Do you want the Thargoids to hit hard and be actually a threat to the Bubble?

[Tom2]

Do you want the Thargoids to hit hard and be actually a threat to the Bubble?
Destroying systems and pushing others into anarchy while the Thargoids themselves are hard to fight, even harder without special weapons/tactics?

Or do you just want a NPC Poweplay faction that doesnt really do anything except being a bit harder to combat enemy than average, that also doesnt really impact the rest of the game world except for the 'special permit locked combat sectors'*?


I just hope that "The Thargoids have returned, and yes, you should be very afraid..." isn't just a almost meaningless sentence from an excited Dev who wanted to basically tell us that Soon™:

*Permit locked because you may have not access to these sectors without having payed for the expansion and/or need reputation with Aegis or something.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Picture removed by mods in 5....4....3....

 

[jasonbarron]

Do you want the Thargoids to hit hard and be actually a threat to the Bubble?
Destroying systems and pushing others into anarchy while the Thargoids themselves are hard to fight, even harder without special weapons/tactics?

Or do you just want a NPC Poweplay faction that doesnt really do anything except being a bit harder to combat enemy than average, that also doesnt really impact the rest of the game world except for the 'special permit locked combat sectors'*?

Less than .00001% of the community is going to be down with the former, and the balance will opt for the latter. I pray that we don't just end up with alien CZ's, but we all know that's where this is going. I'll do a happy dance if I'm wrong, though.

 

[Conch]

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

I want the Thargoids to be authentic and believable. If they hit hard, then it is like that. If they crush the bubble, well, then goodbye bubble. If they want to trade or else... good.

What i really care about is cool interaction and logical outcome of actions. Human space on fire could be an awesome scenario though.

 

[CMDR-AD]

I'd like to imagine an outside edge of the bubble coming under Thargoid attack. Their initial pressure at just 20 or so LY into the bubble, but with heavy impact to those systems. Stations may not be destroyed, but have reduced services available, a hazy, dark landing bay with flickering, unstable lights. Outside, maybe the station is trailing some smoke or green damage scars. Maybe zero Commodities production, but high prices paid for survival essentials, to support those few who still reside there. But trucking in those essentials would mean running the gauntlet and being interdicted by Thargoids.

Inside those systems, meeting Thargoids could happen during attempting to FSD into the system (hyper-diction) or in super cruise, like an NPC pirate. Or they just drop in at normal space, at stations, surface sites, you are anywhere in-system busy and boom... Thargoids!

Best case would be that Frontier keeps track of how often CMDRs kill a Thargoid. Higher rates mean that region of the Thargoid invasion doesn't advance further into the bubble. Lower win rates, lower CMDR presence fighting against the Thargoids, means that another system 5LY or 10LY inward of the bubble falls under attack after a month or so. This would let the battle front advance and retreat, similar to the way PowerPlay is displayed on the galaxy map, and allow CMDRs to monitor this and focus resistance where it matters.

The most economically valuable systems would see superpower military assets in-system, working to defend. I've posted before on how CMDRs might interact with this.

Anyway, yes. Some of the bubble under fire and suffering, able to be actively played both as combat and high profit (and risk) trade/passenger. CMDRs who don't care or don't want Thargoids can go anywhere else, and probably see little to no signs, outside the news.

 

[stooger]

I want it to be hard. I want to die a lot ;D

It will be really tough job to balance this for all the players around... to make them "barebale" for sunday drivers but hard enought to challange best pilotos with best ships/eq/mods. Difficulty level has to be somehow territory dependant. Easy on the borders but harder and harder as players vernture into the monsters nest (or whatever). But then we will have another problem... if it will be challangeing only in designated areas then it really won't make any impact on the game for most players. There need to be some random surprise "oh sh*t" element even deeper in the bubble. Random encounters both easy and hard to deal with. It's Elite Dangerous... noone should be 100% safe all the time.

 

[ThriveInDark]

I'm hoping for a mix of both. An intergalactic war, yes definitely. The scale and pressure of which causes people to abandon the other grinds and work on a common goal would be preferred, and I'll tell you why. If you can go about your daily mining/exploration without feeling any effect of it, then its not really an intergalactic war. I want galactic drafts and efforts, but I don't want the Thargoids to simply crush the bubble either. I want them to have to take it from us tooth and nail. Maybe they could try setting up a blockade and keep us contained in the bubble.

Think about it, when an entire race of bio-technologically advanced enemies we have previously been on conflict with and holds the capability to interdict you from Hyperspace while you have no defenses whatsoever moves into the galaxy without declaring any intentions, should lone explorers feel safe just going about their honking out there? I don't think they should. Nor should anyone.

That's what bands people together, and without that it will just feel like a hollow version of what it could have been. I want the Thargoids themselves balanced enough that players who purely want to run from them can.

But ignorable no. Ignorable means shallow to me, actively avoidable means that you are engaged even if engaged in routing around obstacles

 

[Lucian667]

No, I'd like to be able to ignore them if I want to.

 

[Marshall...]

I want it all to burn. A desperate struggle to keep a hold on the Bubble, with failure meaning a mass exodus. Anyone remaining would have to run the gauntlet of being attacked by Thargoids and with functional stations being few and far between.

