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

[EvE4evah]

You're also not me. What you're capable of does not mean I too am capable of it.

Look at my earlier reference to artistic ability. It's the same principle in gaming.

You tend to paint every counter argument as ad hominem. I wasn't talking about you, and I just exemplified that still to this day I make horrid mistakes when NPC ratting and still lose ships to them (you too, as you mentioned in a previous comment). But that doesn't detract me from trying. Whilst also doing many other activities in the game.

People will say "ED is not just combat, it has lots of other stuff". Still ironically those people lock themselves away from a bit of combat and complain when they can't shoot a Thargoid in the face. While a few others give a try to every aspect of the game.

Yes, "play mah way" and such, I gotcha

 

[shreddog]

Didn't read the threadnaught. But I have this idea..

How bout if the Aliens are a much greater threat than expected. Humanity faces extinction. Witchspace is not usable anymore. Anyone who enters a jump never returns. The aliens are eliminating every human colonized system after the other. Sol falls, and Earth is scorched for every living thing.

In a last effort of survival what remains of the great powers teams up and construct a huge mega ship, call it the Ark. The final attempt for survival is a mass exodus to Andromeda.. The humans are put into cryo sleep, while the Arc is under control of an AI.

Travelling at sub light, running cold using minimum energy to avoid detection by the hostile Aliens the Arc leaves the Milky Way undetected.

After millions of years in slumber the humans are awakened by their faithful AI at their new home somewhere on the outskirts of the massive Andromeda galaxy. A great colonization and mapping project ensues.

Witchspace is still deemed to dangerous to use and has been forbidden, to avoid attention by any hostile entities. But a team of scientists and engineers come up with a new hypercruise drive. This drive enables ships to travel between star systems within minutes, without entering witchspace.

Another great project underway, is the Stargate project. Gates that create stable artificial wormholes between them, enabling ships to instantly travel from one system to another. Requiring massive maintenance and energy deliveries, this network of gates will gradually be constructed within the new human bubble.

A time of colonization and exploration in to the unknown awaits.. Welcome to Elite 3.0 Andromeda

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Spoiler

https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/im-not.gif?w=650

Srs bsns though because someone managed to make a boo-boo and got minced, does that mean the entire game should be dragged down to stop it ever happening again?

If anyone wants to engage in a "mine is bigger" contest about whether the game caters more to lovers of challenge or those scared of challenge, I'm pretty sure the win margin will be measured in light centuries*.

*yes, I just made this term up. Yes, I quite like it.

Nope, but its probably good overall if FD try and balance things for the middle ground. If FD cater to those who can take on NPCs with their eyes closed while hopping on one leg then it will totally turn off those of lesser skill. If they cater only to the people will very little skill, it will turn off those with higher skill.

And this is the problem we have every single time the question of NPC difficulty come up. Those with little skill saying make things easy and those with a lot of skill saying make things hard, and the only solutions that we usually can agree on for these are either:

a) Tailored opponents based on player history/stats (not elite rank of course!) - but that's a real pain to get right.
b) Provide varied discrete locations where those looking for easier opponents can find their targets and those looking for harder opponents can find their targets.

Id add c) make NPCs a reasonable challenge for average players, but that doesn't seem to please anyone except for the truly average.

Looking at FD's design approach, i don't think (a) will happen. Enemies do scale to the ship you are flying and your rank to some extent, but i've never seen it work particularly well, and neither is a particularly good indicator of how well a person will do in combat against the NPC.

I think (b) is more likely on the personal level. Signal sources where you come across a Thargoid attacking some NPCs and you can join in and fight them off. (of course, you can only do that once you have equipped your ship with the new anti-thargoid stuff!!!).

Will FD have them blow up stations? I think they might, but they will possibly be careful to check there is no player faction active at that station, and it won't seriously hurt a power. If either of those things to pass, the supporters would be up in arms. I suppose they could have Thargoids hit powerplay systems if they hit them all equally, thereby not showing favour/disfavour to any powers.

Basically what i'm saying is don't expect too much in terms of wide scale destruction. There will be threats and scares on galnet, but then there will be CGs to "Ward off that Thargoid threat", which of course will succeed, because a large part of the community will definitely get in on those.

I'm trying not to be too cynical here, i'm trying to be realistic.

If FD did go for the widescale destruction approach, i think i'd applaud it, laughing.... while packing my bags and heading out to Colonia

 

[shadragon]

Burn it. I want to see absolute chaos - with huge swaths of dead space where human habitation used to be.

A typical attitude until the station holding your ten A-rated and engineered ships goes blooey. Then it's nothing but salty tears and outrage.

Sort of like the Trump supporters rant when her husband was deported for being illegal.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Didn't read the threadnaught. But I have this idea..

How bout if the Aliens are a much greater threat than expected. Humanity faces extinction. Witchspace is not usable anymore. Anyone who enters a jump never returns. The aliens are eliminating every human colonized system after the other. Sol falls, and Earth is scorched for every living thing.

