How could player-owned outposts / bases work?

[Chilla]

I don't think this could ever work well. Players buying\owning\building outposts & stations, Elite is just not that game. However, player owned\built could mean lot's of things.

How about being able to build those mining stations you find on planetary surfaces? They could auto produce material & minerals which might save some of the "grind."
Perhaps you could also buy assets that are contained within outposts\station? examples - a laboratory for launching probes to auto-explore for you? an apartment to rest your space legs!? Lots of other examples\ideas could be given

 

[Hooplah]

I'm not seeing a real need for player owned bases. We can store ships and modules at multiple stations. Add materials and cargo then that would meet the storage requirements for a POB (good greif...another acronym). Maybe add a "goto my hangar" scene where one can see all their ships parked in it, then use the new camera suite to roam around. That would resolve all the issues per attacks, etc.

Inividual stations in space or on planets with multiple cube additions as in No Man's Sky would be much more complex and probably add more bugs taking a year to resolve. Then there is adding these many thousands of POBs to the galactic/system maps even if only the owners could see them.

I am not in favor of any player owned orbiting/planetary stations or outposts as they exist in the game. That would present multiple negative opportunities for players to effect the play of others. Wouldn't be too happy when a player station opened fire on a ship trying to dock just because they can.

 

[Jaffz]

Elite is just not that game

Keep seeing this. The game needs to evolve, anytime someone mentions integrating something from EVE, NMS or SC the forum recoils in horror. Why shouldn't we take the best elements of others games and integrate them into this one?

 

[Cmdr Travers]

I'm not seeing a real need for player owned bases. We can store ships and modules at multiple stations. Add materials and cargo then that would meet the storage requirements for a POB (good greif...another acronym). Maybe add a "goto my hangar" scene where one can see all their ships parked in it, then use the new camera suite to roam around. That would resolve all the issues per attacks, etc.

Inividual stations in space or on planets with multiple cube additions as in No Man's Sky would be much more complex and probably add more bugs taking a year to resolve. Then there is adding these many thousands of POBs to the galactic/system maps even if only the owners could see them.

I am not in favor of any player owned orbiting/planetary stations or outposts as they exist in the game. That would present multiple negative opportunities for players to effect the play of others. Wouldn't be too happy when a player station opened fire on a ship trying to dock just because they can.

The reason to have them is so players like me can feel even more invested in the game universe.

Regards lots of bugs and problems... if only Frontier had experience of another game where you buy properties and expand them over time to make money and provide a service, hmm

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I don't think this could ever work well. Players buying\owning\building outposts & stations, Elite is just not that game.

Why not? Elite is set in an infinite universe. Why can't it effectively be an infinite game?

 

[Mengy]

But how does owning a stationary base give us something more to do?

I built a base in NMS. A half hour later, I left the planet. Haven't seen that base since, got no use for it ever again. So again...Why bother?

Just like asteroid bases, megaships, etc...It's fluff. Stuff to look at. It doesn't affect the game we play in any way. It's just dev time spent on things to look at.

We need game play, not eye candy.

Player owned bases and outposts could most definitely add new gameplay opportunities. I don't know if you play American Truck Simulator, but the garage business aspects of it would be a great base concept to start with for Elite owned bases. Think of it like this: Players could invest their credits and start a base/outpost. Once built at its basic level then players could spend more money to add modules to that base, enabling things like Stellar Cartography, mission board nodes, passenger terminals, outfitting, restocking, defenses, security, black markets, etc. They could also invest to physically expand the base, adding medium and large docking capabilities, weapons, security ship hangars, various cosmetic features to make it look how they want, etc. The player could then manage certain aspects of this base, like setting what ship modules are available, setting mission generation parameters (even making certain mission types more common and probable), setting passenger mission types, commodity prices, etc.

Now all of this monetary investment should result in a monetary return over time too. The base has operating costs that must be paid out per week, but the base earns money per week too, and it's the players job to manage it like a business to stay in the black. Players running missions out of your base would increase profit margins as each successful mission would kick back operating fees to the owner. It would need to be tuned so as to not be overly punishing, it should be easy to keep a base in the black but it should take work to make it a really huge profit center. A new area could be created on GalNet where players could advertise their virtual businesses to attract players to fly missions out of them.

It could most definitely add huge new game play to Elite, and get players invested in the game and it's galaxy in ways not currently possible.

 

[ArchEmperor]

Ownership is a pretty complex and interesting thing.

