Kronos and LowSec Lotteries

I read through the omnibus Kronos devblog and was pretty impressed.  I think when you hear about features in bits and pieces it makes the release seem smaller, and that's something that CCP will definitely have to contend with in the new 6-week iteration schedule.  I definitely get the feeling that CCP is thinking about lowsec more, even if it is just to throw some random elements our way.

Low-Sec Lotteries

I think Kirith Kodachi summed it up well: "What's up with all the low-sec lotteries being added lately?" I think the answer is that CCP has realized there is more player interest in lowsec than they thought.  The addition of at least three CSMs from lowsec probably helped substantially.  So the kind of things we're seeing in lowsec are also things they can do quickly - adding more wormholes is a prime example.  I wouldn't be surprised if the drops in the belts and the new exploration sites were originally intended to be in the Mordu's Legion home space, but instead were broadened to all of lowsec.

Mordu's Legion - Exploration Riches and Targets

Not covered directly in the Kronos overview devblog was the recent one on the new Exploration sites. So there are some new Guristas hacking sites, which will have info you can sell to Mordu (assuming you can make it though the CFC gatecamps). Once enough people have done that we'll see the Besieged Covert Research Facility which the devblog really talks up.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it sounds like they're setting up the Beseiged site to be really tough.  I'm hoping that means "must bring friends" tough.  That would bring the team-play aspect in that we keep hearing is missing from PVE content (other than Incursions).  And as a low-sec resident I would like that - both to encourage corpmates to get together to run a site in our area, and to provide more targets for us to hunt.

With these exploration sites plus the belt rats, I'm wondering if it might make even more sense for a solo lowsec hunter to be a ship that carries probes.

Other Kronos

I'm looking forward to the new rebalance on the pirate ships, and I'm curious to see if we'll see the wave of hull-tanked Gallente that I'm hearing theory-crafting about.  If the MMJDs bring BCs back to the field then I'll consider that a win I suppose.  And the drones.

I'm looking forward to the different options for drones.  I expect Amarr drones will be popular for the EM damage.  I'm curious whether the prices will be imbalanced in the short term though.

We'll see.  I'll be unable to play June 3rd, so I'll have at least a day's lag to hear how things are going before I get in there.