Forums » Suggestions
Monitored Space (long post)
My suggestion is that there be 5 levels that a faction can monitor a sector at: Unmonitored, Scanned, Monitored, Protected, and Guarded.
Unmonitored is the default level of monitoring, and means that the faction is unaware of anything that occurs in the sector. No action taken in unmonitored sectors affects any character's standing, bounty status, or anything else.
Scanned sectors are the same as unmonitored sectors, except that the faction periodically scans the sector in order to keep record of what ships are in the sector. The time since the last scan, and the record of ships in the sector at the time of the scan would be shown in the information box to the right of the system map, for characters that had positive (>0) standing with the faction. In order to scan a sector, the faction must have at least one station in the system. Any number of factions can scan a single sector. There are two ways that a station can scan a sector, either by sending an observer class ship to scan the sector (the station could offer scanning missions to players), or by a Long Range Sensors Array (LRSA), which would be an optional component of a station. Using an observer class ship should be cheaper than using a LRSA, as the observer has only the initial construction cost, and can scan any number of sectors with no additional cost. But using an observer takes longer to scan a sector, and the more sectors the observer is scanning, the longer the interval between scans, and the observer ship is vulnerable to being destroyed, causing further delays in scanning sectors. The record of ships in a scanned sector is not updated until the observer returns to the station (which may be some time after the time of the scan, if the observer was scanning multiple sectors, or otherwise delayed). Using a LRSA should be more expensive than an observer, both in initial construction costs (which of course would be much higher for a LRSA), and in the cost for each scan, as each scan would require a certain expenditure of energy by the station. But a LRSA has the advantages of being faster, with the same interval between scans, regardless of how many sectors it is scanning, and short of the station being captured, or the LRSA destroyed, the scans by the LRSA cannot be hindered by external forces.
Monitored sectors are under continuous observation by the faction, and therefore any actions made for or against the faction will affect the standing of the character that made the action, either positive or negative, and in the case of actions against the faction may result in incurring or increasing a bounty on the character. However, the faction will not launch strike forces to attack hated characters in monitored space, unless and until the hated character takes hostile action against the faction. As with scanned sectors, the faction must have a station in the system, and any number of factions can monitor the same sector. A sector can be monitored in three ways, either by an observer class ship in the sector, a Short Range Sensors Array (SRSA) in the sector, or a LRSA on the station. The observer class ship would be the cheapest, but also the least efficient & least reliable method, as the observer must return to the station to report on any activity that occurred in the sector it was monitoring, which means that if the observer was destroyed, its report on any actions made while it was monitoring would be lost (although when destroyed, it would drop a "black box" cargo widget, that players could pick up and return to the station). A SRSA would be a large (10cu) cargo widget available for purchase to characters of admired or better standing, that begins to deploy after being jettisoned. A SRSA would take 5 minutes to completely deploy, and prior to it completing its deployment cycle, it could be picked up like any other cargo widget floating in space. Once the SRSA has fully deployed, it becomes a roughly centurion sized stationary object, and begins transmitting the information on what it monitors back to the station. Like the observer ship, the SRSA only has a one-time construction fee (lower than the construction fee for the LRSA, but higher than that of the observer ship), and like the observer the SRSA can be destroyed, after which the sector would be unmonitored again. But unlike the observer ship, the SRSA transmits its report on actions in the monitored sector back to the station immediately, it does not have to return to the station to report (indeed, once it has been deployed it cannot move at all). Both the observer ship and the SRSA can only monitor a single sector, the one they are in. The LRSA would be the most expensive, with both a higher construction fee, and a continuous energy cost, but has the advantages of being less vulnerable, and capable of monitoring multiple sectors (assuming the station can supply enough energy continuously; the more sectors a LRSA monitors, the higher its continuous energy cost will be).
Protected sectors are like monitored sectors, except that the station will launch a strike force to attack any hated characters that enter the protected sector (which means they need immediate updates on the ships in the sector, so only sectors monitored by LRSA or SRSA can be protected; sectos monitored by observer ships cannot be effectively protected due to the observer ship having to return to station). Also, a faction must have jurisdiction over a sector in order to protect it. All factions have jurisdiction over sectors they have stations in. Nation factions also have jurisdiction over all sectors in systems claimed by that nation, except sectors with stations belonging to other factions. Only one faction may have jurisdiction in a sector; therefore only one faction can protect a sector (the one possible exception being if more than one faction has stations in the same sector, in which case all factions with stations in the sector would share jurisdiction in that sector). In order to protect a sector the faction must be monitoring the sector, and have jurisdiction (thus only Nation factions can protect sectors that do not have a station, as only Nation factions can have jurisdiction in such sectors), and have a station in the system that has a garrison station component, to house a strike force. Each garrison component can house one strike force, and each strike force can be assigned to protect at most 10 sectors, and if the strike force is launched to one of the sectors it protects, the other sectors it is assigned to protect shall be unprotected until the strike force returns to the station.
Guarded sectors are protected sectors, with the addition that the faction also has dedicated guard ships always present patrolling in the guarded sector. Only sectors with a station or capital ship (defined here as a ship large enough to provide docking for fighter-class ships) present may be guarded.
This would allow players who so desired to set the monitored status of a sector, by taking a scanning or monitoring mission (the player acts as an observer ship for the faction that gave the mission), or by deploying a SRSA in the sector. Once player owned and operated stations are implemented, then players could also construct LRSA station components, and on the station interface set which sectors the LRSA scans and monitors. On the other hand, it would also allow players who did NOT want to be monitored to achieve that by destroying the observer ship, SRSA, or LRSA. Of course, they would be monitored in that destruction, but anything subsequent to the destruction would be unmonitored, and in the case of an observer ship monitoring the sector, if the black box is not returned to one of the faction's stations, then the destruction and everything else the observer ship monitored is not reported.
