Cairo
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Posted - 2004.04.10 11:45:00 -
[1]
 Quote:
1.player owned stations owned by an INDIVIDUAL player ( if they are that rich)
I see a problem here:
If players are able to buy existing stations (even if they are simply 'newly located, abandoned stations' like the conquerable stations in 0.0 space right now, the moment they are introduced to the game every big corp out there with cash to spend is going to go out of their way to buy these stations.
Then you log in some hours later, notice a news item about new stations being available for anyone wishing to buy them, only to find out that the stations have already been bought and none are free anymore.
So.. You got the feature you wanted, but you didn't get your station. Would you be satisfied with this?
A BETTER solution would be to allow freelancers to build 'outposts' - similar to the player-deployed stations we'll have in Shiva, but on a smaller scale (as I'm sure player-deployed stations will cost HUGE amounts of money which individual players might not find acceptable).
"Deployable outposts" would be a cross between ships and Shiva's deployable stations: they could be deployed anywhere in space with the same rules as deployable stations (further than X kilometers from another deployed object), but they would consist of only one structure (unlike deployable stations, which are a collection of structures floating around a control tower) onto which outpost modules could be installed - the same way as you install modules on a ship.
These outpost modules would include things like defensive turrets and missile launchers, miniature refineries, expanded cargo holds, power generators for higher power output, co-processors for higher CPU output, extra docking clamps, ship repair systems and remote market terminals (just to name a few).
By default all outpost modules would come with one docking clamp (onto which you could dock your ship to access the outpost's services / cargo hold and perhaps 2500-5000 m3 of cargo space. If you added docking clamp modules, more than one ship could be docked at the station at the same time to use its services (note that 'docked' doesn't mean that the ship enters the outpost - it simply means that the ship attaches itself to the outpost). Adding cargo expander modules would give the outpost more cargo space, and remote market access would give docked ships access to the market as if they were docked at a bigger station.
The owner of the station could define how and against whom the outpost defends itself (everyone, if locked, if attacked, if blacklisted, etc), and who can dock with it (a whitelist of players, corporations, by (sub)race or free-for-all). He could also determine what kind of fees would be asked for when someone docks or uses a certain module, or who can access the cargo hold, etc. Anyone within scanner range of the outpost could check these prices and a "welcome message" set by the owner by checking the outpost's information.
The abovekind of outposts could be used by miners as remote refineries (they could anchor secure containers around the outpost to use as extra storage), or groups operating in 0.0 as a central 'hub' of operations, or simply by everyone as a sort of status symbol or for whatever reasons they need one for. They could make the outpost public (access to all for a small fee), or private (only owner can access).
I know that if CCP introduces some made-up restrictions for deploying stations in Shiva (they are hugely expensive or "only player-run corps can deploy stations", for example), freelancers are not going to get to set stations for themselves.
Therefore the deployable outpost would make for a smaller, less expensive (and less useful in the larger scale of things) alternative for us freelancers. Everyone would be happy! :)
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