to remove it now. What about dropping sov to corp level? Ask any major alliance heads and they will tell you that such a switch would cause their workload in diplomacy and warfare to drop geometrically. Trust me when I tell you, they have enough on their plate as it is. Plenty of people already blur the line between work and play so most players don’t have to. Let’s not push them, OK?
There’s another consequence to take note of. The reason industrial pursuits of any kind are of interest to players is not just because it is a player-run economy, but because it is an ACTIVE economy. Lots of buying and selling and trading happening all the time. It makes people log in. If the amount of nullsec PvP were to drop as I would imagine these changes would cause, the economy would become stagnant. If things are not getting used up, the flow of buying new things would slow to a crawl, and all those indy players would have no reason to log in because suddenly those Invulnurability Field IIs that would have sold like hotcakes in 24 hours are now taking a week or more to clear out. Indy players quit, CCP loses even more players.
From an RP perspective, alliances are necessary because people in such environments will band together to pool resources and share burdens. This has been true since the dawn of man on Earth. Does any of this limit RP potential? HELLS NO! How about people stop shitting on RP corps and alliances and whine about a lack of RP opportunities in the same breath. How about that? How could removing a function of COMMUNICATION and GROUP PLAY in any way reduce your ability to RP? Don’t want to worry about sov? Join an alliance that have no interest in holding space. We may play in the virtual void of space but that doesn’t mean you have to be cut off from other players to RP. Quite the opposite in fact!
Participants:
- CrazyKinux’s Musing: EVE Blog Banter #25: And by Alliance you mean…..?
- BB25 What sov changes will come? | A Mule In EvE
- Confessions of a Closet Carebear: Alliances and Sovereignty
- Blog Banter 25: Nerfing Nulsec « OMG! You’re a Chick?!
- Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? | Nitpickin’s
- Blog Banter #25: Alliance and Sovereignty Limiting PvP in 0.0? | Sarnel Binora’s Blog
- Blog Banter #25 – Mad Haberdashers
- Alliances and sovereignty | Eve Online Focus
- …Shall we not Revenge?: BB 25: What if the Alliance vanished?
- Blog Banter: Alliances and Sov
- EVEOGANDA: BB25: Sov ‘n Go!
- » TBG:EBB#25 – Alliances and Sovereignty To Boldly Go
- Freebooted: BB25: Leviathans of the Deep
- Wrong Game Tetra ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
- EVE Blog Banter #25 – Human nature what art thou? | Way of the Gun
- Who cares about Sov? – Hands Off, My Loots! ~ well sorta like an entry! :p
- The 25th EVE Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty – The Phoenix Diaries
- Achernar: The space commute
- Wandering the Void…my EvE musings. – Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty
- (OOC) CK’s Blog Banter #25: How To Break EvE. « Prano’s Journey
- Captain Serenity: Blog Banter #25 – Crappy mechanics
- Helicity Boson » Blog Banter #25 Nullsec and sov.
- BB #25 – “With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?”
- Boom! Hull-Shot?: It’s the End of the Eve as We Know It
- sered’s lives: EVE Blog Banter #25 – Size does matter
- 25th EVE BB – Medieval Solutions to Spaceship Problems | Inventions of a New Eden Industrialist
- Eve Blog Banter #25: “Have Alliances and Sov Limited PvP and RP in 0.0?” « Align Outbound
- Banter 25: Sovereignty, Alliances and Power Blocs | TheElitist
- Blog Banter 25 – But I just left all that! « A Scientist’s Life in Eve
- Nobody likes losing « One capsuleer against all
- >>>Vigil Ant: Alliances and SOV by Munny’s eyes.
- Latro’s Bunker: Blog Banter 25 -Nullsec and Sov
- A “CareBears” Journey » Blog Banner #25: Alliances and Sovereignty, and their affect on PVP and RP
- Blog Banter #25 – Unstoppable « Roc’s Ramblings
- Nobody likes losing « One capsuleer against all
- EVE Blog Banter on PVP in Null Sec « Evehermit’s Blog
- Sleepless in Space: Blog Banter #25: Moar Low Sec!
- More to come…
