Community Input: Systems Development Future

[Demonic]

Forced tightening of routes that was supposedly meant to increase player interactions (it didn't) as well as merger of different systems into bigger ones, like Omicron-74 being merged with Kappa, Omicron Chi with Omicron Beta, Omega-49 with Omega-47 and so on and so forth.

No. With the current pop having more systems with better connections isn't good. Tightening the routes was a good call, issue is not in the routes but in players who A, either don't capitalise on it as lawfulls / unlawfulls or B, use player list to metagame. If player list only showed regions and not systems, piracy / smuggler bashing would be much more viable, cause ppl couldn't just decide to dock and wait you out, because they wouldn't know if your police ship is sitting next to Dublin JH or patroling Cambridge.

Definitely adding the new ones. As we are, we're at the smallest amount of systems that we had in years. Return alternative routes, but make them worth taking, not just a system that could be used to avoid interaction.

Yes, but only those meant for discovering stuff or very rare things. No main trading hubs or routes.

Travel times should remain the same, but diversified with additional systems and alternative routes.

Travel time, yes, alternative routes no, or only for snubcraft. Again, transports have more then enough options as is, they don't need even more.

As of 5.0, the connections are too few, even for the activity hub systems. No, the concept of having a designated place where everyone can go and chat is not bad, hubs like Freeport-11, Ames, Trenton, Gran Canaria draw a lot of attention from people who enjoy the roleplaying part of this mod.

No. Connections are fine as is for transports and bigger. More snub only connections might be fine.

... Tau-44 didn't need that sort of connection. Feeling like the system is a dead end...

Tau-44 has two connections. Is not a dead end. NavMap is wrong.

A healthy mixture of both, more systems with diverse connections which would form different routes from point A to point B

Again, no, disco doesn't need more systems with a lot of connections, it needs more remote systems with interesting stuff

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Links
Characters and feedback | Freelancer's Woes | MacRory's Irregulars

[Demonic]

To add my own two cents - Im pleased with what's happened, apart from Gallia, which imo should be rearanged a bit. It doesn't make sense for core house systems to be separated in two distinct halfs like this.

Tightening the routes was imo a good call. The reason why it doesn't seem to increase interaction lies with the player list showing which system exactly players are, so they can just dock and wait you out. F.E. if there's a BPA ship in New London, I won't go to dublin JH unless I know where exactly the ship is. If it only showed regions, I'll have to risk it, because knowing he's somewhere in Bretonia doesn't help me nearly as much as knowing he's in NL directly.

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Links
Characters and feedback | Freelancer's Woes | MacRory's Irregulars

[Barrier]

I will respond with a Rheinland-focused pov, though I suppose my comments can apply to other relevant places.

System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.
-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.
-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?
-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?

• Story progression & environmental storytelling (under which I'd include hazards and treasure hunts). As long the base world is interesting and coherent, people will create characters to interact with it organically. After that first big hurdle, like the Rheinland infocard project, you can be very hands-off and focus on stuff that really needs dev input. The players will start working around existing limits, which can be adjusted with new minor patches.
  
• Essentially the systems are too empty. Space is big, but it's filled with all sorts of random crap. A lot of it pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but could still make for interesting local rp. E.g. what if there was a wildcat miner wreck in Sigma-15 to represent the dangers of planning a deep space trip. Abandoned beacons in the Harzfeld in New Berlin from the old mining zones. More single ship or station wrecks. That sort of thing. Imo the best example of what a lot of systems should look like is unironically Dresden - I understand that all that trash is from a recent space battle, but I think it should stick around for months if not years.
  
• Based on the point above, all existing systems need to be "enriched" at least a little bit with tens or hundreds worth of years of "civilization garbage". Adding new systems should be done slowly, since every new place would require a baseline of what was there before.
  
• Everywhere really - the more the better, really the limit should be what the server can reasonably handle in terms of assets. As for how - I think the community can help with this one, if you open submissions for minor system elements. Something like: wreck model, wreck infocard, location, why it should be there. Then it'd be up to coding to reach into the "suggestions bag" and implement a few with every patch, or however often is feasible.
  

