Planetary Conquest, my idea

To get you moving right into my submission, I will keep this short. I want “siege” mechanics to determine ownership. Below, you will find the fiction article and the non-fiction details as per the rules. Enjoy!

The fiction side of things

The Junkyard left the safety of its fleet with the utmost caution. The small frigate was a pile of scrap metal, thrown together by the wandering tribes of the Minmatar who for so long had suffered under the heavy chains of slavery. The name was appropriate. Despite the common theme of many of vessels in the class, the Junkyard had seen a great deal of expedient and cheap repairs in its lifetime. Hasty welding, rusted panels, and even some scrap Amarr hull pieces had kept the nimble ship flying through all these years. Its young and ambitious pilot was selected as much for his ship as for his place in the world. No children, no wife, no family that anyone knew of, and the lack of any insurance policy since there was no one to benefit the pilot if he left this world. It was an inconvenient truth, whether he died here or died in the fury that would soon follow, that he was nobody.

His ship emerged from warp, gliding into a sea of hostile waves. Brilliant ships of polished alloys sat before him, their guns bristling forth from their eager mouths. Their armor gleamed in the harsh sunlight of this system, their weapons were oiled and ready, and their purpose was sinister at best. He hailed them, and to his surprise, they responded. What seemed like hours passed until the Junkyard reversed its course and warped towards the comfort of his fleet. There would be no entente, no peace, and no further negotiation. This planet was theirs, “so leave or become a forgotten memory in the annals of time.”

When the message reached Brighton, the man in charge of the ragtag fleet, he grinned. He was the survivor of countless struggles. He had witnessed the surprise Caldari invasion, spent weeks hitting their trade routes and attacking their facilities, and was one of the first to respond to the failed Amarr invasion. He had taken his fair share of lives and lost a fair amount of his friends. Like the young man in the Junkyard, he too had nothing to lose. His career was over as quickly as it began and his new corporation gave him jobs that were meant for a man with no soul. To their surprise, he succeeded one by one, and they prayed he would succeed in his latest endeavor. The coordinates received from his “emissary”, Brighton ordered the vessels to align and prepare for warp. His final orders were simple. “The corporation confides that every man do his duty.” The corp had been their home, taken them in when times were rough, and treated them all well. They had struggled for her and her for them. It was now time to cast the die and see what numbers appeared on the board.

The opposing fleet was ready for them. In fact, they expected their arrival. As Brighton’s ragtag fleet emerged from warp, they were met with a cloud of projectiles that slammed into their hulls. The odd silence that prevails in space during even the harshest times always bothered Brighton. He would put noises where there were none and his mind filled in the gaps with sounds he imagined came from the turrets and beams of the enemies operating them. Now, he watched as the survivors of the first volley closed on their targets. The smaller vessels engaged, slamming into one another like the warriors of old. The dance then began as each partner struggled to maintain their graceful movements in this deadly hall.

The larger vessels came within range of one another shortly thereafter and some of the largest and most sinister designs of the human mind came bearing down upon one another. Explosions tore across Brighton’s vision and he traced his own shots carefully to their target before glancing for his next victim. His Tempest was soon the focus of a heightened amount of attention. The enemy had noticed he was the focal point of action. While his ship remained steady, the forces around him were solvent. Their captains were experienced as well and the mistake Brighton made would prove costly.
As he shouted orders across the net, the enemy vessels began turning towards him. His overlay overloaded as harmless vessels soon began blinking red and all the hideous minions of death reached out to harvest his body. He had never experienced a shock of this magnitude and his senses were overwhelmed when the force of the blast threw him back into his seat. The fluids around him nearly singed his skin and his visuals were overwhelmed in fire and debris as the pod ejected from his doomed vessel. It was over for him, and without their leader, it was over for his them all.

The enemy had him pointed and time seemed to stand still. It was necessary, as their commander said, “to leave a greeting card of sorts.” The larger vessels moved in range and pushed aside the wrecks of ships like Junkyard, The Lion of Jita, and Death’s Embrace, to ensure there would be no chance of failure. Brighton watched silently, his heart racing, his mind wondering, until he could see the beams charging in the distance. For once, the sounds his brain produced to cover the silence weren’t there and his eyes focused on the manner in which he would be removed from this world. His body was torn apart and the unknown he had spent countless hours wondering about now enveloped him. The region was now friendly. Spacial Superiority was won. Soon the planet would fall. (Continue to the non-fiction portion)

The non-fiction side of things

The above is a feature I would like to see implemented if we ever make it to Planetary Conquest here in EVE Online. The idea came to me while reading a little work about Air Superiority on the battlefield. In order to gain control of the ground, one must control the air. Taking that theory into the future, I say, in order to gain control of a planet, one must control the space surrounding it. Thus, as part of my hopes and desires, I want to see a “Planet Siege” incorporated to determine who will control a planet.

