Thargoid attacks on stations, reaction of the community - I'm having flashbacks of Bast

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

Anyone remembering the Cerberus Plague?
Station after station getting closed down - really closed down, not the close down we get nowadays with most services directly affecting players still working.

Most CMDRs simply didn't care as there was no profit to be made and it didn't directly affect them.

When I look at the current situation I get the uncanny feeling that history is about to repeat. OK, without exponential grow, but again we are facing a situation where station after station stops working and nobody really cares.

Currently we have 12 stations (I think) that are not operational in the Pleiades. Obviously there are a lot of stations in that region.
But what happens if the Thargoids run out of stations in the Pleiades?

Will they stop?
What if they don't stop?
What if they keep destroying 3 station every week?
At what point is the community willing to actually do something?

What if the Thargoids will keep attacking stations in the Pleiades and only attack the bubble if all station in the Pleiades are out of service?
What if we could prevent the Thargoids attacking the bubble by keeping them busy in the Pleiades by attacking repaired stations while we repair the next stations?

We should start rebuilding those stations NOW.
It takes a lot of effort to fix one station, but we are still in a situation where it is possible to fix the stations. It's not yet completely out of control.

I know, AEGIS is evil and Thargoids are friendly, but AEGIS is just the storefront of the Alliance, Empire and Federation for their Thargoid research and response.
No matter what somebody thinks about AEGIS or the Thargoids. Facts are: Stations get destroyed and all superpowers are involved in AEGIS.
Even if the Thargoids only attack stations with an AEGIS facility - how many AEGIS related facilities are spread all over the bubble in stations aligned to one of the superpowers?

We have to act now!
Space stations are essential for our spacefaring civilization. We can't let stations get destroyed. We can't afford stations going out of service. It doesn't matter who is controlling those stations. Without space stations the whole system breaks down.

Forget AEGIS, forget the superpowers, forget power play, forget your petty little wars and skirmishes for a few credits more or glory or infamy. Forget your ego.

Attacks on space stations aren't just attacks on a faction or organization. Attacking space stations is a direct attack on every single CMDR out there.
It's time to save our civilization.

 

[Kayweg]

It's difficult to feel a sense of urgency about anything, when you know that FD can do and undo (and does) everything instantly by a simple server restart.
So i always struggle to think about it in terms of Thargoid activity or "in character"...there are limits as to how much i can kid myself.
If FD wants the bubble to burn it will burn, if they don't want to, it won't.
There is no dynamic here, no development and no true player impact. It's all too artificial to be convincing to me.
I admit, the burning stations are well crafted and carry a whiff of drama.
I also admit, after having spectated for a few minutes, i moved on and thought no more of it.
My take, nobody feels threatened by this.

 

[XYZ]

It's difficult to feel a sense of urgency about anything, when you know that FD can do and undo (and does) everything instantly by a simple server restart.
So i always struggle to think about it in terms of Thargoid activity or "in character"...there are limits as to how much i can kid myself.
If FD wants the bubble to burn it will burn, if they don't want to, it won't.
There is no dynamic here, no development and no true player impact. It's all too artificial to be convincing to me.
I admit, the burning stations are well crafted and carry a whiff of drama.
I also admit, after having spectated for a few minutes, i moved on and thought no more of it.
My take, nobody feels threatened by this.

This. ... and a Rep. for Kayweg for not having to type it myself.

 

[777Driver]

Honestly don't think these stations are meant to be repaired anytime soon, they are massive structures, expect it to drag out over months or this entire year. Thargoids are only attacking stations with research labs, they are also not actually destroying stations despite their capability, that shows method to the madness. According to a log from a Aegis scientist, the early stations that where attacked had some (as of yet unknown tech onboard) Obsidian orbital was known as the primary hub for Aegis/Palin thargoid research, not surprising it was attacked. Nothing to suggest the Thargoids are heading to the Bubble.

