Thargoid Invasion Strategy: Making the bubble pay the Iron Price

[kofeyh]

I'm not sure if Frontier is going to stage it that way. Premonition certainly portraits the intentions of the Thargoids in another way.

Never underestimate the power of some very angry people on the internet. We've seen complete reversals of changes before. I expect Frontier have decided that not needing to nerf, ergo not having an invasion - in the bubble - is the optimal outcome for them. Doesn't matter what 'lore' says, people are happy to dispense with that to suit an agenda; and one is that the bubble is essentially sacrosanct; people have to be able to 'opt out'.

Frontier never did say where the invasion would be. So far, the thargoids are present in one particular region of space; and I suspect they will be there for a long long time. So I guess they will invade the heck out of the Pleiades then?

 

[kofeyh]

I hope you are wrong, but you are most likely correct (90%).

I think it is POSSIBLE that there will be some/minimal 'goid action within the bubble.

Basically I'm speculating that FD will add a new USS type for them, or add a Thargoid attack scenario to the distress call signals. I've seen youtube videos of players falling into distress calls and finding disabled ships (usually a Fed Corvette) that show tell-tale signs of a Thargoid attack (That puke-yellow-green color cloud emanating from the ship).

I doubt anything of any real consequence, however.

Honestly if MoM has been chained to the nearest lamp post again and not allowed to flex her particular knack for making the AI a bit prickly and shooty, we're not missing anything. If they are not a substantial threat, the PVP guys will take all of about 5 minutes to work out there's no challenge, identify modules that decrease TTK for commanders, and then use those to continue shooting everyone else.

 

[MarcusKross]

The periphery, as we already know; there are permit locked systems near the current alien ruins. They will strike around the edges, and that's about it. Because Frontier already know there would be mutiny if Thargoids reach the bubble. Ever.

It's popular to believe they'll roll through the bubble and just lay waste. That winter is coming. It's not coming kids. It's just not coming. Sorry. It's not an invasion, it's a bit of a holiday in the 'burbs. Nothing more. I wanted to believe Frontier was prepared to take some risks. Have a little of the action reach the bubble, to remind all of us, we are not alone. But they are not.

Get ready for Thargoid Invasion [HIGH] and various random encounters in various Pleiades systems, near you. It's less an invasion, and more a nicely staged set of events that are somewhat convenient.

Godsdamn.

This game will never ever gonna git gud isn't it?

 

[Becks]

Never underestimate the power of some very angry people on the internet. We've seen complete reversals of changes before. I expect Frontier have decided that not needing to nerf, ergo not having an invasion - in the bubble - is the optimal outcome for them. Doesn't matter what 'lore' says, people are happy to dispense with that to suit an agenda; and one is that the bubble is essentially sacrosanct; people have to be able to 'opt out'.

Frontier never did say where the invasion would be. So far, the thargoids are present in one particular region of space; and I suspect they will be there for a long long time. So I guess they will invade the heck out of the Pleiades then?

Well I just hope that this is not going to happen and that FDEV sticks to the lore.

 

[Demascus]

What if its just another trade/bounty hunt CG. Kill thargoids turn in bounties, trade in bio-chems for new bio-weapon to wipe out the bugs. Wouldnt put it past FD.

 

[kofeyh]

Well I just hope that this is not going to happen and that FDEV sticks to the lore.

Lore serves to describe the world we are in, and whilst one might expect the game to be subservient to the lore, the reverse can end up being the outcome (welcome to 'retcon'). Ultimately, it's their (Frontier's) train-set, and sometimes they will take a hill (engineering for example) and they will hold that hill regardless of the cost or logic of doing so.

'goids should roll through the bubble. This doesn't mean they destroy everything everywhere; but the mere presence alone (even without engaging); be it seeing a 'goid wake out moments after you jump into SC, or whilst you are cruising to a station, a flower ship sails past and jumps out; it's an omnipresent reminder, they exist, and if one does something foolish, one may cease to exist.

The problem is, they won't. Because a portion of the player base will demand they don't, and if they did, get ready for the same levels of very heavy handed AI neutering we've already seen. And despite claims; frontier listens to the player base. Ergo, 'goid gets the nerf bat. Sorry my many legged foe, you get to be lobotomised for "the greater good".

So, in order for the threat to be an actual threat, it can't be an actual threat. Yes, that's as illogical as it sounds, but there you go. It's essentially an existential threat; one that's on the fringes. The work Frontier has done on the 'goids is just stellar. It's brilliant. It's also, essentially, meaningless, whilst it remains a series of fringe events.

I would love to be awfully wrong. But history suggests I'm not. Frontier won't want to neuter the only genuine threat left the can insert into the game, so it's that, or nothing of consequence, really.

 

[MottledOrange59]

Hopefully it will be a mix of the two predictions. A slow, steamroll of the Pleiades with a threat to invade the bubble if not stopped. Give those who would whine a heads up and a chance to stop full-scale destruction.

 

[Kzak]

Something more dangerous (like the game's name says) than just plunking down new Combat Zones, yes. Losing entire star systems should be a definite possibility when up against a foe as powerful as the Thargoids are going to be if things go south (and they probably will).

