On the theme of player owned outposts?
Our main problem is this:
When you start out, getting that first million credits is a milestone but as you get bigger and bigger ships, it's just too easy to make money until a million credits becomes pocket change. We can keep buying more ships, fitting them out and throwing them at impossible odds to waste the money or we could find bigger and more expensive things to spend it on. Another big ship is not really a plan, it just serves to kill the economy of the entire system in one cargo run. We need expansion, a means to expand the known inhabited systems, place waypoints for refuelling and repairs for explorers and so on.
My idea:
Ok, this isn't going to be a case of buy an outpost and plonk it down where you want it like X3, you have to plan it out.
What sort of outpost will it be?
Do you have the resources locally it would need to use to keep running. If not, are you within a reasonable distance of a trade route to source them?
Can you source and transport the necessary materials to build it? (several dozen trips even with a big ship with lots of cargo space so it won't be too far off the beaten track.)
Can you hire the crew to build/maintain it and others to run it and security to keep it safe?
Would it be profitable or would it run at a loss?
What size pads is it going to have?
Does it have a shipyard and can you buy all the ships to stock it?
Same goes for outfitting.
Presumably you'll have allied yourself to a faction at some point so it's going to be governed by that faction or independent if you have not allied yourself, the ambassadors for various other factions will ultimately move in and offer missions to players. You could offer missions too in order to keep on top of the power struggle that goes on in every station and outpost. If you run out of cash to maintain it or lose the power struggle, you could lose the station to another group who would take over and run it themselves and then it becomes just another NPC run outpost with the additional benefit that you can also join the power struggle or hire a NPC ambassador to do it for you to try to get the station back.
If you lose the station, you still benefit from the sale of the ships and fittings if it has shipyard and outfitting capability until the stock you bought is depleted. Same goes for any commodities you put up for sale in it. On the up side, you don't have to pay the crew any more, that's someone else's problem. Now you have to win the power struggle to get your station back. Just adds a new dimension to the game.
Our main problem is this:
When you start out, getting that first million credits is a milestone but as you get bigger and bigger ships, it's just too easy to make money until a million credits becomes pocket change. We can keep buying more ships, fitting them out and throwing them at impossible odds to waste the money or we could find bigger and more expensive things to spend it on. Another big ship is not really a plan, it just serves to kill the economy of the entire system in one cargo run. We need expansion, a means to expand the known inhabited systems, place waypoints for refuelling and repairs for explorers and so on.
My idea:
Ok, this isn't going to be a case of buy an outpost and plonk it down where you want it like X3, you have to plan it out.
What sort of outpost will it be?
Do you have the resources locally it would need to use to keep running. If not, are you within a reasonable distance of a trade route to source them?
Can you source and transport the necessary materials to build it? (several dozen trips even with a big ship with lots of cargo space so it won't be too far off the beaten track.)
Can you hire the crew to build/maintain it and others to run it and security to keep it safe?
Would it be profitable or would it run at a loss?
What size pads is it going to have?
Does it have a shipyard and can you buy all the ships to stock it?
Same goes for outfitting.
Presumably you'll have allied yourself to a faction at some point so it's going to be governed by that faction or independent if you have not allied yourself, the ambassadors for various other factions will ultimately move in and offer missions to players. You could offer missions too in order to keep on top of the power struggle that goes on in every station and outpost. If you run out of cash to maintain it or lose the power struggle, you could lose the station to another group who would take over and run it themselves and then it becomes just another NPC run outpost with the additional benefit that you can also join the power struggle or hire a NPC ambassador to do it for you to try to get the station back.
If you lose the station, you still benefit from the sale of the ships and fittings if it has shipyard and outfitting capability until the stock you bought is depleted. Same goes for any commodities you put up for sale in it. On the up side, you don't have to pay the crew any more, that's someone else's problem. Now you have to win the power struggle to get your station back. Just adds a new dimension to the game.
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