I just posted my experience and recommendations grinding Imperial rep for the Cutter. Once I got to 'Duke', I decided to just go ahead and get all the way to 'King'.
As I did this, I kept thinking about what a wonderful opportunity there is for player immersion into lore and the game itself. Here's what I'm thinking:
Once a player reaches the first rank, they receive a message from a minor official who mentions the Empire's observation of the player's activities and would like to see if the player is willing to handle some more challenging assignments. If so, the player must continue to serve the Empire's interests until the official reaches out again.
At this point, the player grinds to 100% on the current rank.
Once that is reached, a message comes in from the official expressing mild gratitude and assigns the player a fairly typical mission - courier, trade, etc. The difference is, this particular mission begins a story arc that is built upon with each rank the player obtains, with all of the missions building on that story. Once completed, the player is promoted to the next rank and told the player will hear back once the Empire has need of them again.
Begin grind to 100% on that rank, rinse, repeat.
Here's an example. Assume all missions have appropriate awards, including engineering mats:
Outsider
What do you think?
As I did this, I kept thinking about what a wonderful opportunity there is for player immersion into lore and the game itself. Here's what I'm thinking:
Once a player reaches the first rank, they receive a message from a minor official who mentions the Empire's observation of the player's activities and would like to see if the player is willing to handle some more challenging assignments. If so, the player must continue to serve the Empire's interests until the official reaches out again.
At this point, the player grinds to 100% on the current rank.
Once that is reached, a message comes in from the official expressing mild gratitude and assigns the player a fairly typical mission - courier, trade, etc. The difference is, this particular mission begins a story arc that is built upon with each rank the player obtains, with all of the missions building on that story. Once completed, the player is promoted to the next rank and told the player will hear back once the Empire has need of them again.
Begin grind to 100% on that rank, rinse, repeat.
Here's an example. Assume all missions have appropriate awards, including engineering mats:
Outsider
- Player achieves enough rep to get 'Outsider' with Empire. Message comes in with a basic mission to courier data from Point A to Point B.
- Player completes mission and is awarded the rank of 'Outsider' and is told to continue to serve the Empire's interests and someone will be in contact.
- Player grinds to 100%.
- Message comes in explaining the data previously delivered appears to be hacked. Player is directed to 'infiltrate' an organization (some faction at some system) by achieving 'Cordial' status with them in order to get a specific data scan mission. When the player hits 'Cordial', a message comes in granting the rank of serf and a bonus of 10,000 credits.
- "It will take some time for us to gather intelligence, and we will reach out as soon as we have agents in place." When player grinds to 100%, the message comes in that agents are in place and the specific mission is available.
- Player accepts surface data scan mission and when complete, gets a message redirecting delivery to an alternate location so Imperial techs can look for a trace in the data stream to reveal where the hack came from. Player is promoted to Master and "We believe the Imperial Courier might be useful to you, so we've made this ship available to you for purchase."
- Once player reaches 100% - "We're sad to say it appears we have a mole in our organization." Player receives name, ship name and location of NPC who has to be killed, however, player is directed to complete a Kill Warrant scan on the NPC in an attempt to find other systems where the NPC has been.
- Once the NPC is killed, the player turns in the mission and is told "It's just as we feared... he made contact with operatives in the Achenar system. We've issued a permit for you."
- Player is directed to report to a specific person at a station in the Achenar system and to source and deliver cargo as a cover. Player is awarded Squire rank.
- "I was told of your arrival, however we're still awaiting information from our contacts in other systems." Player grinds to 100%.
- Player is informed there might be a plot to cause political and economic disruptions throughout the Empire and its prevention is critical. Player needs to become 'Friendly' with a faction at a specific station, but this faction's missions are all mining-related. Selling metals and minerals will also increase player rep with that faction. Once 'Friendly' is reached, player is promoted to Knight and awarded 25,000 credits.
- "We believe we know of a ship whose cargo may contain clues as to what these terrorists are planning. We'll send you more information once we've confirmed the location." Player grinds to 100%
- "It appears the ship crashed". Player is given system/planet info and must do a DSS on the planet to find the location of the crash site. Once there, one of the cargo pods is labeled "Suspicious Cargo" or something. Skimmers activate in that zone. Once player retrieves cargo, a message comes in directing player to deliver cargo to a different system.
- Once cargo is delivered, player is awarded 'Lord' rank and 50,000 credits.
- "It appears this cargo container contains some sort of hybrid technology and will require further analysis." Player grinds to 100%
- "Our analysis indicates you found a component of a larger modular secure communications system which relies on a hybrid of current and Guardian technologies." Player is directed to retrieve different Guardian materials.
