Forums » Suggestions
Here are a few simple ideas for group missions:
1) Convoy missions:
Player creates a group, take the convoy mission, and is asked to transport a certain amount of goods from point A to point B, or to pick up the goods from point B and bring them back to point A. The difference is that all members of the group can see the mission cargo and can load/unload it. The amount of goods to be transported will be fairly large, so traveling in a convoy would be the best way of completing it. When the mission is finished all group members recieve the same bonus.
2) Pirate missions:
These missions would be linked to Convoy missions in that they would be created when someone took a Convoy mission. Pirate missions would be made available to people who have sufficient faction standing with Corvus in all stations of systems across which an active Convoy will be traveling. (i.e. if convoy mission requires travel between systems A-B-C-D, then pirate missions will appear in systems B and C). The objective of the pirate mission is to "recover" a certain percentage of the goods from the trade convoy and deliver them back to a specific Corvus station. All group members will recieve experience, and will have the benefit of selling off any extra cargo for themselves.
These two missions will facilitate the PvP pirate/convoy interaction that is missing from the game at this point. Convoys will most likely be traveling in groups for protection. It will be up to the pirates how/where they want to tackle the convoy, a message will be sent to the group members if one of the target convoy members is sighted in the same sector.
3) Border incursion/recon missions
This mission will be available to Serco and Itani groups (or anyone with proper faction standing). The purpose will be to scan the enemy's defenses along the border, and to deny the enemy space superiority. The group will be given a sector in enemy territory along the border (Deneb or Geira) to which the entire group must fly and patrol for a given duration of time. The mission is completed when the timer reaches 0. If a member of a group is destroyed the timer stops until all members are back in the target sector once more. Once the timer has started, if all members of the group leave the sector then the mission fails.
4) Border defense missions
These missions will be created when a separate group takes a border incursion mission. The group will be given intelligence of an incursion force in a friendly sector along the border (where the opposing group is trying to complete their incursion mission). The goal of the mission is to PK as many of the invading force as possible. Every group member gets a certain amount of xp for each PK. The mission does not end until the invading group aborts or completes their mission.
These missions will facilitate larger PvP battles along the border. Having a larger incursion force group will mean that there are more people to bring to the right sector, but with teamwork will also present a much more deadly force. The target sectors would most likely be in empty space to prevent interference from defbots and other bots.
1) Convoy missions:
Player creates a group, take the convoy mission, and is asked to transport a certain amount of goods from point A to point B, or to pick up the goods from point B and bring them back to point A. The difference is that all members of the group can see the mission cargo and can load/unload it. The amount of goods to be transported will be fairly large, so traveling in a convoy would be the best way of completing it. When the mission is finished all group members recieve the same bonus.
2) Pirate missions:
These missions would be linked to Convoy missions in that they would be created when someone took a Convoy mission. Pirate missions would be made available to people who have sufficient faction standing with Corvus in all stations of systems across which an active Convoy will be traveling. (i.e. if convoy mission requires travel between systems A-B-C-D, then pirate missions will appear in systems B and C). The objective of the pirate mission is to "recover" a certain percentage of the goods from the trade convoy and deliver them back to a specific Corvus station. All group members will recieve experience, and will have the benefit of selling off any extra cargo for themselves.
These two missions will facilitate the PvP pirate/convoy interaction that is missing from the game at this point. Convoys will most likely be traveling in groups for protection. It will be up to the pirates how/where they want to tackle the convoy, a message will be sent to the group members if one of the target convoy members is sighted in the same sector.
3) Border incursion/recon missions
This mission will be available to Serco and Itani groups (or anyone with proper faction standing). The purpose will be to scan the enemy's defenses along the border, and to deny the enemy space superiority. The group will be given a sector in enemy territory along the border (Deneb or Geira) to which the entire group must fly and patrol for a given duration of time. The mission is completed when the timer reaches 0. If a member of a group is destroyed the timer stops until all members are back in the target sector once more. Once the timer has started, if all members of the group leave the sector then the mission fails.
4) Border defense missions
These missions will be created when a separate group takes a border incursion mission. The group will be given intelligence of an incursion force in a friendly sector along the border (where the opposing group is trying to complete their incursion mission). The goal of the mission is to PK as many of the invading force as possible. Every group member gets a certain amount of xp for each PK. The mission does not end until the invading group aborts or completes their mission.
These missions will facilitate larger PvP battles along the border. Having a larger incursion force group will mean that there are more people to bring to the right sector, but with teamwork will also present a much more deadly force. The target sectors would most likely be in empty space to prevent interference from defbots and other bots.
B.t.w. please add your own thoughts/missions, or feel free to point out possible loopholes/problems/cool things about mine :D.
Okay, so let's say that there could be an actual long-term consequence to these missions. If enough border incursion missions are completed within a one-month timespan (this would be some ungodly number, say 1,000) then for the following month Station Assault missions become available to that nation (rationale: now that we have space superiority we can begin to assault the station).
5) Station Assault
These missions will be extremely difficult and will require a team of hardcore players to complete. If enough incursion missions have been completed over a one-month period, then the closest enemy station to friendly territory becomes the target of station assault missions. (For Serco, this would be Aeron's worth, for Itani, it would be the Geira Border Station). These missions would function similarly to border incursion missions, except the goal would be to maintain a presence within 3k of the enemy station. Once one member of the group gets inside 3k of the enemy station, a countdown timer begins. So long as there is one group member within the 3k sphere the timer will contiue to count down, but once the timer has begun if all group members leave the 3k sphere then the mission fails.
The timer would be fairly long (5-10 minutes or so) and all the while the invaders will have to fight off station def bots as well as other players while making sure at least one member survives within the 3k sphere. If the team survives for the alloted time, 3 busses (loaded with troops) are warped into the sector and head for the nearest entry dock. If 2 out of 3 of the busses make it to the dock, then the mission is a success.
