I am unsure if ideas like these have been suggested (or are publicly known as being planned to be added), I thought that they might be interesting ideas that would bring some good gameplay and interactions to Elite Dangerous. I am going to reference Eve Online (even though I did not play the game for more then 6 months, due to the learning curve being painful), but because for game as unruly as it is; it does do a few things really well. Some of these will play into some of the other suggestions I will talk about, but only because they would do better hand in hand instead of on their own.
#1: Corporations (Corps):
Corps are a well known and fully utilized game feature in Eve Online, allowing vast groups of players to join together under a single banner. Right now ED only has Wings (not including the friends list) and while I was glad when Frontier added them I think that they are limiting with how much the game has grown. Corps would allow many players to coordinate many tasks (such as strike groups, mining groups, scouting groups and so on) with far more easy then what is currently present. As of right now (from what I have seen) players who wish to get something close to a Corp are forced to use external tools (websites, applications and so on) to communicate, plan and handle a large group of banded players. While I am glad these tools exist, they are not really a viable solution for the long-term of ED. Corps would be managed by a hierarchy, with a president, VP, a Board and so on allowing it to make strong and rational (or irrational) decisions. This would also allow for the Corp to be setup like a military, with Platoon leaders, squad leaders and so on managing and commanding groups of players. This could also lead to a Coup d'état with players seizing the Corp (this has happened in Eve off and on in-fact) and taking control of it. Things like Corp Permissions could become part of the feature, but this may lead to something like a new Corp member earning trust of the Corps members (over time) and then taking control by backstabbing and locking the Corps stronghold/station and seizing all assets in it (more on this later). While some may be against this, we already have something like this in-game. ED obviously has a roleplay element to it and many players actively do so (people like the infamous Harry Potter). Having this sort of game feature could cater to those who roleplay and allow thing to do some of the things I've mentioned.
Another idea I had was allowing the Corp President to control and command the entire Corp from a UI interface. Originally I had thought that the UI could be a full UI while docked in a station and a reduced version in their ship (removing some bigger and more important tasks/commands from the UI), I realized how interesting it would be for the president to do all his business from his ship and no one could even know who they were really working for (further catering to the roleplayers in ED). Sort of like a employer who works from only the shadows. Of course this is simply one example of how a president could act in their Corp.
#2: Alt Accounts.
While I never could personally afford such a thing when I played Eve for the short time I did, I know that it is a very present feature and many MANY players use it. CCP openly allows such player behavior and doesn't mind it. However this is most likely due to the fact that players opening their first Alt account (I'll just call it a "Alt" from this point) usually end up paying CCP more real money for the new account subscription fee. Personally I hope ED never starts forcing a Sub Fee, however I've come up with a interesting method that may more may not work in both the favor of Frontier and the players.
The Alt process I've thought up would require the player wanting a Alt to reference their "Main" account and in doing so their alt account would be at a reduced price (how much I can't say as this would be up to Frontier), however this would keep the player accountable for any and all in-game actions that go against the game ToS (such as cheating, hacking using a external app and so on), allowing Frontier to still track and see who and what accounts they own are breaking the games ToS. This would prevent a player from hacking or cheating on one account and while that is banned, they'd still be able to play on their other one skate free. This would probably be the only way to do Alts because with Eve Alts don't have to be linked to all or any other accounts (though they may have changed it by now, I am unsure) but only because of the games Sub Fee (which can be paid with real money or in-game ISK).
Of course all actions committed in-game that don't break the ToS would be fine and this would allow people to have different persona's for each character, which right now is not possible unless you delete your save data and start over. Of course this would be a optional feature and players don't NEED to have alts if they just wish to play one character and that's it.
Also in addition to the reduced price of a alt account, each add Alt would reduce the price further. Allowing the player to not have to keep paying the same amount each time and could then save more as the more Alts they have. Of course it would stop decreasing at a certain point (as Frontier is a Business and money needs to be made to pay employees and maintain the game), but it would still not stop decreasing at a unreasonable amount.
Here's sort of a proto-type of the pricing for Alts I thought up on the fly.
So with a free floating station (commonly seen in the game) would be far more easy to find and have say a lower hull HP amount, but because they are usually bigger can fit more in and on them. So a reduced HP and easier to find, but can fit bigger ships in it and can also have more turrets built to protect it.
So you may have noticed I mentioned a secondary station type, and that would be the Mobile Docking ship. As we know no currently available station can dock a capital ship (to what we know) and that would also hold true to Corp owned stations. This would be where the Mobile ships come in. This allows for both smaller ships (that can be currently docked) as well as larger ships and up to capital ones. They are also mobile and have FSD drivers to allow the Corps to freely move them from system to system. However just like the other two stations this one would have a downside. While it has a HP amount that is less then the Asteroid station, but more then the free floating one, it has no defense turrets to protect itself with. This would force a Corp to think wisely about where and when they move it, as this would probably cost somewhere in between the other two stations (as it can not only fit capitals, but the FTL would cost quite a pretty penny to have it installed). Of course though upgrades would be a part of this as well. However the only main one I can think of right now is in regards to how fast they refuel or repair ships. Of course currently flyable ships would be the same amount of time they are now (instant), however ships larger then currently in-game ships would have a wait time and capitals (if they are going to be the largest flyable ship in the game if and when Frontier does so) would take the longest.