Unmonitored is the default level of monitoring, and means that the faction is unaware of anything that occurs in the sector. No action taken in unmonitored sectors affects any character's standing, bounty status, or anything else.
Scanned sectors are the same as unmonitored sectors, except that the faction periodically scans the sector in order to keep record of what ships are in the sector. The time since the last scan, and the record of ships in the sector at the time of the scan would be shown in the information box to the right of the system map, for characters that had positive (>0) standing with the faction. In order to scan a sector, the faction must have at least one station in the system. Any number of factions can scan a single sector. There are two ways that a station can scan a sector, either by sending an observer class ship to scan the sector (the station could offer scanning missions to players), or by a Long Range Sensors Array (LRSA), which would be an optional component of a station. Using an observer class ship should be cheaper than using a LRSA, as the observer has only the initial construction cost, and can scan any number of sectors with no additional cost. But using an observer takes longer to scan a sector, and the more sectors the observer is scanning, the longer the interval between scans, and the observer ship is vulnerable to being destroyed, causing further delays in scanning sectors. The record of ships in a scanned sector is not updated until the observer returns to the station (which may be some time after the time of the scan, if the observer was scanning multiple sectors, or otherwise delayed). Using a LRSA should be more expensive than an observer, both in initial construction costs (which of course would be much higher for a LRSA), and in the cost for each scan, as each scan would require a certain expenditure of energy by the station. But a LRSA has the advantages of being faster, with the same interval between scans, regardless of how many sectors it is scanning, and short of the station being captured, or the LRSA destroyed, the scans by the LRSA cannot be hindered by external forces.
Monitored sectors are under continuous observation by the faction, and therefore any actions made for or against the faction will affect the standing of the character that made the action, either positive or negative, and in the case of actions against the faction may result in incurring or increasing a bounty on the character. However, the faction will not launch strike forces to attack hated characters in monitored space, unless and until the hated character takes hostile action against the faction. As with scanned sectors, the faction must have a station in the system, and any number of factions can monitor the same sector. A sector can be monitored in three ways, either by an observer class ship in the sector, a Short Range Sensors Array (SRSA) in the sector, or a LRSA on the station. The observer class ship would be the cheapest, but also the least efficient & least reliable method, as the observer must return to the station to report on any activity that occurred in the sector it was monitoring, which means that if the observer was destroyed, its report on any actions made while it was monitoring would be lost (although when destroyed, it would drop a "black box" cargo widget, that players could pick up and return to the station). A SRSA would be a large (10cu) cargo widget available for purchase to characters of admired or better standing, that begins to deploy after being jettisoned. A SRSA would take 5 minutes to completely deploy, and prior to it completing its deployment cycle, it could be picked up like any other cargo widget floating in space. Once the SRSA has fully deployed, it becomes a roughly centurion sized stationary object, and begins transmitting the information on what it monitors back to the station. Like the observer ship, the SRSA only has a one-time construction fee (lower than the construction fee for the LRSA, but higher than that of the observer ship), and like the observer the SRSA can be destroyed, after which the sector would be unmonitored again. But unlike the observer ship, the SRSA transmits its report on actions in the monitored sector back to the station immediately, it does not have to return to the station to report (indeed, once it has been deployed it cannot move at all). Both the observer ship and the SRSA can only monitor a single sector, the one they are in. The LRSA would be the most expensive, with both a higher construction fee, and a continuous energy cost, but has the advantages of being less vulnerable, and capable of monitoring multiple sectors (assuming the station can supply enough energy continuously; the more sectors a LRSA monitors, the higher its continuous energy cost will be).
Protected sectors are like monitored sectors, except that the station will launch a strike force to attack any hated characters that enter the protected sector (which means they need immediate updates on the ships in the sector, so only sectors monitored by LRSA or SRSA can be protected; sectos monitored by observer ships cannot be effectively protected due to the observer ship having to return to station). Also, a faction must have jurisdiction over a sector in order to protect it. All factions have jurisdiction over sectors they have stations in. Nation factions also have jurisdiction over all sectors in systems claimed by that nation, except sectors with stations belonging to other factions. Only one faction may have jurisdiction in a sector; therefore only one faction can protect a sector (the one possible exception being if more than one faction has stations in the same sector, in which case all factions with stations in the sector would share jurisdiction in that sector). In order to protect a sector the faction must be monitoring the sector, and have jurisdiction (thus only Nation factions can protect sectors that do not have a station, as only Nation factions can have jurisdiction in such sectors), and have a station in the system that has a garrison station component, to house a strike force. Each garrison component can house one strike force, and each strike force can be assigned to protect at most 10 sectors, and if the strike force is launched to one of the sectors it protects, the other sectors it is assigned to protect shall be unprotected until the strike force returns to the station.
Guarded sectors are protected sectors, with the addition that the faction also has dedicated guard ships always present patrolling in the guarded sector. Only sectors with a station or capital ship (defined here as a ship large enough to provide docking for fighter-class ships) present may be guarded.
This would allow players who so desired to set the monitored status of a sector, by taking a scanning or monitoring mission (the player acts as an observer ship for the faction that gave the mission), or by deploying a SRSA in the sector. Once player owned and operated stations are implemented, then players could also construct LRSA station components, and on the station interface set which sectors the LRSA scans and monitors. On the other hand, it would also allow players who did NOT want to be monitored to achieve that by destroying the observer ship, SRSA, or LRSA. Of course, they would be monitored in that destruction, but anything subsequent to the destruction would be unmonitored, and in the case of an observer ship monitoring the sector, if the black box is not returned to one of the faction's stations, then the destruction and everything else the observer ship monitored is not reported.
very neat! i like