My concerns about the colonization update

[Robert Maynard]

I think some people underestimate how popular space trucking is.

Undoubtedly - noting that in the Type-8 announcement stream Zac mentioned that "a lot" of players don't get involved in combat at all - which suggests that they are doing something more interesting (to them at least), like exploration or trading.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

At its core Colonisation seems to be a means for individual players to initiate a four week personal CG (that, presumably, others may contribute to) following the deployment of the Colonisation vessel.

For those who like hauling CGs it sounds like fun.

Except it looks like it might only be a single carrier load... Wait, that is a CG these days...

 

[Phoenix_Dfire]

So thinking about Colonisation a bit more.

What feel is missing from the info we have so far is the actual management of a new system. I'm hoping that your actions set the economy/security levels, not just setting a couple of drop downs boxes.

It could be done as follows; -
If we assume that a new system will start off with a colony/anarchy status, the only way to get the security status and economy you want is to build the right combination of settlements.

For Security - You have to add military settlements to increase security. However, the more normal settlements you have, the more military settlements you need to keep order.

For Economy - If you want your system to have a certain type of economy, you need the right combination of settlements. For mining, you quite simply have lots of Mining settlements. However, you'll also need a number of Agricultural settlements to feed them, but it's not a one to one relationship (say one Agricultural settlement can feed 4 other settlements).

For more advanced Economy types, you have to more advanced combinations, i.e If you want a refinery system, you need at least a couple of refining settlements. However, in order to have those settlements available you have to have at least two mining settlements, so that would mean, you'd need 2 refinery settlements, 4 mining settlements, 2 agricultural settlements to feed them all, and lets say 2 military settlements to increase security to low security.

The idea being, if you want an advance economy and secure system, you have to spend time shaping your system before the BGS starts to influence it.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Except it looks like it might only be a single carrier load... Wait, that is a CG these days...

It wouldn't be (for me at least) - as mine is pretty much full to the brim with tritium (just in case getting far, far away from the bubble is desirable at any time).

Mind you, I haven't ever used my Carrier in a hauling CG (it's been full of the aforementioned tritium for years) and have still managed to get into the Top 10% in many of the recent hauling CGs.

 

[Kira Goto]

I don’t consider colonization for me, as it currently looks largely to be primarily focused around throwing commodities at starports to be built. Just as I didn’t have interest in Powerplay 2 - that’s fine, but I would still like to have “our” story back with the game. Like the NMLA, the Azimuth resurgence arc, or… forbid… Thargoids being more than glorified target practice for the players as the actual story behind the Titan incursion seems to have gotten lost in the haystack somewhere in the last year and a half. Or has been progressing at a slow enough pace that it feels like it largely stopped existing.

Otherwise, as it is, I’m a bit stuck simply doing nothing. Aka not playing the game. Can’t really get myself into exploring at this current point in time and I’m neither into BGS nor Powerplay. And as we all know the Thargoids are basically on hold. Playing for the sake of playing only gets me so far in this one.

 

[Hanerib]

Well obviously you can't gank in all of the new system being colonized at the same time, there are going to be too many. However seeing as this is going to put a heavy demand on many resources this is the time to determine probable logistical routes for colonization efforts. Building fabricators, structural regulators. Yo Ho!

 

[SlickPBW]

Unless there’s fun gameplay that I don’t know about colonization, yeah, I don’t see myself doing anything with it. Endless hauling? I don’t think so.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

Well obviously you can't gank in all of the new system being colonized at the same time, there are going to be too many. However seeing as this is going to put a heavy demand on many resources this is the time to determine probable logistical routes for colonization efforts. Building fabricators, structural regulators. Yo Ho!

I suspect any ganking would be focused on "popular systems" that 'leaders of medium sized squadrons' want co-architect status for in the assumption that they didn't claim it to start with.

 

[Nowski]

So thinking about Colonisation a bit more.

What feel is missing from the info we have so far is the actual management of a new system. I'm hoping that your actions set the economy/security levels, not just setting a couple of drop downs boxes.

