Something else with respect to these progressions: If you lose, do you just get knocked back to the previous step? I like Fox Gaden's thematic progression, but say you establish a base with an Ambush OMS game, but you lose the subsequent Domination match to shut down the defense systems. Do you then play another Ambush OMS, or do you play another Domination where you're defending your base from being shut down? The progression might look more like one of those old Wing Commander storyline maps rather than a straight line. Just a thought.

Yup, we actually discussed this in the skype channel shortly after I posted that and I agree.

What if, instead of the LP cost to deploy, described above in my previous post, was used to purchase a finite number of clones that would be used to fight or perhaps augment the number of clones spawned to fight the matches?

This would add a finite number of clones to the battle, represent EVE FW 'investment' into the battles and enhance the Eve/Dust link.

Ambush is the beach-head. The landing in an enemy district. Trying to get a foothold.

Although it might work better if the Attackers had a limited number of clones, and the defenders had a limited amount of time. Basically it would be the Attackers trying to hold ground long enough for a CRU to be delivered, which would result in the Ambush OMS match to follow. If the Defenders can clone out the attackers they can prevent the Attackers from setting up a CRU and getting a foothold.

Fox I am liking where that idea is going. If you start out an Ambush match with both a 15 minute timer for the defenders to clone the attackers and the attackers having the equivalent of 8 full squad complements of clones (which turns out to be 48 clones, so the current number of 50 is a good base) and the objective to either last till the timer runs out or they, themselves, take over one of the defender's CRU's, eliminate the defending troop element, or push past a certain geographic marker with minimal contact to place a beacon for the friendly force's CRU, that could be a good beach head assault.

But then the question comes in whether or not the vehicles (specifically I am thinking of an air assault operation using multiple dropships, which would work better in skirmish 1.0 - ground war) should be allowed and what are we to do about the redline? Personally I think the redline in FW should be removed and some lateral movement should be allowed for the sake of simulating a more accurate and functional military operation. But this brings to question; what is the purpose of this particular beachhead assault? Is it to harass the enemy into shifting their forces to open gaps in other districts, is it an attempt at logistical disruption, or is it blitzkrieg? If it is the last, why would it start in assault, when en-mass zergs would throw everything they have at the enemy?

This seems to point towards strategic operational planning which means the player should have a functional and accurate map int he war barge. Without a basic understanding of the terrain of the district, mind you no the exact placement of installations rather the sockets and buildings, would allow for the commanders of the ground operation to choose between a couple of modes per-say: hit&run harassment, logistical disruption (sabotage), or full-scale military operational push (i.e., taking the district). This I feel would add to the complexity of the meta game.

We could apply this to PC too

1. Ambush - like one guy previously mentioned, it should have a tight redline around the map, kind of like back on Chromosome.
2. Ambush OMS - ok
3. Skirmish - ok
4. Domination - Remove this mode and add Skrimish 1.0, in the previous battle the defender's MCC was destroyed so now the attackers can push all the way in the district with their MCC.

Now if only there were proper balance changes for the infantry...

1. Ambush - like one guy previously mentioned, it should have a tight redline around the map, kind of like back on Chromosome.
2. Ambush OMS - ok
3. Skirmish - ok
4. Domination - Remove this mode and add Skrimish 1.0, in the previous battle the defender's MCC was destroyed so now the attackers can push all the way in the district with their MCC.

Now if only there were proper balance changes for the infantry...

Did not read entire thread but brilliant idea, well thought out, and exposes FW players to all game modes.

of course! Eve FW corps could buy and transport clones to where they wanted them used then put out merc contracts for the districts required, maybe your available clone count is dependent on how many are bought?

I'm barely keeping up with it myself, lots of people commenting! Very glad people are liking this, and some people have come up with some great ideas to expand upon this.

Best post I have seen in 2 months 70 plus likes hopefully something real close to this gets implemented

At first I was thinking: "what the fu..."
but after reading a little more I was like "nvm, genious!"
+1

1. Ambush - like one guy previously mentioned, it should have a tight redline around the map, kind of like back on Chromosome.
2. Ambush OMS - ok
3. Skirmish - ok
4. Domination - Remove this mode and add Skrimish 1.0, in the previous battle the defender's MCC was destroyed so now the attackers can push all the way in the district with their MCC.

Now if only there were proper balance changes for the infantry...

Faction Warfare right now has some flaws and CCP is addressing some flaws with the recent changes, mainly adding rewards. But even after these changes, faction warfare will still lack a sense of progression and EVE players trying to give support to their Dust players will still end up getting ping-ponged across New Eden. So why not knock out two birds with one stone?

