Star systems and stations that have been attacked have lots of nice decoration and atmosphere.
In addition, they offer missions that are directly attached to this that are both cool and profitable, awarding credits, materials, reputation and data.
However, systems that are about to be attacked, like HR 1257 this week, do NOT have any missions at all that are attached to this, despite having lots of Thargoid signal sources in the system.
In addition, while they occasionally have some set pieces like attacked megaships, these aren't really possible to interact with. I've seen medical Type 9's flying around them, but there's no missions that allow the player to join them in a similar role.
This makes it much less fun to defend as opposed to avenge a system, as you do not get any reward past the paltry basic combat bonds for killing scouts and interceptors, which for medium ships and above often does not allow you to profit after repairing and rearming.
While I have a feeling that this (honestly interesting) mechanic of alien attacks won't be around for all that long, the current lack of any mission integration for defending star systems really makes victories feel hollow, slightly boring, and even grindy.
I'd love to see this change to involve the community further.
In addition, they offer missions that are directly attached to this that are both cool and profitable, awarding credits, materials, reputation and data.
However, systems that are about to be attacked, like HR 1257 this week, do NOT have any missions at all that are attached to this, despite having lots of Thargoid signal sources in the system.
In addition, while they occasionally have some set pieces like attacked megaships, these aren't really possible to interact with. I've seen medical Type 9's flying around them, but there's no missions that allow the player to join them in a similar role.
This makes it much less fun to defend as opposed to avenge a system, as you do not get any reward past the paltry basic combat bonds for killing scouts and interceptors, which for medium ships and above often does not allow you to profit after repairing and rearming.
While I have a feeling that this (honestly interesting) mechanic of alien attacks won't be around for all that long, the current lack of any mission integration for defending star systems really makes victories feel hollow, slightly boring, and even grindy.
I'd love to see this change to involve the community further.