Travel times:

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: New York - Omicron Delta.
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: Vespucci - Omicron Mu.
-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it? Example: A Liberty Rogue inside of Liberty not using trade lanes or jump gates for inRP reasons.

• I think the safer "legal" routes need to be slower, and the unlawful smuggling routes faster. As chronicron said, most things should have an alternative, though I think the alternatives should not be equivalent. So House to House needs to be slower, House to Edge the same, or House to House the same, House to Edge faster (I would prefer the former).
  
• I don't really get the example, but I think the same idea as above applies. The two most distant points can be reached slowly but legally, or quickly but using smuggler routes.
  
• Yes, because this would be one way of satisfying my proposal above. One way of doing it could be to have faster engines on the black market, but those same engines would take a long time to charge. So doesn't make sense for a short hop between two trade lane junctions, but makes a lot of sense for 70k free flight trips. If that's not possible, you could potentially make the unlawful hubs and jumps closer together - e.g. in Stuttgart, put all the jump holes closer to the center while still keeping them inside the nebulae.
  

I don't have strong specific opinions about the rest, and my feedback is too long already anyway. I think the patch and the vibe of the community is moving in a good direction, so I'm sure things will work out regardless of what happens.

[JadeTornado]

System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.
Gameplay. The story progression may change and making/changing a system solely for this purpose might be a waste of time.
-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.
I've heard a statement that you are tyring to make chokepoints by deleting the systems. The goal to concentrate some players at one point of space is ok in my opinion. But I can't see how it works in Kusari, where I spend most of my playtime. I'll give you an example: for some time I was obsessed with catching GCs and their smugglers. I camped in New Tokyo at Shikoku JG, but the problem is they didn't even need to visit NT to continue their smuggling to Omicron Alpha, they just used JH from Shikoku to Kyushu. So how I supposed to catch them if they have two similar (4 jumps) routs to Alpha (from Kyushu to Alpha & from NT to Alpha through Honshu)? For a solo player, especially an FL IDed without Net, it's difficult. If the smuggler anticipates I'll search for her, she can delay her approach to Kyushu JG, pretending to be travelling to Honshu JG, or use some other various tactics. In most games defending (camping) is easier than attacking (smuggling), so I'm confused why I have to bring a friend or two to secure the system from a single smuggler, which might be not even a combat ship? Make the choke points even harder. My first thought was to connect Shikoku with Hokkaido instead of NT, to give lawfuls some time to react before unlawfuls will leave Kusari space. I want my encounters, not just with lawful traders or unaware wannabe smugglers.
-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?
Reworking and balancing the existing systems. That's the best what could be done. New systems are only dragging some short attention, not solving anything in the long term.
-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?
i don't know how exactly, but all these systems* should be good for corporate wars. Maybe some repeated events by the story team. People are playing the community events, why won't encourage that for corps? Though my attempt in doing so has failed, some minor in-game rewards from the dev team may drag some interest to it.
*if you'll connect Shikoku to Hokkaido as I mentioned

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Travel times:

The only travel time that bothers me is in Cambridge system. You know which.

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System connectivity:

-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?
Pretty much described above.
-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other? Example: Sidelining Omicron Kappa in favor of Omicron Theta.
I think the North of Kusari has no real purpose. Yes, it's a base of operations for some criminals, but they might freely operate on some stations withing Ku homeworlds like Rouges in New York. I'd wish to see a direct line from Ku to Omicron Alpha to harras Outcasts. Alternatively, to Gallia space with the same purpose.
-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why? Example: Dublin, Omicron Pi.
It have to be valuable points of interest gameplay-wise. As mostly a solo player (which basically will be any newcomer to the Disco) I don't have any RP "weight" nor the interest to story relevance, so it's either a private club for active factions or a farm club for everybody. You decide.
-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections? Example image:
I would like to see both. More connections over the Houses homeworlds, less connections beyond them.

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5.0 feedback:

-Give us your brief 5.0 feedback - system addition/removal, reworks, merges, connections, gameplay aspects such as hazards, treasure hunts, flavor wrecks, overall environmental changes.
I feel sorry for the guys than roleplayed the deleted systems. I think it should have been mentioned/rewarded in some way. Depending on the server population, and being not involved into roleplay heavily, I'd say I'm fine with the removal. I would also like to see when conditionally three distant factions can reach each other pretty fast, making a good Free For All, encouraging some dedication to the factions, being in one of those active "blocks" at the moment.
-What did you like the most?
Less systems
-What didn't you like at all?
No patchnotes. Which jumphole cannot fit my ass anymore, etc.