This is the type of real tangible impact i would like (though i doubt Frontier would take it, as its pretty hardcore).

 

[ThriveInDark]

I want it all to burn. A desperate struggle to keep a hold on the Bubble, with failure meaning a mass exodus.

This is the type of real tangible impact i would like (though i doubt Frontier would take it, as its pretty hardcore).

That'd be sweet, we all end up having to bail to Colonia, or find a way to that other crazy far off nebula and regroup as a civilization. That's 2 years of content, and gets them out of having to build planetary bases with populations in the millions everywhere we go to be believable. So legs would be much more feasible......

Am I crazy here guys?

 

[Omega Fighter]

Community goals with rebranded conflict zones.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I don't understand why some players want "Dark Souls in space" forced onto all players in a single patch.

What's wrong with it being optional? It being optional doesn't mean those who want "Dark Souls in space" won't get that. Just means they'll have to travel to it.

If people think random hyper-dictions on trader's Haulers & Type-6's is going to make for happy players, they're deluded. Strong word I know.

Forcing content on players rarely goes down well.

 

[Theodrid]

In a word, yes, I want them to be hunting us rather than having to go look for them in a specific area at one's own convenience.

 

[Wyaston Hypatia]

I shall be disappointed in FD is they are just another Pew-Pew enemy.
They need to be multi-faceted and complex in their interactions with humanity.

 

[ThriveInDark]

I don't understand why some players want "Dark Souls in space" forced onto all players in a single patch.

What's wrong with it being optional? It being optional doesn't mean those who want "Dark Souls in space" won't get that. Just means they'll have to travel to it.

If people think random hyper-dictions on trader's Haulers & Type-6's is going to make for happy players, they're deluded. Strong word I know.

Forcing content on players rarely goes down well.

Its more about ED picking a nature and sticking to it. Nothing is the game is about you being a hero, having it easy, never being able to die. In fact, a 5% ship cost rebuy is hardly as harsh as Dark Souls, and people still can't handle the occasional deaths they have now.

Either make the game more about fun(easy and digestable) content and options (removing the more grindy requirements so casuals/those with less time can keep up and replace the others like missions with more engaging interactions), or dedicate to the "life is hard in space during war" mentality, but pick one. What's the point of trading all day if you already have money for every ship and can outfly every interdiction attempt by a human NPC? You can afford to take a loss here or there, and you can definitely use a shot of adrenaline whether you think you do or not. That's what a good game does, it gets you pumping whether it was the need to flee or fight.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I don't understand why some players want "Dark Souls in space" forced onto all players in a single patch.

What's wrong with it being optional? It being optional doesn't mean those who want "Dark Souls in space" won't get that. Just means they'll have to travel to it.

If people think random hyper-dictions on trader's Haulers & Type-6's is going to make for happy players, they're deluded. Strong word I know.

Forcing content on players rarely goes down well.

Its more about ED picking a nature and sticking to it. Nothing is the game is about you being a hero, having it easy, never being able to die. In fact, a 5% ship cost rebuy is hardly as harsh as Dark Souls, and people still can't handle the occasional deaths they have now.

Either make the game more about fun(easy and digestable) content and options, or dedicate to the "life is hard in space during war" mentality, but pick one. What's the point of trading all day if you already have money for every ship and can outfly every interdiction attempt by a human NPC? You can afford to take a loss here or there, and you can definitely use a shot of adrenaline whether you think you do or not. That's what a good game does, it gets you pumping whether it was the need to flee or fight.

I'm sorry... I didn't realise you know me well enough to declare that a shot of adrenaline is good for me.

 

[Dale Emasiri]

I want it all to burn. A desperate struggle to keep a hold on the Bubble, with failure meaning a mass exodus. Anyone remaining would have to run the gauntlet of being attacked by Thargoids and with functional stations being few and far between.

This is the type of real tangible impact i would like (though i doubt Frontier would take it, as its pretty hardcore).

I'm going to take off my staff hat and put on my player hat for a second...

This would be immeeeeeense. I know it's not for everyone, but if the Thargoid invasion return (they've been here before!) is one of violence, I want to see everything being subject to it. If they attack, turn everything on the edges of the bubble into rubble (hey, look! rhyming happened...) and then moving inexorably toward the seats of power within each of the major ruling factions. Like I say, it's not for everyone. It'd still be frickin' cool though.

*staff hat back on*

Err... you'll know more soon! Not going to spoil anything though

 

[ThriveInDark]

I'm sorry... I didn't realise you know me well enough to declare that a shot of adrenaline is good for me.

I'm saying it is for everyone. I don't get why people want a total lack of challenge in everything they do but would rather repeat the exact same task without opposition all day every day. It may as well be a TradeWars browser game.

I wish there was an option for people who want a casual, or easy mode experience, but I'm also tired of content being watered down and nerfed just because we share the same universe and some people are sad that they died in a game they knew contained space combat. I stand by what I said, the galaxy attempts to be a realistic simulation, and war is hard, especially when your whole race may be at stake.

 

[Ouberos]

Who says they are going to attack the bubble anyway? Suppose we just get access to a permit locked area and have to go there for "grind reasons" only to discover the bad type of Goids hang out there and don't want us to get our grind on.

They pull us out of witch space and engage us in single combat on one in three jumps.