The new style CZs are a big improvement on the old, with the mini objectives etc but they still are the messy uncoordinated ball they always were.
We also have excellent POI situations (e.g. defend this, kill these guys specifically).
In the past we have also had bugs like this:
If its not clear whats happened is a refugee convoy POI spawned inside a CZ. This was epic because you had T-9s piling through a heated battle.
Now, why can't we evolve CZs into things like this, and away from the mindless whirling ball of ships?
To begin with, we declare our allegiance (or neutrality) in supercruise and not per CZ. If more than one war is going on then we are considered neutral to other warring parties. This choice would be permanent for that war, and if broken (i.e. you kill an ally) you are deemed a traitor for the duration. To me this would make your choice siding with a certain faction meaningful, because the whole SC space becomes 'hot'.
You then have free roaming military vessels that you can attack / attack you in SC based on your choice.
Activity wise it would operate like CZs are now, but rather than CZ [low / med / high intensity] you'd have combat POIs like Megaship Defense [low], Convoy Raid [high] based on the proximity of BGS assets (like now). Rather than having a giant battle (which favours some ships over others) you can then have almost tailored wars that mould around the assets and perhaps even states like lockdown / civil unrest and other POIs- in that the war leeches into rescues, with the possibility of attacking NPCs popping up randomly. The game already has shipping lanes and deep space 'zones', it would be easy ( heh!) to weight (for example) convoy based POIs near shipping lanes in proximity to a warring factions asset.
Ideas:
Defend the base megaship / capital ship from attack.
Protect journalists / refugees / high ranking people.
Convoy raids (of varying difficulty).
Scanning certain assets for intel.
Assassination of an asset.
Bonus for living and becoming an 'ace'.
'In flight' (via sent messages) ad hoc missions to eliminate SC based targets.
Supply depot raid.
'Treasure hunt' raids, where you scan a nav / surface base for locations of depots / assets to kill.
A lot of these already exist POI wise, so it would be really bringing them to the fore and not them being so hidden
Balancing might be an issue, because there would be more variables at play. It would also be ideal for Powerplay UM / combat expansion since it would be impossible to exploit. It would also introduce variety as each situation poses a different challenge (unlike CZs which are a bit monotone).
The same could be applied to surface CZs, where rather than fighting in a base alone you have clusters of POIs to fight in to vary things.
Lastly, the proximity of POIs would be important as a side loses / wins days. A losing side might have less roving NPCs in supercruise, or have convoys pushed further out perhaps- while more offensive POIs get pushed closer and closer to the oppositions asset at risk.
We also have excellent POI situations (e.g. defend this, kill these guys specifically).
In the past we have also had bugs like this:
If its not clear whats happened is a refugee convoy POI spawned inside a CZ. This was epic because you had T-9s piling through a heated battle.
Now, why can't we evolve CZs into things like this, and away from the mindless whirling ball of ships?
To begin with, we declare our allegiance (or neutrality) in supercruise and not per CZ. If more than one war is going on then we are considered neutral to other warring parties. This choice would be permanent for that war, and if broken (i.e. you kill an ally) you are deemed a traitor for the duration. To me this would make your choice siding with a certain faction meaningful, because the whole SC space becomes 'hot'.
You then have free roaming military vessels that you can attack / attack you in SC based on your choice.
Activity wise it would operate like CZs are now, but rather than CZ [low / med / high intensity] you'd have combat POIs like Megaship Defense [low], Convoy Raid [high] based on the proximity of BGS assets (like now). Rather than having a giant battle (which favours some ships over others) you can then have almost tailored wars that mould around the assets and perhaps even states like lockdown / civil unrest and other POIs- in that the war leeches into rescues, with the possibility of attacking NPCs popping up randomly. The game already has shipping lanes and deep space 'zones', it would be easy ( heh!) to weight (for example) convoy based POIs near shipping lanes in proximity to a warring factions asset.
Ideas:
Defend the base megaship / capital ship from attack.
Protect journalists / refugees / high ranking people.
Convoy raids (of varying difficulty).
Scanning certain assets for intel.
Assassination of an asset.
Bonus for living and becoming an 'ace'.
'In flight' (via sent messages) ad hoc missions to eliminate SC based targets.
Supply depot raid.
'Treasure hunt' raids, where you scan a nav / surface base for locations of depots / assets to kill.
A lot of these already exist POI wise, so it would be really bringing them to the fore and not them being so hidden
Balancing might be an issue, because there would be more variables at play. It would also be ideal for Powerplay UM / combat expansion since it would be impossible to exploit. It would also introduce variety as each situation poses a different challenge (unlike CZs which are a bit monotone).
The same could be applied to surface CZs, where rather than fighting in a base alone you have clusters of POIs to fight in to vary things.
Lastly, the proximity of POIs would be important as a side loses / wins days. A losing side might have less roving NPCs in supercruise, or have convoys pushed further out perhaps- while more offensive POIs get pushed closer and closer to the oppositions asset at risk.
