Apparently on the test server CCP has nerfed the one thing that works well against the null sec cartels and their overpowered ezmode teleporting, fleet-warping blobs. Stealth Bombers. They've changed Stealth Bombers to decloak when within 2km of each other again.
The null babies cried for stealth bombers to be nerfed and once again CCP is obediently complying with their demands.
The null babies cry that ISBoxing bombers is too easy (and yes it is) but then again ISBoxing anything is too easy. Including capital ships in the null cartel blobs. Why not fix the real problem, the use of ISBoxer, rather than nerfing the one thing that's actually effective for smaller groups trying to fight cartel blobs?
Oh but that wouldn't be fair because all the cartel pilots boxing multiple accounts in those blobs wouldn't be able to do that anymore. And we certainly can't nerf anything the null badies like to (ab)use can we? We just have to make sure it isn't very useful *against* them.
Why not remove fleet-warp since it's just an ezmode way for the cartels to ensure perfect blob drops with everyone landing on target at the exact same moment?
Why not make it so orbiting the Fleet Commander is detrimental rather than optimal? How about making it so having living, breathing, *thinking* pilots behind the keyboard confers some slight advantage over the mindless F1 mashing blob monkeys of the cartels? And how many of those F1 monkeys are using an autoit or ahk script to do the incredibly simple button mashing for them? Why not require a modicum of personal skill from and coordination between individual pilots rather than making everything so damned easy one person can control everything?
OMG, CCP might lose a few null sec F1 blob monkey subscriptions if they can't ISBox all their accounts, teleport and fleet-warp perfectly into fights. But damned if anyone should have an effective countermeasure vs blob drops, nerf the hell out of that!
And while we're at it, lets remove jump capability from capital ships too and put them back into the role extremely large and powerful ships belong in.
Really CCP get your heads out of the sand, stop pandering to the guys that broke null sec in the first place and start listening to the rest of your player base before you lose it entirely and have nothing left besides a few thousand assholes from those awful forums chasing away any new players dumb enough to try the game.
The problem is by banning ISBOXER CCP would lose about half of their subscriptions. There's no going back at this point so the only thing left is to make gameplay less 'bottable' to begin with. A skilled fleet can still operate bomber fleets well anyway.
ReplyDeleteYes but why should bomber fleets require high skill while the blobs still require almost no skill at all?
DeleteSo everything should be easy because one thing is? This is a great change that brings player skill back into play. And yes ISboxer stuff is broken. Not a good reason not to fix this. On a personal note you sound extemely bitter about nullsec dwellers. Insert *where did they touch you* joke here.
DeleteI'm just fed up with CCP continually pandering to ~20% of the player base. They get everything they want, all they have to is cry loud enough and CCP bends over backwards to do it for them.
DeleteWAH! Stealth Bombers can actually hurt our blobs! CCP FIX NOW!
DeleteAnd CCP nerfs bombers.
WAH! Warping the entire gigantic fleet at once is too hard! CCP FIX NOW!
And CCP obeys giving them ezmode fleet-warp!
WAH! We can't build anything null because the ISK faucets aren't 10x better than anywhere else! CCP FIX NOW!
And CCP bends over again, null sec industry, mining, refining, etc., all get repeated buffs until practically everything is way more profitable in null than anywhere else.
Meanwhile just about everthing in hi sec gets nerfed constantly. All because the null sec babies keep crying that hi sec shouldn't be good for anything.
The list goes on, null babies get whatever they want.
MoxNix, you missed the conclusion where CCP has listened to the whispers of the cartel leaders into CCP's collective ear, and CCP is writing off the high sec subscription base. The cartels used to make up 20% of the player base. That percentage is changing, and fast.
DeleteThe differentiation between NPC null sec and low sec gets more blurred every day. High sec players have left in droves. Very soon, null sec will be the only game in town, and the cartel leaders will love you long time for a paltry 15% of everything you earn.
Null players are 20% of the playerbase? Where's that figure from? Most null players I know have more high sec alts than null characters, so I reckon that figure is off.
