Player Owned Systems...

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Yokose
Posts: 90
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2019 9:30 am

Player Owned Systems...

Post by Yokose »

I am back with another idea for you all and it’s a big one! This also may be a bit of a read… actually, it is a very long read! So I’m asking for your patience and indulgence for a bit. With that said, what would you all think of owning your own system in CE? You could have a system in any current galaxy, or one that is located within the new galaxy that is coming some time in the future?

Sounds great, but how do I acquire my own system?

A good first question! With new battleships also coming out at some point in the near future and them possibly gaining the ability to search for and survey unknown and undiscovered systems… I figured that this is how one would get their own personal system within this new galaxy… or current galaxies.

When a captain has discovered and completely surveyed a system, they could be shown a summary of what is within the system and could then be given the option to claim the system as their own… for an obscene amount of credits of course.

If a player does not have the credits or chooses not to claim a system that they have discovered and surveyed, it could either be left to be claimed later, left for another player to claim if they wanted, or left to the “Official Receiver” to be assimilated into the galaxy as non-claimable in which no one could claim the system.

Okay, but what is the benefit of owning my own system?

Well now, that is the million credit question! Simply put… resources and credits of course! Players who own a system would have the responsibility of deploying defences in their system to defend against the myriad number of NPC pirates that come along hoping for some easy gains… as well as the possible loss of their system.

Pirate ships that are destroyed within systems owned by players could yield a small portion of resources, then those resources could be picked up and delivered to a Storage facility using some type of automated drone(s)… finally when the Storage facility reaches capacity, the resources could be transferred to a Commercial Storage facility.

That seems pretty straight forward… but, how do I get my resources?

Again, when pirate ships are destroyed, automated drones could gather/salvage the resources from the destroyed ships and deliver them to a central Storage facility for either pickup or transfer to any Commercial Storage facility.

Players could manufacture both Automated Gathering Drones and Automated Salvaging Drones to deploy in their system. They would run around your system gathering and salvaging resources from destroyed ships. These drones could require maintenance or upkeep, or they could function like the other drones in CE in which they would have to be recalled before they were lost due to fatigue or damage. These drones would also require fuel to operate, similar to harvesters.

A Storage facility would need to be deployed for the automated drones to deliver their cargo to, and the storage facility would have a hold limit that once reached, would have to be emptied by picking up or transferring the resources out to a Commercial Storage facility in order to have room for more resources

Wait a second though, how can I defend my system?

I know, I know… you just got your own system and don’t want to lose it. I figure that players could manufacture and deploy orbital defence platforms to defend their system. These Orbital Defence Platforms would have the weaponry and shields/haul/armour all wrapped up in one package ready for deployment, and ready to take out NPC ships.

The catch with this is that these Orbital Defence Platforms would require energy to operate. This means that you’ll need to manufacture something like Solar Arrays to provide the energy for the Orbital Defence Platforms before any deployed Orbital Defence Platforms become active. I’m thinking that these Orbital Defence Platforms would require maintenance or upkeep as they would be taking heavy damage while defending a player owned system from NPC pirates.

Any Orbital Defence Platforms that have been destroyed will have to be replaced with newly manufactured Orbital Defence Platforms as well as the required Solar Arrays… since both the Orbital Defence Platform and Solar Array will be lost when destroyed.

That’s all and good, but how do I administer my System, and what about Manufacturing?

You guys know how to ask the right questions. I was thinking about an Orbital Space Station or Planet. Players could go to the Orbital Space Station or Planet to check a systems status… weather it has been claimed or not, Claim the System as their own if desired, or dock/land to administer the system if they own it. The Orbital Space Station or Planet would need to be maintained or defended for a player to retain their system. If a player is unable to maintain/defend their Orbital Space Station or Planet, or it gets destroyed/conquered, the system could either become unclaimed or go to the “Official Receiver” to be assimilated into the galaxy which would make the system non-claimable to other players.

