Economics discussion: making an economy that matters to the players

[Desulishor]

(Saying the things that might have been on several people's minds for a long time, but here goes.)

 

First off, I'll admit that I'm new to this game and apologize in advance if I quote something that doesn't quite make sense. Most of my experience comes from playing E:D and EVE, so some of this might not apply, but here goes-

 

From what I've seen and read so far, the so-called main goal of the game is to get closer to the center and get better materials and better loot for making your ship. Straightforward enough and makes for a great motivation to explore the unknown, but herein are the problems with that:

 

1. Everyone is a miner.

Building materials (ranging from Iron to Avorion) do not take up any cargo space and are simply picked up by a ship or a drone that flies close to them. You can 'donate' resources to other players by sending PMs but this skips the whole logistics -question. (do tell me if there's a limitation, i'm just repeating what I read, and there's no faq that mentions this in detail.) PVP-wise, it would also be kind of ridiculous if one new player starts with a shielded ship built from higher materials while others subsist with iron and minimal amounts of titanium. But the most central problem is still the title of this paragraph. Everyone lives for their own ships and so, other players or at least players that do not belong in your group are just hindrances.

 

2. There is no logistics.

The problem with getting better and better loot and materials as you progress towards the core is that there are no logical places for hubs. There are system to system (or square to square) -differences, and different pve factions are a thing but largely, everything is the same, no? Because items and materials can be aqcuired from any... (I'll call them halos, since the galaxy is shaped vaguely like a circle) halo of approriate 'level', again, players are better off on their own, searching for a 'free slot' on their 'current halo' which gives just enough stuff for them to progress safely to the next halo, moving closer to the center.

 

So, those are my main points of concern. Now, I'm not suggesting that this game needs to be made just like EVE or anything like that. I'm sure it can be hugely engrossing for relatively small groups of co-operating players just like this. But on the other hand, I don't want the economy aspect of the game to turn out like E:D where commodities are just blocks that have a certain price in certain places, decided solely by the whims of the NPCs. So here's some potential ideas that could help out with that...

 

1. Make transporting building materials a thing.

Given we already have some really convenient mechanics for a sandbox-crafting game, we need to find a way to retain these while involving some logistics in the process. Perhaps the materials that you mine will automatically form a 'stockpile' that you can use for building or modifying a ship within a limited range, but in order to get your materials to the next system, you'd need to pack them into your cargo hull. Naturally, we'd also need player-controlled market system and/or shipping contracts and quotas.

 

2. Put some distance between things and give the players a reason to run routes.

If a certain material spawns at a certain rate within a certain halo, there is little reason for trade routes or economy between players to exist. Everyone will simply subsist on their own. If distance and risk become factors, people will be willing to pay for someone to transport and mine their ship materials and that's the start of an economy in a nutshell. Consider making sectors of space where important materials respawn with reliable rates and possibly, making lower-level materials still matter in the long run.

 

Speaking of risk and distance, travelling between said points of interest should be a risk or at least a chore. Though for that, current hyperspace mechanics would need work and running into pirate ambushes could also be a thing.

 

Another way to make 'routes' matter more is to make items such as modules and turrets use rare materials (different to ship building metals) in their crafting process and make the player-made versions somehow of higher grade compared to the ones that you can get from simply hunting enemies. Running factories, getting those rare mats, if the complete product takes several different player-made components to complete, it all creates more economy.

 

What about those who just want to fight, then? Are they on the losing end since loot would lose its relative value? Not necessarily. You can still upgrade your ship as you go, still get loot that's on par with the NPC enemies, and since your ships are purpose-built for battles, you can co-operate with the so-called haulers and miners to protect them from pirate/alien NPCs or even other players and receive your income and excitement from this instead.

 

Now, I'll just wait here for the more experienced players to point out some simple facts that will actually blow this whole post out of the water... But anyway, discuss, would this work, what would work, what would you like to see, etc.

 

Also, I glossed over many things to keep this opening post relatively short, so if you want a clarification on what thing x means or how I think it's supposed to work out, just quote and ask.

[Salminar]

Well i'll answer only for the first few points.

 

I'm no mining at all, i salvage and this work pretty well. I find it smoother as you don't have to do long farming perdiods but only fight salvage what you killed and progress a bit more.

The game is not like Eve and even less like Elite dangerous, even if they shares a few things. This game, to me, is the direct successor of X3 Terran Conflict, where the goal is to build your fleet/empire and don't rely on flying a single ship. This said, it's still in early stage with OOS not implemented trade in alpha and lot of things like that.

 

So many of what you suggest, would simply break completely the game right now. I mean, ok you want ressources to take space if i understand well. How are you supposed to play at all with this? You wouldn't be able to build anything serious to fight. Most of the things you are poiting, to me, are simply cause the game is in beta (and even alpha on a few things). For the rest, well, again it's more a X3 like than a Eve MMO game.