I cannot credit my new home under a rock to any particular reason; perhaps my recent return to EVE and playing catch-up has blinded me to these potential game-changing changes, or the simple lack of conversation about these topics among the people I play with is the reason. Maybe I just need to browse the EVE Online forums more....whatever the reason, I am thoroughly impressed and amped-up for the direction the developers are taking. I have boarded the hype train and am feverishly stoking the furnace.
Granted, the specific changes outlined in the dev blogs are subject to revision and intentionally labeled as a "work-in-progress", but the goals of these changes should be maintained as they are developed. Specifics aside, the direction in which the game is headed is very exciting, it will revolutionize the way players interact with the game universe and each other. There IS reason to be hyped for these changes, if you have not already, will you not come aboard the train with me?
Rather than attempting a complete explanation which would be lacking, I encourage you to read Politics by Other Means: Sovereignty Phase Two and Back Into the Structure, If you don't have the time or motivation, I don't blame you. They're rather long and I had them on my "to-do" list for the better part of a month. Below is a summarization of the the new sovereignty system. I will follow up with some of the specifics regarding the new structure system in Part 2 of this post at a later date.
The Old:
Currently there are four main structures involved in null-sec sovereignty. These are the Infrastructure Hubs (I-Hubs), Territorial Claim Units (TCUs), Conquerable Stations, and Sovereignty Blockade Units (SBUs). In order to claim a system, an alliance must anchor and online a TCU. Establishing sovereignty over a system gives the benefits of being able to anchor I-Hubs, 25% reduction in starbase fuel cost for the alliance, and protection in the form of reinforcement timers for conquerable stations belonging to the sovereign alliance.
The I-Hubs allow the system to be upgraded for that alliance which brings about many more benefits such as establishing jump bridges, cyno jammers, capital ship construction arrays, and PVE upgrades. The I-Hubs also provide another form of protection for the territorial claim unit, as the TCU in a system will be invulnerable until the all the I-Hubs in the system are destroyed.
Sovereignty blockade units come into play when an invading alliance is trying to conquer the system. SBUs must be onlined by the invading alliance at more than 50% of the stargates in that system (e.g. 2/2 gates, 3/4 gates, 3/5 gates, etc...) to cause the I-Hubs and any conquerable stations to become vulnerable. Both the I-Hubs and stations have dual reinforcement timers, one for low shields, and one for low armor. The station manager sets a desired exit time for the reinforcement of both the I-Hubs and station; there is a 24±3 hour delay for I-Hubs and a 48±3 hour delay for stations, plus any difference between the time of the attack and the desired exit time. For a much more in-depth look at current sovereignty mechanics, check this out.
All this really means is that taking over a system is a long and arduous process, as all of these structures are tied to each other and there are multiple reinforcement timers. I'm sure many of you have read about and/or witnessed some of these incredibly massive battles. While this may seem exciting from an outside perspective, I would think the increased time dilation and the large amount of time being spent pelting structures would get old very fast. The current mechanics around contesting sovereignty also limits the fight to one system, which ends up creating a bottleneck and forces players into instant ship escalation. "Bring the biggest thing you have, don't worry about moving, and welcome to time dilation insanity"; doesn't sound like much fun to me.
The New:
The beauty of the new sovereignty system is that it rids the need for drawn-out sessions of structure farming and brings in new elements that encourage mobile fleets and requires much more military logistics strategy.
Sovereignty blockade units are being removed and replaced by a module called the Entosis Link. This will be a high slot module with low ship fitting costs. It will be used to contest I-Hubs, TCUs, and stations. The module will have a cycle time that can vary from 5 to 40 minutes depending on which structure it's being used on and the system defenses that are in-place for that structure. While the Entosis Link is active your ship will have increased vulnerability as it will be immobile and unable to receive remote assistance. The Entosis Link can also be used defensively to pause an attacking players Entosis cycle.
Along with the removal of the SBU mechanic, each of the three main structures involved in sovereignty control can be independently captured and held by different alliances. So there may be systems where the I-Hub, TCU, and station are controlled by competing alliances. Each structure will still maintain its historic role and provide similar benefits to that of the old (current) system.
When a structure is successfully contested by an Entosis Link, the structure will go into reinforcement mode for approximately 48 hours. This timer will expire during a four hour "prime-time" window that is set by the defending alliance of the structure. This ensures that the alliance has the opportunity to mount a successful defense. When the structure's reinforcement exits during this prime-time window, a new event will start. Objects called Command Nodes will randomly spawn in systems within the parent constellation, regardless of the sovereignty of other systems in that constellation. They will be explicitly labeled and show up on the anomaly scanner, so it will be easy to figure out which nodes belong to the structure of interest. The Command Nodes will be captured using the Entosis Link, thus starts the tug-of-war. Each Command Node will be worth points, the alliance with the most points at the end of the event will win. The defending alliance will usually have the home advantage and receive more points (depending on other factors) for capturing Command Nodes than the attackers. If the I-Hub or TCU is the contested structure, and the defending alliance is unable to win the Command Node event, it will blow up and allow an alliance to anchor and online their own I-Hub or TCU.
If a station is the object of interest then the losing alliance gives up control of the station and it will enter a 48 hour Freeport Mode, during this time anyone will be able to dock and use the station services free-of-charge. When it exits the Freeport Mode, another event will begin that is similar to the first one. The difference being is that the Command Node event tied to a station after Freeport Mode can be won by any alliance, and there will be no defense mechanics in place for the previous owners. Mechanically it will be a free-for-all. Here is a link to a flow chart provided by CCP that illustrates each situation.
The mechanics of this new system will make it harder for large alliances to hold on to unused systems and opens up great potential for smaller alliances. With the induction of phase 1 of the sovereignty changes (capital ship jump timers), this also means that alliances will have to make some tough logistical choices when defending or attacking in attempts to capture Command Nodes during these events. This should result in a much more enjoyable PVP experience that limits the blob factor of what we see in current sovereignty wars.
Overall I think this is a fantastic approach to the problems we face with the current system. I imagine there are some people who don't like this new approach; no longer will they be able to hold sway over large regions of space through pure blob force and induced boredom. They will have to actively fight and maintain each structure within each system, ignored pieces of space will soon fall to those who wish to stake their own claim. New Eden is about to get a lot bigger, and I'm all for it.
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