Citadels: "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

I think that CCP's experiment with Citadels 1.0 is running it's course and should be wrapped up.

It was a great hypothesis. Rework the "exploitable" POS mechanics which were "stale" and didn't make for "great" content. Replace the cumbersome and dated POS's, with their dated and not too epic graphics of a giant space bauble, with cool new Citadels of epic scale and scope. Make a more dynamic reinforcement cycle. Etcetera.

Well, I think the verdict is in.

Citadels don't provide content. They discourage it, especially in wormholes. The vast, vast majority of Citadels dying are from coathangering upon anchoring. This is due to several reasons not really related to their defences. True, Fortizar defences can be formidable, and keepstars moreso if you don't bring 6,000 pilots, but by and large Astrahus are easily blappable for a group of 12 T1 cruisers, but they aren't really dying much.

The real issue is the timers. Not only are the initial invulnerability timers entirely suited to the defender, which destroys opportunistic content creation entirely, but you have to do 2 timers @ minimum 30 minutes each, to get to a timer people might be even remotely interested in defending.

As the meme says "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

However, that was all OK to some degree, until CCP made it take longer to swap ships in a Citadel. Which is fair enough I suppose, unless all you do is stay docked and fiddle with your vessels all day. But apparently, this small quality of life nerf is all it's taken to get people to hate on Citadels as they ought to be hated upon.

As the meme says "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

The other thing which is quite odd is that reinforcement is free. Free from requiring strontium, I mean. You can ping a Citadel every couple of days, and no one has to turn up to refuel the stront bay. this is weird, and stupid.

If the Citadel gets into armour, you should have to repair it during, or after, the fact. We were told that Citadels would have interesting fits, but that's bullshit. The fits are all the same - Standup AMSL missiles, neuts....actually, who fucking cares? It's all absolutely irrelevant. I haven't heard anyone say "Oh, wow, look at that Citadel repping through the damage!" or "Lol, this Citadel has uber webs."

What the fuck happened to dynamic citadel fits? Its all totally irrelevant. lame, unbonused fighters? Check. Irrelevant neuting? Check. A scram that cycles on you one time only when you atttack it? Check. Total lack of oversaturation in EWAR? Check and checkitty check. Some dumb bombs or w/e which can't even kill drones? Sure, knock yourself out Citadel owner.

Sure, Citadels are more deadly when piloted, but not by much at the lower end of the spectrum. The POSs were a challenge to take on and come up with a strategy to defeat when undefended. Citadels are a yawnfest.

I think the solution to these issues is:
1) Strontium consumption for RF timers should be reintroduced.
2) Citadels should not have three fucking timers. Make it a RF like the POS's, on a 7 day cycle. You fuck it up and don't fuel and refuel it, then your space castle dies. You get a week to respond.
3) Actually make the Citadel fit matter. Like, a shield rep, or armour reps. EWAR.
4) Increase, drastically, the vulnerability timers in wormhole space. To like, 30% of the week, at least.

Been there, done that

One of my ex-employees* now lives in a C4. He has now become the alternative man with the plan for his corporation, and we caught up recently. The kvetching was pretty much a timely reminder to me why I am not running and should not run a wormhole corp again.

• No one ever does anything. They just sit around twiddling their thumbs, waiting for someone else to do something for them.
• It's impossible to get them into anything because they don't train into the ships they need to train into or the fits they need to train into, instead concentrating on training up useless shit which won't help them do the content they can't currently do
• No one appreciates the effort that goes in to running the corp
• People who bring a completely useless ship to a bearing fleet somehow still expect an equal share. Like, one guy brings 2/3rds of the fleet and is expected to get 1/6th of the ISK?
• With nothing to do and no one making them do it, they get bored and unsub or move out.

Seem familiar? 

Me, I'm just recruiting Incursion neckbeards who just talk about the 1.3B they made today. One day, they'll wake up to find a 100% tax rate and all my problems will be gone.

Maggots coalition in a nutshell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqgIHatg5cY

It's so true it hurts.

Getting my money's worth.

So, yeah, I did train Empire Control 5 or whatever gay-ass shit you need to spawn alliances, and by gosh darn it, I am going to use it!

So, update your standings for Trigger Warnings [SJWAR]

Never Not Jump An EOL Hole

I don't understand why people don't jump EOL wormholes. I mean, there's 4 hours of EOL on a hole, who's to say it will collapse on you immediately?

And when it happens, it's not all bad. Take today for example.

I found my first wormhole in my home system, a C3 which was EOL. Jump through, ping a C008, Q003, a V301 and a K162 to C4. Jumped out to nullsec via the Q003 and immediately one of the locals warps an Onyx to it and bubbles up. So I organise a batphone of suicidal T3D's...jump Miskoranda through...and the hole promptly spits the rest of the gang back out to K-space.

"Fare thee well, TF"

So, Onyx docks up, and I probe my new lowsec - 24 to home.

Igo to the C008. It leads to a Y790, so i save that for later. The V301 is an N110 hole to Maurasi. I spot a Crucifier Navy jump in, followed by a heron, Raptor, Claw. They all go back to the C3 I was in. The heron starts a relic site, and the rest disapear into the C008 never to ne heard from again.

So I kill the Heron and (empty) pod him. I scoop the corpse.

I then go swap my Svipul for a bomber. Whilst probing through the Y790, I idly send my bomber to nullsec, and spot a Procurer in the ice belt. I proceed to solo him with the AB-fit bomber, after bombing his drones off. I (empty) pod him, and the Onyx lands, bubbling up as I cloak up and GTFO. I return for the corpse and the loot, which is surprisingly juicy with meta-level Frigoris Ice Harvester Upgrades worth a swanky 30M. Straight back to Maurasi, sell in Jita, bank made.

I then find my way back to the Y790, out to Dousivitte. I probe my way back toward Aralgrund, and get as far as Hek. Here, a C1 with 2 Kestrels and a Thrasher on the outside. They jump in, I follow.

I bomb them on the hole, failing to gank them. Instead of jumping out, they panic warp to an ore site. One of the locals warps to the hole in a Heretic and bubbles up, and begins anchoring a medium warp disruptor.

So I chase the Thrasher and 2 Kestrels around in my AB-fit bomber, killing the Thrasher and (empty) pod. I catch the 2 kestrels on a POCO, and engage. They get me to half shield before I force them off field (with no TP's, either, so application is shite). Once gets caught in the Heretic's medium dissy, so I kill him and (empty) pod him. The Heretic doesn't decloak.

That's 4 kills and 4 pods I wouldn't hav got if I hadn't got trapped in w-space.

This is what balls to the walls means - engaging a dessy and 2 frigs in an AB-fit bomber. and soloing a Procurer.