Goblin Squad Member
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I think people who don't currently play an MMO like EVE would be surprised to learn how often groups coerce their players into training the skills the group needs instead of (or in addition to) the skills players want to train.
For example:
Our combat doctrine is short sword and spear. If you want to train trident, that's fine, but if you don't train short sword and spear soon, we might kick you out of the group.
(In EVE terms - Everyone needs to train Caldari Cruiser 3 and this set of missile skills. If you want to train Gallente Cruisers, do it after you can fly the doctrine fit Moa.)
We're a raiding company, so you need at least one character who can drive a wagon. If that's not your main character, we're going to need you to invest in training an alt with minimum wagon skills.
(In EVE terms - We're a wormhole corporation. Everyone needs to have a main character or an alt who can mine gas clouds.)
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Goblin Squad Member
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...someone volunteers...
But there have been many reports over the years of corps/fleets *requiring* thus-and-so, because volunteering appears not to satisfy their demands for...<fill-in-the-blank>. I've always found it amazing that people remain in such organisations.
It's the same as when an employer tells you you can't take a transfer to another division (or something similar) because you're too valuable where you are. Through that action, they've left you no choice but to leave the company entirely; once they've played that card, you no longer have any control over your own career.
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Goblin Squad Member
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But there have been many reports over the years of corps/fleets *requiring* thus-and-so, because volunteering appears not to satisfy their demands for...<fill-in-the-blank>.
I haven't played EVE, but aren't there real and reasonable reasons to have a uniformity of training? If all of the frigate drivers can run frigate type X and shoot missile type Y then the industrial base of the corp can produce standard refits.
I'd think we might see some of that in PFO as well. Settlements will produce arms for their military companies and it might be easier when companies standardize their loadout, or at least use a known mix of weapon types. If the smithies need to produce 20 different weapon types then after a long fight someone is likely not to have a refit waiting for them. Better to say: train whatever you want, but make sure you can fall back to short sword and/or battleaxe.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I actually find fleet doctrines pretty fun. I expect and anticipate formation doctrines being a thing in PFO as I'm guessing the abilities of the people in the formation will strongly effect the maneuvers the formation can execute. Ultimately though if someone isn't willing to train the skills it takes to be in a certain unit I would rather have them as irregulars than not have them at all.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Fleet doctrines in EVE are intended to normalize speed, effective range, and type of 'healing' required by members of a team. Rigid fleet doctrines are also a relatively new phenomenon over the 10+ years EVE has existed. I totally anticipate the strategy behind them being applied to combat in PFO, though I doubt any of the strictness will come about for many years.
As for general 'administrative' skills, ie. non-combat, non-crafting, focused, limited-skilled alts are the norm in EVE and will likely become part of PFO so long as characters with those skills are required, but otherwise unappealing.
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Most corps and alliances in Eve are pretty up front about such things as Fleet doctrines. You know before you join them that they expect you to be able to fly certain types of ship and fits. If you don't like it don't join then it is as simple as that.
What people need to remember and something I have said over and over in these pages is that guilds in a sandbox are not like guilds in a theme park game they actually matter a huge deal. You as a player cannot function efficiently without the support of your guild and your guild cannot function efficiently without your support.
In theme park guilds it doesn't really matter if you run off to far lands to hunt goblins rather than take part in some guild activity (The only activity where it may matter being raiding). Do so in a sandbox game like PfO and you may return to find your settlement a smoking ruin and all your valuables looted.
In short a guild is very much a team in a sandbox whereas in a theme park game it can quite happily be a bunch of solo players wearing a common tag. The team lives or dies by its members pulling together and just like any team game they sometimes require you to put the team interests before your own.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Discussion thread for Goblinworks Blog: On We Sweep with Threshing Oar.
A question concerning Hostility has arisen and I would like some clarification.
I had posed these three points:
1. If someone attacks a citizen of your settlement, you can freely defend them.
2. If someone attacks a member of your company, you can freely defend them.
3. If someone attacks a member of your ad hoc group, you can freely defend them.
Granted # 1 may require that assault and murder are crimes in the settlement. So, let us assume that they are.
Here is the new question:
Is "Hostility" isolated to the individual that has been attacked, or can members of the group, company or settlement (where it is a crime) come to his/her aid without consequences of reputation or alignment?
The Dev Blog does not specifically claim that members of the player grouping can, and so clarification is needed.
Discussion thread for Goblinworks Blog: On We Sweep with Threshing Oar.A question concerning Hostility has arisen and I would like some clarification.
I had posed these three points:
1. If someone attacks a citizen of your settlement, you can freely defend them.
2. If someone attacks a member of your company, you can freely defend them.
3. If someone attacks a member of your ad hoc group, you can freely defend them.
Granted # 1 may require that assault and murder are crimes in the settlement. So, let us assume that they are.
Here is the new question:
Is "Hostility" isolated to the individual that has been attacked, or can members of the group, company or settlement (where it is a crime) come to his/her aid without consequences of reputation or alignment?
The Dev Blog does not specifically claim that members of the player grouping can, and so clarification is needed.
If someone attacks anyone their not at War/Feud with, who just turned down a SAD, who they don't have a bounty on, or the other "PvP on-rails" mechanics, then everyone can attack them without consequence. It's a punishment, as I tried to explain to Andius and others in another thread.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Discussion thread for Goblinworks Blog: On We Sweep with Threshing Oar.A question concerning Hostility has arisen and I would like some clarification.
I had posed these three points:
1. If someone attacks a citizen of your settlement, you can freely defend them.
2. If someone attacks a member of your company, you can freely defend them.
3. If someone attacks a member of your ad hoc group, you can freely defend them.
Granted # 1 may require that assault and murder are crimes in the settlement. So, let us assume that they are.
Here is the new question:
Is "Hostility" isolated to the individual that has been attacked, or can members of the group, company or settlement (where it is a crime) come to his/her aid without consequences of reputation or alignment?
The Dev Blog does not specifically claim that members of the player grouping can, and so clarification is needed.
Here is Ryan Dancey's response to my complete list of 10, including the three mentioned in this post:
Kindly, look through this list and point to the one(s) that are not backed up by either Dev Blog or Dev Post:List seems generally accurate to me except #9 which I'd say is more CEO speculation than professional Designer idea at this point.
These things are all congruent with the design objective of lots of PvP, not a lot of meaningless PvP.