Player Driven Black Market/Economy
If we were to be able to build modules for building individual specials/weapons/shields, then this idea would be viable.
Players could make individual specials/weapons/shields (and maybe hulls??) and then sell them on a Player driven black market for coins equal to the time taken to make them. These would be in a one time credit form.
This would mean that players who were unable to make these parts would have an opportunity to equip their ships with higher level gear.
Advantages: Adds a new element to the game which would give high level players a reason to produce en masse again. Lower level players would be able to reach high levels faster and get into those difficult events and unlock pieces for themselves faster. People would have another reason to buy coins. CW would definitely be more interesting because players would be using better gear.
Having the players involved in the economy of the game makes it more than a game.
Players could make individual specials/weapons/shields (and maybe hulls??) and then sell them on a Player driven black market for coins equal to the time taken to make them. These would be in a one time credit form.
This would mean that players who were unable to make these parts would have an opportunity to equip their ships with higher level gear.
Advantages: Adds a new element to the game which would give high level players a reason to produce en masse again. Lower level players would be able to reach high levels faster and get into those difficult events and unlock pieces for themselves faster. People would have another reason to buy coins. CW would definitely be more interesting because players would be using better gear.
Having the players involved in the economy of the game makes it more than a game.
5
I have several more ideas I’d like to bring to the table.
Storage Module
Add modules to the base that can carry a certain amount of mass- these will be filled with hulls, modules, and resources (if your main storage is full)- these are cheap and will need to be protected. If an enemy destroys these, they can take away whatever their fleet can carry- these modules can be equipped with shields and weapons, but are still no stronger than a combat module.
Economy
Allow players to auction, sell for a set price, sell for a negotiable price, and sell for resources- allowing a wealthy (in coins) player to trade to a player who has resources- to build modules- therefore enriching player B and encouraging player A to buy more coins. This also allows a dynamic economy, regulated by pirates, protection, supply and demand.
Shipping
To deliver purchased modules, a fleet must be assigned to deliver to the buyer. The time taken depends on distance- a player 300 sectors away will take hours, a player 3,000 will take days- and if the convoy or single fleet is destroyed, the attacker takes the modules that were being moved. This will encourage the seller and/or buyer to escort the fleet, spreading the load across multiple ships and/or fleets in the convoy, etc. This encourages a local economy- two or three sectors are much easier to manage than thirty, and the seller can move more product in a shorter amount of time. The distance you must purchase from is effected by supply/demand greatly- for example, in a rich sector, a low-level ship would be a low demand, and as such low supply product and would be purchasable from farther distance than a high-level ship. Ships purchased could be delivered with fleets or flown on their own.
Shipping would encourage using fast ships, to speed up delivery- and, in the long run, increase profit- making cutters, etc popular cargo ships- these could also be fast enough to avoid attacks.
Piracy
To intercept and seize cargo for their own use, pirates would be encouraged to set traps, use certain ships, and team up to attack wealthy traders, taking a portion of their cargo, a bribe, or resources from them. Pirates would be incentivized to buy coins after they lose their fleets, giving the image of getting items cheaply- but high end merchant fleets would be well equipped, and once defeated sellers would be incentivized to buy coins for themselves as well.
Drive Upgrades
Upgrades to ships’ drives would allow pirates to catch a certain shipment, sellers to get to the buyer or rendezvous faster, and normal cargo and combat fleets to get from place-to-place faster, opening up the game world. Also, remove wormholes and allow ships to jump directly to sectors nearby, normally accessible by wormholes, or leave wormholes, but randomize them- some leading to the other side of the universe, some just next door.
make the fleet bay's fleet list scroll-able and allow "quest fleets" so that we can have auxiliary ships working for us?
I mean, i really like the idea of being able to export goods of various types, but i dont like the idea of being able to send someone mk materials, but dont get me wrong, i am in dire need of an mk2 rag pattern and am willing to trade an mk4 pattern to get it. hell, im willing to trade 2 mk4 patterns but i dont like the idea of a mega coiner putting out for his alliance
my reply was to all posts above mine, but still highly relevant.