Opinion: 10 LY range for colonization is ridiculously low.

20-30ly fits with PowerPlay 2 but not with the BGS. The BGS has the Colonia Bridge, Explorer's Anchorage, the Heart and Soul Nebulae, and Colonia itself, along with other isolated populated systems out deep in the black. That is the BGS.

Those places weren't placed there by the BGS, the developers added those by hand.
 
I agree, though not every explorer will see it that way. Some will see it as "What's the point heading into the black if I'm gonna see starports everywhere?"

Same thing was said for Carriers. And yet here we are, billions of systems without carriers in them.

If you never want to see a populated system, can filter them out and set that filter for jumps and you never have to ever see a populated system, even in the bubble.

So I think that's a pretty wild overestimate of how many people are going to just endlessly colonise systems. Some will surely keep doing so, as a group effort. Some will carve out a little spot of their own, some will never engage with the mechanics at all.

As an explorer who also has spent some time out in the black, I also see it as a non-issue. I have trivial ways to avoid population centres and the sheer scale of the universe is going to see it remain mostly empty pretty much regardless of colonisation. Only have to look at the percentage of discovered systems vs galaxy size to clock on to that.

Frontier has also solved that to an extent by requiring an anchor system. 10ly just makes expansion an intractably pointless exercise, and the moment Frontier plonks down a hand crafted system in the middle of nowhere again, more or less invalidates anything cmdrs might do.

Having some sort of limit is sensible just from a logistics perspective, but 10ly is very conservative, even for Frontier.

I think folks are wildly overestimating how much of an impact colonisation is going to have and aren't really looking at the bigger picture.
 
Last edited:
The time limit on getting things done will restrict it somewhat anyway. Groups will manage it probably, but solo people looking to set up systems will have to consider lower distances, at least if it goes beyond the 500LY range of a fleet carrier, although I think 500LY might be too much anyway.... or perhaps just right.

I also don't think most would want more than 1 system, unless they are making a bridge to somewhere. Maybe groups would want to set up mini-bubbles. Some extreme players might want to make many systems, but i think most players and groups, given a decent range for colinization, would be happy with a single system.

By making people do bridges made of a long chains of systems, most likely we will end up with lots of very basic systems with just one startport as people make minimal bridges, and instead of relying on building up systems to expand outwwards, they will just use their FCs to move back and forth with huge quantites of goods. And then it will just become a huge grind to expand out.
Huge grind is right, and that's ridiculous given Frontier began that segment of the livestream saying they were trying to reduce the grind.

My own personal opinion is that colonisation near the bubble would be completely pointless, as there would be nothing I could do in that system that I couldn't do in any other populated system nearby. The value for me comes from there being no other populated systems nearby.
 
The developers are also adding colonisation by hand... what's your point?

What's yours? I said that I was expecting a 20-30ly range because that is (according to my understanding) the range for BGS states such as Expansion. Then you started talking as if those far-flung places like Colonia and Explorer's Anchorage were added by the BGS, when they were not.
 
If you wanted to chain to Colonia, and could somehow manage to crank out a station each week, at 10 ly a pop, without fail, and if we assume one week to build, another week for it to commission and thus unlock the next hop, and there is always going to be a star 10ly away, it's ~4400 weeks, or eighty-four years, give or take a few weeks/ months. At 100 ly, it's still over 8 years, doing absolutely nothing else.

images (2).jpeg
 
What's yours? I said that I was expecting a 20-30ly range because that is (according to my understanding) the range for BGS states such as Expansion. Then you started talking as if those far-flung places like Colonia and Explorer's Anchorage were added by the BGS, when they were not.
Sorry but they were. There's a whole story as to why colonies out near the Heart and Soul nebula exist, that's a story that's part of the BGS. The whole Jaques Station story went on for weeks in-game where it was supposed to go to Beagle Point. These were and are all part of the BGS. The BGS didn't start with PowerPlay 2, it's been going for 10 years.
 
Huge grind is right, and that's ridiculous given Frontier began that segment of the livestream saying they were trying to reduce the grind.

My own personal opinion is that colonisation near the bubble would be completely pointless, as there would be nothing I could do in that system that I couldn't do in any other populated system nearby. The value for me comes from there being no other populated systems nearby.

Yeah, my hope for colonization was to set up a system out in the black, away from the rest of humanity, politics, BGS wars, etc. Otherwise i can just find any system around the edge of the bubble and have the same, only difference being, I don't get to choose the which settlements go where.

Also, naming. They were suspiciously quiet on the topic of whether we would be able to name our stations.
 
What's yours? I said that I was expecting a 20-30ly range because that is (according to my understanding) the range for BGS states such as Expansion. Then you started talking as if those far-flung places like Colonia and Explorer's Anchorage were added by the BGS, when they were not.

I understand why they would want to keep systems within BGS expansion range... although, IIRC, with multiple rounds of failed expansion, that can actually grow to 60 LY or something? Even 60LY would be better than 10.

Still, personally, I don't see why new systems have to be within BGS or PP range. There are systems out there, placed by FD, that are outside BGS expansion range and can never be part of PP. The bridge to colonia for example, and Colonia itself has no possibility of powerplay ever reaching there.
 
Sorry but they were. There's a whole story as to why colonies out near the Heart and Soul nebula exist, that's a story that's part of the BGS. The whole Jaques Station story went on for weeks in-game where it was supposed to go to Beagle Point. These were and are all part of the BGS. The BGS didn't start with PowerPlay 2, it's been going for 10 years.

