Having a private chat and thought i should add this here so the devs can see. In any multiplayer game i've played with arbitrary trade systems in place, a 'black market' emerges where players ignore the trade system entirely and instead communicate their desire to buy/sell through global chat. Obviously doesn't apply to single player, but worth taking into consideration imo.
Take a look at this: Thia is not meant to hamper trade between players, bc if players desire trading with players like you said, they will do so no matter what.
My question is - how do you value difficulty of acquiring any set of ore? Especially given that, while mines won't replenish, meteors will begin to fall with unlimited resources, and barring proximity to dangerous POIs, can be farmed relatively easily, even on lava planets. If you remove meteors entirely, how do new players progress their game? Would it rely on admins doing constant wipes of systems to ensure there are deposits available? How would this affect long-term players? It would seem to me that it would discourage bases (since their system would be wiped constantly), but would encourage arcology CVs as migrants between systems as they're wiped. Is this what you had in mind?
My question is - how do you value difficulty of acquiring any set of ore? If we had more mining dangers for certain types of ore, it could change the difficulty of mining. Maybe explosive pockets, cave ins or lava flows. This would set apart certain ores as a rare type and should raise the cost. Auto miners as they are now probably shouldn't be able to work on more than a few common types of ore and should be a structure that requires a crew and resources. It should be a mining operation that is mobile and can be docked to your ship. Maybe you could use a sling or tractor beam to pick them up and place them. Especially given that, while mines won't replenish, meteors will begin to fall with unlimited resources, and barring proximity to dangerous POIs, can be farmed relatively easily, even on lava planets. This is another problem in itself, we need a bigger area with more than one system to play in. Starter planets should be spread evenly with hundreds or thousands of available starter planets in the galaxy. I would like to see servers not require wipes in the future and the removal of meteorites from the game, but we dont have enough planets right now to do that. It should be the player's responsibility to do some research before moving out with resources to survive and be able to handle starting in a new system. Some sort of Home base Teleporter or portal, does need to come out for the CV though, so we can set up a way to return to our home planet and back to our cv. This could come with a high cost, but would allow us to travel great distances and explore the galaxy and still have a base. If you remove meteors entirely, how do new players progress their game? The server would randomly assign you a planet of your choice, desert, temperate, alien, etc. This would depend on the difficulty setting you picked. Would it rely on admins doing constant wipes of systems to ensure there are deposits available? No more wipes would be necessary We would finally have the freedom to expand and would be required to explore the Galaxy. I would give players tools such as Sat Coms and probes to send out ahead at a cheaper price than warping to sectors. This would tell you what kind of planets are in the sector and if it has been explored, PvP or PvE, etc. How would this affect long-term players? It would change the game entirely for the better. It would seem to me that it would discourage bases (since their system would be wiped constantly), but would encourage arcology CVs as migrants between systems as they're wiped. Is this what you had in mind? Nope, no more Nomadic lifestyle once you get find and craft a teleporter and link your cv and ship.
Well, i'm not sure i like the idea of 'dangerous' mining, need to think on that. But if it were implemented, the immediate system i can see that would be useful for that would be the new SSOR. As it stands, the rocks are generated in an AOE around a deposit marker, which can be seen with the ore scanner. New 'rock' equivalents for dangerous ore could be spawned at the same time, that don't show up with the ore scanner. They could either be radioactive or explosive if mined, things of that nature. The thing is, how would you balance that? In early game, taking damage/radiation is a bigger threat than in late game, where the player has more infrastructure to deal with that sort of thing. Well, the thing is, eventually you'll experience the heat death of the universe. I guess i'm thinking more about multiplayer here, as in single player the nature of the game will require the player to keep moving until they find empyrion (and do whatever gets done there). If stuff doesn't respawn, and you have a finite amount over time, eventually you'll run out. It raises questions, like distribution of starting planets - can you choose them as they are now? If so, what happens if too many people start on a planet that has already been mined out? Likewise, if starts are randomized, what happens if want to join with my friends and we all end up in different places? Finally, while having a 'massive' galaxy/universe to play in mitigates the resources issue to some degree, it also dilutes the player base. Depending on size, you have the potential to play for a few weeks and not meet another player at all. Myself, i would keep the meteors in game, but not make them so random. Right now if you tap a meteor another one immediately spawns. What if meteors had a random timer (preferably able to be set by the server owner), that could range from instant to hours/days (as preferred). It would stop infinite resources being immediately available, but at the same time prevent someone from starting on the wrong planet/system and being immediately game over. Yeah, see the point i raised above. In single player, not an issue. In multiplayer, with friends, potentially an issue. I do like the idea of launching probes, although it comes with a risk - giving the player more reason to skip undesirable content than they do now. Not that players should be forced into doing content that they don't want, but speaking for myself i don't have a great desire to explore all the content that's in the game right now. That's changed a little with the distribution of resources/meteors, but it's something to keep in mind. Only the sith deal in absolutes. Hmmmm. Right now i was under the impression that teleporters could only be linked to static positions (bases) due to the coding. Not sure how i feel about being able to teleport from my base to my cv. It would have massive ramifications to game play, either way.