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[Spectre]

System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.
In my honest opinion, environmental storytelling was one of the really juicy parts of even the vanilla game that added so much character to systems without there being anything other than a wreck or a selectable object. Patrol 27 in New York was a very clear indicator that the Badlands were deadly. Independence in Omega-41 showed clearly how dangerous a neutron star can be if you're careless. Even in the mod, we had Council wrecks strewn throughout the minefield in Orkney that showed not everyone making it through in one piece. It's since been replaced with a big 'wall', but the same idea stands. There's plenty of empty warzones across Sirius that have no evidence of their conflict: Omicron Delta (Core v Order), Tohoku (Dragons v KNF v Wild), Dublin (It's got wrecks, but given the scale of events there I really feel like there should be more), Omicron Theta (Same deal as with Dublin), among others. These all tie in with story progression, and @Barrier's suggestion of littering fields and space with old objects really drives it home too.
Just more things to grab people's attention. More physical evidence that things are dangerous or caustic, not just a well written infocard.

-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.
Easily, overcrowdedness. I've always been a massive proponent of the 'Discovery' aspect of the mod, and in the ancient days of 4.86 I used to love just flying around the Taus and looking around at the environment, or taking a hike through the Liberty backwoods in New Hampshire and Alberta. I get that not a lot of story tends to happen in some of these far off systems, but nice quiet backwaters where people can hang out, build a PoB without much interference, or shady backroom business where the Houses can't see them are never a bad thing to have. Alberta was famous for this, same with Omega-49 before Bretonia barged in.
What we have now is alright, but there's almost always a distinct purpose for something in a system, rather than it just being there to add flavor.

-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?
I feel like a balance of everything would work best with the current environment, although with a bit more focus on fleshing out existing systems. Spicing up existing systems with more wrecks, more objects, points of interest, etc. Bringing back older systems should ideally be an endgoal, but I think story's honestly come up with a decent excuse to make their returns all gradual, which helps ensure that any systems that do return get a full makeover to better line up with what we have now.

-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?
Backwaters in particular tend to have a more defined unlawful presence, which allows for more chaotic worldbuilding, and thus more material to use. However, if we're looking at particularly barren systems:

- Hamburg - Dipping into story territory here, but unlawful bases are a must. Even a gradual construction of some of them would do. A few supply depots around the old Unioner base at Wedel Mining Facility in the Alsterfeld, a few pilgrim liners around Vierlande, maybe, as well as a few wrecks around it showcasing the battle that happened in 831. Wrecks in the Kielfeld as well, military in origin, showcasing the Trier as a clear threat that lurks within.

- Hokkaido - Wrecks of Samura and KNF supply transports throughout the Shiden cloud to represent the GC enforcing their claim to the H-Fuel within. Wrecks inside of the Kyofu to showcase how dangerous crossing the center can be to those unprepared. The system is as war torn as you can get without there being a major story arc attached to it, and it ought to show it. It is the GC's home after all.

- Manchester - Dipping again into story territory here, but another unlawful base could do well. The South Sheffield Field talks about Mollys using it as a staging point, but there's nothing there. A platform to launch those from, or the beginnings of one, would add something to the system's fields, and maybe wrecks of ships that failed to escape both BPA Newgate and Sheffield could add some nice storytelling as well.

Travel times:

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: New York - Omicron Delta.
I think the time is alright where it is, although in-house flight times at some points make Houses feel rather small. Maybe more stops along the way, or maybe some stops are a bit wider than others.

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: Vespucci - Omicron Mu.
Same general opinion as before.

-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it? Example: A Liberty Rogue inside of Liberty not using trade lanes or jump gates for inRP reasons.
In-system jump holes are a definite workaround, either like the New York holes, potentialy off-plane/in a nebula but on-map, or like Coronado's, on-plane by unmarked. Unlawfuls use nebulas and fields extensively, so it only makes sense that they should know the ins and outs of them quite well.
Also see 'one-way jump holes' down below.