- Once materials are delivered, player is promoted to Baron. "Barons, of course, must have suitable transportation. We've made the Imperial Clipper available to you for purchase."
- "The Guardian materials you delivered are exactly what we needed to tap into the communication grid. We'll notify you once our engineers have the system online." Player grinds to 100%
- "Baron, our situation is urgent. Two of our engineers have been kidnapped by the terrorists. You must find them and bring them back. Without them, we have no hope of bringing the communication tap online." Player is given system info and must scan signal sources to find the ship. Player must use hatch breakers to get the cargo released and the engineers will be in the cargo.
- Once engineers are safely returned, player is promoted to Viscount and awarded permit to Summerland system (This is a change ... permit is currently awarded at Baron level). "We've issued you a permit for Summerland system. Please proceed to Henry O'Hare's Hangar and make yourself available to the various mission givers there while we continue our work on the communications tap."
- Player grinds to 100%
- "The communication system is finally online! We've been able to intercept some useful information and we have an assignment for you."
- Player is directed to a system to disable the power grid on a planetary settlement. Settlement has skimmers and goliaths.
- Upon completion, player is promoted to 'Count' and awarded 100,000 credits.
- "We're working on another assignment for you, Count. As soon as we have the information we need, we'll let you know." Player grinds to 100%.
- "The terrorists suspect their communication systems have been hacked, so they've sent five ships to hand-deliver critical data to their various agents. You must find those ships and destroy them before they deliver that data!"
- Once ships are destroyed and player returns, player is promoted to 'Earl' and awarded 150,000 credits.
- "Things are getting more tense and we need you more than ever. However, be warned - a bounty has been put out on you by this organization, so be prepared to defend yourself. The good news is, we now have the name of a faction which supports the terrorist efforts. Head to their system and await further instructions". Player grinds to 100%. NPCs come after players... or maybe even other players. However, if another player kills them, they lose Imperial rep.
- "Our sources tell us this faction has sent several ships to the system we're sending to your Nav Panel. Go there and find out what they're up to." Player is directed to a system which the player has never explored.
- Player must use FSS to fully map the system, search signal sources and find two ships in a wing. Once engaged, one of the ships immediately jumps out of the fight and the other ship has to be destroyed. The ship that jumps out crashes on one of the planets. Over the intercom, the pilot says, "My controls are damaged! Oh, no! I'm in the atmosphere and orbital glide failed! I have no control! Thrusters just cut out! I don't think I can...". Player doesn't know which planet and has to use DSS to find the planet with the site. Once there, player retrieves occupied escape pod.
- Pod is delivered to mission-giver. Player is promoted to 'Marquis'. "We've issued a permit to the Facece system. You'll need to report there immediately."
- Player reports to contact in the Facece system. "While our engineers were working that communications module, they ran across something you might like." Player is given a Guardian Blueprint.
- Player grinds to 100%
- "This is it... we've found out what their plan is, and it's not good. The terrorist organization is a Xeno Rights Activist group who is broadcasting information to the Thargoids indicating where our weakest systems are. We believe a Thargoid attack will hit one of these systems. Go there and keep that from happening."
- Player is directed to system where there is current Thargoid activity and burning station.
- Message comes in "Eliminate the Thargoid threat!" and player must clear out the various non-human signal sources.
- Player is directed to report to rescue ship of the burning station. Once there, player is promoted to 'Duke'. "In recognition of your outstanding service, we have made our most elite ship available for your purchase. We believe you will make good use of our Imperial Cutter."
- "Rescue as many people from the damaged station as you can. In the mean time, our agents are working on your next assignment"
- Player grinds to 100%, with rep only being awarded for turning in occupied escape pods. This will suck, but hey.. you want to be a Prince, right?
- "Your efforts have saved many lives, and we are eternally grateful for your assistance. However, we must ask more of you. We need some materials which can only be obtained from the Thargoid."
- Player must equip a corrosion resistant cargo hold (class 4) and farm Thargoid mats.
- Once enough materials have been collected, player is promoted to 'Prince' and awarded 500,000 credits.
- After grind player would kill a certain number of Thargoid ships of varying rank in a specific system to clear out the threat so surface attack ships can be sent into it.
- Once the grind is finished, player is given the location of several bases that are sending the signals. The player must land and disable the defenses of each base, at which point attack ships appear and destroy each base.
- Player must then track down the three generals of the terrorist organization and kill them. Each general is escorted by a second ship.
- Player must then track down and kill the leader of the terrorist organization and kill him. The leader is escorted by three ships.
- Once this is done, the player is promoted to 'King' and awarded 1,000,000 credits.
- As King, player receives significant discounts on all purchases in Imperial space, is immune from scans and is immediately assisted by security forces in Imperial systems.
What do you think?