The things you're talking about weren't initiated by the BGS, FDev had to set things in motion before players could participate. Why hasn't another Colonia happened since the first one? Why haven't more nebulae been colonised? Because those things were part of one-off special events that required the hand of the developers to get going in the first place. They don't happen as a regular part of BGS activity.
 
Yeah, my hope for colonization was to set up a system out in the black, away from the rest of humanity, politics, BGS wars, etc. Otherwise i can just find any system around the edge of the bubble and have the same, only difference being, I don't get to choose the which settlements go where.

Also, naming. They were suspiciously quiet on the topic of whether we would be able to name our stations.

I look forward to systems being named after various parts of the anatomy, or involving things interacting with said.

I was hoping we could at least claim something a few hundo ly out from somewhere else. At least that offers some degree of flexibility. 10 ly from an existing system, I wonder what even is the point.
 
The things you're talking about weren't initiated by the BGS, FDev had to set things in motion before players could participate. Why hasn't another Colonia happened since the first one? Why haven't more nebulae been colonised? Because those things were part of one-off special events that required the hand of the developers to get going in the first place. They don't happen as a regular part of BGS activity.
That's semantics and frankly a conceit used to justify a single point of view. If it's in the game and there's a story to it, then it's part of the BGS. What about the INRA bases out deep in the black from during and after the first Thargoid war? Are you gonna try and tell me that these aren't part of the BGS?
 
I understand why they would want to keep systems within BGS expansion range... although, IIRC, with multiple rounds of failed expansion, that can actually grow to 60 LY or something? Even 60LY would be better than 10.

Still, personally, I don't see why new systems have to be within BGS or PP range. There are systems out there, placed by FD, that are outside BGS expansion range and can never be part of PP. The bridge to colonia for example, and Colonia itself has no possibility of powerplay ever reaching there.

I don't think it's clear how closely FDev want this colonisation feature tied to BGS and/or PP. It seems like they want some degree of connection. I think it would make sense to allow for the possibility of more far-flung, considering places like Medusa's Rock and so on. I certainly wouldn't be averse to it. I'm guessing that FDev don't want the headache of trying to balance that sort of thing with whatever else system colonisation involves.
 
Another thing that's just popped into my mind. Maybe i've missed something.

You can only claim a system that is 10LY from the place you bought the beacon? And the faction that first claims the system is the one you bought the beacon from, right?

So, if i wanted to expand by BGS faction out into the black, i'd need to start by building a chain from my home system, i'd have to start from my home system, right in the middle of the bubble, and try and find a path, at 10LY at a time, out of the bubble.

The factions that will expand out into the black are those that are already on the edge of the bubble, factions most people don't care about.

Please tell me i'm missing something.
 
That's semantics and frankly a conceit used to justify a single point of view. If it's in the game and there's a story to it, then it's part of the BGS. What about the INRA bases out deep in the black from during and after the first Thargoid war? Are you gonna try and tell me that these aren't part of the BGS?

The BGS is a specific feature within the game, relating to the states that minor factions go in and out of, how much influence they have in each system, and so on. It's not just anything that happens within the game. The BGS would keep ticking over even if FDev stopped adding any narrative content to the game whatsoever.

The INRA bases have nothing to do with the BGS. They're abandoned derelicts where no trade can be had, no combat to be found, and with no minor faction association. They aren't won and lost in wars and civil wars. It's obvious that they're not part of the BGS.
 
Another thing that's just popped into my mind. Maybe i've missed something.

You can only claim a system that is 10LY from the place you bought the beacon? And the faction that first claims the system is the one you bought the beacon from, right?

So, if i wanted to expand by BGS faction out into the black, i'd need to start by building a chain from my home system, i'd have to start from my home system, right in the middle of the bubble, and try and find a path, at 10LY at a time, out of the bubble.

The factions that will expand out into the black are those that are already on the edge of the bubble, factions most people don't care about.

Please tell me i'm missing something.
I think Frontier have missed a huge opportunity here to reintroduce player factions, allow these factions to control systems, and perhaps even to eventually allow the larger factions to appear within PowerPlay.
 
With the set time limits for the early stages of colonization plus the huge amounts of material that need to be space trucked over to make it all work, I think it will be impossible for a solo commander to do it all. As in all things in life, you need friends :)

Solo commanders with a carrier can achieve a whole lot in a week. Just ask Frontier. It gave them headaches with powerplay. xD

Even without one, a commander that has built some wealth and has a type 8 or 9 or cutter is going to be just fine, even if the range was > 10 ly. This is designed to be a mid-to-late game activity.
 
The BGS is a specific feature within the game, relating to the states that minor factions go in and out of, how much influence they have in each system, and so on. It's not just anything that happens within the game. The BGS would keep ticking over even if FDev stopped adding any narrative content to the game whatsoever.

The INRA bases have nothing to do with the BGS. They're abandoned derelicts where no trade can be had, no combat to be found, and with no minor faction association. They aren't won and lost in wars and civil wars. It's obvious that they're not part of the BGS.
You're confusing BGS with PowerPlay. BGS stands for Background Simulation, the simulation of everything in the background to the game. The whole point of that is to make the galaxy feel like it has life and is a fluid thing in which events happen. These don't and never will just include events driven by player actions in PowerPlay.
 
I think Frontier have missed a huge opportunity here to reintroduce player factions, allow these factions to control systems, and perhaps even to eventually allow the larger factions to appear within PowerPlay.

That also solves the anchor and BGS issues. If you have a player faction, it is what issues the expansion order, and gives you the beacon.

That said, someone is gonna claim some of the important places and upset the apple cart. We really can't be trusted. I swear. xD
 
Back
Top Bottom