EVE Blog Banter #25: And By Alliance You Mean Blob?

Welcome to the twenty-fifth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles here.

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 (and 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?"

It's about time I jump aboard the band wagon and attempt a serious and thought out response to the recent Blog Banter.

Corporations like clumping into Alliances, Alliances like these clumps as it helps their "winning" chances. Alliances clump with Alliances into power blocs, these power blocs steamroll the rest of the Eve population for a time, but nobody stays on top forever.

Clumps eventually get broken up for a variety of reasons, politics, boredom, game changes etc etc.

Our recent experience with Pandemic Legion (PL) has shown me that Jump Bridges (JB) are over powered and should have their effectiveness reduced. I would like to see JB's only able to move hull sizes above Battleship, everything Battleship and below has to go the long way.

Would this reduce the huge power blocs? Probably not but it would give the others a chance to attack those fleets having to jump through many gates to arrive at the destination. It would reduce the power projection possibilities that are currently available which may, over time, help re-distribute the political map.

Sovereignty (SOV) is a tough one for smaller Alliances. For example we have tried to raise SOV several times only to have a PL smack down fleet which has dozens of supercaps arrive, destroy our stuff, take the station and leave. Sometimes in the time it takes me to perform a bio break!

So what is the fault here? The large power blocs at the moment or the SOV mechanics? I think both but I feel a potential fix to the SOV mechanics could actually be made by reducing the ease these blocs can project their force.

So to answer the first part of the question, yes PVP is currently limited but this may be caused by other factors than SOV and the Alliance structure.

Making it more expensive for Alliances to hold larger space, by charging an exponentially larger amount for each SOV item doesn't really work as all I'd do is split the Alliance up, take the same places but now for much less ISK and create "blue" agreements with the other segments thus tying it all together.

Alliances like to clump and they like to win!

I cannot see how adding or changing the SOV mechanic to Corporation level rather than Alliance level will matter. The Corporations are just a projection of the Alliance and any non-Alliance Corporation who raised a SOV structure would be smashed by Out Of Game (OOG) timers and the previously mentioned power blocs.

The Role Playing (RP) aspect of this I don't have an opinion on as I've never RP'd and I'm not sure I know anybody in game who does.

To conclude, I believe if you want more PVP then a reduction to the ease of power projection would be required which may then increase null sec traffic which should then improve combat possibilities.

Or maybe not, Eve Online players are a resourceful bunch.

Participants:

Wednesday 2 March 2011

EVE Blog Banter #25: And By Alliance You Mean Blob?

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