TL;DR (EDIT: Reorganised)
Progressively shift ED into a First-person real-time strategy game, allowing Commanders to play the BGS and possibly PowerPlay to forge their own persistent and warring mini-empires for greater personal benefit, fame, and glory.
The idea is a bit of a thought in progress.
Context
This idea came about to address two major player gripes in the game.
1. Grind (unnecessary detail in spoiler)
2. Lack of End Game (unnecessary detail in spoiler)
Vision
Once a player has earned their stripes in the early game grind and reached some predefined set of achievements, they are proffered a rank (such as Admiral, or something more fitting) that allows them to commission an AI Naval fleet, and a range of Support Vessels for remote operations. The Admiral must register a faction to begin, then hire AI Pilots of varying types and skill to operate the ships in their Naval Fleet.
Navy Ship Types
With the introduction of fleet carriers and support vessels, most of the major pieces for this idea are already in the game. The BGS would have to be improved some more to cater for the new dynamic, and interfaces would have to be designed for the Admirals to control their fleets and other assets, create custom missions, monitor progress, and to allow them to direct battles, but I don't believe it's as drastic as it may sound.
Progressively shift ED into a First-person real-time strategy game, allowing Commanders to play the BGS and possibly PowerPlay to forge their own persistent and warring mini-empires for greater personal benefit, fame, and glory.
The idea is a bit of a thought in progress.
Context
This idea came about to address two major player gripes in the game.
1. Grind (unnecessary detail in spoiler)
A lot of players complain about grind in ED. Having to repeat the same sequence of actions hundreds or thousands of times to progress is grind, as far as I judge things. YMMV.
If you don't really want to progress in a certain way, or in a certain amount of time, then you may avoid some of that. When there is a mundane aspect to the actions required, that compounds the grind. For example, shooting rocks on a planet surface in an SRV.
Having said that, not all grind is necessarily bad. Grinding in the early game can be fairly seen as a way to earn your stripes, and is not so bad, as it introduces players to all the different activity types, and is a good way to drill the basics into newer players. What's bad is when you grind to a point, so that you can then grind to another point, and then another. This chain of grind is what can grind the fun of progression in this game to a halt.
If you don't really want to progress in a certain way, or in a certain amount of time, then you may avoid some of that. When there is a mundane aspect to the actions required, that compounds the grind. For example, shooting rocks on a planet surface in an SRV.
Having said that, not all grind is necessarily bad. Grinding in the early game can be fairly seen as a way to earn your stripes, and is not so bad, as it introduces players to all the different activity types, and is a good way to drill the basics into newer players. What's bad is when you grind to a point, so that you can then grind to another point, and then another. This chain of grind is what can grind the fun of progression in this game to a halt.
2. Lack of End Game (unnecessary detail in spoiler)
Once you've amassed billions, and bought and upgraded every ship you wanted to, you've probably tried most if not all available activities in the game, and there's really no further progression for you in terms of achievements and acquisitions in the game. At this point, many players take an extended hiatus from the game, mostly hopping back into the pilot's seat to check out any recently added changes, and then likely taking another leave period.
The coming fleet carriers will be another milestone for the higher tiers of players, but unless the currently unknown details show otherwise when revealed, there won't be any really new activities or goals to achieve with the use of those fleet carriers.
The coming fleet carriers will be another milestone for the higher tiers of players, but unless the currently unknown details show otherwise when revealed, there won't be any really new activities or goals to achieve with the use of those fleet carriers.
Vision
Once a player has earned their stripes in the early game grind and reached some predefined set of achievements, they are proffered a rank (such as Admiral, or something more fitting) that allows them to commission an AI Naval fleet, and a range of Support Vessels for remote operations. The Admiral must register a faction to begin, then hire AI Pilots of varying types and skill to operate the ships in their Naval Fleet.
Navy Ship Types
- Mining Rig
- Trade Vessel
- Mission Runner (Courier, Cargo Delivery, and Passenger Transport missions only)
- Combat Ship
- Fleet Carriers (multiple)
- Support Vessels (various types)
- Capital Ships
- Main Naval Base
- Serve as remote collection points for mined materials and accrued credits (otherwise ships offload at the Main Naval Base)
- Outfit and defend fleets in their vicinity
- Each Support Vessel adds to the initial fleet capacity limit
- There is a limit on the allowable number of Support Vessels in the Navy
- Instruct AI Mining rigs where to mine, what to mine for, and which mining tools to use
- Instruct AI Trade Vessels which commodities to purchase, and define their trade routes
- Instruct AI Mission Runners which Stations and Factions to accept missions from, what mission types to accept, and set reward and distance parameters
- Instruct AI Combat Ships to protect any of your Navy's ships or assets, or to enter conflict zones for epic battles
- Direct battles by giving instructions to your ships in real-time through a new interface, and even join in yourself
- Create Assassination and Espionage missions to target the assets of your rival Admirals
- Protect your assets and fleets
- Manage your revenue and expenses
- Strategise to spread your influence and dominance in your nook of the galaxy
- Make war or use diplomacy when clashing with rival Admirals or PowerPlay figures
- Pledge your Navy to a Power to augment your fleet and get access to Power specials - for a price
- Reap special rewards and bonuses as you hit or maintain tiered milestones of influence
- Commanders can sign up to join your Navy
- Commanders can roam about as Freelancers on limited contracts for specific missions and conflicts, working all sides
With the introduction of fleet carriers and support vessels, most of the major pieces for this idea are already in the game. The BGS would have to be improved some more to cater for the new dynamic, and interfaces would have to be designed for the Admirals to control their fleets and other assets, create custom missions, monitor progress, and to allow them to direct battles, but I don't believe it's as drastic as it may sound.