However refuel and repair time could be cut down with upgrades. The first/default would be manual labor (slavory or non-slavory would be up to how the Corp runs their operation). This would be the longest wait time and may or may not cost the Corp to pay whoever is doing the ship servicing. The second upgrade would be a combination of manual and automatic repairs. This means that while the manual labor is still there, the people still doing it would be helped by drones, robots and so on. The last upgrade would be completely autonomous, the whole repair staff being nothing but robots and drones. These machines would be given input from the players of each ship (or the Corp depending on how this would be incorporated into the game) making the repair time the shortest of all the upgrade levels.
As of now I have no proto-type ideas for the length of each wait time per Upgrade tier, and I probably never will as this would take ALOT of testing and feedback from players to get right.
Also I'd like to add that I am unsure if the mobile docks should be limited to outside the bubble or not, or if they are moved into the bubble they are restricted to only doing certain things. As it would probably cause a lot of probably for new players still inside the bubble getting ganked and repeatedly killed by a Corp Mobile Dock putting itself near a starting station they are at. As I know I've heard plenty of new players quit due to the issue of spawn killing and getting ganked.
The idea for Mobile Docks sort of came from the lore present in the Halo Universe, as the UNSC had such a ship call the Cradle. Concepts for the Cradle can be seen here, for anyone who is not familiar with the Halo Universe and it's lore.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/d/d6/Gvnytrf.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20120726164939
(Cradle "B" is the one you want to look at, as it's what appeared in the lore)
This sort of battle would actually be a really good place for the Mobile Dock to be participating in. Though a smart Corp would place their mobile dock far enough from the battle that it would be pretty safe but still able to repair ships as needed.
These are the battles I've been hoping to see in ED for quite some time now, and I can imagine and I am not alone.
So far these are the ideas I want to bring to the table for Frontier look at and think about. Most of these are more of a "Social" type of content, they'd still be really impactful to the ED game and the universe it's in. Plus while some of these are seen in Eve, they are not seen from a First Person Perspective as the game is a Isometric/Third Person game. Being able to warp in to a zone that has a humongous battle raging on, multiple capital class ships engaging one another with frightening streaking across space as they fight for victory and to see it from the safety of your cockpit would be incredible and surreal. It would be any Sci-fi Nerds wet dream come true. xD
#1: Corporations (Corps):
Another idea I had was allowing the Corp President to control and command the entire Corp from a UI interface. Originally I had thought that the UI could be a full UI while docked in a station and a reduced version in their ship (removing some bigger and more important tasks/commands from the UI), I realized how interesting it would be for the president to do all his business from his ship and no one could even know who they were really working for (further catering to the roleplayers in ED). Sort of like a employer who works from only the shadows. Of course this is simply one example of how a president could act in their Corp.
#2: Alt Accounts.
The Alt process I've thought up would require the player wanting a Alt to reference their "Main" account and in doing so their alt account would be at a reduced price (how much I can't say as this would be up to Frontier), however this would keep the player accountable for any and all in-game actions that go against the game ToS (such as cheating, hacking using a external app and so on), allowing Frontier to still track and see who and what accounts they own are breaking the games ToS. This would prevent a player from hacking or cheating on one account and while that is banned, they'd still be able to play on their other one skate free. This would probably be the only way to do Alts because with Eve Alts don't have to be linked to all or any other accounts (though they may have changed it by now, I am unsure) but only because of the games Sub Fee (which can be paid with real money or in-game ISK).
Of course all actions committed in-game that don't break the ToS would be fine and this would allow people to have different persona's for each character, which right now is not possible unless you delete your save data and start over. Of course this would be a optional feature and players don't NEED to have alts if they just wish to play one character and that's it.
Also in addition to the reduced price of a alt account, each add Alt would reduce the price further. Allowing the player to not have to keep paying the same amount each time and could then save more as the more Alts they have. Of course it would stop decreasing at a certain point (as Frontier is a Business and money needs to be made to pay employees and maintain the game), but it would still not stop decreasing at a unreasonable amount.
Here's sort of a proto-type of the pricing for Alts I thought up on the fly.
Code:
Main account = Full price (of course). Lets say this is the game with the Horizons DLC, so 60 USD.
First Alt = 45USD
Second Alt = 30USD
Third Alt = 15USD
Any further Alts would also be 15USD#3: Corp Owned/Run Stations, or Corp owned Mobile Docking Ships.
So this would be something that only more of a large Corp would be able to do. They'd own their own station, however they'd also have to build and fund it as well. This includes mining/collecting the needed materials for the said station. Based on how the station is built it could be at a reduced cost of both funds and materials, so a free floating station would cost far more then something like a Asteroid station (or based on the Asteroid mineral make-up, one material type of the station could be reduced). The station could be upgraded as the Corp allocates more needed funds and materials, so better defenses could be constructed. However each station type would have pros and cons to them. An Asteroid station would be harder to find (in a Asteroid belt) and stronger hull HP, but because it is constricted to a in a single large Asteroid, the space to upgrade parts of the station is reduced. So maybe only up to a certain size ship can dock in it. Or maybe less defense turrets can be built because there isn't as much room to build more of them. So overall it would have better Hull HP and also be say harder to find (concealment bonus if you will).