System connectivity:

-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?
Before the update, I would have said they were about fine. After the update, there's clearly not enough, but for story reasons it does make some sense.
In general, I think the idea of an activity hub system is pretty good, although I do also think that for some regions (Liberty, Omicrons, Gallia) there should be an effort to try and split a 'hub' between two different areas or systems. This mostly stems from just the sheer size of some regions, and in some cases it happens naturally without dev involvement, but I do like the idea of more lawless regions having 'islands of activity' amidst a sea of open space.
In practice, though, players will tend to make their own 'activity hubs' based on things like docking rights, local factions, and the like (think Freeport 11, Manhattan orbit, Dublin, or Barrier Gate).

-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other? Example: Sidelining Omicron Kappa in favor of Omicron Theta.
For connections, I feel like the number of connections a system has should get more refined the closer to a regional hub it gets. New York as a baseline is a very good example, with four (five if you count Alaska) artificial connections and two natural ones. This should contrast with a fringe system like Tau-23, which before the update had two artificial connections and six natural ones. Far flung systems on the edge of civilized space should have plenty of backroads.
Even NPCs tout this: "The only way to really get around is by using the jump holes."

-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why? Example: Dublin, Omicron Pi.
It really depends on the context of a system's role. Dead-end systems work well when properly executed; Dublin has its flops, like the stranded Corsair battlecruiser, but overall works well. Likewise, Tau-23 has six connections and works just fine as a transit system that also contains a load of lore. As a rule, I don't think connections should be a bottleneck when it comes to systems development, but should help flesh out the identity of a system itself. California and Texas both influence each others development extensively thanks to that one connection they share. Same with Kyushu and Tau-23.

-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections?
Ideally, a mix of both. A good compromise might be 'one-way jump holes' between some systems that allow for shortcuts without backtracking. Vespucci -> Magellan, but not the other way around. Omicron Theta -> Frankfurt, but not the other way around. Sigma-17 -> Omicron Minor, you get where I'm going with this. Pocket flexibility when routing, as well as situational bottlenecking in a way that makes sense.

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#BringBackTheCommonwealth

=CR=------*L|------TFP)
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A plurality is not a majority, and a majority is not everybody.

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Spec's RP Consortium
V-3X | CV-Montu | Fort Murray
Unum pro Omnibus, Omnes pro Uno

Your signature grew too big, I helped downscale it. ~Vex
Your adjustment grew too big, I helped downscale it. ~Spectre

[Mellony's Acquisitions]

Echoing what a lot of others have said but that I forgot to mention in my original response: better visuals ≠ better gameplay.

I LOVE this janky-ass game from two decades ago! I want to see expansion on the lore, gameplay, accessibility, and fun. Not the graphics. Because the graphics are not what drew me to the game in the first place.

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MacRory's Irregulars

Scrap is where the heart is...

[Leo]

I don't post much out-of-character anymore, but I feel it's necessary to give my two cents here. Much of what I may say will echo sentiments from others but with my own...twist(?) on them.

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System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.

• Smuggling. Plain and simple. This is kind of a tie in to Econ. but with smuggling (and trade routes in general) they kind of go hand-in-hand. The snub only systems in the vein of Copernicus and Omega-55 are awesome, but they still don't feel threatening. Sure, explosive fields will drop my shields, but they do nothing to my hull. I tested this in an Arrow in Copernicus and hit several explosive fields with the ship. That should have shredded me instantly. These systems should be ways to avoid the law, or disappear ass over end into a dangerous system to loose a pursuer or cut valuable time off your trade route, not just as shortcuts between regions or treasure hunts.

-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.

• More deep space systems that exist outside of Earhart.

-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?

• Ideally, all of the above. A balance is important. I'm an vehemently against removing any systems that have activity in them. I'm still against the removal of Xi and Munich as there was plenty of activity there between Rheinland, Corsairs, and Outcasts, but it is what it is. Systems that have no use though? Yeah, I can see those being deleted or reworked. What I would like to see if more story tied into the removal of these systems. The story around Alberta comes to mind as an example (despite it still technically existing).

-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?

