BB65 - Useful Attributes

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 65th edition! For more details about what the blog banters are visit the Blog Banter page.

This months Banter was suggested by Jakob Anedalle

"I liked the discussion on The Neocom's recent "Tinfoil Factory" on the future of attributes in Eve. Perhaps piggyback on that and invite those folks into the banter as well?
http://theneocom.com/2015/06/21/the-neocom-presents-the-tinfoil-factory-pilot-attributes/"

Attributes and Skills
Does Eve need attributes? It's been discussed a lot recently. Unlike other MMO's your characters attributes don't make a difference in day-to-day gameplay. They simply set how fast you train a skill. Is it time to remove attributes from the game or totally revamp their purpose? Do they add a level of complexity to the game that is not needed? If you really need to use a 3rd party application to get the most from it should it be in the game? Should they be repurposed with each attribute adding a modifier to your ship? Are attributes a relic from the past or are they an important part of Eve - You make your decision and deal with the consequences?

Banter on!

-o0o-

BB65 - Useful Attributes

I used to be one of the first posters in Blog Banters in the last few years. I'd have mine ready to go as soon as the day arrived. Now I post the topic on a Monday so leave my personal response until my usual Wednesday post. This has changed things as now I get to see what the 'early birds' are thinking. So far everyone is "KILL THEM WITH FIRE!". So I've decided to go against popular opinion and play devils advocate and suggest keeping them.

What if we made attributes useful as they are in other games? Rather than just setting how many skill points per hour you get, what if they actually made a difference in the game?

First job would be to decouple skill point acquisition from the attributes. How about we make it so everyone learns at the same base rate? 2000 SP per hour? 2500? Whatever it doesn't really matter at his stage.

With a standard SP gain there could be skill hardwiring implants to boost your SP per hour. These could be a modifier such as 5% bonus or a set amount such as +500 per hour (for the equivelent +5). Another idea would be to boost New Bros by tiering skillpoints. This would allow new players to catch up quicker.

Less than 10m SP = You train at 5000 SP per hour base
10m - 20m = 3000 SP per hour base
20 - 50m = 2500 SP per hour base
50m+ = 2000 SP per hour base

OK, now onto attributes. We keep the five attributes. 10 points available in each with the ability to change each +/- five points as the player see's fit. Free remap when implemented and perhaps have an annual remap or remap for PLEX? This gives a minimum of 5 points in any one attribute and, with +5 implants, the maximum you can get is 20. At 10 points there is no bonus, this is the normal level for characters. Every point below 10 is a negative to the mechanics affected by the attribute and every point above is a bonus. I've listed a few ideas below along with examples if you set the attribute at 5, 15 and 20.

Intelligence

Ability at running ship systems. +/- 0.2% modifier to both CPU and powergrid output.

5 Intelligence = -1% nerf to CPU and PG
15 Intelligence = +1% bonus to CPU and PG output
20 Intelligence = +2% bonus to CPU and PG output

Perception
Ability at aiming. +/- 0.4% modifier to turret and missile damage.

5 Perception = -2% nerf to damage
15 Perception = +2% bonus to damage
20 Perception = + 4% bonus to damage

Charisma
Turn on the charm. Affects costs with setting up market orders. +/- 0.4% modifier to costs in creating market orders.

5 Charisma = Costs 2% more than base.
15 Charisma = 2% saving
20 Charisma = 4% saving

Willpower
The ability to power through incoming damage. +/- 0.2% modifier to shield and armour amount.

5 Willpower = -1% nerf to hitpoints.
15 Willpower = +1% bonus to hitpoints
20 Willpower = +2% bonus to hitpoints

Memory

The ability to learn. +/- 1% modifier to training time.

5 Memory = -5% to hourly skillpoint amount
15 Memory = +5% to hourly skillpoint amount
20 Memory = +10% to hourly skillpoint amount

All these numbers would need tweaking and balancing. I've just used thrown these ideas out there without thinking too much of the consequences. I consider the general idea makes for more interesting gameplay and it could be made to really help new players. With the numbers above they could be gaining nearly 6000 skill points per hour until they hit 10m (+5 memory implant and a +5 equivalent skill hardwiring).