DeleteThat said, highsec has had plenty of boosts, stronger faster concord, MTUs for easy looting, burner missions, the list goes on. So it's not all nerfs (in fact, I can only think of a few nerfs to highsec in recent history - perhaps you could do a blog post detailing the constant highsec nerfs). And null has had nerfs, like bounty reductions and the introduction of siphons.
Seems to me that when null gets any form of a boost, even just a long overdue balance of a single ship group going hand in hand with a massive nerf to nullsec, you highsec players are up in arms, yet when highsec gets huge boosts on top of the existence of concord, it somehow gets dismissed.
Bearing in mind this is on the blog of a highsec player who is coming up on being a trillionaire while playing only a few hours a week, highsec doesn't seem so bad off.
Yeah the 20% number is probably low now but that just proves my point. CCP is alienating the rest of the user base by continually pandering to the null cartels and giving them just about everything they want. Players are leaving the game because of it. Sure a lot of their accounts get replaced by null cartel alt accounts but that can't last forever. Eventually it'll reach a tipping point where there aren't enough non cartel players left to support the cartels and the whole house of cards will come crashing down.
DeleteThen it'll be far too late to fix the problem.
Only spending an hour or two a day playing the market doesn't mean I only play a few hours a week. And when I cut back more than that maybe it's because I'm spending the time doing something else, like oh say, flying stealth bombers.
And while I might have 2 or 3 clients up at once, I don't use multiboxing software. Not even simple Autoit or AHK macros, far less something like ISBoxer.
When you say continually pander, what exactly do you mean? Null gets plenty of nerfs. If any space is receiving only buffs, it's WH space. If you aren't using isboxer you should be pretty unaffected by this change. By the way, the majority of isboxer use in the game is highsec mining. Beyond stealth bomber runs and some miners and ratters, I don't know of many null players using it certainly not for capital control (multiboxing caps invalidates srp in many cases), so if they did remove it completely, it would again be seen as a nerf to highsec.
DeleteOh OK, I thought I read somewhere on here that you only played the market. Either way, look how much isk you earn through that low effort activity. That couldn't be done outside of highsec to that degree, so perhaps highsec needs a look. Even mission blitzing is more rewarding than nullsec ratting.
I have watched so many new players unsub over the last year it makes me sick. I agree with you Mox.
ReplyDeletewhere did you read about this stealth bomber nerf, it isnt on the latest dev blog from what i can see.
ReplyDeleteThe dev blog only mentioned a stealth bomber "rebalance", but players on the test server say the nerf is on there now.
DeleteTalking about it now, before it goes live is the best way to try to make sure it *doesn't* go live.
DeleteHere are a couple more links discussing the nerf
http://nosygamer.blogspot.ca/2014/10/a-stealth-bomber-nerf-due-to-isboxer.html
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5106839
I only use stealth bombers in solo and small gang wormhole hunting but this could make coordination a little more obnoxious when hunting with buddies.
ReplyDeleteExactly this hurts the little guy who doesn't multibox a lot more than it hurts multiboxers who will just switch to boxing something else.
DeleteThe only real difference it will make is removing the one thing that's very effective at all for smaller groups fighting the giant cartels and their blobs.
Trust me, Im sure the smaller groups are more interested in different gameplay other than being an F1 monkey, or they would be in the blob cartels to begin with. I think this is a atep in the right direction even if removing isboxer would be ideal (but not feasible at this point)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your first statement but not the second.
DeleteThey're killing the mouse in the garage (bombers) while ignoring the elephant rampaging in the living room (cap blobs). Worse yet the only reason they killed the mouse is because the elephant is afraid of mice.
It's ridiculous bombers get nerfed hurting all bomber pilots because 1 guy multiboxes 37 bombers with what should be considered cheat software, yet cartel blobs with literally THOUSANDS of ships, many of which everyone knows perfectly well are being multiboxed complete with ezmode AFK fleet-warp, orbiting the leader and automatic AFK button mashing scripts and all so they don't even have to BE THERE at the keyboard other than for a few minutes.
Just imagine how loudly the cartels would instruct their minions to scream if having *their* ships within 2 km of each other made them much easier to kill.
ReplyDeleteIt'd mean the end of blobs.