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Squinting into the Distance

Anyone notice that a lot of gates got a bit bigger with Odyssey?

The gate changes came in many ways.

We got new, V3d gates with a more exciting and interesting animation. These gates also came with a new jump animation that is driving some people crazy as this 37 page thread might suggest.

They came with new gate flashes. Some, gates, the flash is very subtle. People complained. We were told there was a gate flash. And then, there started to be a gate flash. It is still subtle but it is more noticeable then the first few days. I believe it was, at the very least broken, for a moment or improved upon because we stared and stared at gates and suddenly, one day, a visible animation. Some gates are brighter than others as well. Of course, I live in Minmatar space where the gate flashes are normally a dull pulse.

Whatever. The flashes have improved somewhat. We move on.

What is most noticeable is that everything above the system to system gates has become bigger. Constellation gates are now enormous. Regional gates are a joke. Where people would appear 40k away at the max they now appear 60-70k away. It almost works within my little idea I tossed out back in January that the easiest way to diminish the impact of gate camps would be to increase the size of the gates.

Now tackling someone on anything but the smallest gates is a complete bit of luck. Even cruisers can escape through the bigger gates and nano battle cruisers as well. And bigger gates are not rare. Eve is full of little constellations everywhere. Molden Heath is composed of six constellations and it is a small region.

I don't think this is a bad thing at all. It can be frustrating sure but missing kills is always frustrating in a selfish way. In the general picture I'd prefer something like this would cause a steady mitigation of 'gates mean death' then some other ideas people tend to come up with such as more gate guns or bringing CONCORD to low sec with a slower response time. This game and the constant changes in this game are a constant balance between what one wants and what one does not want in any possible way.

I suspect that the increase in gate sizes was a side effect of the new gate structures and not because of my ideas. Side effects like that are very common when changes come into play. I doubt the art department, when building the gate, or whomever places the structure into the game, spent a lot of time debating the ramifications of low sec PvP due to the new, more better pretty gates. Or, maybe they did.

Comments

  1. There's nothing stopping the art department from scaling the size of a gate to minimize the radius for arriving in a system. It is entirely a gameplay decision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps. But, I have zero knowledge about the process and I am 100% guessing about where the change entered the game. So, perhaps.

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