The basic approach that the devs and the storyline seems to have taken so far is basically 'everyone needs to pull together and cooperate or we're all going to die'. Which is great if you're in a single player game, trying to get the Stormcloaks and Imperials to cooperate to take down the World Eater, but is not so great for a multiplayer game.
The problem is basically this: The Thargoid War is an arbitrary objective, one set by the Devs to be not so hard we lose immediately, but not so easy all the dev effort is wasted. This is great for keeping the war going long enough for many people to enjoy it, but it has a problem; it's very obvious that this plotline will conclude exactly when the devs decide to have it end. Most players aren't going to believe that we can win the war early, and they also won't believe that the devs will let the goids overrun the bubble - even IF the rate of expansion wasn't predicted to take something like 20 years.
This being the case, what motivation do players have to fight at all? Why push back a progress bar over and over, just to watch it reset - if not now, in a few weeks? While many players will participate purely for the credit rewards, that only can keep players invested for so long, and then they realize the simple truth; the most effective way to win the Thargoid War, is not to play. If players leave, the devs will gradually adjust the war to be balanced for the remaining players, and ultimately, that player will have achieved exactly the same results with zero personal effort.
But what if there were a better way? Fighting against a progress bar is boring and uninspiring, but something that drives massive participation is player vs player conflict. The best way, in my mind, to encourage participation in the Thargoid War isn't by encouraging teamwork, but rather to encourage competition! Take the Empire and the Federation, for example. They both want to beat the Thargoids and defend their systems, but a big part of that is not becoming weaker than their ancestral enemies. If the Empire is driven back too far, they might be at risk of being conquered by the Federation, 'for their own protection'. And the same feeling works in reverse, too.
By encouraging competition between different Powers and Superpowers, players could be encouraged to protect specific areas, fighting against specific maelstroms to protect their Power or Superpower.
This has various benefits.
For one, it makes the entire fight much more manageable. Every week, there are more systems to defend than can be defended, so it's easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you're making no progress or losing ground. By contrast, a single maelstrom is a much more reasonable and manageable thing, and players could actually envision themselves being able to stop it.
For two, it naturally guides players to where they want to fight. The current system has players running hundreds of light years across the bubble, as one top system is beaten and the next one comes up. Needing to plot a fleet carrier jump for every new system fight, or needing to swap ships and wait for a ship transfer, seriously discourages serial participation.
And also, the current system heavily leans towards the easiest targets to defend. High-g planets, for example, are almost entirely avoided because of their danger, and because there's almost always a better target. By focusing players on smaller areas, it forces them to fight in diverse and interesting places, as well as exploring different ways to locate thargoids to fight, such as if there's no attacked station available.
On the whole, it'd be really nice if the game did more to compare and contrast how different Powers and Superpowers were doing RELATIVE to one another. Ideally, they'd have reworked Powerplay a few months before the Thargoid War kicked off, and used the War as a way to seal the fresh loyalties, but that's water under the bridge now. Still, it'd be nice to see that considered going forward.
Players need fights that feel meaningful, and fighting a progress bar is not a very good long-term strategy to achieve that. The best way to encourage players has always been getting them to fight each other.
The problem is basically this: The Thargoid War is an arbitrary objective, one set by the Devs to be not so hard we lose immediately, but not so easy all the dev effort is wasted. This is great for keeping the war going long enough for many people to enjoy it, but it has a problem; it's very obvious that this plotline will conclude exactly when the devs decide to have it end. Most players aren't going to believe that we can win the war early, and they also won't believe that the devs will let the goids overrun the bubble - even IF the rate of expansion wasn't predicted to take something like 20 years.
This being the case, what motivation do players have to fight at all? Why push back a progress bar over and over, just to watch it reset - if not now, in a few weeks? While many players will participate purely for the credit rewards, that only can keep players invested for so long, and then they realize the simple truth; the most effective way to win the Thargoid War, is not to play. If players leave, the devs will gradually adjust the war to be balanced for the remaining players, and ultimately, that player will have achieved exactly the same results with zero personal effort.
But what if there were a better way? Fighting against a progress bar is boring and uninspiring, but something that drives massive participation is player vs player conflict. The best way, in my mind, to encourage participation in the Thargoid War isn't by encouraging teamwork, but rather to encourage competition! Take the Empire and the Federation, for example. They both want to beat the Thargoids and defend their systems, but a big part of that is not becoming weaker than their ancestral enemies. If the Empire is driven back too far, they might be at risk of being conquered by the Federation, 'for their own protection'. And the same feeling works in reverse, too.
By encouraging competition between different Powers and Superpowers, players could be encouraged to protect specific areas, fighting against specific maelstroms to protect their Power or Superpower.
This has various benefits.
For one, it makes the entire fight much more manageable. Every week, there are more systems to defend than can be defended, so it's easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you're making no progress or losing ground. By contrast, a single maelstrom is a much more reasonable and manageable thing, and players could actually envision themselves being able to stop it.
For two, it naturally guides players to where they want to fight. The current system has players running hundreds of light years across the bubble, as one top system is beaten and the next one comes up. Needing to plot a fleet carrier jump for every new system fight, or needing to swap ships and wait for a ship transfer, seriously discourages serial participation.
And also, the current system heavily leans towards the easiest targets to defend. High-g planets, for example, are almost entirely avoided because of their danger, and because there's almost always a better target. By focusing players on smaller areas, it forces them to fight in diverse and interesting places, as well as exploring different ways to locate thargoids to fight, such as if there's no attacked station available.
On the whole, it'd be really nice if the game did more to compare and contrast how different Powers and Superpowers were doing RELATIVE to one another. Ideally, they'd have reworked Powerplay a few months before the Thargoid War kicked off, and used the War as a way to seal the fresh loyalties, but that's water under the bridge now. Still, it'd be nice to see that considered going forward.
Players need fights that feel meaningful, and fighting a progress bar is not a very good long-term strategy to achieve that. The best way to encourage players has always been getting them to fight each other.
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