[SUGGESTION] Reward persistant Open play with bonus effect on Influence
Following on from the
thread here on results of the opposing Fed vs Crimson state community Lugh missions, there are issues raised by many of the disparity between solo v open play on the outcome of the missions, in that solo players were overwhelmingly able to influence the outcome of the conflict.
This is also an issue in general play in regards the background sim when 2 opposing groups of Cmdrs are competing for ownership of a system by backing opposing factions to increase their influence and in conflict zones when war status is reached, as Solo players also have a big advantage in being able to change influence of a system over those that turn up to dispute ownership of the system in Open.
So what I propose is this:
1/
Keep the effect on influence or community goals for solo/group players the same but introduce a new game mechanic where Cmdrs who persistently play in Open, over time will gradually receive a bonus multiplier to the effects their actions have on influence or community goals above the standard rate, up to a maximum of x 2.
2/ The bonus multiplier will slowly increase from x 1.0 to x 2.0 depending on how many hours the Cmdr has persistently played in Open play (not counting time when docked or where idle in space for more than 5 mins to avoid station/space idling exploiting). Ie it might take 10 hours of open play to increase the bonus multiplier from the standard x 1.0 to x 1.1 and so on up to 100 hours of open play needed to reach the maximum x 2.0 bonus.
3/ The bonus is reset back to x 1.0 if the Cmdr at any point logs in to Solo or Group mode.
Outcome: solo/group players can still contribute to influence / community goals at the same rate they have before, but where there are 2 opposing sides disputing a community goal or influence of a system, the side which has a dedicated team who turn up persistently in Open will always have the edge over the opposing side who choose to do it in solo.