With recent proximity alert changes (beacons should have at least 100 blocks), PvP in space will be a lot more quiet. While the change is understandable, it unveils a rising problem with universe structure when it comes to engagements in space.
I’l start from Planetary design to compare it to orbit layout. Golden globe is the most active and one of the smallest planets being a class 2. It’s also the richest planet made out of gold, making it the most lucrative place to mine. Planets of Homeworld system are not as rich and less visited, but still relatively active and easy to access. Other pvp planets are rarely visited and are more or less “semi-safe” zones for mining.
But what about PvP orbits? Black hole sounds like a perfect place for pirates and miners to roam, with lots of resources. But sadly it isn’t. This sector not only has 2 asteroid rings, which take much longer to patrol, most of asteroids are placed randomly near the planet. This is the largest pvp space hotspot with almost no activity. Playerbase is distributed evenly between Walla, Homeworld, Cebo orbits with some of them mining Black Hole.
The only way to find pvp there is to place beacons or ambush enemy faction after Eton event. It used to be much better in season 8 with one asteroid ring with many ores inside, several groups of resource asteroids not far from the rings and a mist field in the middle with a Sphere POI inside it. The idea is that there should be one small hotspot pvp sector with the most valuable resources. It will drive conflict naturally, and force pvp fights for people who want a bit more than they get in other PvP systems.
Also, since beacons should be 100 blocks now, it’s a good idea to encourage base building to control asteroids. As of now, space bases are completely useless since CV manual fire rocket launcher has more range than any of base gun. A prefab cv can destroy any base in space without taking a single hit. Even more, this base should be built manually because of Effective Builder League.
To sum up this post, my suggestions are:
Make Black Hole the most active pvp hotspot by having only 1 asteroid ring with asteroids distributed inside it and close by in groups.
Increase incentive to spawn space bases by buffing their range and removing EBL to control resources which will result in more active pvp.
It’s not a perfect fix but the game options of regulating this are very limited, so my suggestion is to make space pvp possible without need to place beacons. After all, there are no beacons on golden globe, yet this planet is fairly popular, all thanks to universe design
While 100 blocks sv beacon is easy to destroy in seconds by almost anyone, a proper base can serve both as a beacon and as an armed unit to help with resource control, forcing conflict.
In this way, both approaches to space pvp can be viable.
I like this change Politary, I believe miners need some room to move around. However, they have plenty of room in other much less frequently visited sectors, like Cebo and Sathon. I would like to see HomeWorld have most of it’s resource asteroids condensed as well. I frequently see all of the asteroids mined out before I get there. I especially see that in GG, but it is also prevalent in HW.
Also, I have never seen an orbital PvP base on HWS since Alpha 7. An individual told me he had one in deep orbit, but this isn’t alpha 7 and I’m not going 40-80k away from the planet to look for it. We should buff their damage in an attempt to make them more popular
I recently was able to go against 2 Orbital PVP Satelite Bases and One Satelite CV, and I had backup with me. In Pandora, we had 4 CV’s… 1 C1 and 3 C5’s, and the bases were killed within 5 Minutes, recycled in 10. Space Bases are extremely easy to kill as it stands right now.
Will, afaik you can’t buff damage in space without doing the same on planet, and I think bases are already good against SV/HV on planet, provided the correct turret loadout is equipped. (Sidenote, thanks for telling the forums I have a base in space, really appreciate it )
On the topic of Cebo/Walla/Pandora/Sathon/Jupidor, theres very few reasons for “Hunters” to go out there. Sathon and Jupidor are one jump from PvE, with one being PvE at all times. Cebo and Walla are the same way, with one being a constant jump to PvE, and the other being 2 Jumps. Pandora isnt really fought over since theres nothing there to fight over. (Unless you’re Wowie and guarding a racom) Black Hole and Homeworld space are the two hotspots, and thats the only way to currently find a large scale PvP fight. Black Hole being the less likely of the two,
I think at some point we should also look at making it back to where Homeworld Space cannot be warped out of, unless to Walla/Cebo. That’s how it was when I first started on the server, and I heard of a lot more PvP then than now. I’d love to add a “tracking” aspect trying to figure out where your opponent ran to and then having the chance to take him down before he is able to warp into another playfield. This could be done simply by doing the steps I have already pointed out, with making Homeworld a “warp-in only” zone back to PvE.
Perhaps adding a diamond rich poi would drive action as well. Maybe one that is randomly placed in one of the exterior pvp systems. So control is hard to obtain. That would add a daily excitement to finding and raiding the poi. But I disagree that there should be a hot zone. That sounds like when one faction dominates they will reign over the server as they will be resource rich.
