Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Too late

Perhaps we could hack the unidentified structures to glean scientific knowledge from them. Successful hack = random datacores in one or more of your science skills. The number of datacores would also be random and weighted towards more as you go into lower sec space. If the Drifters turn up whilst you are hacking you'd better run or have some heavy backup.

Maybe have some Sleeper data site anomolies pop up too for random gathering. This allows roaming explorers some more stuff to grab but also allows those who don't roam to go havk the towers but with the risk of their location being well known and also visited by Drifters too.

Something like the research array spawning some sort of 'data sites' ? That would be very cool and could add some very interesting gameplay.

Removed a off topic post.

A unified factory (the size of the factory determines the max size of the output as opposed to dedicating each factory to a specific area such as modules or ships or ammo. Essentially a small factory would produce all modules, ammo, and up to destroyer class ships. Medium includes what small can manufacture but gets up to Battlecruiser size as well as structures larger than current mobile deployables. Large would produce Battleships and capital modules as well as larger structures and so forth to Extra large capable of producing capitals, super capitals, and XL structures.

If you have specialized factory units, they might get ME and TE bonuses over the generic factory capable of manufacturing a wider variety of items.

For Research, you could have the generic module capable of all types of research, but with limited or no bonuses. More specialized research modules focus on TE, or ME, or invention, or copying, but have a larger bonus to compensate.

So for a guy or small group of guys to compete, you are taking away the ability to have 1 structure that can copy, print, invent, reprocess, and build with the proper mods at an equal efficiency to everyone else (barring 0.0 advantages) and now requiring them to have 3 structures to operate at equal efficiency.

You keep saying that the structures can be adapted like a ship, do some things well and others ok. This may seem fair to you in some way, but it is not when you have to rely on a large infrastructure to operate efficiently. This only forces people to join large entities with numerous resources.

This potentially goes beyond risk vs reward to unbalanced cost of production.

Note several important things.
The small group or guy probably only needs M structures. The large group will also need 3 structures but will need L or XL structures. Thus much lower capital investment. This assumes that the larger structures are simply larger and not better also.

Fuel use will only apply when doing things. This means the small guy will have much lower operating costs than he currently does as he won't be burning isk during fallow times.

Adaptable structures with fittings mean vastly less micromanagement, one central storage for example. Rather than driving yourself crazy moving around things and onlining & offlining things and whoops, the BPO and the resources are in different spots etc.

Might there still be issues, totally, but lets wait for the actual numbers to come out before we cry about the sky falling (Especially since the unbalanced cost of production actually happened with the last industry update already)

Datacore spawning: Why spawn data cores if you can spawn the raw material needed to produce datacores.

I’ll start with a lore justification. A Datacore is supposed to be collection of knowledge on a topic contained in a device. The device is somehow consumed in the invention process.  The skill of a research agent or the source of the datacore has no impact on invention success rate. The skill of the agent only impacts the rate of production. It doesn’t make sense that the knowledge is lost and need to be rediscovered every time you invent something. Any lore justification should be logically consistent with these conditions.

I propose the datacore is actually some sort of organic brain or quantum computer. They are designed to control the tools & process needed for invention. Because of the speed and complexity needed during the invention process, the device burns out under the work load. To optimize the performance of the device, the designs are different for each field of science. After all, each field uses different equations and tools in the process of invention. Lastly, the devices are flawed in the sense they are not designed for retention of knowledge over time. For whatever reason information decays in the system when it’s not being used. It was a trade off for performance or build cost. Use whatever scientific excuse you like here: The quantum fields decay, synaptic potentials decay with time but the matrix of interconnects remain.

So far this explanation accounts for the various types of datacores. It accounts for why the skill of the research agent doesn’t impact invention. The skill of the agent could easily explain their ability to produce units in quantity. The actual consumption is also explained. After all every tool wears out. It’s just easier/cheaper to produce these disposable datacores than some massive device which would last.

A player uses the datacore by imprinting their knowledge in the datacore at the beginning of the invention process. This is why their skills matter on the success rate.
 
The creation of these datacores require some rather rare elements. The agents used to buy them off the market or through their own mega company resources. The different datacores since they vary in design could easily need different material or the same. Choose whichever flavor you like.

Now your company puts up a research station. They come with your own datacore lab division or requires a module/service. They have all the tools and various experts to produce the datacores. Or you could be limited to labs which only support certain types of datacores. What they don’t have are the rare materials. You also don’t have the resources of a mega corp to acquire them. Instead they have the tools to locate them in the system or constellation. The act of scanning for the material results in them radiating energy which is detectable. For anyone with access to the research station, they show up as anomalies. For everyone else they show up as signatures. We can tune the size, frequency and location of the sites based on modules size of station or any other design factor. Maybe having OA improves it. Maybe lower sec systems have more sites since they haven’t been explored/mined out by the mega corps.

A player warps to the site and harvest the material. Use what ever mechanism you like to harvest. Maybe it’s a rare gas or mineral or some salvage off an ancient wreck or … Feed your station the material and they produce the datacore for you. You can use jobs slots if you want or just a straight conversion.

This explanation fits the lore. The player has to be active in space. Other players can attack them or just steal the resource. Datacore production can be tuned as needed by altering the size, type or frequency of spawns. It is another feature for a solar system that could be improved with activity. It gives explorers something else to harvest. The actual volume harvested can be quite small so even frigates would be a viable ship.

In one speech a long time ago they talked about structures being like houses that you can build to suit your needs.

Instead of having different structures for assemble, research, and mining how about 1 structure of different sizes.

Each size difference is the service slots that are available.

Medium has 5 Service slots and restrict the amount of ships docked to say 5

Large has 10 Service slots and restrict the amount of ships docked to say 15 or 20

XL has 15 Service slots and docking can be a lot higher say over 100 for this size.

As a small group of people doing mining, research, invention, and manufacturing a single structure would be easier to move and defend even if we have to change service slots to get the optimum performance out of our structure. Also a single structure would be easier for code making and have it change and grow as different service modules make it take different shape.

Also a link that can be formed between structures could be pretty cool. You could have corps in an alliance or players in a corp or just a group of friends in npc corps setup community type structures.

If you are set on having different structures for each type of operation can we have them linked for transportation of goods and materials.

Say Johnny puts up a drilling rig, Sam puts up a research structure, I put up a assembly structure can we link them so minerals I have reprocessed in Johnny's drilling rig can be move to my assemble structure and be able to use Sam research labs to better or invent blueprint copies. Being able to link together and share structures might make space communities in all sec status. I could see a community starting in high sec as a bunch of people working together eventually growing into alliance to move to null sec as they work together.

That would really expand on the "scientist" style of gameplay. Instead of just sitting in stations and researching blueprints constantly, people could get out and actively do research.