Well i guess another solution would be to have a jump gate in each cluster or sector within range of a few jumps, and these would link to all previously discovered areas which would allow the player to jump to any of those gates
We are already charged for blueprints insofar as we have to gather the required resources for them. forcing us to use gold to pay for a BP to be built would destroy a lot of players ability to play. We are not all creatively inclined and building even a basic SV or HV to start off is not as easy as it seems.
I vote Yes, but I'd rather have a npc shipyard where we may hire that service than just an added credit option on bp factory. But it should be also possible that a player may build their own shipyards and build their stuff without any credit costs as well as allowing other players to use his facilities to build their own stuff at a given price, like renting the other player's shipyards using a terminal. I can already see the amazing shipyard blueprints that would pop up in the workshop.
Perhaps a gold component could be paid to spawn a bp Without a pad? set price by size class and level? An emergency sv to get back to base would be cheap, super-duper block o doom notsomuch. just thoughts that bounced out.
Funner idea: Empyrion AAA... *Gets on Space Phone* "Hey dudes, broke down in the Asteroid Belt after my badass CV had an unfortunate run in with 15 Enemy CVs manned by a Rival Faction that just couldn't stand it that my CV was 20x cooler then all theirs put together. Need Rescue pickup please, & many thanks in advance! " *Phone Off* *2 seconds later* *AAA Small CV Ship Warps in in your vicinity & drops off a Emergency Rescue Rental SV that ya get in & Dock onto the AAA CV then get Warped back to your Base, then ya ride Rescue SV to Base & get off, then the AAA CV Pilot Remote Controls the SV back, transfers "Rescue Fee" from your Credits Account, then is on their way, job done* "Thank you AAA, dunno what I woulda done without ya. "
Paying a fee to use someone else's construction facilities seems reasonable, but you shouldn't be charged for use of your own facility. I could see paying extra in lieu of some/all of the necessary materials, assuming you have some kind of supply link to the galactic trade network (you're basically paying someone to ship you the materials). As far as the fee structure, I'd say that what you'd pay would be a flat fee, plus a per-unit-time fee (for the space and energy consumed), plus a materials delivery fee (if applicable, and dependent on the resources and shipping corridors available in the local area).
If someone walked up to me & told me I had to pay them to use MY stuff, it'd sound like Space Banditry/"Protection Racket"/Extortion/Blackmail, & my first inclination would be to pull out my Weapons...
I super love love love economies and MONEY. I love dealing with money, I like counting money and I Like investing money. Bbbbboooya Money
Nice idea but I would prefer that the game doesn't completely revolve around making money. Some of us have absolutely no interest in the trade side of it while others might simply find it useful to get items and resources that are otherwise hard to get. Forcing players to farm gold and credits to fund their building work and such would alienate a lot of players.
Including me. I like doing my own digging & own dirty work. I'm not adverse to putting Credits that happen to fall into my hands to use but don't wanna feel required to have to do it... it'd make me feel incapable of self sufficiency, thus more retarded.