It could be done as follows; -
If we assume that a new system will start off with a colony/anarchy status, the only way to get the security status and economy you want is to build the right combination of settlements.

For Security - You have to add military settlements to increase security. However, the more normal settlements you have, the more military settlements you need to keep order.

For Economy - If you want your system to have a certain type of economy, you need the right combination of settlements. For mining, you quite simply have lots of Mining settlements. However, you'll also need a number of Agricultural settlements to feed them, but it's not a one to one relationship (say one Agricultural settlement can feed 4 other settlements).

For more advanced Economy types, you have to more advanced combinations, i.e If you want a refinery system, you need at least a couple of refining settlements. However, in order to have those settlements available you have to have at least two mining settlements, so that would mean, you'd need 2 refinery settlements, 4 mining settlements, 2 agricultural settlements to feed them all, and lets say 2 military settlements to increase security to low security.

The idea being, if you want an advance economy and secure system, you have to spend time shaping your system before the BGS starts to influence it.

There's a hint of this in the initial colonisation segment with Piers Jackson, around 17:25

if you want one of the really big space ports, an Ocellus or something like that, that's going to take a lot of effort but it also means you need a little bit of supporting economy. So some of the smaller facilities you need to build to unlock the mid tier ones, you need to build a certain number of mid tier to unlock the really large scale ones. This happens on both space and on the planet surface.

My guess would be the type and resources of bodies in the system determine what slots are available for stations/settlements and their economy types, seemingly alluded to elsewhere in the segment:

The nature of what you do in these systems will depend on the actual system itself so you can scan these things in advance and find out how many available slots for additional development there are. So some systems are probably going to be looking like they're worth more than others based on on the availability of what you can do afterwards.

Though of course that was in November and they'll have had two or three months to "refine" these ideas by release time.

 

[Fixitman]

I'm sure there are many who don't have any interest in Thargoids or Colonization. We just want to enjoy the rest of the game, and that's good enough. My only concern with Colonization is that they will continue to break the game for players like me.

I've logged in for less than 30 minutes total since the end of 2024. That was just to transfer a years' worth of upkeep to my carriers. I hope that changes at the end of the month. For now, my HOTAS is in the closet.

 

[Valorin]

I want colonisation to demand core-mined commodities, so core mining will be more important once again!
Maybe I'll colonise a system, maybe not. I hate bgs and I hate powerplay even more, so... I also don't do much combat.

Obviously there wasn't much added to the game that was for me in recent years. Always hoped for exploration stuff, but combat, and recently politics, always got the dev time and cash.
Nonetheless I think colonisation is an important addition to Elite which will make a lot of people start or come back to the game.
Let's hope they get it right!

 

[Hanerib]

I suppose colonized systems could be taken over by player minor factions and also Powers, like Archon Delaine.

 

[Kira Goto]

I suppose colonized systems could be taken over by player minor factions and also Powers, like Archon Delaine.

Frontier have outright said that once at least the initial colonization stage (eg primary starport construction, I believe it was) is complete, regular BGS and Powerplay can take effect. Though, of course, both factions aside from colonizing one, and Powerplay, have to move into it first.

 

[Khyron Glaugg]

I just want to contribute to help build other peoples colonies. Is that possible? I don't want to build my own. I fear commitment.

 

[nepomuk]

Wait and see, my dearest, wait and see. Nothing is known about colonization yet.
Here is a video from The Buur Pit:

Elite Dangerous | Trailblazers coming 26th February

You are just arguing in bad faith out of stubbornness. I think you understand perfectly well what the argument is, so there's no need to continue feeding you any more. However, what I wrote earlier gave me an idea: There's another thing in the game that's a one-off thing: First player to get...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[CMDR_LS]

The end of the Thargoid war, along with SCO and new ships brought players back. Reducing the grind in Engineering, and the revamp of Powerplay brought players back. The goids had dominated most of the previous three years of development, which was a scary time for FDev. The Thargoid war decidedly did not bring the players back.