This isn't all out war, or anything to feel threatened by (at this point) They are clearly looking for something, and shutting down anything related to Thargoid research. People have been asking for long range supply trucking for a while, now here's your chance to do it in what could end up a warzone.

Let's hope the Thargoids don't operate like the UK & American military in the Middle East, bomb the !!!! out of everything, just in case a research lab might exist

These are the only stations at risk - https://community.elitedangerous.com/en/galnet/02-DEC-3303

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…
There is no dynamic here, no development and no true player impact.…

Just like with the Cerberus Plague. People complained that they have no influence and that nothing will change. It did change, because of players throwing in all the time and energy they had.
If you do nothing because "it's not dynamic", then nothing will change. Things will slowly go down a fixed path and you get a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We will never know how things would have turned out if nobody tried to finish one of the medicine CGs. Maybe FDev would have at some point done something, maybe not.
But why do nothing expecting that FDev will fix it for us while complaining that there is no reason to do anything because FDev will fix it for us?
It's a game. Doing something - playing the game - is, in my opinion, better than doing nothing.

……
This isn't all out war, or anything to feel threatened by (at this point) They are clearly looking for something, and shutting down anything related to Thargoid research. …

Thing is, we don't know what the Thargoids will do.
If they are really searching something, what will they do if they found it?
Stations getting disabled is a thread to the economy of the galaxy. We don't know if those stations you mentioned are the only at risk - some might hope that this is the case, but there is no prove, no evidence that the Thargoids will stop after having disabled those stations.
There are probably a lot of AEGIS research labs in the bubble.

Repairing the stations in the Pleiades is a huge task, but not repairing them will only make things harder in the future with much more stations that need repair. Unless you want to abandon the Pleiades and you are betting your home on the hope that the Thargoids won't attack the bubble.

 

[XYZ]

How about that :

But as pointed out, the Thargoids attack stations on Thursday mornings in SOLO mode, so there's nothing we can do about it! They've watched us for the past 3-4 years and realised doing it in SOLO is far easier than in OPEN!

 

[777Driver]

Thing is, we don't know what the Thargoids will do.
If they are really searching something, what will they do if they found it?
Stations getting disabled is a thread to the economy of the galaxy. We don't know if those stations you mentioned are the only at risk - some might hope that this is the case, but there is no prove, no evidence that the Thargoids will stop after having disabled those stations.
There are probably a lot of AEGIS research labs in the bubble.

Repairing the stations in the Pleiades is a huge task, but not repairing them will only make things harder in the future with much more stations that need repair. Unless you want to abandon the Pleiades and you are betting your home on the hope that the Thargoids won't attack the bubble.

True, we don't know what they will do. But we can clearly see how they have been acting. There are non Aegis stations in Pleiades, none of them have been attacked. The only targets have been freighters (Nobody knows what those freighters had on-board) And Aegis research stations.

The strangest attack was the prison ship, again nobody knows (as far as I'm aware) What was onboard the prison ship with the crew and inmates.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

True, we don't know what they will do. But we can clearly see how they have been acting. There are non Aegis stations in Pleiades, none of them have been attacked. The only targets have been freighters (Nobody knows what those freighters had on-board) And Aegis research stations.
…

If we wait until they attack obvious non-AEGIS related stations (and even then, players will probably come up with explanations why that station is a valid target because of AEGIS) it might be to late. Every station that gets disabled increases the amount of commodities that need to be transported.

Currently we can repair the affected stations, if we work together. When more stations get affected - if they get affected - then we might face a scenario where everybody tries to repair "their own" station and this will probably be impossible.

 

[Kietrax]

It's difficult to feel a sense of urgency about anything, when you know that FD can do and undo (and does) everything instantly by a simple server restart.
So i always struggle to think about it in terms of Thargoid activity or "in character"...there are limits as to how much i can kid myself.
If FD wants the bubble to burn it will burn, if they don't want to, it won't.
There is no dynamic here, no development and no true player impact. It's all too artificial to be convincing to me.
I admit, the burning stations are well crafted and carry a whiff of drama.
I also admit, after having spectated for a few minutes, i moved on and thought no more of it.
My take, nobody feels threatened by this.

