It looks like the battle for Querious is going to be very long and very bloody. After a long weekend of fighting we were able to erect our SBUs and put both the infrastructure hub and station into their second reinforcement cycle. Unfortunately on Sunday night the Goons managed to get large numbers into system and were able to destroy our blockade units before we could destroy the infrastructure hub.
The biggest problem we’re having is that with the huge numbers that GoonFleet can provide and the size of our coalition (which now includes Stain Empire, C0ven, Systematic-Chaos, Ushra’Khan, IT Alliance, and ourselves) the server just can’t cope with it. On Friday night we had a fantastic series of rolling fights with GoonSwarm and, although the lag was bad, it was very enjoyable and we were able to achieve our objectives. I think the system peaked at somewhere above 1,100 pilots. Saturday night was very different and the server just couldn’t cope and died. I only logged on once the server came back up and we were able to get enough people together to shoot our objective before the Goons could remove any of ours. Last night it was a similar story except that once the server came back up the Goons had the numbers advantage and purged the system of our SBUs.
This isn’t the first problem that we’ve had. Last week the server died and when it came up the reinforcement timers for the SBUs and infrastructure hub had become desynchronised so the Goons were able to remove our SBUs before we were expecting them to become vulnerable. There was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth at the time and I’m not going to get involved in it.
So what have I taken away from my first real experience of sovereignty war? Well, I didn’t get involved before Dominion was deployed so I can’t compare things to the past but I can talk about how it is now. First off all I think the idea of multiple objectives in the system works really well. On Friday night the main fight was on the 4-07MU gate but once the Goons had fled that field a series of rolling battles occurred around the system as our opponents moved from objective to objective and we followed in hot pursuit. Only once the Goon fleet had been reduced suitably did we focus on attacking the infrastructure hub. On Saturday night we followed a different approach at focussed our own firepower on the station. Its good to see tactical options.
For me there are two main problems with the system as it stands. Firstly that the server just cannot cope. I am told that lag is much greater in Dominion than it was beforehand. Because Dominion encourages the use of sub-capital fleets the numbers in system are absolutely huge. I personally have every faith that CCP are doing their best to fix this and we’ve seen GMs in the system on multiple occasions.
My main problem is the timing on stations and infrastructure hubs. Because the variance is only two hours it easy enough for the American-based Goons to time their events to guarantee that they come out well beyond our ability to attack them. Most of our fights have started at 3 am which is almost impossible for our Russian and European members. Because we have to fight over four days to take the system and win every single strategic battle the drain is immense and it is taking its toll. For the Goons, though, they only have to win a single objective to put us back to stage one. By timing their sovereignty structures appropriately they can sap our will to live and defend their system comfortably.
The most frustrating thing about this is that for most of the day we have system dominance. From at least 0900 to 0000 server time I can log into 49-U6U and see local at least 50% blue, if not entirely so. The Goons don’t need to be there to defend their systems except for maybe one hour a day. Bearing in mind that Dominion is supposed to reward people who actually use their systems I think there needs to be some benefit for us having the occupancy. Maybe it could be that our presence in the system expands the amount of variation on the reinforcement timers. If we can lock down 49-U6U for 18 hours a day then this should be reflected by the fact that the Goons can no longer accurately predict when their system is going to come out of reinforced. If they want to keep use fighting in the middle of the night then they are going to have to come and contest the system’s occupancy.
Anyway, this is all speculation and I realise that this post is pretty fluffy and without content. I just wanted to let people know how the war is progressing. Keep an eye out this week for the second half of my politics post and also some thoughts on my progress as an interceptor pilot.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Having faced the same difficulties on our side up in Catch near HED, I agree that the random component of the reinforcement timers needs to be more random.
January 18th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Sounds like you need to recruit a hoard of insomniacs
Seriously though, I'm enjoying your commentaries. Keep up the good work!
January 18th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
I really like the idea of being able to affect how random it is. A system with good industry and military levels would have small degree of variance right down to a system with no indicies which would be almost entirely random. In fact, the more I think about this the more I like it.
