Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been used to explain many different phenomenon in the world since Darwin published his book “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. The term “survival of the fittest” has been used extensively, but the core of Darwin’s theory is adaptability. By the word “fittest” Darwin meant “better adapted for immediate, local environment”. He also saw that variation in offspring was necessary to adapt in a changing world.
CCP hit the meta game with a curve ball Thursday during the EVE o7 show when they announced changes to fleet warp mechanics. Now FCs and many specialized groups have to adapt to a new environment, where some mechanics do not exist any more.
There is a DEV blog and there are already many objections, opinions, tear harvesters and all manners of EVE players joining in.
CCP Larrikin writes: “As announced on the o7 show we are making some changes to fleet warp. Fleet Commanders, Wing Commanders & Squad Commanders will no longer be able to warp to anything a fleet member couldn’t warp to on their own. This includes –
- Probe Results
- Bookmarks
- Any private deadspace item (missions, etc.)
Commanders will still be able to warp their fleet to other fleet members, and all other ‘public’ objects.
From the comments in the DEV blog mission runners and especially WH groups are angry, because they use personal bookmarks of scanned signatures and bookmarks of scanned WHs in space to move the entire fleet. On a personal note, it’s been years since I did a mission run, so I have idea why mission runners are angry.
In the spirit of Darwin, adaptation and survival, there should be a new role in fleets, if people want to operate their fleets in the same way as before the fleet warp changes. A pilot in a covert ops frig could see a new specialized role open up.
I lay before you the Fast Cheetah: This Cheetah has been fitted with Covert cloak, T2 Small Auxiliary Thrusters, Overdrives and Nanofiber to increase speed. Pilots may fit whatever in the remaining slots. These are not important to this article.
The Cheetah is the fastest cloaked ship. With a base speed of 381 m/sec the Cheetah can be optimized to fly 648 m/sec cloaked. Current cloaking mechanics allow fleet members to warp to a cloaked fleet member. With this speed Cheetah it should be able to maneuver itself into a warp-in position in relation to any celestial object and the FC will be able to warp the entire fleet, either on the Cheetah or at any range. An FC must use the fleet warp option to land on the same spot. If individual members warp to the cloaked ship they will land with slight variations. This has implications for WH groups that want to hit a WH entrance or exit and who need to travel fast and efficiently.
I hope to see a new class of pilots that are specialized in this kind of ship movement. Pilots with good solar system awareness and good spatial awareness will become valuable assets in fleets as they will give the FCs fast and precise warp-in positions. Add 2-4 of these pilots with the usual interceptor pilots and hopefully a FC will be able to overcome the changes to fleet warp mechanics. If a covert frigate pilot cannot fly to avoid bubbles in null space, then that pilot should not fly covert frigs in null space.
