Poll: What changes would you like to see to FW?

“The changes that I would like to see implemented most to FW is a change in the combat aid mechanics and a meaning to plexing.

At the moment people are encouraged to use out-militia logistic pilots because militia pilots get considerable standing hits when repping a gcc or outlaw pilot. Some people, including myself, use that standing to accept missions and fuel their pvp efforts.

Although FW plexes can give nice fights and to roleplayers it might be very interesting, for the average militia member that is not a roleplayer flipping occupancy has no real benefit to it, except for chest-beating. It takes quite some effort and it can be very dull if you are in a remote system. Like I said, good fights can happen, but even the minor plexes are not noob-friendly because faction frigates rule in those and no militia noob will be able to afford a faction frigate.

Therefore I hope CCP gives a tactical or strategic meaning to occupancy.” JasonXXL, Gallente

“Faction Warfare started over three years ago and has gotten very few changes since. Right now, CCP has labeled it as “PVP for Noobs” and generated an easy way for your average scrub to make loads of ISK off of LP. Since implementation, the only changes they’ve made have been towards the mission-running aspect of it, and a few changes of the plexing mechanics behind the scenes they never tell you about (making it irritating for plexers who have to re-learn the hidden mechanics through trial-and-error). Largely ignored by CCP, faction warfare has been kept alive by the avid FWers across EVE trying to add their own twist to it (DeT Resprox should get kudos for his work with the T.R.I.A.D agency, which offers non-npc missions to Minmatar-giving rewards for PvP kills and other PvP related objectives).

The changes to FW I’d like to see are vast, but I think there are a few crucial ones that take priority over the rest:

Firstly, CCP needs to shut up about FW being for newb players. It is true that militias have a lot of new players in them and it is a good starting point for a lot of players to learn PvP, but I find it funny they say FW is a stepping stone to null-sec. Very often, we have recruits who are tired of the sometimes unskilled and laggy combat that takes place in the larger null-sec alliances who decide to join the militias. It’s not uncommon for militia fleets to wipe the floor with null-sec alliances when they don’t bring their superior capital fleets in also. Mis-labeling FW as such is just an excuse for CCP to ignore fixing the many issues with it.

Secondly, plexing needs tangible rewards. FW has devolved to simple gate-camps between a stretch of 2-3 systems which have no purpose other than to try to get a fight. Without objectives that people actually want to capture/hold, there is little incentive for people to fight against the odds, which often results in hours of inactivity unless a roaming neutral fleet rears their heads in the warzone. If CCP adds some incentives to plexing, such as LP gain or giving real advantages to occupying systems (like access to station services), this will create a much more diverse warzone where people actually care to fight against the odds.

Thirdly, I would like to see the the plexes changed so they require more than a simple speed tanker. NPC’s also need balancing (Amarr NPCs < Minmatar NPCs) so they are actually comparable. Plexes should require all NPC’s to be destroyed, or some objective completed (other than a simple timer; something like Sansha Incurions maybe) before they can be captured. This prevents people from solo speed-tanking a major plex with a T1-fit vigil, and would require a bit more work from the militias to change system occupancy.

Lastly, make missions more difficult. It should not be possible to solo a lvl 4 Minmatar FW mission with a single stealth bomber. FW has gotten a huge influx of mission running alts, driving down the prices on the FW LP stores and make it more difficult for the actual militia PvPers to support themselves. These stealth-bomber alts (which are both quickly trained and placed into the militia) are usually supporting non-militia PvPers, who are often attacking the militias.” Eran Mintor, Amarr

“Well the problem lies with low-sec in general. There’s really no isk to be made in low-sec. There are better options like WH, L4s, etc. Pvp is fun. That is a fact. I’m a pretty old player, and sometimes my heart still races when I pvp. The rush is so good.

As I see it, if CCP would make pvp profitable somehow, low-sec and FW would flourish. Thing is though, pvp is more of an isk sink. Take 0.0 for example, there’s a reason to fight – to defend your territory, and all the isk that comes with it.

I often solo roam and often when targets are scarce, I ask myself, why aren’t I making ISK instead? I’m just wasting my time flying around looking for stuff to shoot.

On the other hand though, if FW/Low-sec becomes an ISK faucet, the excitement would diminish since the sense of loss is removed. It’s a problem that CCP has to solve. But as is, it definitely needs an overhaul.” Phuong, Caldari

“Make killing WTs more rewarding.

While killing enemy ships has a sporadic LP reward (which, by the way, should be divided among all combatants and not just top damage dealer) there should also be a bounty placed by our government on enemy pod pilots. Possibly by the rank of the enemy pilot. This would help offset the large cost of losing ships in PvP. Again, the bounty shouldn’t be just to the final blow dealer, but like missions and rats, divided among all participants on the combat grid.

Make plexing more rewarding.

Plexing is boring as hell. If we could see how much capturing added or removed to the status of a system (like in Incursions) then we could motivate people to plex more. And, there should be monetary rewards and loyalty points involved, they don’t have to be large but any little bit helps. And maybe our navies don’t have to be quite so dumb? They could be more like Sanshas…

Make captured systems have some real consequence.

I’m not sure on the details of this one. Maybe we add local navy ‘rats’ to captured systems? Maybe there is some sort of home field bonus to killing enemies in captured systems (to both sides) in an ISK reward? I’d also have a large monetary boost and LP reward to those pilots who capture a bunker. And I’d make a miltia-wide broadcast to both militias when a system has gone vulnerable. Or, over time if a system is captured the friendly rats get tougher/smarter, or maybe it becomes more and more difficult to reclaim the system?

And I’d create a huge reward in ISK and LP to any militia that actually wins… that is, capturing all systems and holding them over time. Medals, LP and ISK rewards militia wide when this happens, and rewarded again maybe for each day that the militia hangs onto all enemy systems…” Kuan Yida, Minmatar