While they are reviled, the automatically generated news in stations and Powerplay might be less annoying of they saw some love like the BGS did- in a way build a BGS for stories.
What do I mean?
Each system in the game has a population, happiness values etc that all have 'hooks' right now. You can assign parallel values for:
Lore- is a system special? For example system XDEWBDJWHDWJ 123.2 with a lowly outpost is not as important as Lave.
Population- is the system massive or tiny?
How long has state x y and z been going on?
What caused that state? Was it notorious player Z again?
Is a system / faction close to retreat / defeat / civil disorder or happy states? What is causing the upswing?
By seeing the BGS as data you can then build a narrative that might actually be useful and almost read naturally. For example:
We already have station repair totals and stations needing repair- why not have the same for a galactic war report? Using the above values, wars can be highlighted based on lore value, population, how long and what caused it- thus:
Todays news:
The war in Lave has entered its <x> day between <factions y and z> bitter fighting seen near <asset 1> where currently <faction A> is losing ground to <faction B>. <Faction A> has put out an urgent request for aid to fight off [a hostile attack] (if asset is being fought for, invasion etc based on what state is active).
You can then have wars in major systems be high on the main news order, and each one worded according to how it got to that state.
Another example- please combine the 'top commodities' report with a report on things like boom states:
System XYZ is enjoying a period of growth thanks to a recent boom in <commodity 1> trading. Local merchants are wary however that the economy is slowing (if the BGS sliders are slipping towards a negative state, or that the boom is almost over).
A faction report could be similarly spiced up- a faction under BGS attack might have snippets that are desperate:
"We have been under attack for several days commander! We need you to do <activities> to restore order!"
You can then use these as guiding clues for anything so that it constructs a basic narrative for that faction.
"We are seeing a lot of <commodity X> trades commander, might be time to cash in!" etc.
If such a system can be made, it would be informative and self sustaining for the game, and a big improvement on the basic auto generated stories we have now.
Powerplay can also benefit from this, based on merits dropped, when they were dropped, turmoil (and severity) etc.
Please also integrate this into the map, so that a system (or a factions) local feeds can be subscribed to and played on Galnet Audio. This would allow BGS players to listen to an almost custom BGS news feed for several systems at once- or ones that they are focused on. A simple tickbox by a faction or station would do.
What do I mean?
Each system in the game has a population, happiness values etc that all have 'hooks' right now. You can assign parallel values for:
Lore- is a system special? For example system XDEWBDJWHDWJ 123.2 with a lowly outpost is not as important as Lave.
Population- is the system massive or tiny?
How long has state x y and z been going on?
What caused that state? Was it notorious player Z again?
Is a system / faction close to retreat / defeat / civil disorder or happy states? What is causing the upswing?
By seeing the BGS as data you can then build a narrative that might actually be useful and almost read naturally. For example:
We already have station repair totals and stations needing repair- why not have the same for a galactic war report? Using the above values, wars can be highlighted based on lore value, population, how long and what caused it- thus:
Todays news:
The war in Lave has entered its <x> day between <factions y and z> bitter fighting seen near <asset 1> where currently <faction A> is losing ground to <faction B>. <Faction A> has put out an urgent request for aid to fight off [a hostile attack] (if asset is being fought for, invasion etc based on what state is active).
You can then have wars in major systems be high on the main news order, and each one worded according to how it got to that state.
Another example- please combine the 'top commodities' report with a report on things like boom states:
System XYZ is enjoying a period of growth thanks to a recent boom in <commodity 1> trading. Local merchants are wary however that the economy is slowing (if the BGS sliders are slipping towards a negative state, or that the boom is almost over).
A faction report could be similarly spiced up- a faction under BGS attack might have snippets that are desperate:
"We have been under attack for several days commander! We need you to do <activities> to restore order!"
You can then use these as guiding clues for anything so that it constructs a basic narrative for that faction.
"We are seeing a lot of <commodity X> trades commander, might be time to cash in!" etc.
If such a system can be made, it would be informative and self sustaining for the game, and a big improvement on the basic auto generated stories we have now.
Powerplay can also benefit from this, based on merits dropped, when they were dropped, turmoil (and severity) etc.
Please also integrate this into the map, so that a system (or a factions) local feeds can be subscribed to and played on Galnet Audio. This would allow BGS players to listen to an almost custom BGS news feed for several systems at once- or ones that they are focused on. A simple tickbox by a faction or station would do.