Hi all, Let's talk about the elephant in the room. The end game. As most of us know, this game loses a huge amount of momentum when a CV has been made. You've put all that time, energy and resources into creating the perfect capital vessel and now there's nothing left to build, no reason to take it out into the enormous galaxy, no more skill tree to unlock and just the enormous risk of having your beloved capital vessel get destroyed exploring the galaxy for those resources you no longer really need. I'm aware the game has a HUGE volume of content beyond the CV construction and PvP multiplayer is the way to go to drive improvement of the CV design, however, there seems to be no gameplay loop to encourage people to explore after building that first capital vessel. The game really needs a second unlock tree that opens after completion of the capital vessel to improve the building blocks. Or a quest to build obelisks on a planet in each faction's territory. Or something to drive that exploration around the galaxy after the drive for resources to build the CV has finished. Does anyone else have any other ideas for end game they think would keep that impetus going after the CV has been built? What do the Dev's think about this (I'm sure they are aware of the wall at the end of the game as well).
Yah I have something: NPC Fleets https://empyriononline.com/threads/npc-fleet-control.95088/ And then there's several other Ideas here for end game: https://empyriononline.com/threads/wishlist-for-npc-crews-and-npc-faction-members.28730/ And of course last but not least https://empyriononline.com/threads/suggestions-for-next-update.8421/
I've always been a fan of territory control mechanics for end-game. Especially with a galaxy as vast as in this game, it gives players a big time and resource sink. Perhaps controlling planets or sectors allows a slow-drip of exclusive resources of some variety? I'm not entirely sure it fits with the theme though, as it would be more Empyrion Galactic Conquest than Empyrion Galactic Survival. As it stands, however, at least in my experience, the survival aspect already takes a backseat once you're in a CV or otherwise reach what I would call mid-game. Edit: I should mention that I do like the RE end-game stuff, like the additional tech trees for Research and Schematics, upgraded weapons, and the items that can only be built/researched after finding schematics and blueprints and whatnot, but it still leaves a bit to be desired.
I don't think that "galactic conquest" is totally outside of the theme. Good stories, whether in gaming or movies, have a character arc. You start off as someone who is scraping by in an attempt to survive and end up becoming a major player in the galaxy. It could be like the "Yes Man" option during Fallout: New Vegas. The player decides the winners and losers in the galaxy. I always end up with an overload of certain resources later in the game so it would be a good place to dump them. Factions could have requests for resources to build additional ships, structures, forward operating bases or conducting other sorts of operations. As you assist the faction, they progressively take over additional systems. Once they reach a certain size, they could be ready to take over an enemy territory. That request should cost an astronomical amount of resources and maybe you could assist the faction in launching an assault on the enemy faction's HQ. It would be cool if the planets reset with the new faction's structures but that could become an issue on planets where players have structures/vehicles built. Not sure how you would solve for that. The best solution in these sorts of situations would be to make it optional. Non-linear gaming is becoming more popular these days anyway. Give players options and let them decide whether they want to do it or not.