IDK, but GG needs to be fixed and new loot tables need to be added to POI’s. Also Promethium needs to be easier to get from terrestrial mining, perhaps add in a sandwich layer on HW planet or exchange the iron for promethium.
IMO, beacons are the least of our problems, PvP needs a rework in general. The only people dying in PvP are new players because they dont know the mechanics, or the random lagshot. Add a combat warp timer, so you cant warp unless you have been out of combat x amount of time, and add some sort of system scanner to give approximate locations of deep space things etc… Maybe add some sort of New Player flag on people with less than x hours in the server, so the community knows not to run them off if they see them… I dont claim to have the answers, I’m just spitting out ideas, but as of right now, fights are just constant K warps and running away, given there are no interdiction mechanics. As for the scans, I know of many bases in PvP space, that are in deep space, making them literally impossible to find, give the PvPers a way to pewpew… The community can play a major role in solving these type problems. For the most part, this is a rather Non-Toxic player base, and we actually want people to play and stick around. We just need ways of knowing who not to shoot lol.(and more targets to shoot at xD) But this is just the measley opinion of a bitter old Eve vet, Pirate extraordinaire lol… -10.0 always =D
Hey all, just thought I’d relay my experience from the prospective of a new player going in blind… I started on the server a couple weeks ago and have recently established a base in the Homeworld system… this was a big deal and took alot of work but here I am Proudly flyin an upgraded Shorthauler ST-02 with a shield, some armour and a few plasma turrets… I’m happily mining away on some gold asteroids being careful to stay away from the starbase which I’ve realized is more heavily armed then I wanna deal with yet… I’m starting to worry about fuel and havent seen anyone in hours so I power down my shields and turrets and carry on getting just one more asteroids worth of gold ore. suddently I hear an explosion and thought " Oh crap I"ve strayed too close to the station… "
not stressing too much I adjust my angle to head for the far side of the asteroid… then the second explosion rocks the whole screen so I jump out of first person to see a capital ship blasting away at me… I hit p try to turn on shields… nothing … hit turrets and weapons … I hear the sound but the turrets dont deploy… thats when I get my first look at my ship … its done… shield gen is gone half the hull is missing and even my thrusters don’t seem to work… thats the last I got to see before I got the respawn screen. never one to back down from a challenge, I spawn at my base jump in my nightshade Mk-V ( and yes I"m a fan of Spanj’s designs) and head back to teach the guy who blindsided me a lesson.
unfortunately when I got back there were two CV’s there and so I died again and lost the nightshade… I didn’t take stock before they got me again but hopefully I at least got in a few good hits before they took me out. … (I wanna mention for anyone in ABN I appreciate the good sportsmanship of your pirates… I forget thier names but they did offer to help me out with an sv after the battle as I assume they felt bad at how easily they chewed through my little fleet.) I didn’t take them up on it because I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to RP a vendetta against ABN (all in fun of course
I think all newbies who lure into PvP knows the risk of seeing other players
But yes PvP requires experience, and that is also how it should be. The only way to gain experience is by keep coming in PvP Someday you’ll beat those pirates.
Also just a tip:
You shouldn’t have “primary” bases in PvP (especially as a newbie), as if you have a base in PvP you’ll need to defend it… and against big faction, and that won’t succeed, if you’re in small faction at least.
Always have a base in PvE you can return to, incase of the worst(You can do cb:sethome: by your base. Then if you die do cb:gohome, and you’ll be teleported to your base.)
There’s a delay on turning shields off. On bases??? I think between 30 seconds and 2min.
Also… Workshop ships in PvP Not a good idea.
You should try building your own ships, and everytime you lose/win in your ship, you improve it afterwards.
thanks for the tips I"ll keep them in mind… to be clear though I wasnt complaining I was praising … I have a base on the edge of a northern lake on Freelancer HQ … working on building a hoverbike race track there drop in anyone … ('cept maybe ABN , haven’t decided on them yet yet
but ya my point is I survived in pvp space for the last week just staying out of the way and minding my own business… I knew full well the risks but haven’t played pvp before and wanted to get my feet wet… long story short I found the experience both challenging and rewarding… the fact that I"ve gotta recoup my losses is a good lesson to be more vigilant in the future. all in all I am glad I got to experience it and am greatly looking forward to the day I come across that black CV in something tough enough to take it… and honestly isnt that the feeling we’re all chasing … if the guy who flys it sees this, get in touch maybe we can fight it out on one of those furballs the HWS admin runs
)
Someday you’ll beat those pirates.
Not a good idea.