The term "noob harvest" is particularly popular with FPS console gamers. It generally refers to the time at Christmas when people have been given a new games console or individual game as a present. These people then try out their brand new game with some online PvP against the more seasoned players who may have been playing that game for a while. Obviously there is a clash of skills here which generally leaves the inexperienced players (the aforementioned noobs) a blood-soaked corpse in-game and the seasoned vets get a mad K/D ratio!
I myself used the term a few weeks ago with regard to the PC version of Titanfall. Titanfall was a very expensive game on release and a few weeks ago they had a sale with 40% off. Suddenly lots of gamers who were not prepared to pay the full price for the game bought it as at 40% off it was now seen as good value.
Titanfall has no single player mode. The only way a player learns is via the tutorials which everyone plays once, then it is straight into the PvP. Oh it was a fun weekend. I'm usually pretty bad at Titanfall, but I stick with it as I do enjoy the game. Reminds me of the original Unreal Tournament. The weekend of the 40% off sale? I KILLED ALL THE THINGS!
Seriously, I was top player several matches and getting a lot more kills than deaths. With a massive influx of new players (noobs) who didn't have a clue what was going on, I was a better than average player for that weekend!
So what has this got to do with Eve Online? Well I'm hearing there is a noob harvest going on right now!
Unfortunately I've not had time to really test Kronos yet on TQ. When the servers came up I was getting dinner ready before heading out for a few quiet drinks. By the time I got home from the nightclub I really needed my bed. However I did get on for a few minutes before I headed out and was amazed how busy Nisuwa was. I'm hearing it’s not just Nisuwa, low-sec is buzzing with lots of people trying to find Mordu's Legion spawns especially as Barghests are selling for FOUR BILLION ISK!
Apparently sitting in a low sec belt is suddenly a great way to get PvP. The only issue is that many of these fights are fairly one-sided with carebears and PvP inexperienced players venturing outside of their usual habitat to try and get rich quick. PvE fitted ships warping blindly to asteroid belts only to find a PvP fit pirate who has a lot of experience in killing important internet spaceships.
Will this last? Nope. First of all those Legion BPC's will vastly drop in price over the next week or so. The battleship is nice, but it’s no Vindicator! Why would you spend all that ISK when you could get a faction fit Windicator and still have money to spare? For a single Barghest hull you could buy FOUR Vindicator hulls and still have 300m ISK left to buy fittings! If you are buying Barghests today you have more ISK than sense (well done you btw).
As usual the first few days will see silly prices for these new ships. They'll then drop as supply ramps up leading to a stabilisation in prices. At that point its likely to become unproductive to spend your time hunting down BPC's in low-sec belts.
Secondly, is that those noobs who are being harvested today will either run back to where they came from and denounce low-sec as "scary" never to return, or will learn to PvP and come back for more.
I truly hope it is the later. I hope that those who are dying horribly today throughout low-sec, will be back tomorrow. Equipped with a new ship, new tactics, new skills and overall a new thirst for PvP.
Welcome to low-sec guys. Time to get rich or die trying!
I am writing this parked at a low sec belt right now. From what I am seeing, so far, the drop rate on these BPC's is really low. Sure, my evidence is purely anecdotal, but I get the feeling that the bulk of the market will be defined by the NPC LP store, the one surrounded by goon space.
ReplyDeleteAs a friend told me, the goons want to control the Mordu Shipmarket. And with LowSec so dangerous and a low droprate I fully expect them do to so.
ReplyDeleteAnd they are going to do this how? Individual goons are not noted to be the best PvPers, and large gangs are going to travel belt to belt to split a rare drop?
DeleteAll I know is what we experienced yesterday...
ReplyDeleteGreat fights! and no we weren't pwning noobs, the fights we got were lowseccers and wormholers who were experienced and cagey... but they were players undocked in far greater numbers than usual... and the fights were excellent.
We got jumped in our home hole by an up class gang... lost one Vex to their Loki, Pilgrim, Drake and POD... then,
I had one of my all time best fights as a matter of fact. A (newly returned) coprmate got point on a Gnosis inna Enyo which let me (inna 'Cane) join and get secondary before he popped... then it was just me and the Gnosis... and it was close, very very CLOSE... =]
Had I not overheated all-the-mods (something I am still not good at remembering to do) I would have lost... as it was I warped out w/ under 75% hull remaining... this is very rare for me... very rare, as I have not been what anyone would call 'good' at PvP... but I am learning.
Plus we got an NPC Barghest & the BPC... sold for 2b ISK! Now while we dint see another ML rat the rest of the night, but we're going back tonight!
As for the metagame and long term... who cares ATM!?! The fights we have had are good and the possibility of riches keeps players undocking... THIS is what CCP needs to keep doing.
On a Kronos related note: Reinforced Bulkhead IIs are up 6x the price since Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope this lasts till the weekend when I have time to harvest some noobs.
Need to make a tab with belts on it.