• Using one of your examples in Tau-23 (since I spent a lot of time there during my SLRC days), I would utilize the static Baxter Anomaly there as a story beat. I would make it larger every two weeks and see if anyone notices it growing. By the time it reached the size of a standard Jump gate, someone might notice and make some reports on the forums about it's alarming growth. Have events surrounding it with the IMG getting worried about needing to evacuate Java Station. Have the Baxter Anomaly spawns start doing actual damage to passerby's when they spawn to great an atmosphere of danger. Either have it culminate in the area continuing to be dangerous or have the Baxter Anomaly calm down after a while. Maybe make this a regular event with the spawnable Baxter Anomalies dropping more Sci-data during that time to create an artificial gold rush.

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Travel times:

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: New York - Omicron Delta.
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: Vespucci - Omicron Mu.
-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it? Example: A Liberty Rogue inside of Liberty not using trade lanes or jump gates for inRP reasons.

• Honestly, I think things are just fine as they are for travel times, personally.

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System connectivity:

-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?

• The narrowization (is that a word? I don't think so) of many jump holes are questionable to me. Narrowing them down to try to force interaction feels bad to me. Certain ones needed pruning but I think there needs to be more unstable snub Jump holes or a way to temporarily stabilize collapsed Jump hole connections to allow a one use passage at extreme risk of destroying your ship.
  
• Hub systems are fine (like Earhart) but overdoing it might seem gimmicky. Per region, such as Liberty, Kusari, etc. are fine. That's how it was in vanilla and I think it's fine as it is now.

-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other? Example: Sidelining Omicron Kappa in favor of Omicron Theta.

• I'm against most dead end systems from a personal standpoint, but some I think it makes sense. Equal numbers of connections is boring. Some systems should have many, while some should have few. It keeps the feeling of randomization in the universe instead of something that's "preordained".

-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why? Example: Dublin, Omicron Pi.

• I don't know about sidelining, but if the story draws me in enough concerning it's reasoning, it would probably be acceptable as long as it isn't overdone.

-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections? Example image:

• Difficult question. I think I would like a balance of both. The core systems (Houses) should be more interconnected whilst the edge worlds should be more sparse.

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5.0 feedback:

-Give us your brief 5.0 feedback - system addition/removal, reworks, merges, connections, gameplay aspects such as hazards, treasure hunts, flavor wrecks, overall environmental changes.
-What did you like the most?

• I would have to say the snub only systems were very interesting. Omicron Pi is a pretty neat and mysterious system that I go back to a lot on various ships. Earhart too is cool, but it also has many components that I don't like.
  
• Hazards don't feel hazardous enough. I lose shields when flying through certain areas but rarely lose much hull even in lightly armored ships such as Light Fighters. Radiation damage is dangerous but...that feels like the only real danger here.

-What didn't you like at all?

• Larger ships being unable to enter the gates in Earhart and there being only one way in aside from Jump drives.
  • The only way in physically is through Alaska.
    
  • If you want to get in without being shot to shit, you have to cloak through the Omicron Minor entry point or through New York and get to the Supergate.
    
  • If you don't want to do that, you need someone with a JD3 or JD4. If you don't have a friend or have one yourself, good luck.
    
  • If you want to go there to mine and don't want to go through Alaska, have a JD3 or JD4, or have a friend that can jump you, you're SOL.
    
  • If you're helping friends collect items from the Uncharted, you just have to sit in Earhart doing nothing while they go in to collect and do nothing.
    
  • If you want to RP a large research ship gathering data in the uncharted systems, you're out of luck. I know that it's to prevent people getting a lot of items easily by mining, but there has to be a way to prevent targeted mining (selecting someone and shooting stuff) without limiting larger ships from getting into those systems...right?
• In my opinion, the system is nearly there, you're just missing some pieces. An alternate entry point that jumps around weekly would be ideal for players to get into Earhart without needing to go through Alaska would be perfect. Maybe use some of those Jump holes hidden in Baxter Anomalies as entry points that rotate every week?

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Just some of my ideas. Sorry if I went off on tangents on a few of those, I blame my ADHD. Don't at me.