 

[Kayweg]

Yeah, it's not going to be anywhere near the human bubble though. Which is really weird. It's like an invasion, only they don't invade. So not really an invasion, then. Because normally? Invasion means something invades. They don't seem to be doing that.

Isn't it exactly that geographical restriction which gives FD the opportunity to make Thargoids the challenging content so many people crave ?
A testing ground before expanding their presence into other areas ?
FD stated that Thargoids would initially be restricted to certain areas. Initially !
That little, but important, detail is being completely ignored in these discussions.
I also have to wonder, is this really about wanting them to be tough and challenging for your own (not you personally) sake and entertainment ?
Or is the real, and thinly veiled, agenda here some people's primitive desire to salt farm from the frustrations of less combat focussed/able players ?

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

Thardoids really ought to be hard as nails, if you look at the original elite (which was before my time) the octagonal ships were severely feared and with good reason. The only known counter to them was military lasers, which I'm guessing are broadly analoguous to our engineered weapons. I don't think its coincidental that cap ships have started manouvering in the last few weeks, mere moments after thargoids return was confirmed as the main plot arc of our next major patch. Nor do I think that its coincidence that mere days after our cap shps start manouvering that we discover ~10km diamater downed thargoid mother ships. I fully expect to see tharg mother ships and human cap ships tussling with each other in future engagements.

I fully expcet human piloted ships IE cutter downwards through SLF's to only really be effective against the flowerhsips, and ineffective against the motherships. This would mean our objective in such engagements would be to keep the flowerships off our capships to let our capships destroy the motherships. So our conflict zones paradigm has to change drastically, its no longer a case of jump in there tag enough kills to satisfy your massacre missions / score enough combat bonds to push your chosen side towards victory, but a realtime objective to focus on, one that is new to us as up until recently capships have been little more than scenery with turrets, now they are ships and vitally important ones that will probably require us CMDR's to defend them too.

 

[AsukaZ]

I doubt they'll be as predictable as all that, Something like another faction to trade, ally, fight or defend. Thargoid CZ zones, predictable attacks with an easy to understand strategy and end goal. Human beings inside insectoid exoskeletons. Oh I hope for so much more than that.

The thing that heartens me with all this is Dave Brabens comments about them being truly alien, inscrutable, not driven by human frailties, and by implication behave in ways we don't fully understand. Mysterious and deadly, and initially unstoppable.

I predict there will be skirmishes, but where and why will be a mystery. Whatever they're doing seems centered on the plaiedes. They may in many cases, be unstoppable, and when they do stop, we won't know why.

Occasional random events in the bubble, for the residents there it's not a case of "let's go kick alien butt" but a case of looking over your shoulder hoping not to see what you might find there, while trying to carry on with whatever you normally do flying around in a spaceship.

Make then scary, make them hard, make them significant, But please, don't just make them another faction that may as well be just another human superpower in the galaxy, human beings with a skin disease or body deformity. That's been done a million times in a million stories already.. I really hope for something different and unique for my 2 cents.

 

[BDelacroix]

Game wise, worst case scenario, aliens are re-skinned NPC's with grind for new mods.

Best case, let the Mistress of Minions have her way on the alien NPC'S, and, all-out assault on the Bubble, let loose the dogs of war and cry "Havoc!"

Unite and fight or run and surrender our planets, I plan to fight if attacked. Alien targets? Manufacturing, agriculture, mining, research centers of large size.

I could go for some "let there be blood iron and weeping".

 

[kofeyh]

Isn't it exactly that geographical restriction which gives FD the opportunity to make Thargoids the challenging content so many people crave ?
A testing ground before expanding their presence into other areas ?

It means they can make them a challenge, it also means unless the AI is dumbed down to lowest common denominators, we'll just get the endless "I DIED IN LEIK 5 SECONDS NERF FLOWERS PLOX!!1" endless tirades we had post 2.1.

Or is the real, and thinly veiled, agenda here some people's primitive desire to salt farm from the frustrations of less combat focussed/able players?

No, it's for Frontier to do what they said they were going to do, right back from Kickstarter. We all know they are coming. It's not a secret. And I don't expect every last man woman and child to be wiped out, please stop immediately jumping to extremes. In fact PVP folks will continue to be far more of a threat than the flower people ever could be. So let's not get too worked up here.

That frontier are keeping it to the fringes is entirely because some will expect to never have to care, never have to think about it and be the centre of their own universe. But we aren't alone. That should serve as an occasional reminder. Even in the bubble.

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edit: there are many forms of interaction; few of which necessitate or need combat to occur. It should be an amazing chance for a lot of new opportunities, everything from supply missions, trade CGs for the war effort, exploring risky space for intel on the flower people (all those tasty locked areas!) even fifth-column support of the flower people - you name it - yet it seems there's no real interest in that. Instead, gotta have an entirely unaffected bubble. I will never understand that.

 

[MikeHawk]

as long as it's not CGs with ppl bringing in supplies for war torn areas .... *YAWN* if it is