Any corporations and their allies may declare their intent to “conquer” a planet from the current holding corporation/alliance. This can be done with or without a declaration of war but becomes a declaration of war immediately upon the planet entering siege.

A siege sets off a 24 hour timer that allows the planet to be open for conquest to the now warring factions. This creates an “instance” where players may enter into the game, fly to the system in question, fly to the planet, and then, once there, be prompted to take part in the siege. The instance can either be a random size or a set size, but always with the planet in view, perhaps even bigger for aesthetic purposes (we would be fighting nearby, in theory). Only pilots in the two warring factions may participate. In other words, no random stragglers coming in to suck up wrecks, loot, or just shoot at the people there.

You may have your ship destroyed as many times as fate declares. Since I want logistics to play a part, if you are blown up but escape in your pod, you can hop into a ship your faction is holding as a reserve. This also will allow logistics to become a part of the fight. However, if podded, you always start off at your cloning station of choice and are removed from the instance. This, and the fact that under my system of rules you must travel to the planet under siege, means that both sides have the ability to make or break a blockade around the system and the planet, much as would be done in real life.

When the timer hits 23 hours, the siege is considered “closed to newcomers.” In other words, entry into the siege is denied, anyone in there who is logged off is booted, and anyone who logs off is booted. Only the folks active in the instance can continue. If there are players left over from both sides at the end of this hour of mayhem, a point system is used to determine the victor. The team that lost the most points losses. 1 pt for a newb ship or frigate, 2 for a cruiser, etc, etc. If one faction is completely destroyed in the instance, they automatically loose (for obvious reasons).

Upon completion of the capture, the planet is “unsiegeable” for 48 hours. This would allow the victor to shore up defenses, get things in order, and ensure that log off tactics and such things can’t be used to simply start a new timer in the defeated forces favor. Resources of the planet are considered unavailable during this time (if a siege is occurring, resource gathering is going to be interrupted).

Upon completion of the 48 hour period, the planet is again conquerable and resources become available to the holding faction.

Abuse prevention

To avoid spamming this feature, declaring for 500 planets, and using newb ships to capture systems where the enemy can’t respond, only X number of sieges (I’m thinking 5) may occur in a 24 hour period.
If a corporation breaks away from an alliance, it cannot join its former alliance, or any member corp, in a siege for the duration of their war.
They may also not declare a siege or war against any corporation their former alliance is currently at war with.
Corporations that become part of an alliance during a war absorb their current siege points and status (window open or closed)
(Hopefully, all of that prevents people from breaking off prior to a war and forming corporations to build up the number of sieges they can bear down upon an enemy. A 10 corp alliance breaks into 10 corps, gets 50 sieges combined instead of the 5 they would have had, and works together outside the mechanics to break apart their enemy. I want to prevent that)

Timers explained
The 24 hour no siege rest period exists so you cannot have the sieges stacking upon each other and building up into an infinite amount of sieges. The period starts as soon as the first siege is declared is ended. As an example:

An alliance declares 2 sieges in a 24 hour period

Day 1, 1300: 1st Siege declared
Day 2, 1259: 2nd siege declared
Day 2, 1300: Siege Declaration Window closed; rest period where no sieges are declared for 24 hours begins. 1st Siege closed.
Day 3, 1259: 2nd siege closed
Day 3, 1300: Siege Declaration Window opened again, 5 Siege Points again available

Now Siege 1 timers:

Day 1, 1300: The Planet is open to Siege and the warring factions may enter the “instance” at the planet in question.
Day 2, 1200: “No newcommers” is declared and anyone logged off is removed from the instance into a random spot in the system. The instance is closed and anyone who leaves the instance (voluntarily, podded, what have you).
Day 2, 1300 Siege ends, winner declared. 48 hour non siege period, no resources.
Day 4, 1300 Planet siegeable, resources begin to be accessible

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts, my fiction, and my long post about my concept!

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