A Guide to Minor Factions and the Background Sim

[Schlack]

not tested, but i doubt it. "flavour-text".

I would tend to agree. FD did say they were "looking at" mechanisms for more directed expansions. "Looking at" is well known FD code for no!

It is always possible that they have slipped a sneaky change in but I doubt it. Likely any mechanism would be as subtle as the powerplay expansion mechanisms.


As for expansion target selection, more study is required to test the veracity of FDs statements.

 

[Deathwatch]

Also does any one know if the expansion data missions have any effect on the system selection?

They do not as they tend to also send you to your own systems.

 

[Szyslak22]

Does anyone know if the method by which the expansion system is selected has changed at all? Previously, by my understanding, it looked for a system with four or less faction within a 20ly-ish bubble. If that failed it looked for a system where a faction had a very low influence. This then tended to make systems with a successful faction magnets for expansion. If you had a reasonable group of players keeping your chosen faction at 80% then it would be highly likely that there would be other factions in system with 1%, thus you would be likely to have A. Systems like HR 6421 with ten factions in, and B and lot of player factions (there are three in that system).

Your observations about 2.0 expansions are right on the money. If you read back the last couple pages there is some discussion on expansion targets and how it has changed in 2.1

tl;dr is that the expansion will likely go to the closest system with less than 7 factions. Expansions more complicated than that probably won't happen for a long time (once everything within 20 Ly has 7 factions)

 

[Walter2]

Your observations about 2.0 expansions are right on the money. If you read back the last couple pages there is some discussion on expansion targets and how it has changed in 2.1

tl;dr is that the expansion will likely go to the closest system with less than 7 factions. Expansions more complicated than that probably won't happen for a long time (once everything within 20 Ly has 7 factions)

The Retreat mechanism has probably been designed to overcome the overcrowding problem.

In the unlikely event of all factions in a seven-faction system being on par, each would have a score of just over 14%, but that's never going to happen. The more factions in a system, the greater the likelihood of at least one sinking to the lowest position possible before being kicked out making a strategic withdrawal.

 

[Shizuka]

not tested, but i doubt it. "flavour-text".

In my experience with this game, there is no such thing as flavour text, I will test it when I get the chacne to.

 

[Szyslak22]

The Retreat mechanism has probably been designed to overcome the overcrowding problem.

In the unlikely event of all factions in a seven-faction system being on par, each would have a score of just over 14%, but that's never going to happen. The more factions in a system, the greater the likelihood of at least one sinking to the lowest position possible before being kicked out making a strategic withdrawal.

I agree with you. If you see my post on expansion from a few pages back, I think with 7 factions being "full" and the retreat mechanism, we won't see any interesting expansions or "Invasion Wars" for a very, very long time. In regions with a high density of systems, we might never see it.

On the flip side, expansion is a lot easier to release now. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Most NPC factions are going to shrink down and stabilize, while actively managed player factions should grow more quickly. They just won't be spread very wide.

 

[Shizuka]

anybody an idea what the new actions are that lead to outbreak/famine?

I think smuggling drugs lead to outbreak, famine I dont know.

 

[Szyslak22]

In my experience with this game, there is no such thing as flavour text, I will test it when I get the chacne to.

None of the missions with the state specific descriptions appear to behave any differently in terms of their influence effects. ie Civil War delivery missions work the same as delivery missions, meaning they do nothing to influence during Civil War.

For now, I think they only change the mission activity and rewards, but not the BGS impact. They chance that they affect the expansion destination is right around 0.

 

[Flavourless]

I have targeted a low pop system for a flip for my faction.
I equalized with the controlling faction and got 3 days of election pending, but then the controlling faction went into retreat (even though they are original to the system)
Now I have my faction with 8% advantage, but election didn't happen and the controlling faction is now recovering from retreat. ?? Very confused.

 

[goemon]

I have targeted a low pop system for a flip for my faction.
I equalized with the controlling faction and got 3 days of election pending, but then the controlling faction went into retreat (even though they are original to the system)
Now I have my faction with 8% advantage, but election didn't happen and the controlling faction is now recovering from retreat. ?? Very confused.

they will be probably retreating from a system they expanded to?

you can either push them, so you match again, or you push for 60+ percent, it will trigger a conflict for system control.

