The moment someone mentions 'guilds' for Elite Dangerous, many will hear 'Corp' and then 'EVE'. Others hear it and think 'I don't want no stinking galactic chat!'
None of this is necessary. None of that would fit Elite Dangerous.
Therefor, I propose 'Fleets' as the social structure for Elite Dangerous.
Summary
A fleet is a group of players that decides to work together. What goals a fleet has, is up to the fleet. As long as it is in line with the spirit of Elite Dangerous.
A fleet would not 'own space' or have any sort of special standing in the game. A fleet is nothing more than a way for a group of players to find each-other and for a player to find a group.
Get board
The most important tool for a fleet will be the Message Board. Whenever you dock, you have access to a special screen with the Fleet Board. This is basically a message board that can only be seen by fleet-members. A message can be an ordinary statement, or it can be a kind of 'wing up' invitation: someone wants a wing and you can respond to the message and join that wing immediately. Settings and limitations could apply.
The message board would include a calendar for upcoming activities. The message board would only be available when docked.
Howdy, fleet!
For general purpose chatter there would be a fleet chat channel, added to the comms in your ship.
Nobody but fleet members would have access to this channel. It would be nice to also have an officers channel or something like that, but that would be icing on the cake.
Fleet ops
A fleet op would be a user-generated community goal. A fleet op is basically a call to all fleet members to join in on a certain activity. For example: let's go and mine in such and such system. Or let's help this or that faction for a set amount of time.
Fleet ops are basically a way to focus your fleet and would be helpful for Power Play or for flipping systems. Or to get a nice long exploration fleet together. The limits are your own ima... (sorry I barfed a little). But seriously: fleet ops could do a lot to organise larger fleet events.
In conclusion
This fleet system would not impact balance or promote griefing. It would only allow easier access to the content already there with people you'd want to play with.
All these little tweaks would fit well with the systems already in place and would not impact the hud or services screen very much.
I realize adding a fleet message board would take some time and resources, but if we are talking bang for the buck: this would be huge.
Thanks for reading, please tell me what you think!
None of this is necessary. None of that would fit Elite Dangerous.
Therefor, I propose 'Fleets' as the social structure for Elite Dangerous.
Summary
A fleet is a group of players that decides to work together. What goals a fleet has, is up to the fleet. As long as it is in line with the spirit of Elite Dangerous.
A fleet would not 'own space' or have any sort of special standing in the game. A fleet is nothing more than a way for a group of players to find each-other and for a player to find a group.
Get board
The most important tool for a fleet will be the Message Board. Whenever you dock, you have access to a special screen with the Fleet Board. This is basically a message board that can only be seen by fleet-members. A message can be an ordinary statement, or it can be a kind of 'wing up' invitation: someone wants a wing and you can respond to the message and join that wing immediately. Settings and limitations could apply.
The message board would include a calendar for upcoming activities. The message board would only be available when docked.
Howdy, fleet!
For general purpose chatter there would be a fleet chat channel, added to the comms in your ship.
Nobody but fleet members would have access to this channel. It would be nice to also have an officers channel or something like that, but that would be icing on the cake.
Fleet ops
A fleet op would be a user-generated community goal. A fleet op is basically a call to all fleet members to join in on a certain activity. For example: let's go and mine in such and such system. Or let's help this or that faction for a set amount of time.
Fleet ops are basically a way to focus your fleet and would be helpful for Power Play or for flipping systems. Or to get a nice long exploration fleet together. The limits are your own ima... (sorry I barfed a little). But seriously: fleet ops could do a lot to organise larger fleet events.
In conclusion
This fleet system would not impact balance or promote griefing. It would only allow easier access to the content already there with people you'd want to play with.
All these little tweaks would fit well with the systems already in place and would not impact the hud or services screen very much.
I realize adding a fleet message board would take some time and resources, but if we are talking bang for the buck: this would be huge.
Thanks for reading, please tell me what you think!