Part of the progression issue is that it seems odd that a 15 minute skirmish is all that decides the outcome of a district. Instead of making the battles longer, I propose the following.

Say the Imperial Guard is attacking a district owned by the Republic Command. The battle will proceed as follows:

1. Ambush. The attackers are trying to gain a foothold in the district. If the defenders win, then the district is successfully defended and temporarily locked up. If the attackers win, proceed to case (2).
2. Ambush OMS. The attackers gained some ground and opened up the battlefield to off map support. If the defenders win, return to case (1). If the attackers win, proceed to case (3).
3. Skirmish. The attackers have made their presence known and are trying to seize as much territory as possible. If the defenders win, return to case (2). If the attackers win, proceed to case (4).
4. Domination. The attackers are going in for the finishing blow on the critical objective. If the defenders win, return to case (3). If the attackers win, the district is successfully captured and temporarily locked up.

Here is a flow chart by everyone's favorite cat to help you visualize this,
http://i.imgur.com/fnaa7RI.png
EDIT: It came to my attention that a mod may mistake me for a Cat Merc alt. Obviously this is not the case, he simply helped me in collaboration of this idea over skype.

Each battle would happen on the same mega terrain, but would use different maps and moods as you are moving to different portions of the district (perhaps rotating moods between matches to give the illusion of a day/night cycle). After each map, players will be returned to the warbarge where they wait about 5 minutes for the next stage of the battle to happen. If players leave, new players queued for FW will replace them. Bonus rewards for players who stick from the beginning of the battle to the end if successful. This would also help solve the case of EVE players ping-ponging across the warzone, as they would spend more time sticking around the planet then flying several jumps to the next one.

Additionally, imagine you take all the districts that the Amarr and Minmatar fight over for example and string them together to form this circular track such that one district leads to the next nearby district and so on and so forth until the last district leads back to the first district. Now imagine you are on a GÇ£trainGÇ¥ following this track. Once the district you are fighting on gets GÇ£locked,GÇ¥ you advanced along the track to the next district. This will give an even deeper sense of progression for the Dust players as well as further help in keeping the EVE players localized. To accomodate for the large player base, new GÇ£trainsGÇ¥ will be created to follow this same track but be evenly spaced out. Also in this case, the district wouldnGÇÖt actually need to be GÇ£locked,GÇ¥ instead it simply wouldnGÇÖt be attacked again until the next GÇ£trainGÇ¥ arrives.

And even better, CCP wouldnGÇÖt have to create anything new as this uses entirely existing resources.

I cannot see anyone investing in clones for matches they cannot directly trust to achieve the goal. No way would EVE based FW corps buy us clones.

Cazaderon, you're missing the point. The idea is that CCP wouldn't have to develop anything new. Obviously game modes can be swapped for new ones later, but the point is this could be done using existing stuff.

Also people want taking a district to last longer, but not individual matches to last longer.

Fox I am liking where that idea is going. If you start out an Ambush match with both a 15 minute timer for the defenders to clone the attackers and the attackers having the equivalent of 8 full squad complements of clones (which turns out to be 48 clones, so the current number of 50 is a good base) and the objective to either last till the timer runs out or they, themselves, take over one of the defender's CRU's, eliminate the defending troop element, or push past a certain geographic marker with minimal contact to place a beacon for the friendly force's CRU, that could be a good beach head assault.

But then the question comes in whether or not the vehicles (specifically I am thinking of an air assault operation using multiple dropships, which would work better in skirmish 1.0 - ground war) should be allowed and what are we to do about the redline? Personally I think the redline in FW should be removed and some lateral movement should be allowed for the sake of simulating a more accurate and functional military operation. But this brings to question; what is the purpose of this particular beachhead assault? Is it to harass the enemy into shifting their forces to open gaps in other districts, is it an attempt at logistical disruption, or is it blitzkrieg? If it is the last, why would it start in assault, when en-mass zergs would throw everything they have at the enemy?

This seems to point towards strategic operational planning which means the player should have a functional and accurate map int he war barge. Without a basic understanding of the terrain of the district, mind you no the exact placement of installations rather the sockets and buildings, would allow for the commanders of the ground operation to choose between a couple of modes per-say: hit&run harassment, logistical disruption (sabotage), or full-scale military operational push (i.e., taking the district). This I feel would add to the complexity of the meta game.