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GoonFleet
GoonSwarm
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Posted - 2008.08.12 07:40:00 -
[1]
I'm kinda late to the party here but there's a bunch of good ideas here (I had a system half written that was not a million miles away). Planets need a lot of love under the current game mechanics, they should be the most important bodies in the sovereignty system and not just an empty warp point.
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Taking an idea from factional warfare occupancy, control of a planet could take place at a sort of control bunker (call it whatever you like). The owner of the control bunker in effect controls the planet, and ownership is determined by an entityÆs influence over the planet. This is where the 3 forms of control come into play. The entity that has the most forms of control û military, economic, and cultural - is the entity that holds the most influence and is credited with controlling the planet.
This sounds good, and restores the status of planets. Something I'd really like is for the final stage of occupying a planet to involve flying in troop transporters and deploying troops to capture the bunker located on the surface. Troop transports would be a new shiptype (a T2 hauler is the most obvious route to go with this, although if anyone has other suggestions I'd be interested to hear them) with a siege mode required to deploy dropships. For added fun, the defenders would be able to smart-bomb the dropships as they flew to the bunker  .
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The mechanic that determines planetary influence could be orbital structures. Military structures would be the hardest to destroy but would provide no benefit to the controlling organization and require many resources. Economic structures would provide an income to the controlling entity and be defendable, but not as hard shelled as a military base. Cultural structures would involve media control and entertainment, fragile and subject to propaganda and psyops infiltration thus requiring the most attention, but providing massive rewards to the alliance surpassing that of economic influence.
In particular on the economic side I'd like to see the development of planetary industries which would take the place of the current empire-seeded POS consumables, and at higher sovereignty levels the introduction of NPC logistics which would haul these consumables to the holding alliance's control towers (these haulers would also be a viable small gang target for hostiles rolling through your space).
Cultural structures is something I'd never really thought of. Are you envisioning a sort of Rome:Total War (and probably a million other games which I haven't played too) system where your populations have a 'loyalty rating' depending on your governance, with the potential to disrupt your economic and military structures or even revolt if you don't keep them happy?
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Or, an alliance can resort to cultural subversion and economic disruption, practicing guerilla tactics to slowly erode the influence of the current owner.
Oh wow. Please make this happen. I'm getting great mental images of a covops sneaking around the system with a cargohold full of spies and saboteurs delivering them to the various structures.
As a final point its worth pointing out that not all planets would be inhabited or even inhabitable, and so planetary population isn't something that should apply to Jupiter-type gas giants or scorched Mercury-like rocks. Having some systems virtually (or even completely) deserted and some with a heavy population might be an interesting development to distinguish systems from each other more.
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GoonFleet
GoonSwarm
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Posted - 2008.08.12 21:33:00 -
[2]
The gate guns idea worries me a little. Lowsec gate guns have the unfortunate effect of restricting gatecamp composition to only those ships able to permatank them, and I wouldn't like to see the same limitations become a factor in 0.0 warfare - interceptors or dictors should be able to roam solo or in small groups and camp gates for careless residents without being vapourised by auto-defences the second they aggro a defender.
The 'gate fortifications' idea is worth sticking with though, so maybe some sort of gate defences other than guns? E-war, or perhaps even remote reps?
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