Well the game can support 5 CGs, as we've seen.
Would it be too hard to have;
- 2 Colonia CGs (any kind)
- 1 Bounty Hunting/CZ CG
- 1 Trade CG (normal or rare)
- 1 Mining CG (not linked to a trading CG!) / Or 1 Exploration Data CG (alternating)
every week, except for special events, like competing Fed/Empire CGs, and whatnot.
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Good idea, though I'd add smuggling and piracy in there to involve those professions that FD rarely show love to...
- 2 Colonia CGs (any kind)
- 1 Bounty Hunting/CZ CG - mirrored with a smuggling community goal in the same area? or mixed with the below.
- 1 Trade CG (normal or rare) - mirrored with a piracy CG as the faction opposing hires 'privateers' to take the goods their rivals need.
- 1 Mining CG (not linked to a trading CG!) / Or 1 Exploration Data CG (alternating)
Honestly, there's no reason the story of a BH or trade CG can't support a piracy CG running parallel, and adding a smuggling one would be pretty easy to think of too.
So instead of 5 CG spread all over the galaxy you would have 2-3 CG, one in colonia, and 1-2 in the bubble:
- There could be a large crossover goal in both colonia and the bubble, with seperate sub-goals for BH, Trade or Mining, Piracy (and potentially smuggling). Goals for these objectives can be weighed according to their popularity, a piracy goal might have a lower aim to encourage more to play it, and this can be tweaked to give a fair number of players to most goals.
- Then you would have your alternating exploration CG which shows up occasionally and lasts long enough for explorers to actually get back and take part if they want to.
Added to this, large combined goals like this mean most are taking part in the same stories, albeit remembering them from different angles. so not only does it encourage more players into the same areas to interact, it creates a potentially more meaningful and memorable story.
You aren't just RES grinding, you're working to oppose the piracy goal in the same system.
You aren't just trading, you're bringing in a steady supply of legal goods to undermine the local smugglers (or vice versa).
You aren't just pirating, you're vehemently opposed to the expansion of federal territory represented by the building of this station (the trade goal), and you're willing to pirate and bring those goods the the rebels.