I disagree - FD may have a plan/storyline in mind but player actions do influence how they implement it into the game.

The first Cerberus plague took many weeks, many affected stations and many CGs before commanders got coordinated and brought it under control in Bast. Remember the second outbreak though? No? That's because when it first flared up (bloody Palin again ...) several groups, The Teabaggers amongst them, put in a huge effort in the CG to get that one to a level that everything was contained, even though the targets we really high and we only just made it. I don't know for a fact but I did hear that this sank a story arc they had planned for a second outbreak - so don't think player action has no impact just 'cos the implementation of certain steps is manual from FDs side.

 

[777Driver]

If we wait until they attack obvious non-AEGIS related stations (and even then, players will probably come up with explanations why that station is a valid target because of AEGIS) it might be to late. Every station that gets disabled increases the amount of commodities that need to be transported.

Currently we can repair the affected stations, if we work together. When more stations get affected - if they get affected - then we might face a scenario where everybody tries to repair "their own" station and this will probably be impossible.

Who owns these massive bulk freighters? Am surprised we don't have bulk freighters with landing pads arriving at these ports, let us shuttle the goods from the freighters to the station (Although I don't mind long range trucking)

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

Who owns these massive bulk freighters? Am surprised we don't have bulk freighters with landing pads arriving at these ports, let us shuttle the goods from the freighters to the station (Although I don't mind long range trucking)

That would be nice, but I have the suspicion that FDev wants this to escalate. They are making it hard for us so they can follow their preferred story arc.

 

[Leadfoot]

I guess as long as they don't attack stations that well tons of beer or .....

Oh, wait!!! What about Hutton Orbital??? Everyone! Protect Hutton Orbital!!! FOR THE MUG!!!

What? They're not out there? Oh, I see. Never mind!

 

[Louis Calvert]

Anyone remembering the Cerberus Plague?
Station after station getting closed down - really closed down, not the close down we get nowadays with most services directly affecting players still working.

Most CMDRs simply didn't care as there was no profit to be made and it didn't directly affect them.

When I look at the current situation I get the uncanny feeling that history is about to repeat. OK, without exponential grow, but again we are facing a situation where station after station stops working and nobody really cares.

Currently we have 12 stations (I think) that are not operational in the Pleiades. Obviously there are a lot of stations in that region.
But what happens if the Thargoids run out of stations in the Pleiades?

Will they stop?
What if they don't stop?
What if they keep destroying 3 station every week?
At what point is the community willing to actually do something?

What if the Thargoids will keep attacking stations in the Pleiades and only attack the bubble if all station in the Pleiades are out of service?
What if we could prevent the Thargoids attacking the bubble by keeping them busy in the Pleiades by attacking repaired stations while we repair the next stations?

We should start rebuilding those stations NOW.
It takes a lot of effort to fix one station, but we are still in a situation where it is possible to fix the stations. It's not yet completely out of control.

I know, AEGIS is evil and Thargoids are friendly, but AEGIS is just the storefront of the Alliance, Empire and Federation for their Thargoid research and response.
No matter what somebody thinks about AEGIS or the Thargoids. Facts are: Stations get destroyed and all superpowers are involved in AEGIS.
Even if the Thargoids only attack stations with an AEGIS facility - how many AEGIS related facilities are spread all over the bubble in stations aligned to one of the superpowers?

We have to act now!
Space stations are essential for our spacefaring civilization. We can't let stations get destroyed. We can't afford stations going out of service. It doesn't matter who is controlling those stations. Without space stations the whole system breaks down.

Forget AEGIS, forget the superpowers, forget power play, forget your petty little wars and skirmishes for a few credits more or glory or infamy. Forget your ego.