It would make that battle for SV5-8N and co interesting as well because we want it for strategic purposes rather than to actually live in.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I was going to come in and suggest reasons I was opposed to kiting (which is the technique of delaying a reinforcement cycle so it comes out at a time your opponent didn’t plan for) for the simple reason that it’s two powerful; even dominating the system for 8 hours essentially lets you time the system for your prime and not theirs. Extending the variance to 3 or 4 hours on either side might work, but personally I think it’s too early to call the battle won or lost yet. Don’t forget, you claim that you have to win every battle and even one loss means starting over, but from a more strategic level that’s true of the defenders but not the attackers. The attackers can re-attack the system as many times as they want, hundreds even, and if the defender loses a single time then retaking the system must happen in the opponent’s prime. For this reason AAA will probably eventually take 49-, even if it has to wait for a week long holiday where operating in American prime time means less.
That said, I think Wensley’s idea is a good one. It would also encourage more of the running fights as the defenders try to mine or rat and a small “black ops” (to use the goon term) group of the attackers take shifts trying to stop them. And it would also accomplish what CCP has been trying to do with dominion, make alliances only live in a number of systems they can reasonably make use of.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Wondering why CCP does not place a cap on pilot count until they can get the lag issues sorted out. At least then you would be able to mull over some strategies on what ships to bring when you know you are limited. Might even make for some vestige of strategy over pure blob power…?
January 19th, 2010 at 12:42 am
I was right there with you this weekend. Its a long haul from Fountain to 49-U. Hope we take it before too long.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:15 am
The more I think about it the more I like the idea of linking the reinforcement variance to the industrial and military indices. To move away from 49-U6U and look at SV5-8N is a nice way of demonstrating my point. When Dominion came along -A- dropped sov in SV5 because they could project their influence into there without paying the sovereignty bills. Libertas Fidelitas see vacant space and decide that they could move in and use it. Because -A- don't want LFA there they attack and take sov for themselves. This is where it gets interesting. If LFA actively live in the systems then they get a defensive bonus whereas because -A- are just using them as a buffer, we don't. This compares to real life where its far easier to take empty desert than it is a town or city. Of course, -A- can make life hell for LFA, reduce their activity and hence their influence over the area and make it more prone to capture.
The same now applies to Delve and Querious. The Goons live in Delve and do most of their activity there. Querious is relatively sparsely populated and should therefore be easier to take. The idea being that attackers can capture outlying systems with relative ease but will find it much harder when they get to "Fortress Delve". Of course, if 49-U6U falls and -A- don't actively live there it becomes prone to being counter-attacked.
There's obviously a lot that needs fleshing out about this idea but I think it encourages what CCP want for Dominion. Especially considering that they said that Providence is the model that they want to support. I also think that unlike arbitrary flags that need to be captured it serves to mimic the real life idea of territory occupation. It also means that while alliances like Triumvirate can go and slash and burn and disrupt sovereignty, unless they stay put the original owners can just reclaim the systems.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Not really. A system cap would play into the hands of European alliances because all we need to do is log into the system and then leave our characters AFK at a POS. American opponents wouldn't even be able to get into the system never mind actually defend it.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Trust me, your arrival was very much appreciated.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
AFK ing is the reason that caping in nullsec wont work, they just need to find and fix the damn problem.
I love these long writeups from deep inside nullsec, its awesome to read in the morning before work!
keep it up rifterdrifter
January 19th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Brilliant idea mate, linking timers to indices that decay over time. Sortof like seiging a medieval castle – it may be impregnable if its defended, but go for a long time without food and let's see the defenders resist. Been pirating for a while now, but starting to yearn for 0.0 again. Dog-fighting in ceptors on the edges of huge fights was always a blast. Hopefully CCP will sort this lag stuff out somewhat and get some tweaks in place to fix the new sov system.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Well, I agree with Wensley on the main issue, I'm a EU player but belong to an alliance that is mostly US based.
Until last week we used to live in Fountain as a Pandemic Legion pet, the same reason goons have the advantage in Querios is allso to blame why IT took Fountain so easily.(That and PL long list of tactical & managment screwups over the pas 5 months)
Dominion turned sov into timezone warfare, which isn't fun at all when your on the other TZ side side.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am
The castle siege idea was exactly the one I had in mind when I came up with this. The longer you let an enemy fleet maraude in your system the harder it should be to defend.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I agree with Lord Helghast, this piece isn't fluffy, it's pretty damned fun to read even to a complete 0.0 outsider. Keep them coming, Wensley.