CCP Didn't Mean To Swing The Nerfbat On Null Sec Sites

Sometimes I bet the developers over in Reykjavik feel they can't win. On the one hand, for years players have complained about the PvE in EVE Online and that the devs need to update the existing content. On the other hand, players don't like change. The latest example showed up in the patch notes on Friday.

The changes in question seemed rather innocuous when I read through the patch notes. In fact, I lumped the changes into a category called "other null sec site changes."

Nullsec Combat Anomaly Graphics and Gameplay Overhaul

Several Combat Anomaly sites in nullsec have been renovated.

• All variations of the Forsaken Sanctums, Sanctums, Havens, Patrol and Horde sites have had full art and asset renovations
• Over 100 different nullsec anomaly sites now have an objectives panel. So you can now easily see what wave you are on and how many NPCs remain at a glance!
• Several NPC groups now warp in instead of spawning in place where appropriate.

In the patch notes, the biggest concern with the graphics upgrade is the potential of the volumetric clouds in the sites impacting the performance of multi-boxers. Turns out the biggest complaint is the warping NPCs.

Apparently the issue concerns pilots of Edencom ships. I don't play in null sec so don't really have experience with area of effect weapons. I found a thread on the EVE Online sub-Reddit explaining the complaint.

Due to the mechanics of EVE/Vorton guns, if even one single ship lands outside of your 10km bubble, kiss any benefit over AFK spinning an Ishtars goodbye, because now you have to spend JUST AS MUCH TIME killing that one single lone Battleship (usually) as you did the rest of the wave that DID land within the 10km range.

Congratulations. Your clear time just doubled. Because of one ship. Because of 100 meters of range.

This one ship landing .1 km outside of your AOE range effectively doubles the amount of time/ammo taken to clear that particular wave, which ruins the whole benefit/point of running Stormbringers versus just AFK spinning Ishtars.

Now, take the above complaint with a grain of salt, although the explanation of the mechanics seems sound. Also, if I want to put on my tin foil hat, the developers may have balanced the ratting ISK faucet around the speed of clearing sites using AFK Ishtars.

Or, as the developers have done for years, tried to introduce more active gameplay into EVE. We have the age-old conflict of those who want more engaging gameplay versus those who want to gather their ISK as quickly as possible. After all, as we all learned in World of Warcraft, "Time is money, friend."

In the developer response to the issue in Friday's patch notes, making AoE farming, while not an intended consequence of the change, more difficult wasn't unwelcome. In fact, the big concern for the developers was for players not to see the move as an effort to nerf income generation. Here is the explanation from the patch notes.

With the renovation update to Nullsec anomalies, and bug fixes for the NPC dreadnoughts released in Revenant, we did not intend to significantly impact Nullsec income with the changes to the NPCs warping in instead of spawning in place. We also have not made any intentional changes to the AI used by the NPCs which would cause them to attack drones more frequently.

To address these concerns, we are increasing several Battleship and Battlecruiser NPC bounties found primarily in Nullsec by between 30-40% to compensate for the reductions in efficiency for AoE farming (Smartbomb, Stormbringer and Thunderchild ratting) due to the NPCs warping in and potentially requiring higher level of activity for increased drone management for drone setups. We are also happy for this to be a significant boost for more active forms of ratting that were not as directly impacted, such as Marauder ratting.

If anyone wants to know the impact of player backlash against the Scarcity Era, the above is a demonstration. The developers basically stated, "yes, we nerfed your playstyle, but we didn't do it to keep you from making ISK." I'd say we may need to look at this as a filter for future actions, especially in null security space.

For completeness' sake, I'll conclude this post with the actual changes the devs made on Friday to the combat sites.

• Increased the bounties on several NPCs found primarily in Nullsec Anomalies by 30-40%.
  
  
• This results in the following total average bounty increases for these popular Nullsec anomalies:
• Hubs: 28.40%
• Rally Points: 28.50%
• Patrols: 30.20%
• Havens: 31.70%
• Forsaken Hubs: 34.50%
• Hordes: 34.70%
• Sanctums: 35.70%
• Forsaken Sanctums & Teeming Hordes: 36.00%

So for those who didn't engage in AoE farming, CCP handed them a big income boost.