Attacks on space stations aren't just attacks on a faction or organization. Attacking space stations is a direct attack on every single CMDR out there.
It's time to save our civilization.

I disagree. We invaded Thargoid space and built space stations there, we've been stealing Thargoid tech for years, attacking Thargoids ships in their own space, we've been stealing their space probes and destroying them, we've been stealing meta-alloys (whatever they are).

Thargoids are simply pointing this out in a way that we'll listen to.

When Thargoids start taking out stations in the bubble - then I'll care.

I think it's time people realise that the Thargoids aren't "the big bad aggressive aliens" (right now) - WE are.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…
Thargoids are simply pointing this out in a way that we'll listen to.
…

They could have simply told us that. They can communicate with us. They chose not to.

 

[XYZ]

 

[SpaceGoblin]

But why do nothing expecting that FDev will fix it for us while complaining that there is no reason to do anything because FDev will fix it for us?
It's a game. Doing something - playing the game - is, in my opinion, better than doing nothing.

I disagree - FD may have a plan/storyline in mind but player actions do influence how they implement it into the game.

The first Cerberus plague took many weeks, many affected stations and many CGs before commanders got coordinated and brought it under control in Bast. Remember the second outbreak though? No? That's because when it first flared up (bloody Palin again ...) several groups, The Teabaggers amongst them, put in a huge effort in the CG to get that one to a level that everything was contained, even though the targets we really high and we only just made it. I don't know for a fact but I did hear that this sank a story arc they had planned for a second outbreak - so don't think player action has no impact just 'cos the implementation of certain steps is manual from FDs side.

No more than this need be said.

Play on, Macduff, and damned be him who first cries 'Hold! Enough!'

Apologies to any Shakespeare fans for the injection of that first letter

 

[Kayweg]

Just like with the Cerberus Plague. People complained that they have no influence and that nothing will change. It did change, because of players throwing in all the time and energy they had.
If you do nothing because "it's not dynamic", then nothing will change. Things will slowly go down a fixed path and you get a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We will never know how things would have turned out if nobody tried to finish one of the medicine CGs. Maybe FDev would have at some point done something, maybe not.
But why do nothing expecting that FDev will fix it for us while complaining that there is no reason to do anything because FDev will fix it for us?
It's a game. Doing something - playing the game - is, in my opinion, better than doing nothing.

I say let that prophecy fulfill then.
It would be really interesting to see how far FD would be willing to let the situation deteriorate.
How much carnage are they willing to accept to happen to the game world they created ?
How much real impact will they allow ?
Figure they shut down the servers, end ED and tell us "sorry, you failed guys" ?

 

[Lightspeed]

Just act normally ... ship biowaste somewhere .... and put the kettle on

 

[NeilF]

We should start rebuilding those stations NOW.
It takes a lot of effort to fix one station, but we are still in a situation where it is possible to fix the stations. It's not yet completely out of control.

Psst! I have a fulltime job already. I play (use to play) ED for fun. Taking X to Y (as part of a CG) - we're talking 3+ year old mechanics here - wasn't ever particularly taxing/interesting, so what makes it more so now?

If FD introduce some challenging/interesting/deeper gameplay, personally I might be interested. But simply taking X to Y, because a station became damaged by some invisible Thargoids on a Thursday morning doesn't really float my boat.

Every station can burn in the meantime TBH!

 

[insanephoton]

I remember the Cerberus plague, these Thargoid attacks are nothing like as serious. If the current trend continues at 3 stations per week we have many years before the bubble is lost. My crude estimate based on a bubble of 20000 inhabited systems and a loss of 3 systems a week is that the bubble will be lost in around 128 years. These is an underestimate because many systems have more than one station in them.

With the Cerberus plague we started more or less with 3 infected stations which went into quarantine after a week. They infected an average of 2 additional stations each so the following week it was 6 infected. 3 quarantined, the week after 12 infected, 9 quarantined and so on.