Nullsec Changes - The sledgehammer begins to fall

From all accounts Nullsec has become stagnant. Not necessarily stagnant from my point of view as I have just decided to enter into this area of EvE full time so there is plenty to explore and learn! The commnity has been screaming for some significant changes to Nullsec for some time now.

From what I understand it has come to a point where basically only a few people "control" Nullsec. These people have built up such substantial empires that almost any move against one of these few entities will result in a swift and devastating show of strength. This show of strength will likely result in the aggressor being kicked out of Nullsec or if not then banished to some less useful or profitable corner of the galaxy.

The main defence against someone tacking a nip at one of the corners of the powerblocs and setting themselves up as a Nullsec entity has been force projection. This has been enabled by the use of Cynos and the ability to react very quickly and move from one end of the galaxy to another with ease.

For instance a corporation or alliance may well successfully start to engage a system and try and take control of it. They come in with a force that is sufficient to make the attack and defend against the local systems whilst they establish control. The game mechanics in their current state allow for the defence of this system by the use of EXTREME force projection. A large Nullsec alliance or coalition can easily round up 100+ pilots in the largest ships with experienced players and appear within 15 minutes of the call being made that an attack is underway. Basically the Nullsec Coalitions have become so powerful that there is little chance that anyone will be able to break out into any area that they currently have under their control.

So what is changing?
CCP have made the decision to attack this issue through the implementation of cooldowns that have an effect on a capital pilots ability to jump through space. These cooldowns are going to have a significant impact on those wishing to traverse the universe in a large ship in a short period of time. Essentially a person jumping though space will have a cooldown (Jump Activation) associated with that character that will force the player to wait out the timer before initiating another jump. In conjunction with this the pilot will have another cooldown (Jump Fatigue) that takes longer to reset and this will extend the jump activation cooldown between jumps based on how severe this level of fatigue is.

What effect does this have?
We will have to wait and see how the pilots react to these changes as there are a few obvious workarounds that may negate this change. The intention, from my understanding, is to limit force projection by making those interested in utilising this strategy commit to the battle at hand and not be able to fly around the universe quickly just smashing small groups into dust. There are corporations/alliances/coalitions in the game dedicated to this type of tactic and this will require them to rethink how they operate and support their allies when required.

Obvious Workarounds!
Eve pilots are adaptable, no doubt about it and they will adapt to this change quite quickly and efficiently.

Workaround 1 involves EvE players having multiple characters with the capability to fly the ships. In this workaround you have the characters startegically spaced around the universe to enable the player to jump to one location, pass on the capital ship to a "fresh" character with no fatigue or cooldown, and continue jumping through to your intended destination.

Workaround 2 involves Eve players having multiple ships strategically placed throughout the universe and then using a small fast ship to travel, pickup their capital and use it at the desired destination.

Work around 3 is similar to 2 but relies on the leadership of your group setting up accessible fleets of capitals in strategic locations throughout their controlled space.

Other workarounds will be identified I am sure and these may well have been posted elsewhere.

More logistics required!
The logistics required once this change is implemented will be significantly greater. Multiple Cyno toons, multiple staging points, multiple fleets stashed in various locations etc etc. Managing this component of Nullsec entities will likely require a significant amount of additional resources. Moving freight from one location to another will require additional planning and resourcing, likely also requiring protective escorts particularly at the entry points into Nullsec space. Pirates are going to love this!

So I have just touched on this scenario and there are plenty of brains trusts out there in EvE working diligently I am sure to work out a strategy to defend their space. I am looking forward to watching how this change affects the EvE universe, maybe I will even get in some good fights as part of this change as well.

CCP has responded to the requests for Nullsec to be revamped, some people think it is with a sledgehammer, I think it is all for the better.

Remember, fly dangerous, freighter pilots have yourself a snickers and GET SOME NUTS, you will need them, possibly a Valium as well!

Module Tiericide and Market effects - A strategic opportunity

With the release of the Oceanus patch notes Tiericide updates have started to flow through and these will have some significant impacts on the prices of items in the market whilst these get introduced over time.

Current Item Structure Basics
So there are generally 6 levels of most items associated with modules currently. This is evidently being changed with the introduction of Tiericide. There are also some that sit outside of this including civilian modules and faction and Officer modules but I wont go into them here.

So the basics are
Item Name - Tech 1               Basic
Item Name -  Meta Level 1    Upgrade 1
Item Name -  Meta Level 2    Upgrade 2
Item Name -  Meta Level 3    Upgrade 3
Item Name -  Meta Level 4    Upgrade 4
Item Name - Tech 2               Fully upgraded

The price of these relate to the fitting requirements and benefit output (combination of skill training ,CPU/Power requirements and bonuses provided by the item)

Now I am going to discuss an opportunity that exists regarding the price difference in Meta Level 3 and Meta Level 4 modules. Meta 4 modules can be exceedingly expensive as they are very close to if not exceeding the benefits of the Tech 2 without the skill requirements and can often have less fitting requirements which means you can fit your ship more efficiently. Meta 3 modules are reasonably priced due to the fact that they are not the "best" fit which people like me like to ensure they have!

