Did FDev just steal my expansion target system?

over9000

O
So, this is weird.

For the last few weeks I have been meticulously preparing a system with 7 (non-player) MF for a PMF that I'm supporting, by engineering a retreat of one of the non-native MF and making sure no other nearby MFs hade influence levels even close to starting their own expansion into the system.

On the 8th of this month said MF entered their first day of retreat from the system I have been working and during the retreat period they never rose above 1.6% system influence. Today they finally left the system after a 7 day active retreat, but now, out of nowhere there's suddenly a new (non-player) native MF present in the system, putting the MF number back up to 7 and thus preventing the expansion of the PMF that already has an expansion pending, and leaving only a single non-native faction left in the system.

Did FDev just god-mode a new MF into the system while I was trying to expand into it?
 
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Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
Possible reasons I can think of:
1) it's actually a new PMF (and they have really boring tastes in names or have deliberately named it in a procedural style to avoid attracting attention?)
2) it was a faction kicked out of its native system long ago (when expansions worked differently) that has now returned (either in a weird coincidence of it retreating from its last other system at the same time, or possibly as part of a previously unknown [1] automatic "all factions should be present in their home system" that only kicks in when there's space for them) - was it anywhere else last week?

Monday would be an unusual day for Frontier to mess around with the NPC factions, and if they wanted to keep PMFs out of a system there are much easier ways to do it. Possibly you've accidentally stumbled across prep for the next CG?

[1] It wouldn't surprise me if this existed, but this is only the second event I know of which would even potentially require it as an explanation, so it really wouldn't surprise me if it didn't.
 

over9000

O
On second thought, based on the name of the new MF I'm actually almost certain that it's a new PMF after all. By that I mean all the native MF have the name of the system in their name, but this new MF does not.

Are new PMF "queued" into a system when there are already 7 MF with presence in that system? I must have seen dozens of systems with PMF presence that have 8 factions in total, or did FDev just choose today to activate that PMF in the system and I'm the unluckiest BGS player in the history of the BGS?

This is the system in question: https://inara.cz/galaxy-starsystem/17445/
 
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Ethaidan

Ethaidan
Addi9k said:
On second thought, based on the name of the new MF I'm actually almost certain that it's a new PMF after all. By that I mean all the native MF have the name of the system in their name, but this new MF does not.

Are new PMF "queued" into a system when there are already 7 MF with presence in that system? I must have seen dozens of systems with PMF presence that have 8 factions in total, or did FDev just choose today to activate that PMF in the system and I'm the unluckiest BGS player in the history of the BGS?

This is the system in question: https://inara.cz/galaxy-starsystem/17445/
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If you're talking about Copernicus... It may not be labelled as a PMF, but it's got more supporters than all the other factions combined on day one in the system. I recall reading there being delays elsewhere with PMFs getting properly labelled. Bad luck.
 

znôrt

znôrt
Addi9k said:
I'm the unluckiest BGS player in the history of the BGS?
Click to expand...

i think this is a cause to contact support if i ever saw one, and have them roll that pmf back pronto. else you'd have every reason to be very angry with frontier.

(or you're just a case of player that puts way too much trust into the game)
 

Marcus Machiavelli

Marcus Machiavelli
From INARA

"Copernicus Consolidated Enterprise began when a small group of traders needed protection. This group hoped to profit off of the many stations in their home system. They soon realized, however, that the system had too many pirates to fly without escort. Rather than looking to the unreliable system security, the group looked to hire a more permanent solution. They hired a small group of bounty hunters who had gained experience in the system's rings. After major success, the two groups decided to permanently merge, and now hope to gain a larger influence in their home system and beyond."

Ps. Sorry Addi9k
 
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Sapyx

Sapyx
Sentenza said:
Federation Corporate is quite an unusual alignment for a PMF though.
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Actually, according to my research, Federation Corporate was the most popular choice for Federation-aligned PMFs, and the fourth most popular choice overall (after Indie Corporate, Indie Cooperative and Indie Democrat), in the last quarter. I suspect it's because Winters likes Corporates, and Hudson doesn't hate them, either, so a Fed Corp faction is compatible with Federation powerplay.

As for the OP's complaint, it is as I have always been saying. Even with 20,500 star systems, we're rapidly running out of room to put new PMFs so that they don't interfere with other groups. In order to make room, we need to:
- Get with the colonization program and start colonizing many more new star systems. Only two new star systems were added last quarter; that's simply not good enough. 298 new PMFs were added over the same time. At that rate, to prevent overcrowding, we should be colonizing at least 50 new star systems per quarter.
- Start eliminating "dead" or under-supported factions. As of now, I believe that Emperor's Dawn is the only faction in-game that has been completely eliminated as a functioning faction, and even that was temporary, as they've since been reinstated in the Tabaldak system.
 
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over9000

O
This is devastating the say the least and strikes a pretty serious blow to the player agency that lies at the core of the BGS. From my point of view, someone just cheated me out of 60 hours worth of BGS work with a click of a mouse.

Thank you all for your input, I will be opening a support ticket about this with FDev.
 
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Sapyx

Sapyx
You probably won't get any satisfaction from a support ticket, in terms of making the new faction go away. To the best of my knowledge, FD's policy of "We will not relocate or edit a PMF once it is in the game" is still in place.

Your best bet is to try to contact the other PMF and work out some kind of diplomatic solution for peaceful coexistence with your new neighbours.
 

zimms

zimms
Addi9k said:
This is devastating the say the least and strikes a pretty serious blow to the player agency that lies at the core of the BGS. From my point of view, someone just cheated me out of 60 hours worth of BGS work with a click of a mouse.

Thank you all for your input, I will be opening a support ticket about this with FDev.
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I don't think "cheated" is the right word, but I can understand why you'd be frustrated.

Unfortunately adding new PMFs will always create these kind of problems. At least it's better now than in the beginning, when an Imperial PMF could pick a Federal home system and immediately be given control of it.
 

Factabulous

Factabulous
So OP - had you heard from FD that they were going to place you in that system? Seems that is the only way you have a case (they make have mis-typed the other PMF?). I'm sure I've heard other PMF got notifications of when & where they were being placed beforehand.
 

Marra Morgan

Marra Morgan
Addi9k said:
This is devastating the say the least and strikes a pretty serious blow to the player agency that lies at the core of the BGS. From my point of view, someone just cheated me out of 60 hours worth of BGS work with a click of a mouse.

Thank you all for your input, I will be opening a support ticket about this with FDev.
Click to expand...

Frustrating, yes. But you can hardly pin the blame on anyone for this - it's just bad timing.
 

Misaniovent

Misaniovent
Addi9k said:
This is devastating the say the least and strikes a pretty serious blow to the player agency that lies at the core of the BGS. From my point of view, someone just cheated me out of 60 hours worth of BGS work with a click of a mouse.

Thank you all for your input, I will be opening a support ticket about this with FDev.
Click to expand...

You still have agency. Force a retreat and try again, or accept that this kind of thing is inevitable and has happened to most larger groups at least once, albeit perhaps not with timing quite so painful.
 
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