Players could get buildings for the Orbital Space Station or Planet, like a Fuel Refinery which would generate fuel for the Automated Gathering and Salvaging Drones. A Manufacturing Centre to manufacture System related structures like Solar Collectors, Orbital Defence Platforms, Automated Gathering and Salvaging Drones… and so on. A Storage Facility to put all of the resources gathered by the automated drones into. A Communications Centre which could give players remote access to their Corporate network and Settlements to administer. A Research Facility to improve/increase things like Orbital Defence Platform effectiveness and the number of Orbital Defence Platforms deployable, Fuel Refinery output, Storage Capacity, as well as manufacturing plans to acquire better Structures like Solar Arrays, Orbital Defence Platforms, Automated Gathering and Salvaging Drones… etc. Of course Energy for the Orbital Space Station or Planet would be required to power all of these buildings. Energy generation within the Orbital Space Station or on the Planet would power the buildings deployed there, while the Solar Collectors would power deployments outside the Orbital Space Station or off Planet like Orbital Defence Platforms.

Capital, what about system customization, credits, and locking out the system to myself or guild?

Another brilliant question! It would be great to customize your system. Perhaps after discovery of the system, when viewing the summery, when the player is given the option to claim a system that they have discovered… they could be given the option to customize it as well. It would also be great for a player to have a chance to name a newly claimed system… have the ability to choose at least 1 anomaly initially (2 at most) like Asteroid Fields, Nebula, Dust Clouds, and Debris Fields along side their corresponding facilities like the Orbital Refinery that come with Asteroid Fields. The ability to add at least 2 destinations initially (5 at most) like Planets, Genesis Planets for exploration, Fuel Depots, Trade Hubs and Starbases… with the ability to name Planets might be nice too.

Depending on how a player customizes their system would determine how much that system would initially cost a player to claim. If a player chooses not to add an anomaly for example when given the choice, but wants to add one later, perhaps that could be an option… for a price of course. The less you add during initial customization, the less you pay in credits, and the more you add, the more you pay.

Earning credits in your system could be determined on how much you and other players do in the system. You could get a small percentage of credits when you or other players do certain activities… things like combat, salvage, exploration, mining, and so on. Locking a system so only the owner or guild mates have access may limit the ability to generate credits… but it could work since players already have the ability to do so with their Settlements.

I’ve never seen Dust Clouds and Debris Fields in CE…

Caught that did you? Yes, I did suggest this before… but thought that I would mention it again. I thought that it would be great to add more anomalies like Dust Clouds and Debris Fields. They would be like Asteroid Fields and Nebulas in which you can gather resources from them using some type of Collector for Dust Fields and Salvager for Debris Fields. The Collectors deployed in Dust clouds would require fuel to operate… similar to Nebula Harvesters. The Salvagers would Function more like Mining Drones and could take damage or get fatigued over time while salvaging the Debris Fields… both could have an internal cargo hold or send their resources to the nearest storage facility. The Collectors and Salvagers could be purchasable in the CE and/or VIP Stores, or be player crafted.

Is that everything?

Deed so old chaps… just want to add that I know that some of the ideas here may be difficult to implement… but perhaps some of them would be possible to add. Either way, weather what comes with a newly discovered system is randomly generated or player customizable will be awesome. With that said though… thanks so much for your patience and time as I know this was a long read. Lastly, thank you so much for your consideration of this suggestion. Please have a great day and time playing!

Captain, Yokose
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Darakhoranon
CE Official Supporter
Posts: 361
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:03 pm

Re: Player Owned Systems...

Post by Darakhoranon »

Sounds interesting - and a true nightmare to code... ;-)

Maybe start a little smaller, though, since as far as I can tell, this would be a whole new subsection of the game (like starbases on steroids).

How about adding some effect of player settlements to the system's "stats" first? E.g. a player who owns a settlement in, say, Phidarin, can deploy some kind of orbital defense like you suggested and thus increase the law level of the system (slowly, over time). Not deploying any/enough orbital defenses would naturally decrease law level (due to increased traffic/commerce leading to more pirate activity). And the more settlements there are in a system and the higher their levels, the more defenses you need, making "active" systems more demanding instead of just more profitable.
With great power comes the great realization that you can have just as much fun simply annoying each other.
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