xPainx Pain is right!

Ringers are a huge problem that severely limit the appeal of PC. IMO, ringers a far bigger issue than lag -- which has been a part of PC since its inception, and, not coincidentally, didn't stop an even more deadly group of ringers from dominating PC when lag was even worse.

So it comes as no surprise that the issue of ringers has come up in the PC think-tank that's been set up.

Ringing is a huge issue and should be addressed, post haste.

Said a bit differently, PC 2.0 could be absolutely wonderfully designed and even lag-free, but if the same small group of ringers continues to be enabled to farm any/all land owners, there will still be a very limited group participating. You can only get your face punched in so many times by trolly neckbeards before you give up.

This has been a recurring challenge for us in ML, and all the corps we talk to on a regular basis. The community has itself tried to police this problem. First with Planet Fight Club, and later with the "last district rule". While they had some success, both ultimately failed miserably....and we are left with PC in the state that it's in. That is to say a bad place.

We need to make PC more available/accessible and not tilted so far in favor of a small group of ringers. Perhaps limit the number of non-corp or non-alliance members, or implement type of cost to do so. Because the way it is now, the same group of 20 or so players simply exhibit too much influence on the game mode, IMO, and it's put a huge damper on participation in the Dust end-game.

TL;DR: Lag is certainly a problem in PC, but even if we solve that, the problem of ringers will continue to limit the broader appeal of what every corp should aspire to. We need to solve this issue, or we'll continue to see limited participation in PC.

Sincerely, Leadfoot (ML Director & 2+ year PC participant/FC)

p.s. Rattati, I'm not sure if you're aware of this but very few ringers are paid to fight these days. Fights are so scarce -- because of the above issues -- and the ringers have enough ISK already, that people are generally ringing for free.