This is something of an updated overview given some of the recent changes, some time to watch activity in response, and some fixed problems which seem to have gone unacknowledged!
1. Wednesdays
The change so that system progress drops one-third of the total requirement was incredibly positive for activity! Obviously we have had only one cycle boundary since then, so it behoves one to watch at least one more cycle for unexpected side-effects or quirky behaviour. Otherwise, it has solved the problem of many Commanders withdrawing their time investment on Wednesday, and some disregarding the remaining cycle time even as early as Monday.
Any such change will attract comments paraphrased with "too easy now", however these are always the product of inability to separate mechanism from magnitude. For example, if ten systems are completed per cycle and that mechanism change also happens to increase the number to eleven, and the extra system is deemed a problem, you have an independent magnitude adjustment you can use to compensate while retaining the new mechanism. Too few understand this!
The one-third choice is high enough that almost all systems will be back at zero as before, and also low enough that there will be a few systems which have already met 33% in a cycle and therefore have nothing more to lose by continuing to invest there on Wednesday—which is exactly what Commanders noticed immediately and how they acted immediately. Last cycle, the system Cephei Sector YZ-Y b4 would have been a close battle at best due to the arbitrary activity decay, but instead it completed at a perfectly normal rate! After that, I saw the previously-unthinkable; Commanders continued nearby to spend the last seven hours defending Muncheim, exactly because it was already above 33%.
Assuming that Frontier is applying the strict design idea that Commanders must congregate to complete a system, we can see that this design definitely is retained, while also un-weirding those evenings towards the end of a cycle. Thank you all most kindly for this!
2. Control report
I noticed very quickly this cycle that Col 285 Sector TS-Z b14-0 was showing visible progress, so I think this can be considered working now!
3. Control requirement
Based on those watching the specific numbers in Control systems more closely than I am, these appear to require something like five times the amount of activity now as compares to a couple of cycles ago (last cycle having no displayed progress, of course). I will avoid comment regarding whether the actual amount is intended, however I will note that it is so far above the effort needed for a Invasion system that combat Commanders have adjusted to ignore Control and stay with Invasion.
As long as that disproportion exists, I believe not a single Control system will be considered for full investment until all Invasion systems are complete, which at present is never. Note that Commanders are very astutely valuing both as "one system", such that any major difference in activity requirement will demote the higher entirely behind the lower.
4. Alerts in empty systems
Despite the Galaxy map listing an action for stopping these, and displaying their measure of being stopped, there is all but no way to do so. The only action possible is to destroy Thargoid craft, yet none attack us and there are no non-human signal sources. Indeed, as far as I can imagine, the only actual means of encountering a Thargoid at all is to attempt a jump to a nearby Control system and await Hyperspace destabilisation as a means of summoning a Thargoid into the empty Alert system.
Combined with the overwhelming activity required to complete one Control system as noted above, at present there is in effect no means to stop a Thargoid advance through any amount of unpopulated space in any direction, regardless of how many Commanders congregate to do that.
5. Muncheim
As you have noticed, the Muncheim system actually did not drop by 33% at all, instead remaining at 52% as it was at the end of the last cycle. If that was by design then this is a little quirky but generally fine, because it emphasises further to Commanders the advantage of organising and completing a system together.
Probably it was not intended, though. Such is not a major problem directly, however mostly as a courtesy note, I imagine it will be best if Frontier is at least able to locate/understand the cause before any more consequential effects occur. Insofar as all other systems did drop progress, including Desurinbin as the only system which dropped to something non-zero (4%), I imagine it could have something to do with the amount/rate of activity present in Muncheim.
6. Wing invites
For quite a while, attempting to send a Wing invite to a local Commander would break the Comms panel generally, such that we had to send a Friend request first (either from History or from Social) then use the Friends list to establish a Wing. After witnessing another Commander send me a Wing invite directly, I tried it later from the Local list, which worked fine. Thank you for fixing this!
7. System AX forces chatter
Despite the announcement that the ceaseless noise in Local chat had been reduced, their worthless messages continue as frequently as ever. Any given zone really needs a strict minimum time between possible messages regardless of the number of system AX forces present. Secondarily, it would be lovely if the messages were also at least correct, such as not claiming that everything is too quiet when there obviously are Interceptors attacking the port.
8. Murder definition
At present, if a Beam Laser grazes some system AX forces starship for a moment then said starship explodes later, this incurs a Murder bounty and Notoriety. Obviously this then prevents the Commander from accessing port services (missions, restock, repair). This is not to say that there should be no Murder bounty consequences necessarily, however at present this can occur without so much as a Reckless Weapons Discharge fine (for damage while targeting something else). Speaking of which, there is also a case for allowing a fine to be cleared at an attacked port.
For the moment, I suggest leaving an Assault bounty as it is now, and that a Murder bounty occurring as above should require at least a prior Reckless Weapons Discharge. There is a case for requiring more strongly that a prior Assault occurred, but I suggest only to waive the negligible damage for now in the interest of keeping changes minimal.
I imagine I need to note in advance that this has nothing to do with calls for Report Crimes to be disabled automatically, which is a related but ultimately different matter. Commanders have always been required to check their targets and practise trigger discipline, hence suggesting for now only that Thargoids cannot effect negligible damage maturing into a Murder bounty.