There are several types of rights to ownership, and there may be an law enforcer behind the claim or not.

0. Discovery right ( Creating your own station or robot makes you the owner, but not always. Discovering a system does not necessarily make you the owner of that system, but it may give you the right to claim it in your name if by some other means below )
1. Birthright
2. Aquired right ( Gifts, heritage etc, also rights claimed by means meaning buying the rights of ownership )
3. Lawful right
4. Martyr right ( as in Jew right claims due to world war atrocities, whereas no other group has any right even though they suffered as much or more. )
5. Right by Annexation ( This is a military takeover form of ownership, it is by force ).
6. Divine Right ( This does not exist, but people still believe in it sometimes, making it possible to utilize their stupidity to claim the right by divination ).
7. Right by necessity or reason ( Fairly complex, but if your entire population depends on you to own the rights, then you will get the rights by rational reasoning ).

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Player owned bases and outposts could most definitely add new gameplay opportunities. I don't know if you play American Truck Simulator, but the garage business aspects of it would be a great base concept to start with for Elite owned bases. Think of it like this: Players could invest their credits and start a base/outpost. Once built at its basic level then players could spend more money to add modules to that base, enabling things like Stellar Cartography, mission board nodes, passenger terminals, outfitting, restocking, defenses, security, black markets, etc. They could also invest to physically expand the base, adding medium and large docking capabilities, weapons, security ship hangars, various cosmetic features to make it look how they want, etc. The player could then manage certain aspects of this base, like setting what ship modules are available, setting mission generation parameters (even making certain mission types more common and probable), setting passenger mission types, commodity prices, etc.

Now all of this monetary investment should result in a monetary return over time too. The base has operating costs that must be paid out per week, but the base earns money per week too, and it's the players job to manage it like a business to stay in the black. Players running missions out of your base would increase profit margins as each successful mission would kick back operating fees to the owner. It would need to be tuned so as to not be overly punishing, it should be easy to keep a base in the black but it should take work to make it really a huge profit center. A new area could be created on GalNet where players could advertise their virtual businesses to attract players to fly missions out of them.

That's more like it!

They could also invest to physically expand the base... various cosmetic features to make it look how they want, etc.

Frontier store opportunities anyone?

 

[lenna]

Like many players I'd love to buy able to buy and build my own outposts and bases? I've often thought though how this might work, so thought I'd open a thread on it to see what your ideas are?

I think before you start there would be factors such as...

• Finding the right planet / moon, especially if you'll be setting up a mining colony or wanting to attract an Engineer
• Choosing the right system, where factors such as superpower, factions, overall stability etc. come into play, especially as you can't move the base afterwards
• Obtaining the necessary permits from controlling system powers

Then when you have your base or outpost set up there are plenty of other considerations...

• Do you need to stick around the area to defend it from attack?
• Can you employ guards / pilots (both NPC and player) to keep the place safe, and what restrictions would there be?
• How do you attract the right types of traders to build a profit on commodities?
• What other facilities might you be able to offer for pilots and visitors?
• What would the situation be regards takeovers, both political and military?

The more I think about player bases the more I want one, but this feature (if ever implemented) could end up being a full game in itself.

Short answer: this is not a certain other space based MMO, it would not work as you propose and would introduce net-negative gameplay consequences IMO. There has already been another thread on this topic in the past 7-days that explains why.

Only some form of aesthetic (future space-legs compatible) customisable Hangar along the lines of ESO Houses would be appropriate IMO. Essentially, some kind of internal hangar where you can view your ships docked there - no effect on the BGS.

 

[Chilla]

Well if you look at Elite, its not actually that much different from the original. One of the main recollections I have is that this game is essentially an update on the original. An evolution due to the latest tech available. If you added all this stuff in, it's no longer elite it's something else.

I don't think this is a bad idea for a game but just not in this one! I want to play Elite not something else.

 

[Kyle Nix]

The only way it will work is if it has no contacts, mapping, or commodities at these outposts.

Make no mistake, I'd want those very much, but with how FDEV has apparently pigeonholed the economy and background sim, I don't see how we could have fully-featured bases.

 

[Mengy]

That's more like it!

Frontier store opportunities anyone?

Certainly, selling cosmetic base building assets in the Store could be a huge revenue stream for Frontier.

