According to a recent dev Post by CCP RedDawn, Eve’s exploration aspect will soon be seeing some tweaks and changes. The focus of the changes will mainly be targeting the mechanics of Data Sites. The changes proposed are intended to help re-balance the Data Sites and make them more useful and profitable for players, similar to the changes that came along with the Phoebe release.
Quoting from the dev blog by CCP RedDawn, the following changes will be seen in a not-to-distant release:
- Removed all skill books from Relic sites and placed them into Data sites. (Includes Encryption books)
- Removed the more commonly dropped ‘non rig-related’ blueprints from all the Relic sites. (They will still drop in Data sites)
- Introduced all Cosmos site building materials to all 4 tiers of Data sites. (Info Shard, Com Tower, Mainframe and Databank)
- Introduced the higher tiered (higher value) Cosmos site building materials to all class wormhole Data sites. (C1 to C6)
- Increased the drop frequency of the Cosmos sites items that are currently on the Data site loot tables.
- All exploration Ghost Sites now require the use of the Data Analyzer module.
- Halved the drop amount of the most commonly used building materials found in all data sites. (EG: Positron Cords, Electric Conduits etc)
- All Ghost sites are now Cosmic Signatures rather than Anomalies.
CCP RedDawn also added that “Relic sites still have all their unique loot, all I’ve done is removed their less valuable drops which also already currently drop in Data sites.”
There have been very few changes to the Ghost Sites since they were introduced in the Rubicon expansion. Hopefully these changes and re-balances will make them once again worthy of players time and risk. By localizing the requirement for all Ghost Site cans to the Data Analyzer module will allow players to specifically target these sites at a far greater suitability.
A question in the thread asking about the possibility of environmental hazards, or defenders being triggered by failed hacking/analyzing attempts yielded an interesting response from CCP RedDawn, who stated that he was “all for changes like this, that increase the demand on player ability and potentially harm them if mistakes are made.” He went on to say that “An alarm based Defensive Subsystem inside the hacking UI was one of the initial goals that had to be dropped due to time constraints, but it’s something I would like to see revisited in the future. A relic based alternative is something I would like to do in tandem with that change.”
Exploration tends to draw the attention of new players for the dense beauty and intrigue that comes with Eve’s mythos and atmosphere. CCP RedDawn and Team Space Glitter are committed to keeping Eve’s exploration aspect exciting and balanced with the new changes coming to this ever-evolving game.
