On 1/28/2013 4:34 PM, John VanSickle wrote:
> Evidently this was a big enough event to register in places not devoted
> to gaming.  I watched one of the posted videos, and it looked like every
> ship parks and fires until it is either destroyed to bails out of the
> fight.  Since I don't play it appeared as a rather confusing mess.
>
> My only questions at the moment (for those who actually play the game) are:
>
> * From time to time there are flashes that look like balls of pink
> lightning.  Are those ships being blown up, or something else?
>
> * If one ship fires on another, are non-targeted ships along the line of
> fire in danger of being hit?
>
> *It looks line maneuver is not a terribly important part of fleet combat
> in this game.  Is that appraisal accurate?
>
> Regards,
> John

Very large ships need to use a different method of warping in, so, yeah, 
that may be the case with the pink things. I can't remember ever seeing 
them myself.

I don't think the game mechanics takes into account line of fire, but I 
can't be 100% certain. I have never been in big fleet battles, save 
where its been me in one little ship, trying to deal with masses of 
NPCs. However, I think the only thing accounted for is your own motion, 
and how that effects their odds of hitting a target. In fact, I am 
fairly certain of this. I have shot "through" large objects, like 
asteroids, to hit targets on the other side. The game really doesn't 
care what is in the way, just what you are shooting at. I have no idea 
if an obstruction might make you miss more often, though, I doubt it.

No, maneuvering isn't really even possible. You have basically three 
options - orbit something, which makes you a bit harder to hit, but also 
plays havoc with targeting at the extent of your ships range (you may 
keep losing locks), and puts you at risk, in an NPC battle, of catching 
the attention of another group of ships, which you haven't entered 
detection range of yet (which can be really bad, if your ship isn't able 
to fend them off, because even if you manage to warp out, when you come 
back *all* of them will be paying attention). Warping out can also be an 
issue, because some enemies may be carrying warp scramblers, which makes 
it nigh impossible to get away, or they may equipped with stasis webs, 
which low you down, so you are easier to hit. Combine both, and you may 
be blown away before you have a chance to kill which ever ones have the 
warp scrambler on them.

The last method is "kiting". This basically works by having a smaller, 
faster, ship, and heading out from the combat area, as fast as you can 
go. The slower ships, even if they follow, can't a) keep up, or b) 
successfully fire, at the ranges you widen, and you can, in theory, pick 
off the smaller ones, before concentrating on trying to take out some of 
the bigger ones. But, this doesn't do you much good, unless you tank, 
whether it be your shield system, armor, or structure, and the repair 
systems that maintain them, are up to keeping them from stripping you 
bare. Large ships often have missiles, so their range is greater, and 
their guns, if they do get a hit, can rip through you pretty fast. So.. 
you either go for high speed, and avoid being hit, but poor firepower, 
of you go more balanced, add in a lot of stuff to maintain your 
defenses, and hope you don't get mobbed by more than you can handle 
(hence the "don't orbit things stupidly in an NPC mission, where there 
are 4-5 fleets sitting around, waiting to notice you). ;)

So, I would say that maneuvering isn't just not important, its almost 
meaningless. Other than things like, "When do I launch bombs, so they 
hit the opposing fleet.", or, "Do I launch drones now, and risk the 
other guys bombs frying them all, before they even get there?", and 
other "range based" decisions making. Otherwise, it mostly comes down to 
speed, and defenses, and whether or not you can hold out, against an 
enemy, longer than they can. And, for fleet combat, PVP, instead of NPC 
missions, the odds are that things will be rigged to do mass damage, 
fast, with little reserves, which means, the biggest worry for most 
people will be if their capacitors drain down, to the point where repair 
systems, and others, stop running, before they take out their opponents. 
Two apposed fleets, with an even match, and really well rigged systems, 
can pound each other for 20+ minutes, and never get past defenses, right 
up until one of them does something stupid, like activating something 
they shouldn't, or they actually do finally hit the limit an recharging 
their capacitors, and those defensive systems start going offline. There 
have been cases, in the tournaments, where the winner was declared 
"solely" on one team managing to destroy 1 ship more than the other, 
because, other than that one ship, neither one faltered, until the timer 
on the round ended. Needless to say, like car racing, these rounds where 
deemed "boring". lol

Oh, and, graphics have been adjusted a bit, each update, so its hard to 
say if the stuff in any given, unless recent, Eve movie/trailer actually 
looks the same as it now does.

In any case, its almost all about ranges, rigging, and if your skills 
give you an edge. Well, that, and who you kill first, so you have less 
fire coming at you.

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