CRITICAL EDIT: The general trend of discussion seems to be that nav beacons should be fleshed out and become consequential in the game, but should be implemented as a choice, rather than a forced drop. I do in fact agree with this notion, and would like to focus on the implications of nav beacon utilization, rather than whether it's a choice or not. The following post has my original idea, followed by a few key quotes regarding the discussion, which stipulate on a few changes that could be made to improve the original idea, so read the whole thing. If you assert that this is a terrible idea on the merit that forcing a player to drop at a beacon is stupid, I will ridicule you and you won't like it.
I'll better organize this starting thread with a concept that suggests change based on the concerns that other posters have had so far, but the big picture is that the nav beacon should have a purpose, and whether you utilize it is a choice with its own set of consequences, good or bad. Now that that's out of the way...
Right now beacons have absolutely no function - you could drop in and hunt NPC's that hang around there "because", but you could do that in a RES, and you'll rarely if ever see a PC there. But turning the beacon into a check-in station would give them a purpose and some life, and has many implications.
-blockades can become more relevant. Players can hang out at a beacon, persuading incoming players to leave or use supercruise to get where they're going....or to switch modes, unfortunately. The beauty is that in the case of CG's, a conflicting NPC's faction could also attempt to blockade the system, forcing players into supercruise or turning the beacon into a warzone.
-system security suddenly becomes relevant, with high security systems filling beacons with powerful authorities, and low-nil security beacons being empty or full of pirates. Traders now have an additional factor to consider when choosing their trade routes, and may have to tailor a route to be longer just to avoid dangerous systems, or those dangerous systems may have an economy that desperately needs supplies it can't get, making trading more about risk-reward than number crunching.
-beacons can be tailored to the system or the environment, allowing for a more customized experience. beacons in a binary star system become an overheating hazard, as do certain star types perhaps. beacons can reflect the allegiance or merely the aesthetic of the system. There's a lot that can be worked with here, even if it's just an excuse to put a large station to fly around in.
-police, which have been quite trivial up until this point, will have a relevant presence as soon as you enter a system. They'll still have a meh response time out in supercruise, but in most systems they'll actually be sitting right at the beacon, where most honest players will show up for safety reasons.
Some fantastic ideas that were based around a forced beacon situation, but do have some merit to them if applied otherwise.
Let's keep this discussion going!
I'll better organize this starting thread with a concept that suggests change based on the concerns that other posters have had so far, but the big picture is that the nav beacon should have a purpose, and whether you utilize it is a choice with its own set of consequences, good or bad. Now that that's out of the way...
Right now beacons have absolutely no function - you could drop in and hunt NPC's that hang around there "because", but you could do that in a RES, and you'll rarely if ever see a PC there. But turning the beacon into a check-in station would give them a purpose and some life, and has many implications.
-blockades can become more relevant. Players can hang out at a beacon, persuading incoming players to leave or use supercruise to get where they're going....or to switch modes, unfortunately. The beauty is that in the case of CG's, a conflicting NPC's faction could also attempt to blockade the system, forcing players into supercruise or turning the beacon into a warzone.
-system security suddenly becomes relevant, with high security systems filling beacons with powerful authorities, and low-nil security beacons being empty or full of pirates. Traders now have an additional factor to consider when choosing their trade routes, and may have to tailor a route to be longer just to avoid dangerous systems, or those dangerous systems may have an economy that desperately needs supplies it can't get, making trading more about risk-reward than number crunching.
-beacons can be tailored to the system or the environment, allowing for a more customized experience. beacons in a binary star system become an overheating hazard, as do certain star types perhaps. beacons can reflect the allegiance or merely the aesthetic of the system. There's a lot that can be worked with here, even if it's just an excuse to put a large station to fly around in.
-police, which have been quite trivial up until this point, will have a relevant presence as soon as you enter a system. They'll still have a meh response time out in supercruise, but in most systems they'll actually be sitting right at the beacon, where most honest players will show up for safety reasons.
Some fantastic ideas that were based around a forced beacon situation, but do have some merit to them if applied otherwise.
Let's keep this discussion going!
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more of a living breathing universe, since you know there are gathering spots where players are definitely going to show up.