~Leo

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You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark.
The Banished Legion

[Egon Bigmemes]

System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why?: Environmental story telling and story in general. Freelancer does not like being overloaded with visuals and we dont seem to have the access to the hacks other mods had. spend some time cruising through vanilla systems and find the beauty in some simplicity again.

-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most?: i dont really think about this much. visual bloat? stars/planets blocking direct routes to holes?

-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?: Rework/balancing. Removal hasn't done anything but piss people off. Restoration/rework of some deleted systems.

-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding?: Man I'm not an artist or designer. wrecks and rumors do a pretty good job


Travel times:

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same?: dont care
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same?: dont care
-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it?: Decrease. Allow cruise engines to slowly accelerate beyond their usual speeds the longer they're in cruise.


System connectivity:

-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?: Too few. Defining activity hubs is bad and contrived. Trying to force something will just leave people annoyed you're stepping on their hubs to focus on something that might never take off.

-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other?: Dead end systems or systems with just one or two connections is fine, but the noose currently put around travel is bad.

-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why?: Alternative routes simply just to change things up is more important to me than just relevance in the story. As long as the connection makes sense its relevant enough.

-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections? Example image: More systems more connections.




5.0 feedback:

-Give us your brief 5.0 feedback: I have no interest in traversing mazes for some sort of reward of something visually appealing or some material used in pob equipment. All a giant wall of mines/cruise disruptors tells me is to leave, since it's not going to be worth my time. Explorers might be into that, but it feels like it's wasted effort to me. Dedicating entire systems to it (Especially after removing a bunch) is a waste. The removal of many systems was also rather unwelcome, not limited to but including Omicron Xi (one of the most popular hubs, but we were told systems were being culled to focus activity. Why cull a system thats always active?) and Virginia. Markam told me these systems were meant to be tweaked and released for the Earhart gimmick of connecting to random uncharted systems but that seems like a waste of time. Why couldnt any of these have been tweaked to better fit the story?

-What did you like the most?: not much. alaska is too annoying to navigate to bother going on my lawfuls and i have no interest fighting over things i dont want/wont use in earhart/earhart adjacent content

-What didn't you like at all?: system and connections cull. considering people still only generally group for content during events, you wont ever force activity to move where you "desire" without removing every system. activity moves organically, not to where the roads lead to.

[RedEclipse]

System design:

-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.
Visuals. More room for gameplay is for merrier. The other picks is depend on the system and location.
-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.
From perspective of EW/IW player too many house systems in comparison of EW systems.
-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?
New systems and/or bring old ones. For example old Zeta was much better than the current one, Omicron Sigma, Omicron 74, Omicron Xi were good systems too.
-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?
More wrecks variability, both stations and ships, but with 5.0 realized you're already doing so, glad to see it(like Canaan in Zeta).

Travel times:

-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: New York - Omicron Delta.
Same.
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: Vespucci - Omicron Mu.
Same.
-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it? Example: A Liberty Rogue inside of Liberty not using trade lanes or jump gates for inRP reasons.
Same.

System connectivity:

-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?
The amount of connections seems to be okay, though it now lacks of some connections(like 48-Dublin). "Defined activity hub systems" was a bad idea, because players always had their hub systems: Xi, 74, 49, NY and etc no matter how you paint it.
-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other? Example: Sidelining Omicron Kappa in favor of Omicron Theta.
Irrelevant.
-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why? Example: Dublin, Omicron Pi.
Irrelevant.
-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections?
B. The idea of main path aka hub systems with sleeves seems more interesting to me than circled ones.

5.0 feedback:

-What did you like the most?
Omicron Mu rework.
-What didn't you like at all?
Systems layout rework overall, especially EW ones. Omicrons/Omegas no longer have a feeling of deep dangerous space, but a communal apartment, literally everyone is sitting on each other. EW/IW needs to be much bigger, the pattern of reducing systems for more encounters didn't work, but it was obvious. Discovery needs more room to discover and fly around.

[Lord Caedus]

Only throwing this in here quickly because I don't have a lot else to say regarding this, but it would be nice to see a couple of systems have things be laid out slightly off plane at times. Say there's an A-B-C trade lane connection, where location B is slightly above plane (Perhaps 10k or so) so the trade lane can avoid some sort of hazard nearby.

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