Disclaimer: The following article was written by . Please bare in mind that all statements made in the below article are his and do not reflect EN24 in any kind of way!
So there has been a lot of talks about changing and/or removing local from EVE. CCP Fozzie hinted at it on the EVE Down Under podcast and now everyone is all ears. The local channel has always been a hot topic for the game for many years. Recently I listened to The Metashow on TMC and they seemed to have an idea about removing local from all of null space and then allowing player owned sovereignty alliances to upgrade their I-Hub to allow local in that system. And that is when I did a face-palm. Let me explain why.
Local was simply designed as a way for players to meet each other. A communication mechanic that exists in some shape or form in almost all online games. A lobby where you can greet and meet new people and occasionally talk shit too each other. And to that extent it does the job just fine. It was almost a necessity when the game came out over ten years ago. But, like many things; some things outgrow themselves. Players find new and better ways to accomplish the same goal. That and in EVE Online’s case – turn a simple communication tool into the most powerful form of intelligence gathering in the history of online gathering history.
True local channel is still used to talk to everyone in system, but by far the one thing it is used for the most is gathering intelligence. Roaming gangs use it to locate targets. Carebears use it to avoid such predators. Just in one simple glance there is a host of critical information readily available to anyone with a pulse. You can see the exact number of people in the system, their exact names, corporation, alliance and even a color coding system so you can tell who to shoot and who to protect. Everything all within a matter of seconds.
“If we didn’t have it we would never catch anyone to kill”, I hear you proclaim. At first glance this seems true, but upon further inspection, it is the opposite. So much so it is responsible for preventing you from more battles than it helps create.
Think about it. How long does it take you to actually land on grid and engage someone compared to how long that person takes to warp off once they determine they don’t want to space battle it out with you. For the prey, all they simply need to do is click that one button and WHOOSH! They are entering warp and docking in station, landing inside a POS shield or cloaking up at a safe spot. Even if they are not aligned, it takes just a few seconds to get to the safety warp. They don’t have to try and triangulate some directional scanning. They are not launching combat probes. Not scratching their head and wondering if they need to warp to another celestial in system that is further than 14 au scan range from the gate they just came in from the neighbouring system. Nope. None of that. For all you know they already started the safety dance when you were five jumps away due to you being reported in an intelligence channel. Why take chances right?
And why the hell should they bother sticking around with that PvE ship anyways? Those don’t stand a chance against a PvP fit ship anyways. It’s not about being a coward, but about being smart. Why offer themselves up as content at all when everyone knows that by doing so, it just means you and more will be back the same time tomorrow looking for more action. So if they deny you action maybe you will start looking elsewhere and let them carebear in peace.
“And that is why I use my new Entosis Link or whatever to turn off their local,” I hear you proclaim. At least that was the attached idea on the TMC Metashow. Sounds great at first, but think about it. Are they going to just undock and go back to whatever it was they were doing with no local now? Of course not. No, they are going to send in a scout to check out the I-hub where you hacked it. Run some other guys zipping across the system looking for your gang. Stare intently at the intelligence channel not blinking an eye for an hour waiting for signs that you have been seen elsewhere and have moved on. Then, and only then, will they turn local back on and it is business as usual.
Mittens, Laz, Random Chick and Progodlegend (CSM member) also turn on their nerd boners over the idea of NPC null not having the luxury of turning on their local. Mittens said these would be the places of null where gangs come to encounter each other and battle it out. They all liked it. But again, I can’t help but ask the question; why does it sound exciting for this space to be the ‘edge of your seat holy fuck adventure is real where did these guys come from oh my fuck I’m in structure this is amazeballs!’ Yet if this was the case for the rest of the game the same situation turns into ‘this is such a pain in the ass I can’t find anyone, why bother living here, nerf Incursions, I hate this game, fire the CCP developer who green lit this piece of shit idea!’
It rings of the age-old nerf them and buff me. Even during the podcast Mittens said Goons have a 3rd party tool that gathers local intelligence, does a shake and bake and basically enables a super intelligence gathering tool so they can easily monitor all enemy activity in their space. I have nothing against goons, but they are not being shy about why having local is an incredibly powerful tool. It was already powerful before and now combined with an automated system. I mean wow.
The point is local needs to go away and never come back. I don’t mean take it away and then offer it up as some ultra powerful upgrade for sovereignty holders. None of this constellation substitute business either. NO MORE AUTOMATED INTELLIGENCE GATHERING STUFF! You want intelligence, then put some humans on it. Sure redo the directional scanner to be more rewarding and intuitive for the player, but in no way shape or form use automation as a massive crutch to prop it up.
I do exploration and do you know what window is sitting directly next to the hacking mini-game? Yup, local channel. Do I run a site if a bad guy is in local? No, of course not. Rarely anyone does sans bait. Do aggressing war targets use their main characters to hunt war targets? No, of course not. They use an alt so the war targets do not see them in local. Does a fleet spread out across many systems looking for the enemy? Nope. Most of the time it is just the one scout. Normally they just run around looking for the system that has a large number of bad guys listed in the local chat window and presto, found them. Now if there was no local, that large fleet would have to spread out across many systems searching. Same goes for the enemy fleet. Now, suddenly, all those empty systems that you needed local for so you didn’t ‘waste your time’ in are now full of people.
My entire point is removing a cancerous tool from the game just to sell it back is terrible. Why on Earth would any sovereignty holding alliance choose NOT to upgrade their system to one that has local? With such a powerful tool that enables your members to avoid danger so easily, the ability to easily track enemy gangs in your space – is there really an alternative that makes sense? Is there anything that can remotely compete on such a powerful level as local?
Local channel is old and has long outlasted its healthy usefulness. It has turned into poison for the game. Remove it 100% from the game. There is so much that could be done too greatly improve intelligence gathering ways without resorting to lazy, instant, automated gathering methods. And with that I would like to leave you with a quote that I wish would apply to our wonderful internet spaceship game we call EVE.
“Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Hope, one feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood. . . . A journey, in fact, appeals to the Imagination, to Memory, to Hope,—the three sister Graces of our moral being.”
—Burton, Zanzibar
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