In a last effort of survival what remains of the great powers teams up and construct a huge mega ship, call it the Ark. The final attempt for survival is a mass exodus to Andromeda.. The humans are put into cryo sleep, while the Arc is under control of an AI.

Travelling at sub light, running cold using minimum energy to avoid detection by the hostile Aliens the Arc leaves the Milky Way undetected.

After millions of years in slumber the humans are awakened by their faithful AI at their new home somewhere on the outskirts of the massive Andromeda galaxy. A great colonization and mapping project ensues.

Witchspace is still deemed to dangerous to use and has been forbidden, to avoid attention by any hostile entities. But a team of scientists and engineers come up with a new hypercruise drive. This drive enables ships to travel between star systems within minutes, without entering witchspace.

Another great project underway, is the Stargate project. Gates that create stable artificial wormholes between them, enabling ships to instantly travel from one system to another. Requiring massive maintenance and energy deliveries, this network of gates will gradually be constructed within the new human bubble.

A time of colonization and exploration in to the unknown awaits.. Welcome to Elite 3.0 Andromeda

Damn you! I thought it was going to be "You wake up naked on a beach with a gem implanted on your ark and there are dinoaurs walking around you"

 

[ph1Lt0r]

So, i see we have two (or more?) main topics going on here.

We have the, let's call it macro effect: Should the Thargoids be having an impact on the galaxy as a whole and by how much? - eg: stations destroyed, systems overrrun, etc.

Then we have the micro effect: Should players be able to choose how much they interact with the Thargoids and should they have to change what they are doing in game to avoid them/seek them?

I think the only way to get full consensus within the community is to let the community itself decide! No! Not by a global poll! No way Hose!

FD run two sets of questions.

Question 1. This goes to all PMF representatives.
"Are your stations fair game for the Thargoids to blow up?"
a) Yes, please have the Thargoids destroy all stations my faction controls.
b) Yes, if we don't defend them. If we kill enough Thargoids as they enter our space then they don't blow up the station.
c) Meh, ill leave it up to chance.
d) No, please steer any invasion around our systems.

Question 2: Goes to all players.
"How much interaction with Thargoids do you want?"
a) I want to be randomly attacked my swarms of Thargoids no matter where i am. NPCs are too easy anyway.
b) I want to be randomly attacked as part of the invasion in a logical manner (ie: in and around systems where the invasion is passing).
c) I only want to be attacked by Thargoids if i am hostile to them.
d) I want to be bestest friends with Thargoids and invite them over for tea and buscuits.

There we go. Now everyone can be happy!

Q1: B
Q2: B

 

[Stealthie]

So, i see we have two (or more?) main topics going on here.

We have the, let's call it macro effect: Should the Thargoids be having an impact on the galaxy as a whole and by how much? - eg: stations destroyed, systems overrrun, etc.

Then we have the micro effect: Should players be able to choose how much they interact with the Thargoids and should they have to change what they are doing in game to avoid them/seek them?

I think the only way to get full consensus within the community is to let the community itself decide! No! Not by a global poll! No way Hose!

FD run two sets of questions.

Question 1. This goes to all PMF representatives.
"Are your stations fair game for the Thargoids to blow up?"
a) Yes, please have the Thargoids destroy all stations my faction controls.
b) Yes, if we don't defend them. If we kill enough Thargoids as they enter our space then they don't blow up the station.
c) Meh, ill leave it up to chance.
d) No, please steer any invasion around our systems.

Question 2: Goes to all players.
"How much interaction with Thargoids do you want?"
a) I want to be randomly attacked my swarms of Thargoids no matter where i am. NPCs are too easy anyway.
b) I want to be randomly attacked as part of the invasion in a logical manner (ie: in and around systems where the invasion is passing).
c) I only want to be attacked by Thargoids if i am hostile to them.
d) I want to be bestest friends with Thargoids and invite them over for tea and buscuits.

There we go. Now everyone can be happy!

Thing is, it could/should all be very straightforwad.

As long as Fdev give us some way of knowing which parts of space are hazardous, rather than just leaving it all up to the RNG, then everybody can choose the level of interaction they have with the Thargoids.

Please, FDev, don't just leave it up tho the RNG.

 

[StiTch]

Nope, but its probably good overall if FD try and balance things for the middle ground. If FD cater to those who can take on NPCs with their eyes closed while hopping on one leg then it will totally turn off those of lesser skill. If they cater only to the people will very little skill, it will turn off those with higher skill.

But FD do cater only to the people with very little skill, and high skilled players already get turned off by the lack of engaging combat - if you hadn't noticed...