 

[irongut]

I have targeted a low pop system for a flip for my faction.
I equalized with the controlling faction and got 3 days of election pending, but then the controlling faction went into retreat (even though they are original to the system)
Now I have my faction with 8% advantage, but election didn't happen and the controlling faction is now recovering from retreat. ?? Very confused.

Is your Election still pending? If it is then it was blocked by the controller retreating from another system but should happen next. And, if you still have your 8% advantage then it's already won.

 

[Flavourless]

Is your Election still pending? If it is then it was blocked by the controller retreating from another system but should happen next. And, if you still have your 8% advantage then it's already won.

No. My faction has no pending or recovering states. Its like the election was cancelled.

Maybe because I pushed my faction before the election became actual? You could do that before 2.1

 

[irongut]

No. My faction has no pending or recovering states. Its like the election was cancelled.

Maybe because I pushed my faction before the election became actual? You could do that before 2.1

You can still do that now, I did this week and the election started as normal; hopefully tomorrow I get control.

It could be thet retreat can cancel pending states, we don't have much experience with it yet. Unfortunately all you can do is equalise the factions again, or push yours to 60% if you prefer, to get another election pending.

 

[Flavourless]

You can still do that now, I did this week and the election started as normal; hopefully tomorrow I get control.

It could be thet retreat can cancel pending states, we don't have much experience with it yet. Unfortunately all you can do is equalise the factions again, or push yours to 60% if you prefer, to get another election pending.

Thanks.
Easier to equalize I think. Its only 8% difference and we are at 34% so 60% will take a while (we are not controlling so there are not so many missions)

 

[jimbeau1571]

Within regards to Conflicts and % changes, in one of my systems prior to 2.1, two factions were in a constant state of War and None, remaining at 7.4% all the time.
Now in 2.1, they went bank into War at 7.4%, with no traffic through the system they both lost all % to hit rock bottom at 1%, both fell into retreat and have now exited.
Looks like Conflict now carries a 'cost' for entering it and doing nothing as previously stated.

In regards to Expansion, I expanded after 1 day when a conflict(War) interrupted it. My fellow Cmdr Expanded after day 3 when a conflict(election) interrupted it.
Not the 5 days as quoted by FD.

 

[Jmanis]

In regards to Expansion, I expanded after 1 day when a conflict(War) interrupted it. My fellow Cmdr Expanded after day 3 when a conflict(election) interrupted it.
Not the 5 days as quoted by FD.

So, it took 5 days for expansion to go from pending to active for me, that was 3 days ago. Still in expansion, and anticipating it hitting day 5. Thing is, this is a population of 400m, so I'm starting to wonder if population size has anything to do with how long these things take.

I'd be interested to know the populations of those two systems which expanded Jimbeau.

 

[goemon]

Coup again

We emailed the devs (it didn't work). We threw things. We nearly gave up. One glimmer of hope - a message came through from Dav Stott (he of godlike oversight on the Milky Way) - "You DO know that you're only 8.4 percent from a coup?"

A coup? as in a system take-over? We threw everything at it. We shot anything that moved. We did high influence mission after mission (one player was planetside and clocking 40 high influence missions a day). We brought exploration data to our little military base. Our influence grew from 51.6 to 60 to 65 to 70 and upward to 75.... peaking just below 80.

so, 60%, system control by war is what Dave Stott calls a coup, and afaik he is the BGS DEV (beside doing servers...).

 

[Shizuka]

So, I have this system where Im working for a change of government, at the moment controlling faction its about 33% my faction its about 44%, on the galaxy map says WAR, but in the System map the state of my faction its BOOM and the others are NONE.

Can someone clarify this for me please?

 

[Flavourless]

they will be probably retreating from a system they expanded to?

you can either push them, so you match again, or you push for 60+ percent, it will trigger a conflict for system control.

I can confirm they are retreated out of two systems in fact (only three left for them)
But why would such problems for a faction cancel an election at home? I would have thought that they would merely have lost it.

 

[goemon]

I can confirm they are retreated out of two systems in fact (only three left for them)
But why would such problems for a faction cancel an election at home? I would have thought that they would merely have lost it.

looks as if retreat overwrite several states (it does with boom...), and states are factionwide