Create an economy oriented, unsafe POI

[MyrddinE]

In order to get an earlier idea of the prevalence of PvP and its effects upon the economy (which I've made some dire predictions about) I think it would be smart for FB to create an economy oriented POI out in the belt with a tiny (1km to 4km radius) safe zone around it. A small starbase with an AH and an ore tower near a valuable mining zone.

This would have significant economic value for multiple reasons: Miners would be able to have a fast turnaround for unloading ore, players interested in finding valuable ore but unsure of where it was would get an easy onramp, it would create market arbitrage opportunities for freighters who could buy the rare ore locally (where it's cheap) and fly it back to the main AH to sell at a profit.

And all of this would create juicy opportunities for PvP focused players to hunt ships that are actually engaged in trade. We would learn much faster the effects of PvP on trade and the economy without having to ramp up to a huge population or wait for faction bases and the economy needed to sustain them. I don't think this should be a permanent feature, but I think it would be a far more efficient way to generate player interaction that is more like the anticipated end result without having to wait.

 

[Verbatos]

Wow, this is the first time in a while I have seen a suggestion I actually find interesting and possible, bravo.

Adding onto this, I think there should be a few stations like this out in the belt cloud that would create a good incentive to search out there with a coordinate system installed in your ship. Players could find one of these stations, then have the decision of whether or not to release the coordinates or to keep it to themselves.
A system like this could also contribute to the profitability of piracy as well as the profitability of bodyguards, if a group of pirates know exactly the straight route from a popular station to one of these outposts, they could wait out, maybe hidden behind an asteroid, for an unknowing ship to fly past, then they could strike, steal the cargo and deliver it themselves for profit.

The only problem with something like this is that the risks might outweigh the benefits, if the reward for using this kind of station is too low, people won't even bother with the risk of pirates, they will just avoid the station and steer to the closest large safezone. On the other hand, if the reward is too great, it would similarly become a hotspot for every single miner, thus becoming a hotspot for a legion of wannabe pirates, then becoming unapproachable at risk of getting immediately shot down.

Overall, a really good idea. With some polish, I could see this becoming a great concept for the game and would add a dynamic element to the otherwise monotonous task of mining.

 

[MyrddinE]

The long term goal is that these points of interest will be player-owned stations. I believe the hope in that player territory will naturally create paths of travel, though I'm not sure anyone (even the devs) are certain of the details. NPC stations were not, that I was aware of, expected to exist outside of the newbie zone.

Because of this my suggestion is not intended to be permanent. It's a crutch; a shortcut to more normal gameplay before all the systems to support that normal gameplay exist. Thus I don't think multiple stations creating a network of travel really enhances the goal... that being to focus the currently very small player base into a tighter clump to facilitate the exploration of economic and PvP interactions.

And the entire point is to find out whether the risks outweigh the benefits. Personally, I don't think they do! I expect that players focused on PvP will have great fun destroying miners and freighters who want to take advantage of these potential economic gains. I think we'll see players try better armor, they'll try escorts, they'll try banding together and I could well be proven wrong... we might discover there are some great ways to gain an advantage over pirates within the current game mechanics.

Or not; but better to find out now than months or years along when we have less time to change and so many more players to disrupt with major systemic changes.