A very basic explanation of EVE's 'Sovereignty' system

One of EVE's key differentiators (and one of the reason the politics of the game is so interesting) is that territory can claimed, held and then lost by alliances.

The mechanic for claiming 0.0 space is based on the game's 'Sovereignty' system which you will probably see me refer to from time to time. Unless you play EVE you will probably have no idea what I am wittering on about when I refer to Sovereignty so here is a quick guide to how Sovereignty in EVE 'currently' works.

Every solar system in EVE has a number of planets and moons.

Players are able to erect two main structures in space. These are Player Owned Stations (POSes) and Outposts (a form of space station).

POSes (also known as 'towers' or 'starbases') come in 3 sizes (small, medium and large) and range in cost dependent on the type of POS and the modules which are associated with it. They can only be erected at Moons and they need to be refueled regularly in order to stay operational.

POSes can serve either an industrial or a military function which is dependent on the modules with which the player equips it. The larger the POS the more modules can be attached. In industrial mode a POS will collect and process various rare moon materials and players will collect these intermittently for use in EVE's manufacturing processes. The more rare the materials the more profitable the POS. Some POSes can also be equiped with laboratories and space factories and shipyards. POSes in military mode will be equipped with a variety of weapons designed to inflict maximum damage on any hostile forces attacking the POS.

Large POSes have an additional ability - they can claim 'Sovereignty' in 0.0 solar systems.

Sovereignty provides POS owners with a number of advantages which accrue over time. At Level 1 Sovereignty the fuel usage of the POS is reduced making it cheaper and more convenient to run. Basically the fuel stored in the POS lasts longer - meaning that the Sov holders do not have to refuel the tower quite as frequently - a nice logistical perk.

The longer an alliance uses POSes to successfully claim a system without challenge the higher the Sov level they achieve (up to level 4). Other alliances can challenge by erecting more (if they can) POSes of their own in the system or destroying their opponents'. To cancel the Sov claim of an alliance the opponent needs at least 1 more large POS claiming Sovereignty in a solar system than the opponent. With some systems having 80+ moons this can lead to massive logistical battles and so called 'POS-spam' particularly if one side is finding it difficult to kill their opponent's POSes.

Higher Sov levels provides the holding alliance with significant defence advantages such as jump bridges (which provide travel shortcuts - massive logistical and defence advantages) or cyno jammers (preventing enemy capital ships from jumping into a system until the cynojammer is disabled by conventional ships). It can take 3 months for a system to go from basic level 1 Sov to level 4 Sov (assuming Sov isnt challenged or reset by hostile action).

It is fair to say that many of the major battles in EVE are fought over POSes - either for one side to claim particularly profitable moons/resources for their own industrialists or simply to challenge/remove the Sovereignty of an incumbent alliance.

Military POSes which have been set up purely to claim Sovereignty or to protect other assets such as jumpbridges or cynojammers are often known as 'Deathstars' and are formidable targets which can inflict huge losses on attackers - particularly if coordinated with a friendly fleet.

Players (with the right skills) have the options to take over and operate gun modules (which are usually automated) on POS towers and use this to concentrate firepower and coordinate with 'tacklers' to try and maximise hostile losses. This is known as POS gunning.

While Sovereignty/POS warfare does give signifcant advantages to the 'defenders' in EVE 0.0 warfare this was done specifcally to ensure that there is a risk vs reward balance.

The construction of POS/Sov infrastructure is very expensive and needs to constantly maintained/refueled. The problem in a 23/7 global MMO like EVE is that very few alliances would actually build 0.0 infrastructure and develop 0.0 empires if all their efforts could be destroyed at will by large blobs with strengths in different timezones. As a result the destruction of a POS is a two step process.

The initial stage is called 'reinforcement'. When a hostile alliance attacks a POS they can shoot the shields of the POS down to 25%. At this stage the POS enters 'reinforced mode'. By altering the stock of a particular fuel in the POS the defenders have the opportunity to time when the tower comes out of reinforced and should (in theory) time it to come out when they are at their strongest. This gives them time to gather forces and plan a defensive strategy.

When a POS tower comes out of reinforced the attacker has a small window of opportunity to destroy the rest of the shields and armour - destroying the POS. If they miss this opportunity then the POS shields will naturally recharge (or be repaired) - and once they reach 50% the defender can refill the tower with fuel - which moves everything back to square one.

If the attacker is particularly determined they will try and 'lockdown' the system so that the defenders cannot congregate to defend the tower when it comes out of reinforced. This will include disabling any jump bridges in the system and camping the main travel gates into the system, but as POSes can contain enough fuel to stay in reinforced for up to 48hrs, not all alliances have the patience to maintain lockdown for that entire period.

Now jumping back to the start I mentioned that there are two main types of 0.0 structure that can be constructed by players in 0.0. The second type is Outposts.

Outposts = Large player built space stations the alliance holds in 0.0 space. These are a major investment (25 billion ISK+ major logistical work) to build. They can only be built at planets and only 1 can be built per solar system. When 3 'Outposts' have been erected in a 'Constellation' (a group of 7 solar systems) then the Sov holding alliance can nominate a 'Capital'.

Capitals = Solar systems which are invulnerable to attack due to the fortification of surrounding solar systems. They can only be attacked if the holding alliance lose Sovereignty in the surrounding Outpost systems. Most alliances uses their 'Capitals' for their major Capital ship production. It can take up to six weeks (and gigantic amounts of resources) for an orbital POS shipyard to produce a Titan class 'ship which makes them extremely attractive and vulnerable targets so alliances do their utmost to protect them from random raids.

While the mechanics of 'Sov' warfare are currently being looked at by CCP in order to make them more 'fun', it is important that they recognise that a 'risk vs reward' balance in 0.0 is needed. EVE 0.0 politics (and history) is rich and entertaining precisely because it is such a challenge to oust the incumbents and as such the sapping of the opponent's will to fight is almost as important as inspace victories.

If it is made too easy to topple alliances in 0.0 then the willingness of alliances to invest in the development of infrastructure and alternative forms of governance will be eroded as will their willingness to put heart and soul into the protection of their territory. EVE 0.0 will no longer be about the development of rival civilisations but could devolve into a wasteland dominated by Mongol style tribes whose only differentiating factor will be the number of warriors they can field at any one time!

While the Sov warfare system can be improved and steps should be taken to make it more 'enjoyable' we need to remember that the current system has not resulted in a static position as many of its detractors allege. A quick look at some of the historical EVE maps and the current position demonstrates that EVE 0.0 is dynamic!

I just hope that CCP, doesn't throw the baby out with the bathwater!