Time to buff antagonistic PvE?

[Konnivar]

Agree with you OP, there's not enough options or availability for 'negative' impacts to factions. Prior to the 'slowdown' on Mar. 1 I was able to move influence some by pirating and selling the goods to black markets; now it has little to no impact. I think the suggestions you made in your first post would be excellent additions to bolster the "ignoble" playstyle. Just as I feared: FDev implemented the Crime and Punishment system, but completely forgot to add some incentives to the Crime side. Not to mention how difficult some of the less-then-legal missions are (steal 56T of cargo from a target in a high security system for 1M, I'm looking at you...).

If I may add two things to your list:
1.) Hatch-breaker limpets paired with a Manifest Scanner should allow a player to target the goods they want to siphon, just like choosing a subtarget
2.) Collectors should be faster than 20m/s in mass-collect mode, maintain speed after retrieving cargo, and cargo held by collectors should be immune to damage (ex. if I'm moving at 10m/s the collector shouldn't cause cargo to explode instead of delivering it).

NONE of my Pirate builds use Collectors for all the issued mentioned in 2; I always recommend people not use collectors when pirating as it takes more time and loses more cargo then simply manually scooping.

 

[VR Murgle]

Wasn't the BGS meant to give the impression of a living, breathing galaxy? If so then why are CMDRs the only ones to have an effect on the system states? What the hell are all those NPC's doing, flying around aimlessly with two fingers up their noses?

The system should have some level of inertia to make it more difficult for individual players to manipulate, inertia provided by NPCs going about their business. If done right system states should shift on their own depending on what's going on in their vicinity, after all it's very hard to maintain a thriving economy when everyone around you is poor, just as it is hard to keep the peace when refugees are pouring in from a neighboring system due to famine, war or ruthless oppression. Outbreaks should spread with nearby systems trying to prevent refugees from entering stations or landing on planets.

If the BGS doesn't actually simulate then what's the point? Simulate first then have players try to tip the scale.

If the Background Simulation was really in the background and really a simulation it would allow for more complex gameplay opportunities, it could even allow for some sort of "paragon/renegade system".

 

[Wildcard]

After reading all of these posts half seem to have some kind of information that Famine is a player action that selling Blackmarket Goods causes this state; While others have some kind of information to the contrary that Famine is some kind of Naturally accruing state.

I was under the impression that Selling Black Market Goods causes Famine but its extremely hard for any single person to force a single system into this state either; Because of the amount of commodities required to force the state or because other players see this as a hostile action and take steps to prevent it. I was also under the impression that Systems have a Natural mechanic to slowly balance towards a favorable state also making it harder for players to work towards a famine state.

It also just strikes me as Odd that with the sheer amount of systems in the Bubble that there is a total of Zero Famine and Zero Bust System's. I honestly do not understand how that is even possible.

 

[RamirezKurita]

Wasn't the BGS meant to give the impression of a living, breathing galaxy? If so then why are CMDRs the only ones to have an effect on the system states? What the hell are all those NPC's doing, flying around aimlessly with two fingers up their noses?

The system should have some level of inertia to make it more difficult for individual players to manipulate, inertia provided by NPCs going about their business. If done right system states should shift on their own depending on what's going on in their vicinity, after all it's very hard to maintain a thriving economy when everyone around you is poor, just as it is hard to keep the peace when refugees are pouring in from a neighboring system due to famine, war or ruthless oppression. Outbreaks should spread with nearby systems trying to prevent refugees from entering stations or landing on planets.

If the BGS doesn't actually simulate then what's the point? Simulate first then have players try to tip the scale.

If the Background Simulation was really in the background and really a simulation it would allow for more complex gameplay opportunities, it could even allow for some sort of "paragon/renegade system".

I quite agree with this, the BGS should be two key things: it should be in the background and it should be a simulation. Players should be able to influence it, but in the end it should be about minor nudges while the BGS sorts itself out rather than via direct intervention. It should also take into account a wide variety of different data sources and types to produce a wide variety of different emergent outcomes.

Even simple things, such as local markets taking into account the markets of neighbouring systems and states, aren't included yet. It makes no sense how a local cluster of influential extraction economies being in a state of bust has literally zero effect on their neighbouring refineries.

It does strike me as being odd that the galaxy and game environment, arguably the biggest selling points of Elite, have barely evolved since the very early days. Really, FD should look into the likes of Dwarf Fortress to see an example of how an ongoing procedural interactive environment should be like, even a fraction of DF's Worldgen detail in the BGS would make for a hugely improved strategic-level experience.