Just imagine if the outposts along the way to Colonia were player built and owned outposts? Imagine if all of these new asteroid bases out around nebulas were player built and operated outposts rather than Frontier hand placed locations? I'd personally love to see that level of player interaction in the galaxy.

 

[BigBANGtheory [VR]]

I'd like to park my ships somewhere visible and have a base of operations/storage with some local operations going on at the base too such as mining, production and refining.

 

[Sooden]

I think the first time we will see property owned play players, it will be apartments. As they would not need to be rendered, could not be interfered with (maybe you can multi crew people into your apartment) and can have its own instance.

If apartments offer a place to hang participation rosettes, and Fdev sell us wall hanging.... I think a lot of people will be happy with that.

It will let you feel like you actually belong/live in a system and coming home would mean so much more.

As for bases, apart some the list of issues surrounding it (always a way around them), i can't really see that happening unless Fdev ever go down the road of a subscription services (optional) and this allows you to hold one base, and then, i think bases would be pre located, and more added to the game as and when needed (so you would have to pick from what available)

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Just imagine if the outposts along the way to Colonia were player built and owned outposts? Imagine if all of these new asteroid bases out around nebulas were player built and operated outposts rather than Frontier hand placed locations? I'd personally love to see that level of player interaction in the galaxy.

I'd *LOVE* to own one of those. I'd open a café on it and serve Colonia breakfasts to weary travellers

 

[Blackcompany]

Keep seeing this. The game needs to evolve, anytime someone mentions integrating something from EVE, NMS or SC the forum recoils in horror. Why shouldn't we take the best elements of others games and integrate them into this one?

At this point, I'd settle for integration of an actual GAME at all.

But yeah, you're right. So many people want this to be just like other space sims of the past.

Wake up, people: there's a VERY GOOD reason that genre died for 30 years. Because it was BORING.

The MINUTE gaming evolved beyond 2D worlds and the tech limits of jump/load/jump in order to create a large explorable world, that whole genre died out.

The writing is on the wall: 1984 in high def isn't gonna cut it. Gaming has evolved. Elite needs to do the same. Because failure to evolve only has one long term alternative.

 

[the100thmonkey]

You can have your base as long as you don't get salty when I flip it to my faction, which I can, and will, do.

 

[verminstar]

Always wanted my own wee place...fer no other reason than the novelty of having something not many others have...I'm shallow like that.

Ah well...maybe one day...

As fer how it would work...we shall never know considering they ruled it out years ago declaring it will never happen so asking how it would work is nothing more than wishful thinking ^

 

[Sooden]

At this point, I'd settle for integration of an actual GAME at all.

But yeah, you're right. So many people want this to be just like other space sims of the past.

Wake up, people: there's a VERY GOOD reason that genre died for 30 years. Because it was BORING.

The MINUTE gaming evolved beyond 2D worlds and the tech limits of jump/load/jump in order to create a large explorable world, that whole genre died out.

The writing is on the wall: 1984 in high def isn't gonna cut it. Gaming has evolved. Elite needs to do the same. Because failure to evolve only has one long term alternative.

Have a feeling one of the ways this game will evolve; The main issue wth adding features is, you have to work on all of them, and some get priority over others

I see elite becoming it own platform under which other games (made by Fdev) can integrate. These other games will work fine on there own (stand alone), but can be used together with Elite (and i don't mean like QCQ lol), to add more depth. This will allow for teams (hiring a team for a stand stand alone project) to focus on different games, for different people, and still add to the Elite universe.

For example; Elite:Base Assault

Would be its own game, with its own missions (maybe a Story, Deathmatch, ect..), but based on the elite universe. (is that was SC do, i don't know, i don't follow that anymore)

If you had this game and Elite, it would open up that option in the platform of the main game. Letting you use your character and maybe asset from one game in the other.

People that didn't have 'Elite:Base Assault' would not get this functionality, nor complain that its a waste of resources, as it was developed separately, by its own dedicated team and would succeed or fail on its own merits.

..just a guess

 

[{SAS}Stalker]

Personally think it will happen but not with market, missions or outfitting (beyond swapping your own modules). I really look forward to the day I can go home on an evening.

 

[Cageman]

Player owned bases...

Hmm... here is my take on that...

1) Resides in an Asteriod (similar to the Asteroid bases currently in the game)
2) Is only visible to you or whoever you have in your wing / mc; might be expanded to include members of a player faction?
3) Is used for (slow) passive mining of Minerals, Metals and Materials
4) It can also be used for storage

My few cents.