Read First Publishing GalNet Reports on faction activity

[Brett C]

Hi everyone. As you know, we currently publish regular GalNet reports on faction activity – economic updates, expansion updates, that sort of thing – but we suspect that most of you don’t really take much interest in them. So the question is, would you like us to continue publishing the reports, or would you like us to drop them? A complete list of the reports is below, so you know which articles we’re talking about:

• GalNet Weekly Economic Report
• GalNet Weekly Security Digest
• GalNet Weekly Powers Update Incoming
• GalNet Weekly Health Hotspots
• GalNet Focus on Democracy
• GalNet Weekly Conflict Report
• GalNet Weekly Expansion List

 

[Talarin]

Although I like the idea, I don't think that they lend enough context to the player experience (mainly because they are so broad and wide ranging). Does knowing that there are thousands of systems in civil war really tell us anything..?

If you could find a way to regionalise them and make them accessible from nearby stations (e.g. the local news reports on civil wars etc in a 30LY radius) that would make them much more powerful.

 

[Cocalarix]

If there are other projects coming in, probably why you're even asking this, maybe you should pause these reports until the BGS gets the updates promissed for S2. I admit, I don't really read them too much.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

Um, to be perfectly honest I only ever read them when I need to.
Personally if they are minimal effort and automatically compiled then I'd prefer to see a filter system like we now have for the left hand panel and vote Yes.
If they take valuable developer time I'd vote No.

For argument's sake I've voted yes for now because I do use them occasionally when seeking out conflict zones etc.

Also a side note: Something people may use (I know I would at some point or another) is a Capital Ship Deployment notifier

 

[robbyp]

Although I like the idea, I don't think that they lend enough context to the player experience (mainly because they are so broad and wide ranging). Does knowing that there are thousands of systems in civil war really tell us anything..?

If you could find a way to regionalise them and make them accessible from nearby stations (e.g. the local news reports on civil wars etc in a 30LY radius) that would make them much more powerful.

Now this makes much more sense. You check your station bulletin board and find out a local system is in turmoil.

 

[TolaGarf]

I think they'll helpful, but as said most probably don't read them. I also feel like they're overshadowing the more interesting reports, as they seems to get drowned below in the list. Perhaps if you make it a monthly report instead.

 

[Svartir]

Although I like the idea, I don't think that they lend enough context to the player experience (mainly because they are so broad and wide ranging). Does knowing that there are thousands of systems in civil war really tell us anything..?

If you could find a way to regionalise them and make them accessible from nearby stations (e.g. the local news reports on civil wars etc in a 30LY radius) that would make them much more powerful.

This exactly. Remove them from Galnet and add them to local news feeds at stations.

Report all major faction events in a 20-50ly radius or closest say 10 inhabited systems to the players current location (work out a number which is sensible/relevant).

I voted yes to keep the reports. I was tempted to vote no as they are currently mostly irrelevant/useless as is in Galnet.

Generally, I think local/regional news should be brought more to the front of the game. Scrolling news headlines along the bottom of the screen on the station interface. Maybe the ability to read local news in the comms panel while in supercruise.

A filter for the Galaxy map to flag systems with events like wars would be helpful. Or the ability to adopt/follow a minor faction and get a comms message each time they are involved with a war or other event.

 

[aymerix]

Hi Brett,
Personaly, I read them all . It's very interesting. Please continue.

 

[Cpt_Zap]

Thing is for me, 99.9% of the time I've never heard of these factions or know where there are, and I can't say I get the urge to go and find out.

I like the idea of these reports, its the "Galactic" nature that's the problem for me, it seems they would be more meaningful if they where localised to where the player is and more likely have an impact on what they're currently doing.

That would mean they would have to be in game, no idea what is and isn't possible right now, so maybe something for the future.

 

[Vasious]

If they were removed from Galnet, there would have to be a place to locate the information

War, civil wars, show where CZ can be found

&

Wars where "arms wanted"
Civil Unrest where "Goods Wanted"

And so forth which are the ways my type of smuggling works

Running food from our Agri-worlds to worlds listed as having a Famine was the first time the Angeli Imperial got in Galnet as well, as more can be done with this information it will be important.

