BGS Suggestion - Balancing between Large & Small Factions

[CMDR Ratatoskr Wolfsbane]

As a member of a small player minor faction, we feel overwhelmed by larger factions within our sector of the bubble.

What effect would it have to introduce a minor persistent negative influence per tick on minor factions not native to the system?
This could scale based on distance from the minor factions home system?

i.e. -0.1% per LY from the home system.

This would create a need for factions to maintain their presence in systems rather than once they have claimed it they easily maintain control.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

There would need to be an exception for certain plot-significant factions which have a presence >1000 LY from their home systems, of course.

Distance-based I think would end up more trouble for smaller newer factions than many of the larger ones - a brand new faction gets its first expansion, it's to a system 20 LY away (not unusual in the crowded parts of the bubble) - and gets hits with a significant 2%/day influence penalty, when it doesn't own any system assets it could leverage to counteract that. Meanwhile, a consolidated and substantial large faction with control of all important system stations could quite happily absorb a 4%/day influence loss because the influence from passing traffic to the big starports will balance that.

A -0.1%/day overhead for every controlled system might be more focused against large factions without touching small ones much ... though the disadvantage with that sort of fixed loss is that in a low population system it's lost in the noise of normal activity, whereas in a high population system even a 1%/day fixed loss can be fatal.

 

[CMDR Ratatoskr Wolfsbane]

Excellent point on the penalty on small factions once they've got their first expansions.
Could make the penalty only apply to the controlling faction?

My thoughts were, on a lore basis, would be that the local inhabitants of the system would resistant control from factions outside of their system.

 

[varonica]

My thoughts were, on a lore basis, would be that the local inhabitants of the system would resistant control from factions outside of their system.

Or welcome it if the current faction is a dictatorship?

The problem with placing artificial constraints on a game mechanic is that it sometimes produces counterintuitive results.

 

[Morgan James]

What effect would it have to introduce a minor persistent negative influence per tick on minor factions not native to the system?

It would make the eventual expansion that you'd seek for your small player minor faction incredibly difficult.