Only stumbled on this thread now from a DDF link. Way too busy at work to keep up with all these fast moving threads.
I havent read the whole thread but based on a similar discussion over on the DDF, I'd been formulating a scenario that would cause some widespread disruption to the playing field (though not particularly outside the parameters of the game, but the tactics involved would certainly involve a certain level of griefing).
Creating the backdrop
In order to facilitate this, because we don't really know what Frontier are planning for dynamic content within the game, I've had to imagine a likely but currently fictitious scenario we could find in the end game. Take the Endless War scenario that most of the Alpha players should be familiar with. Its the idea of 2 factions constantly at war with each other. Frontier could likely scale this up where real systems are at stake between a constant conflict between the Federation and Empire. That means commanders could make a difference in winning (or losing territory), having the war jump between star systems as battles are won or lost.
Setting the Scene
Now, consider that I am GoonDangerous Director (The Elite Dangerous Branch Manager for Goonswarm). My idea, just for the hell of it, is to see if I can disrupt the Empires stabilty and push the war all the way to the Emperor's seat in Achernar. How will the game mechanics handle this scenario and what will the casual players do? Now normally this would be nigh on impossible because you'd never have the manpower and the tech to be consistent about this. But with good oraganization and planning, it may be possible. Something that the Goons just happen to be good at.
Call this
Operation A. In order to do this I need to win all battles between the border and Archernar. [
Peripheral impact - moving the war to there alters the state of one of the most populous systems in the game from Corporate State (or whatever safe state) to a state of war. This brings issues (and benefits) where it becomes dangerous for people to trade here, supply and demand is altered, carebears leave and go and cry elsewhere, etc ]. In order to win battles I need a lot of players with powerful ships guaranteed to win. My requirement would be to have a full 32 person instance supplied with Anacondas armed to the teeth with the best weaponry man can buy before I can engage in any of the battles.
Fine, we've got the players (we're the Goons, of course we've got the players). But we need the ships and the weaponry. We DON'T have to worry about training up skilled pilots. They're adequate from the moment their account is created, we just give them the Anacondas the moment their account is born.
But the ships and weapons don't come from nowhere. So we need a funding plan.
Funding Plan
So enter
Operation B. Heres where things get interesting. The above scenario is a guess, but the next step is based on whats in the game now. The quickest way to get cash is to pirate. The method? One of the simplest ways to pirate is to have gangs of 15 to 20 GoonKids in starter Sidewinders and Cobras hanging together. And then its a matter of blockading a station just outside its safe zone. Any station. Every station. The busier, the better. So that every ship that leaves the station (or approaches it) gets ganked. And I mean EVERY ship, player and NPC. (Note that if you are not running IDENT OFF, if thats even an option, you can guarantee you will be popped). What single player, even a well armed player, can withstand 20 beginner cobras barbecueing your asp off? And I doubt that hiring 2 henchwingmen would be of assistance either. Once the flying tincan has popped, GoonHauler Jake, on standby just out of sensor range will fly in with his Lakon 9 Salvager, collect all salvagable items, rince and repeat until the cargo hold is full and then head into the station to sell them, adding to the Goon credit account (this role is probably assigned to one player). Any GoonKids loosing their ship can come out fighting straightaway in a shiny new starter Cobra. Lost nothing. And who cares about bounties on a throwaway commander you don't care about? (Note this also works well in Ironman mode, but for more consistent results, better to play in Casual mode).
Repeat this as a CTA with hundreds of GoonKid teams affecting as many stations as you can in the core systems, while in the real world you are rolling this action around the world for 24 hours. Done right, this will bring in millions in a very short time. And kept going daily, this is a really good way of having a constant funding for something like the war effort of
Operation A.
In Conclusion
Obviously some details need to be worked out, like ensuring ways of transferring money to the right accounts, or buying ships for other players of your team, etc. Most players would run with two characters. One cheap ganking character and the other would be running a setup for the Endless War scenario. (Its worth repeating here that that scenario is a guess, but it could be replaced by any scenario worth exploiting in the final game, where
Operation B would just be the manner in which you can fund the greater team.)
Yes, there are probably holes in the ideas above, but those are minor details to be worked out later. Hopefully you see where I am going on this thought process and how this could be a way to 'dominate' the game. They wont be out trying to dominate players, its more about bending the game rules to their whims, and too bad if it affects other players at the same time.