EDIT: It's got to be "b", and I've campaigned for that for some time. The thargoid situation is a little different though - or at least should be. Uninspiring CZ fights and I'll basically go ahead and forget the existence of 2.4

 

[Wyaston Hypatia]

I would like the Thargoids' interactions with Humanity to be total inscrutable at the start. I'd want Canonn scratching their combined heads as to why they did this, in this system, but not in that system. If they do or don't attack you/stations/systems it is because there's a logical reason for it (from the Thargoids' point of view). Please make them interesting content.
The issue I have is DB has been saying that they are to be totally Alien, with their own agenda. Whilst everyone else from FD has been saying 'Wooo Scary Pew-Pew Aliens' (Paraphrasing here ). So What are we going to get?
Does this mean I think we should get attacked, yes - at times. However it should also be that we don't get attacked at times and are left wondering why. They should have systems that they are interested in and others that they aren't and it should be up to us to find out why.

(Just in case anyone has any doubt - I like pew-pew. I just don't see it as anything more than one of many aspects of this game. It's not something I do all the time, either.)

 

[Alex Ringess]

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

So, it's means that what you wrote with your player hat on the head will not happens, 'cause if it was the case, then what you wrote with your player hat on the head would be a spoiler ^^

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

So, i see we have two (or more?) main topics going on here.

We have the, let's call it macro effect: Should the Thargoids be having an impact on the galaxy as a whole and by how much? - eg: stations destroyed, systems overrrun, etc.

Then we have the micro effect: Should players be able to choose how much they interact with the Thargoids and should they have to change what they are doing in game to avoid them/seek them?
…

Maybe not main topic, but:

There are more ways for the Thargoids of having an impact on the galaxy (human bubble) than just "WAAAGH!". If I want "WAAAGH!" I'm going to play an other franchise.

A pure combat oriented Thargoid invasion would be just different looking NPCs that do the same thing as all other NPCs. Maybe harder to fight and requiring special weapons/modules - making that part just an other engineering grind.

In the end it would probably make even more ships and ship layouts unusable for combat and make combat even more niche than it already is. Completely non existent unless players seek it. Boring as it would be certain death for non-combat ships and easy win for modded ships.

And if FD manages to pull off an other "unknown probe" or "thargoid hyperdiction" RNG fail, then it won't matter at all because I will never see any Thargoid at all even if I search them for hours.

 

[Alex Ringess]

Spoiler

 

[lysan]

Please God don't let the devs read this thread and nerf the aliens. Please God don't let the devs read this thread and nerf the aliens. Please God don't let the devs read this thread and nerf the aliens. Please God don't let the devs read this thread and nerf the aliens.

Alrighty then, the Aliens will be nerfed.....

 

[the100thmonkey]

How bout if the Aliens are a much greater threat than expected. Humanity faces extinction. Witchspace is not usable anymore. Anyone who enters a jump never returns. The aliens are eliminating every human colonized system after the other. Sol falls, and Earth is scorched for every living thing.

"This planet is a candidate for terraforming."

 

[Muetdhiver]

I wonder if FD will make use of the PP map to display the thargoids invasion and areas under threat of further expansion.

Think non player PP faction not tied by distance and costs issue. IMO it would have the merit of being transparent (look in the map ) and allow an expansion in week cycles.

Also it would finally make use of all the PP developed stuff for something usefully. Finally....

 

[Deleted member 110222]

You tend to paint every counter argument as as hominem. I wasn't talking about you, and I just exemplified that still to this day I make horrid mistakes when NPC ratting and still lose ships to them (you too, as you mentioned in a previous comment). But that doesn't detract me from trying. Whilst also doing many other activities in the game.

People will say "ED is not just combat, it has lots of other stuff". Still ironically those people lock themselves away from a bit of combat and complain when they can't shoot a Thargoid in the face. While a few others give a try to every aspect of the game.

Yes, "play mah way" and such, I gotcha

The thing is I'm not asking for my trade ship to shoot aliens. Indeed, many times I have said I am HAPPY TO FORGO any rewards from Thargoids, if it means they're not forced on me.

I'm not asking for rewards without risk. I'm asking to NOT get rewarded, actually.

 

[NeilF]

Entire systems in turmoil. Brutal outcomes with populations starving. Thousands of ships fleeing. Stations being blockaded by Thargoids and/or the military. CMDRs running supplies into systems and/or through blockades. CMDRs running passengers out of systems. CMDRs escorting ships in/out of systems. CMDRs escorting ships between Nav beacons (eg: thru asteroid fields). CMDRs manning fighter craft on tours of duty on capital ships and stations.

The BGS realistically reflecting the turmoil. Community goals using the above mechanics.

Or...

Random interdictions and rebadged CZs...

 

[Dsign]

After all the HYPE FDev has built up, they better be REALLY dangerous !
I won't accept this year of waiting for this plot to unfold just to see the biggest threat of our history do nothing.
I vote for the first option.

 

[the100thmonkey]

(eg: thru eastoid fields).

As long as there are West End girls rocks to go with the Eastoids, I'm happy.

 

[Archduke]

I wonder if FD will make use of the PP map to display the thargoids invasion and areas under threat of further expansion.

This would lend purpose to that map/options and could even breath real life into the entire zombie that is PP system