Once a player has earned their stripes in the early game grind and reached some predefined set of achievements, they are proffered a rank (such as Admiral, or something more fitting) that allows them to commission an AI Naval fleet, and a range of auxiliary facilities for remote operations. The player must register a faction to begin.
The remote auxiliaries serve as collection points for commodities, materials, technologies, credits, and exploration data acquired by AI pilots as well as human players. Depending on the type of auxiliary, it may also serve to augment certain activities, such as a Mining facility with appropriate outfitting and defensive capabilities. This is what I imagine the new Support Vessels will be used for to some degree, though the details are still pending at the time of writing this. In this envisioned implementation, such vessels/facilities won't be permanently tethered to a fleet carrier, in that they can be left on location if the fleet carrier jumps elsewhere.
The AI Naval fleet can be configured according to the player's requirements, to perform functions such as mining, missions (specifically courier, cargo, and passenger transport missions only), player-defined trade runs, and player assigned combat/defense roles. Bounty hunting, pirating, smuggling, exploration, search and rescue, and all mission types other than courier, cargo and passenger transport should remain the sole province of direct human player intervention.
To picture how this would work, think back to a classic RTS like Starcraft, where SCVs collect minerals and vespene gas, but in this case it's materials and credits. Your AI mission runners and trade vessels are like the SCVs, so the first thing you're going to want to do is save up to purchase a small initial fleet of these as your "gold" miners. These will also serve the purpose of increasing your mini-empire's reputation or influence with the factions of your choice, according to your strategy, as well as affecting the commodity market. So you send the trade vessels off on predefined trade runs for specified commodities, and the mission runners will accept any of the three specified mission types at the stations of your choice, with any additional parameters you're able to set. Those ships will continue on that way until told to stop, or until there are no more applicable missions, or they're destroyed.
Next you could purchase a mining Support Vessel, and a fleet of capable mining ships. Unless of course your base station (provided that feature is introduced) is close enough to the mining site to collect materials, in which case you could forego the mining Support Vessel at first. Once you've directed your miners to work on a particular site, they go back and forth also like the SCVs until they're told to stop, or until there's nothing left to mine, or someone destroys them. Like NPC Fighter Pilots, all AI pilots will have ranks, which will increase with experience, and it will be specific to their activity. So a mining ship AI pilot will get better at mining over time. This will translate to better being able to identify specific deposits, better success with detonations, and faster collection.
Somewhere in between these, you'll be wanting fighters to defend your credit and material miners. So you'll purchase these when you're able, keeping in mind that each AI pilot you hire has an ongoing cost which increases with rank, so your revenue must be greater than your expenses in order to keep them employed.
Eventually, you'll be able to amass a significant combat fleet, and use it dispersed across your assets for defense, or gather it in one spot for an epic battle. You will be able to allow the AI to fight unguided, or direct them through an interface built for this feature, and even directly take part in the battles yourself.
Starcraft also had a unit limiter which varied for each race. For Protoss it was PSI through Pylons, for Terran it was Supply via Depots, and for Zerg it was Control via Overlords. This should also be a factor for control and balance. For example, each auxiliary Support Vessel you place should give you an additional X capacity for supportable units in your navy, and there should be a limit on how many Support Vessels you can have.
Admirals can employ their faction and squadron members in their navy, and delegate certain organisational tasks to them. They should also be able to create and customise missions in systems they have influence in, particularly things like assassination, bounty hunting, and new mission types for disrupting mining and trade operations of other Admirals, with set limits on rewards of course, which are only given after the mission is completed. This is for targeted strategies and espionage.
I also think that Capital ships should become available to a player who has reached this rank.
So effectively, the Admiral employs a strategy to gain influence for their faction, and spread it to the areas of their choice, which could bring them up against other Admirals, which could trigger a war, unless players take a diplomatic initiative. How this could work with PowerPlay is either that the Admiral is in direct competition with the existing Powers, or else they become a significant vassal for a Power, such that the player's influence is added to the Power's influence, which could have its own benefits (resources, additional ships, etc). I'm not too sure on that front, as I'm not that knowledgeable in PowerPlay.
