Necessary: Assassins

Death by stripper? Oh the possibilities...

Researching EVE these past few months has been both a learning experience and an inspiration, we've leaned much about the politics and the way things are done in New Eden. The open-galaxy style and free-from-interference "hands off" policy that CCP views EVE with is refreshing. What we've learned has been eye-opening in some cases, as a matter of fact; here's one instance in particular that intrigued us Murder Inc. Situation.



Assassins in EVE? WOW. How can a person not be impressed by that? Much of what Dust Mercs will do resides in the realm of operative-for-hire, so we wondered? This could be an area where the open-universe style of EVE gameplay could truly shine. We've made no secret regarding our desire to see varied game modes exist as specific types of contracts in addition to the open-world style gameplay that already exists. What if players could both generate and accept Assassin Contracts?

An option where a player can accept an Assassin Contract to eliminate another player or even an NPC would be a wonderful expansion to EVE's gameplay. While this certainly wouldn't be anything that could ready for launch, it could be a genre-changing addition. Think of the implications! While the standard version of "death" is a misnomer in EVE, there are sincere drawbacks to being killed and being subjected to revival inside a clone. And while Dust Mercs may be immortal, the same can't be said for politicians, VIPS and other EVE NPCs. A new metagame could develop from the elimination and protection of these "targets". Did we just create a market for bodyguards and other protection details? Why yes, I think we did.

CCP's other project, the Vampire MMO World of Darkness, has confirmed the existence of "perma-death". While many games/players aren't ready for this level of consequence/persistence, it is certainly noteworthy and equally ambitious. Dead? Forever? Chilling.

Balance would have to be a priority, but  Assassin's Contracts could yield a number of benefits and limitations to make sure gameplay wasn't adversely affected.

1 - Accepting the contract could mean the assassin would have access to the real-time location of the target.

 2 - Assassins would have the ability to strike in social areas. NOTE: This could be balanced by requiring a steep amount of War Points (or the ISK equivalent) to do, insuring that attacks in these areas wouldn't be commonplace and that only the wealthiest, top-tiered and experienced Assassins would be able to initiate an attack outside of the battlefield.

3 - This contract type should be a smaller game mode with fewer players (perhaps as few as a single assassin) and no respawns if killed. If the assassin is killed, its essentially a failed attempt.

These are just some of the ideas we had in regards to an Assassin mechanic. We think using contracts to separate the different game modes would do an excellent job of giving the game variety and allowing players to tailor their experiences.