Covert op suggestion
 

Hi folks ive got a few ideas on how to revive cov ops


Generally cov ops are only good at the start of the round

I would like to see some life in cov ops mid to end round also.


I would suggest the following....


scrap the population on security
decrease the effiency of guard(s)
give stealth boost to security centres construction(s)


or Increase immunity % in 100 ticks increments say 5% increments
pt 200 immunity is 110% alert
pt 500 immunity is 125% alert etc

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

+1 towards first set. In same spirit, rather than remove security pop you could add "subversion" to increase stealth

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

I personally would far prefer it if cov ops were something you could specialise in. They should actually be more difficult for most people perhaps through a slightly higher base alert but easier - and ideally far more beneficial for the few who specialise. I have not heard of people making cov ops their main income source for a long time now.

To this end I would agree with the stealth boost for SC. But I would also make it so that the effectiveness of the cov op were increased and that you need quite a lot of them to make a big difference. This has the additional benefit that it means there is a way to strike back at the cov oppers; by using SKs. I also think we should get rid of the absolute immunity at 100% as stealth should be able to go higher for those who are specialising, though this could equally be done by making better use of the 1-100 range.

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

I think Paisley's proposals will just lead to people having to invest more in (near-)immunity and not much else changing. If everyone (hyperbole) goes cov ops, everyone (not hyperbole) has to go for immunity, after all. (Also a tiny nitpick: it doesn't make a lot of sense to need "110%" alert to achieve immunity. Scaling alert requirements downwards so it tops out at 100% at round end would make more sense, in my opinion.)

I like booji's approach more. I agree that cov ops shouldn't be something you can just spend some RP on and then run with it. specializing in cov ops from the start of the round could be an interesting alternate strategy, like scanning, or rushing Cr/Bs. That said, since so many people absolutely loathe being cov opped, I don't think it should ever again be a top tier strategy (like that one round in the 20s), but only merely viable.

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

Cov ops needs to be specialized I think having security centres to increase the effectiveness of cov ops is 1 way to go... this could also reduce the effectiveness of enemy guards aswell
One of the reasons why we havent seen cov ops used is bank hacking for alliance and galaxy due to donation limits this needs reviewing to make it a viable strat again


I think getting rid of population or reducing to say 20% on security is another option.
Another option is having stealth or guards reduced effectiveness technologies


-edit the idea is to make cov ops a specialized option again.

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

Here is how I would fix cov ops....


1. change base stealth to 50% make security centres have a 3% stealth increase and same alert increase. (this would stop the annoying 3 roid blow up cov op alot)
2. reduce pop limit from 50% to 20% in security
3. introduce a stealth pop limit of 20% that builds up over time.
4. Introduce 2-4 techs thats increase stealth effectiveness / reduce enemy guard effectiveness in the cov op tech tree after subvertion tech.
5. have a 150k of each donation limit per tick for ally/gal (this would bring back bank hackers and reduce stockpilers from being relatively immune from random inc)
6. reduce agents recuitment costs to 500 per agent instead of 2000
7. if you cov op a target more than 3 times over a 24 tick period your co-ords gets revealed to the target

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

I've never liked cov-ops and don't see the need to make them easier to perform.

(Someone had to say it).

Re: Covert op suggestion
 

I'm pretty sure more people emo over being roided than getting caught out on a covop. I enjoy it and see it as another form of warfare.

The people who currently lose out at the moment are the newb planets who haven't figured out how to raise security and getting endlessly quest-banged. So from that point of view something should certainly be fixed, so new players don't run away from the game. I would like the solution involving it to be progressively harder for fatter planets to retain a high alert.