Tiericide Changes
It appears that they are changing the above to reflect half as many intermediate "Meta Levels" effectively combining Meta 1-2 and Meta 3-4.

Item Name - Tech 1                           Basic
Item Name -  Intermediate name 1 - Combined previous Meta 1 and 2 - Upgrade 1
Item Name -  Intermediate name 1 - Combined previous Meta 3 and 4 - Upgrade 2
Item Name - Tech 2                          Fully upgraded

Opportunity!
So given the above exposed exchanges in the Oceanus release if someone was to buy up a large amount of Meta 3 (reasonably priced modules) and await the combining of the said item with the Meta 4 modules then it is likely that the price would have gone up for the Meta 3 which has now been transformed into the Upgrade 2 item as per the Tiericide table above.

So some points to consider

• Only a small amount of items were changed in Oceanus, given this it may be difficult to predict what will be changed next unless information is available elsewhere. This would have an effect on how long you may need to hold these items before they gain value
• The stats are also being changed so doing further research and comparison on what the differences are likely to be on the Upgrade 2 version versus the Tech 2 variant, given what items have already been changed would give you an indication on the risk associated with this opportunity.
• It is likely that the market will ride several waves so getting in early and getting out early may be a relevant strategy. If numerous people are buying modules for the above mentioned reasons then the price will likely go up for Meta 3 items well before the Tiericide for that item is introduced.
• Additionally there may well be several waves post the introduction due to a likely surplus which would drop the price intially.
• I would consider this a long term opportunity if you wanted to ride all the waves out but there may well be short term opportunities to consider.
• If this is a viable market option then it is also likely that prices may have already started to spike for Meta 3 and drop for Meta 4.
• Most importantly is Tiericide going to continue down exactly the same path that we have seen for the Oceanus release. Will all items be combined  and "Tiericided" in the same fashion!

Please see a professional financial adviser as I will not be held accountable for inferred advice being provided in this blog.........

Remember, fly dangerous, just don't throw in your Meta 3 modules its tiericide!

What have I done so far in EvE

There is so much to do in EvE and I have in no way experienced all. This post will go over my experience to date and I will look at my future plans in another post.

Highsec: I have lived half my time in EvE in Highsec. I have completed numerous missions to enable me to obtain access to clones. I have completed the Caldari Epic Arc missions on at least 3 occassions mostly for the rewards. I have done an extreme amount of exploring and doing DED sites (in my opinion this is the most fun I have and the most rewarding in Highsec). I have traded rather unsuccessfully, time invested was not worth the reward. Didn't actually lose isk but found that exploration was way more effective. I joined RvB and lost a few ships in PvP (well mostly lost!). Done some mining early on but never really got into it. Have run escalations from DED sites (refer my previous post about "Most devastating time in EvE!).

Lowsec: Mostly exploration including DED sites that are found within Lowsec and some Highsec escalations that have taken me there. Never really lived in low. Took a few ships out here and there to stir up the locals and get myself killed every now and then. Faction Warfare interests me as well so have that on my "to do" list and have been building a character specifically for it. Was even looking for an active AU Timezone Caldari Faction Warfare Corp when I instead found a Nullsec corp who was recruiting some additional players.

Nullsec: Have dabbled in a few Anomalies, usually just to see what's in there. Mostly exploration and running Data and Relic sites. Broke through a couple of gate camps but mostly died to them depending on what I was flying at the time. I have actually just joined a Nullsec corp and plan to expand on my knowledge and experience in this area. I actually think it is an opportune time to start a Nullsec trial as there are rather significant incoming changes to Nullsec that will likely stir up the locals out there and in turn hopefully create some interesting new content.

Wormholes: Basically the other 50% of my time in EvE. I started by running a drake through C1 wormholes to get a feel for it, got blown up a couple of times and then moved in with our corp to a C2. We quickly outgrew this and settled in a C3 which is where we were when I took my last break. Went on a few PvP roams depending on where our connections led to but generally just built up my funds by running the anomalies and scanning down sites and clearing them. I made a lot of Isk in these sites and to date has been my favourite place to live. Not sure how I would go moving back in there with all the recent changes but may well end up back in there once I have seen whether Nullsec and Lowsec can offer me anything new.

I have found a niche I enjoy in EvE which is Wormholes but I haven't exposed myself to other areas so can't definitively say what I want to do yet. I am going to give Null and Lowsec their chance to shine. I am also considering Industry and Manufacturing at some point in the future most likely on an alt.. Scamming is definitely not my thing so unlikely to try that but do whatever floats your boat!

Remember, fly dangerous, try everything at least once! (Except for scamming, that's just mean .......)