I see plenty of Commanders wildly interested in Colonization. The colonization up-date looks to bring a real End-Game type mechanic for long term amusement in the game. Something long established players can find value in and spend some of their vast riches engaged with. How many FCs can one own anyway? Colonization is going to be great for ED.

The end of the Thargoid war was the biggest contributor. Returning players quickly realized that PP2 is PP1 + more grind.

How many FCs can one own anyway? Colonization is going to be great for ED.

no, it is going to be great for YOU!. An establish player and extremely wealthy billionaire , with plenty of time to play elite like it's a second job.
For the casual players and new players who want to check out Elite for the first time, this update will bring nothing but more boring and grindy gameplay.
Ultimately it is FDev decision. If they are happy with the "established" player base curve staying flat, than we are good. However, if they want Elite to grow beyond the "established" players, they need to start working on more exciting updates that can compete with games like NMS and Star Citizen.

 

[CMDR_LS]

I don't think you need to concern. The thargoid battle didn't brought me back( I don't hate it, it's just not for me, therefore I consider it as "grindy gameplay loop", obviously for you was not that), so it's kind of subjective view to say that some content added , brought or will bring back players. Maybe it won't bring new players in, that may be possible, but I feel that the game proved that it has somewhat healthy audience just enough to be still standing today. There are some explorers that are still waiting their turn on updates , some of them playing while waiting , others wait standing by on forums (me included), but thargoid war did not move them towards getting back. It's an exaggerated example, but the point is that the game is surviving, maybe not bringing in new players, for that neither thargoids or colonization will suffice. As you said , there are some games out in 2024 or coming in 2025 that gets ppl busy, and even if not in same market / niche as Elite , and even if Elite is offering the best quality/price offer in its genre, it's still too outdated (engine wise) to bring in new demanding players to expand its pool. Best it's to enjoy the game as it is for what it is, even for casual time O7!

i agree, and if Fdev is ok with that then we are good. However, Fdev is a publicly traded company and their investors want more money. Being just comfortable with your current audience means, you are not growing your market share and staying stagnant , which means, investors make very little return on investment.
Again, I have no dog in this fight. I don't own share at Fdev so it is ultimately up to them. If they are cool with maintaining the current player base they have, then that's fine. Elite is not the only game in the world. Thankfully we have plenty of options.

 

[Mohrgan]

The end of the Thargoid war was the biggest contributor. Returning players quickly realized that PP2 is PP1 + more grind.


no, it is going to be great for YOU!. An establish player and extremely wealthy billionaire , with plenty of time to play elite like it's a second job.
For the casual players and new players who want to check out Elite for the first time, this update will bring nothing but more boring and grindy gameplay.
Ultimately it is FDev decision. If they are happy with the "established" player base curve staying flat, than we are good. However, if they want Elite to grow beyond the "established" players, they need to start working on more exciting updates that can compete with games like NMS and Star Citizen.

That's right. The end of the 'Goids. Celebrated by all. The biggest contributor has to be the introduction of new ships, and by extension SCO. If it weren't for the CG like rewards for just showing up to the 'goid fights, it would have passed almost without notice. The Thargoid's end was only successful because of the SCO drives on offer.

Personally I am not the ED whale you envision. I have just over 4 bil liquid credits with 4 ships total. I do not own an FC, and I have been playing since release. I do not follow the gold rushes around, nor focus on credits. The casual and new players have a bunch to do, including shooting at 'Goids. They are still around, somewhere.

FDev have recently expanded their players by reinforcing the core root of the game, the unmatched flight model. No space game I have seen comes close to the flight mechanics of ED. When FDev put effort into the ships side of ED, a new boom was realized. I don't believe that notion has gone unnoticed by FDev.

ED has been fending off NMS and SC since the kick-start days. FDev beat them all to the punch, and delivered an enduring and compelling game even before space-legs and the 'goids. I'm not going to let threats from those quarters rustle my jimmies.

 

[DJ]

I think some people underestimate how popular space trucking is.

Damn straight! :::::

 

[Darrack]

Systems targeted for Colonization will become a hot spot for gankers because

Not in PVE PGs like Mobius or Solo, build baby build!

O7