Given only handing in bonds does make a difference in winning or losing, I'm not completely convinced on that statement. I'd like to know more about the tests and data you collected for that one.Bonds Have little impact in winning wars now.
We have tested by doing just Czs no bonds and Czs handing in bonds.
There was 0 difference.
Bonds are handier to keep and put in other systems for influence
I have to say, I'm on the side of "good, it's immersive". You should quickly become hated by a faction that you're actively fighting against in war zones.
Bonds Have little impact in winning wars now.
We have tested by doing just Czs no bonds and Czs handing in bonds.
There was 0 difference.
Bonds are handier to keep and put in other systems for influence
Eh, I still prefer taking bonds and missions out of the equation entirely. Now that we have the CZ scenarios and the progress bars for each side, everything else is superfluous. Let the outcome of the war be decided entirely by winning or losing battles. We don't need a giant coupon sweepstakes relay race on top of it.I have to say, I'm on the side of "good, it's immersive". You should quickly become hated by a faction that you're actively fighting against in war zones. But I do agree, there has to be some kind of mitigation, particularly in a "entire star system is now hostile to me" scenario.
The "logical fix" to it would be to temporarily add one new dockable megaship per faction that is at war. Let's call them "flagships", because calling them anything else might make them confused with the hopefully-still-to-come squadron carriers, which should also form a second friendly base of operations in-system once they are implemented. Flagships should have basic refuel/rearm/repair facilities and offer missions to support the war effort for the owning faction, including making an "attack run" on the enemy flagship. Once the war is over, the flagships disappear again.
We've perfected having one person with good rep stay behind for the last kill while the rest jump out and dogde the rep hit... our working assuming is that bonds are counted x 4 in a win but the completion is independent of how many are presentWell, this change certainly caused an interesting problem for me. I was fighting in a war for the control of a system, against the controlling faction. Docked at a station, picked up a massacre mission, headed out to the CZs to kill ships, got the mission done but now I'm hostile towards the faction owning the station I took the mission from and can't dock, since the station opens up on me on approach.
So I guess I now have to work FOR the controlling faction in one of the neighboring systems they're present so I can dock and complete a mission AGAINST them.
This change really makes fighting wars become fighting wars with extra steps.
I wouldn't mind missions counting, though yes, they'd have to count probably for 1/10-1/4 of a Low CZ for me to be happy.... they're available to both sides (now...), and for me it makes sense that things like "Wartime Surface Scan", "Strategic Data Deliveries" and the supply of weapons/armour would actually help the cause. Even massacre missions are different from combat bonds... the former being a specific request to thin out enemy forces (possibly for some planned strategic outcome), versus simply being paid for a non-specific request.Eh, I still prefer taking bonds and missions out of the equation entirely. Now that we have the CZ scenarios and the progress bars for each side, everything else is superfluous. Let the outcome of the war be decided entirely by winning or losing battles. We don't need a giant coupon sweepstakes relay race on top of it.
I also think that docking while being hostile to a faction should behave exactly like being wanted by a faction. Either the faction can or can't ID you and it either takes a scan or it doesn't take a scan. It makes no sense to work one way for bounties and another way for hostility.
I have the feeling that the rep degradation has been reduced, to 1/2 or less of what it was. I may have to properly count, but I seem to be able to do more victories now than even a week ago, with reputation dropping slower.
Nothing a few mapped ELWs or Ammonia worlds can't handle. So I think this is now much less of an issue.