EVE-Mag.com

Yet again I have returned to the Center for all deep thinkers pondering the changes to EVE, yup the official forum. Again I am amazed at the brilliant, well thought out threads with deep debates concerning the differences upcoming patches will generate. Without a doubt I am being sarcastic. I am amazed alright, amazed that many people seem to post without giving a second’s thought about the subject at hand. So I have decided to try and dissect the impending changes in hopes of giving you a clearer idea as to what EVE will be like after the patches hit Tranquility.

The end to pvp is not coming. I know a lot of you were hoping it was so you can indulge your secret fantasies of being a female night elf archer bouncing around a fairy infested forest and picking flowers to make “fancy perfume level 10”. Your excuse to abandon ship, that you were forced to “resort” to playing a fantasy mmo has yet to materialize. So settle down, shut the frak up and read before thinking of a name for your guild.

I’ll start with what is likely to be the least controversial change coming up, the high sec ganking nerf. Some people are wondering why Concord would respond faster then in the past. Why would there be a bigger sec hit when attacking someone in 1.0 as opposed to .5? It’s rather simple. Ganking someone in highsec is an “illegal” act as far as concord is concerned, that would cause them to respond. The patch will cause concord to respond realistically, if you were to stop and think about it. I being from the U.S., in California, I have been to various areas where the police presence varied greatly. That difference in presence corresponded with the “value” of the area to the city I was in.

Over here areas such as Airports have a higher level of security then a McDonalds. City hall has a higher sec rating then the rough side of town. Banks receive priority response times as well as force level while a corner liquor store will receive a slower response with a fraction of the force of the bank response. Did the police lag? Did they not spawn enough patrol cars on accident? No, what happens in RL is areas of high value such as airports, banks and city halls receive quicker response times and with a greater level of force to any calls about a problem. Areas of lower value such as the rough side of town or a corner market are towards the bottom of the preferential treatment list. An increase in response time makes sense but so would a response time based on the security level of the system.

What we are seeing with the change to Concord is bringing them more in line with RL police forces. Punishment will be scaled based upon the value of the system. It doesn’t mean that crimes cannot be committed but simply put there will be a higher price to be paid for that crime. Much like punching a rich guy is bound to get you sued with a pack of rabid lawyers but punching a guy barely eking out a living will not get the same response. You committed a crime in a high value area, in order to keep the high value area secure the police force needs to crack down harder on any infraction. You don’t create highly secure areas by allowing people to slide, that’s how you create low sec areas. Feel free to commit the crime, just be sure you’re aware of the increased level of punishment for your choices in a high value system. Your ability to recover from your actions has been modified but the actions are still an option for you to play. Carebears still need to worry about being ganked after the change, which is far from being a “no fire zone” that they have called for in the past.

The fact that CCP has announced that the sec hit will be modified based upon the attacker and target’s sec rating, as well as that of the system leaves a lot of room for low sec hits for an attack. Not everyone is a bloody saint, not everyone grinds missions for their isk. Those that have complained the most about getting ganked in highsec seem to be industrialist moving high value goods to and from trade hubs. There is a good chance that hauler alt you’ve been wanting to gank have never been used to do a single mission and is carrying a big zero for their sec rating. Add in the fact that not all of “empire” is 1.0 space and that leaves you with a lot of areas in which to gank the hauler without taking the maximum sec hit for your act of aggression. Does it really matter if you gank the target in Jita or 3 jumps out?

Those crying that the change to hisec ganking being a sign that CCP is bowing to the carebears really need to take a look in the mirror. Attacking another player in a high security area and expecting very little to change between you and the law enforcement agency is rather “carebear” like. To expect an insurance payout for a ship that the police destroyed because you went against the laws they are there to enforce is “carebear” like. Look in the mirror and see if your starting to grow brightly colored fur and getting a desire to mine veldspar in jita.

Something I have seen in a large number of threads is, “Eve is a cold, harsh, uncaring world so get used to it”. Of course if your idea of a “cold harsh world” is one where the criminals are not punished severely then your idea of such a world is distorted. Cold and hard does not suggest it will be warm and fuzzy for the aggressor simply because he has decided to attack another person. Cold and harsh should envelope everything, every play style, every area, every player and every reaction. In short, you got your cold, harsh and uncaring world upgraded and balanced. I myself am not a hisec ganker but that does not mean I am against it. In a way it serves to shake up the safe and cozy life of some players and while they may not like it, it keeps the game semi realistic separates it from mmos that use arenas for conflict.

What does the change to high sec ganking really mean in the end? Simply put the haulers, miners and anyone else that has been ganked is still not safe. You’ll receive support sooner but it appears that the hand of God will not be reaching out and slapping the attackers as hard as in the past, just faster. Take it as a mixed blessing, faster response times but with a lighter force. For the attackers, it means you will have to rethink how you pick your targets and where you attack them. As well as question if they are worth 100% loss of your investment that is your ship. It doesn’t mean you can’t gank or be ganked in highsec, it simply means the mechanics of the gank has changed. For the better or worse is still up in the air and will likely end up being different with every gank. Maybe some of those that dread the change will find it beneficial in the end.