 

[FrogsFriend]

I voted yes, but they could perhaps be condensed into a single weekly report, with totals but without the top-ten minor faction lists, to give a general flavour of activity across inhabited space.
I feel that the BGS detail on individual factions would be better published as local news, showing info for a radius (20-30Ly or closest systems?) around the CMDRs current location.

.....somewhat ninjad, and more eloquently, by Svartir above

 

[wstephenson]

To become relevant to people's play, they need to be both more comprehensive and more selective. They are currently a raw database dump.

The question these reports are trying to answer is "Where is there something fun to do?". This has to work in two ways - it should give people (new players) who don't know what to do an idea of the possibilities, and secondly, inform people who have a concrete goal where faction activity complements this goal - eg a combateer looking for Conflict Zones, or a trader looking for an Outbreak to profit from.

Knowing 10 factions in some state scattered randomly over the galaxy doesn't tell me anything - especially when the faction names are randomly generated and are essentially opaque.

More useful would be having a dynamically generated system news article digest of all faction state changes in nearby systems, say within 30 LY - and include Galaxy Map links in the articles to go straight there.

The ideal would also be some kind of in-game interface to query for and display these events on the Galaxy Map.

I'd try make the reports answer the above question.

 

[TheThingIs]

Keep them but put them in a separate tab for us to read or not...

 

[MadDogMurdock]

Think about filters or tabs for Galnet please.

Galactic News - actual events of note, maybe CG announcements
Local News - local/nearby events/BGS updates - public enemy #1 (player with the highest bounty), etc.
PowerPlay News - not really relevant to anyone who doesn't participate
The Lists from your first post - useful info if you're looking for a CZ, etc.

 

[Matzov]

Hi Brett,
Personaly, I read them all . It's very interesting. Please continue.

Same here. You never know well you might spot a gem of info. Its only a shame that a full list of factions expanding, in boom, expanding etc... can't be posted somewhere.

 

[Miklos Atreides]

Yes, keep the reports and expand them! Giving real details to give a data source you can work out.
so give the current values to the factions of influence and standings of war events. Don't run the highlights only
give the complete list for a download. This will help group managers to plan and align activities of their minor factions.
This will help Powerplayers to see how and when to frotify and/or undermine.
Having those lists will help tool developers to integrate information in their tools making them even more usefull.

Regards,
Miklos

 

[Retrograde]

Despite my wish to see Galnet expanded, I don't read them either. I think they're useful to show that there are some dynamics in the BGS, but that's about it. How about merging them together into three weekly reports, each written from the perspective of a major power:
Imperial Digest
Federal Dispatch
Alliance Update

Each report would contain a much shorter version of the same information - wars, expansions, powerplay, etc - in aggregate for that region. Drop the lists of systems. Consider including aggregate data on player activity - bounty hunting, mining, piracy, etc.

Reports could open with a paragraph or two either hand-written or generated about any major trends. "Despite a continuing increase in factional violence across Federal space, our systems continue to see economic growth and prosperity. Several bordering systems have declared their enthusiastic support of Felicia Winters in the last week ..." Followed by data, spreadsheets, etc.

 

[Brett C]

Hi all, thanks for the feedback thus far! Keep it coming!

 

[StuartGT]

I think they should be continued to be published externally until - as others have suggested - they are moved in-game.

 

[wstephenson]

While we're at it, is there any chance the Bounty Hunting and Crime Reports for systems can be made more detailed and more dynamic?

For example, give the top 5 bounty issues, listing the commander name, the total amount of new bounty added to them, the ship types and pilot ranks they have attacked.

"
CRIME REPORT: ERAVATE
CMDR XESUFU (apologies if you really exist)
60000Cr in new MURDER bounties
Sidewinder - Harmless
Sidewinder - Mostly Harmless
Hauler - Harmless
...
"

Wouldn't that make you want to get your gun? (aka "motivate emergent gameplay" if any product manager is reading this )