Admirals can of course still pilot their own ships and play as they always have. This is more of an optional end game dynamic, but it also provides other commanders with new play opportunities, to join in the wars as members of a player empire, or to work freelance on missions for any sides in a conflict. There could also be AI or Frontier controlled Admirals thrown into the mix.
With the introduction of fleet carriers, most of the major pieces for this idea are already in the game. The BGS would have to be improved some more to cater for the new dynamic, and interfaces would have to be designed for the Admirals to control their fleets and other assets, create custom missions, monitor progress, and to allow them to direct battles, but I don't believe it's as drastic as it may sound.
The remote auxiliaries serve as collection points for commodities, materials, technologies, credits, and exploration data acquired by AI pilots as well as human players. Depending on the type of auxiliary, it may also serve to augment certain activities, such as a Mining facility with appropriate outfitting and defensive capabilities. This is what I imagine the new Support Vessels will be used for to some degree, though the details are still pending at the time of writing this. In this envisioned implementation, such vessels/facilities won't be permanently tethered to a fleet carrier, in that they can be left on location if the fleet carrier jumps elsewhere.
The AI Naval fleet can be configured according to the player's requirements, to perform functions such as mining, missions (specifically courier, cargo, and passenger transport missions only), player-defined trade runs, and player assigned combat/defense roles. Bounty hunting, pirating, smuggling, exploration, search and rescue, and all mission types other than courier, cargo and passenger transport should remain the sole province of direct human player intervention.
To picture how this would work, think back to a classic RTS like Starcraft, where SCVs collect minerals and vespene gas, but in this case it's materials and credits. Your AI mission runners and trade vessels are like the SCVs, so the first thing you're going to want to do is save up to purchase a small initial fleet of these as your "gold" miners. These will also serve the purpose of increasing your mini-empire's reputation or influence with the factions of your choice, according to your strategy, as well as affecting the commodity market. So you send the trade vessels off on predefined trade runs for specified commodities, and the mission runners will accept any of the three specified mission types at the stations of your choice, with any additional parameters you're able to set. Those ships will continue on that way until told to stop, or until there are no more applicable missions, or they're destroyed.
Next you could purchase a mining Support Vessel, and a fleet of capable mining ships. Unless of course your base station (provided that feature is introduced) is close enough to the mining site to collect materials, in which case you could forego the mining Support Vessel at first. Once you've directed your miners to work on a particular site, they go back and forth also like the SCVs until they're told to stop, or until there's nothing left to mine, or someone destroys them. Like NPC Fighter Pilots, all AI pilots will have ranks, which will increase with experience, and it will be specific to their activity. So a mining ship AI pilot will get better at mining over time. This will translate to better being able to identify specific deposits, better success with detonations, and faster collection.
Somewhere in between these, you'll be wanting fighters to defend your credit and material miners. So you'll purchase these when you're able, keeping in mind that each AI pilot you hire has an ongoing cost which increases with rank, so your revenue must be greater than your expenses in order to keep them employed.
Eventually, you'll be able to amass a significant combat fleet, and use it dispersed across your assets for defense, or gather it in one spot for an epic battle. You will be able to allow the AI to fight unguided, or direct them through an interface built for this feature, and even directly take part in the battles yourself.
Starcraft also had a unit limiter which varied for each race. For Protoss it was PSI through Pylons, for Terran it was Supply via Depots, and for Zerg it was Control via Overlords. This should also be a factor for control and balance. For example, each auxiliary Support Vessel you place should give you an additional X capacity for supportable units in your navy, and there should be a limit on how many Support Vessels you can have.
Admirals can employ their faction and squadron members in their navy, and delegate certain organisational tasks to them. They should also be able to create and customise missions in systems they have influence in, particularly things like assassination, bounty hunting, and new mission types for disrupting mining and trade operations of other Admirals, with set limits on rewards of course, which are only given after the mission is completed. This is for targeted strategies and espionage.
I also think that Capital ships should become available to a player who has reached this rank.
So effectively, the Admiral employs a strategy to gain influence for their faction, and spread it to the areas of their choice, which could bring them up against other Admirals, which could trigger a war, unless players take a diplomatic initiative. How this could work with PowerPlay is either that the Admiral is in direct competition with the existing Powers, or else they become a significant vassal for a Power, such that the player's influence is added to the Power's influence, which could have its own benefits (resources, additional ships, etc). I'm not too sure on that front, as I'm not that knowledgeable in PowerPlay.
Admirals can of course still pilot their own ships and play as they always have. This is more of an optional end game dynamic, but it also provides other commanders with new play opportunities, to join in the wars as members of a player empire, or to work freelance on missions for any sides in a conflict. There could also be AI or Frontier controlled Admirals thrown into the mix.
With the introduction of fleet carriers, most of the major pieces for this idea are already in the game. The BGS would have to be improved some more to cater for the new dynamic, and interfaces would have to be designed for the Admirals to control their fleets and other assets, create custom missions, monitor progress, and to allow them to direct battles, but I don't believe it's as drastic as it may sound.
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