So with a free floating station (commonly seen in the game) would be far more easy to find and have say a lower hull HP amount, but because they are usually bigger can fit more in and on them. So a reduced HP and easier to find, but can fit bigger ships in it and can also have more turrets built to protect it.
So you may have noticed I mentioned a secondary station type, and that would be the Mobile Docking ship. As we know no currently available station can dock a capital ship (to what we know) and that would also hold true to Corp owned stations. This would be where the Mobile ships come in. This allows for both smaller ships (that can be currently docked) as well as larger ships and up to capital ones. They are also mobile and have FSD drivers to allow the Corps to freely move them from system to system. However just like the other two stations this one would have a downside. While it has a HP amount that is less then the Asteroid station, but more then the free floating one, it has no defense turrets to protect itself with. This would force a Corp to think wisely about where and when they move it, as this would probably cost somewhere in between the other two stations (as it can not only fit capitals, but the FTL would cost quite a pretty penny to have it installed). Of course though upgrades would be a part of this as well. However the only main one I can think of right now is in regards to how fast they refuel or repair ships. Of course currently flyable ships would be the same amount of time they are now (instant), however ships larger then currently in-game ships would have a wait time and capitals (if they are going to be the largest flyable ship in the game if and when Frontier does so) would take the longest.
However refuel and repair time could be cut down with upgrades. The first/default would be manual labor (slavory or non-slavory would be up to how the Corp runs their operation). This would be the longest wait time and may or may not cost the Corp to pay whoever is doing the ship servicing. The second upgrade would be a combination of manual and automatic repairs. This means that while the manual labor is still there, the people still doing it would be helped by drones, robots and so on. The last upgrade would be completely autonomous, the whole repair staff being nothing but robots and drones. These machines would be given input from the players of each ship (or the Corp depending on how this would be incorporated into the game) making the repair time the shortest of all the upgrade levels.
As of now I have no proto-type ideas for the length of each wait time per Upgrade tier, and I probably never will as this would take ALOT of testing and feedback from players to get right.
Also I'd like to add that I am unsure if the mobile docks should be limited to outside the bubble or not, or if they are moved into the bubble they are restricted to only doing certain things. As it would probably cause a lot of probably for new players still inside the bubble getting ganked and repeatedly killed by a Corp Mobile Dock putting itself near a starting station they are at. As I know I've heard plenty of new players quit due to the issue of spawn killing and getting ganked.
The idea for Mobile Docks sort of came from the lore present in the Halo Universe, as the UNSC had such a ship call the Cradle. Concepts for the Cradle can be seen here, for anyone who is not familiar with the Halo Universe and it's lore.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/d/d6/Gvnytrf.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20120726164939
(Cradle "B" is the one you want to look at, as it's what appeared in the lore)
#4: Massive Ship Battles
While we do have pockets of battles that are semi-large (like conflict zones in a compromised system), they aren't as large as maybe they could be. I am not talking about Eve size of battles, as they have a tendency of actually crashing some of CCP's game server nodes and then they have to fix and reboot those parts of the server. I am talking about battles you warp into a system and you either see a massive blip on your radar, or (better yet) you can see from Super Cruiser. These would be battles that not just 2 capitals would be a part of, but multiple capitals are fighting in. These would probably be fought with two or more Corps involved, but these could also be battles made up of multiple smaller factions that may or may not have a Captial but do have hundreds of ships fighting in.
This sort of battle would actually be a really good place for the Mobile Dock to be participating in. Though a smart Corp would place their mobile dock far enough from the battle that it would be pretty safe but still able to repair ships as needed.
These are the battles I've been hoping to see in ED for quite some time now, and I can imagine and I am not alone.
So far these are the ideas I want to bring to the table for Frontier look at and think about. Most of these are more of a "Social" type of content, they'd still be really impactful to the ED game and the universe it's in. Plus while some of these are seen in Eve, they are not seen from a First Person Perspective as the game is a Isometric/Third Person game. Being able to warp in to a zone that has a humongous battle raging on, multiple capital class ships engaging one another with frightening streaking across space as they fight for victory and to see it from the safety of your cockpit would be incredible and surreal. It would be any Sci-fi Nerds wet dream come true. xD
Also this is sort of a side note, but depending on if the expansion that will allow players to walk around their ship (and maybe the station), Corp Station takeovers would be a interesting feature to have with the station and Corp ideas I've talked about. However this would involve a First Person Shooter aspect (something Star Citizen is working on), so I don't know/think Frontier would do something like this. As from what I know the walking around expansion has no plans for any sort of shooting feature. Though if it is, then this would be a really great idea to add into the mix. Allowing players to "breech" a enemy Corps station (blow up the blast doors), fly their ships in and then take over the station buy force (hostile take over).