Even though this mission would be extremely difficult, the alignment of the station would not change immediately. Only if enough Station Assault missions are completed over a given period of time (say, 100 successful assault missions within 1 month) would the station ownership switch hands.
When this happens the system in question would become red/blue on the map, the border between Serco/Itani having shifted by one station. Incursion missions as well as defense missions would then take place in the red/blue system.
If both a serco station and an itani station were under assault missions, the first nation to complete 100 successful assaults would win, and the losing nation would have to go through another month-long round of incursion missions before trying to take back their station.
6) Station Defense
Every time a group took a station assault mission, station defense missions would become available to groups of the defending nation. They would recieve intelligence that <x> station is under attack, and the goal would be to kill as many of the invaders as possible. The whole group gets xp for every PK or for killing one of the troop busses, and the mission does not end until the invaders abort or complete their mission.
This would give the whole Itani/Serco war a nice dynamic feel to it, but it would take place over sufficient lengths of time that there wouldn't be a "Planetside/Shadowbane" syndrome where you wake up one morning and the whole map looks different. First a player would see that "hmm, there sure have been a lot of serco in Deneb this past month" and then "wow, there's been a lot of serco attacking Aeron's worth the past couple weeks" and ONLY then would the station switch hands. For those worried about territory growing too small, it would take a half year to completely take over Deneb or Geira. That's more than enough time for the devs to create a side-story line in which the losing side gets some special weapon or other if they feel things are getting too out of hand.
Okay, so let's say that there could be an actual long-term consequence to these missions. If enough border incursion missions are completed within a one-month timespan (this would be some ungodly number, say 1,000) then for the following month Station Assault missions become available to that nation (rationale: now that we have space superiority we can begin to assault the station).
5) Station Assault
These missions will be extremely difficult and will require a team of hardcore players to complete. If enough incursion missions have been completed over a one-month period, then the closest enemy station to friendly territory becomes the target of station assault missions. (For Serco, this would be Aeron's worth, for Itani, it would be the Geira Border Station). These missions would function similarly to border incursion missions, except the goal would be to maintain a presence within 3k of the enemy station. Once one member of the group gets inside 3k of the enemy station, a countdown timer begins. So long as there is one group member within the 3k sphere the timer will contiue to count down, but once the timer has begun if all group members leave the 3k sphere then the mission fails.
The timer would be fairly long (5-10 minutes or so) and all the while the invaders will have to fight off station def bots as well as other players while making sure at least one member survives within the 3k sphere. If the team survives for the alloted time, 3 busses (loaded with troops) are warped into the sector and head for the nearest entry dock. If 2 out of 3 of the busses make it to the dock, then the mission is a success.
Even though this mission would be extremely difficult, the alignment of the station would not change immediately. Only if enough Station Assault missions are completed over a given period of time (say, 100 successful assault missions within 1 month) would the station ownership switch hands.
When this happens the system in question would become red/blue on the map, the border between Serco/Itani having shifted by one station. Incursion missions as well as defense missions would then take place in the red/blue system.
If both a serco station and an itani station were under assault missions, the first nation to complete 100 successful assaults would win, and the losing nation would have to go through another month-long round of incursion missions before trying to take back their station.
6) Station Defense
Every time a group took a station assault mission, station defense missions would become available to groups of the defending nation. They would recieve intelligence that <x> station is under attack, and the goal would be to kill as many of the invaders as possible. The whole group gets xp for every PK or for killing one of the troop busses, and the mission does not end until the invaders abort or complete their mission.
This would give the whole Itani/Serco war a nice dynamic feel to it, but it would take place over sufficient lengths of time that there wouldn't be a "Planetside/Shadowbane" syndrome where you wake up one morning and the whole map looks different. First a player would see that "hmm, there sure have been a lot of serco in Deneb this past month" and then "wow, there's been a lot of serco attacking Aeron's worth the past couple weeks" and ONLY then would the station switch hands. For those worried about territory growing too small, it would take a half year to completely take over Deneb or Geira. That's more than enough time for the devs to create a side-story line in which the losing side gets some special weapon or other if they feel things are getting too out of hand.
Maybe to inspire a competitive edge among players is to have a botting competition. Kill a certain number of bots from a list, and see who gets there first. Naturally, more powerful bots will be worth more points, for each death, points are deducted, and whoever gets to the goal first gets credits and combat experience.
Phaserlight, you forget the Goliath Cannon... Serco ships wouldn't get very far into Deneb.
celkan, i dont think the goliaths would work very well against fighters. it would kind of be like trying to swat a WWII era fighter with the main guns of a battleship. the aiming takes too long and the target can alter course too easily.
Or it could be like the Macross cannon and simply obliterate everything in its path across a fairly wide swath, making aiming less troublesome. And from the storyline, it sounds more like this type of cannon. It is, as they say, a rather big boom.
Still, I quite like these mission ideas, though station assualts might need to be modified- what if the defenders make the station their home station and keep pouring out the troops? With decently equal skills on both sides, the defender's advantage is nothing short of neigh-insurmountable. How about forgetting the 'mission failed if no attackers remaining' aspect, and just keep the countdown to the transports appearing? The attackers have to protect the transports from the gathered defense.
Still, I quite like these mission ideas, though station assualts might need to be modified- what if the defenders make the station their home station and keep pouring out the troops? With decently equal skills on both sides, the defender's advantage is nothing short of neigh-insurmountable. How about forgetting the 'mission failed if no attackers remaining' aspect, and just keep the countdown to the transports appearing? The attackers have to protect the transports from the gathered defense.
Concerning the Station Assault / Defense missions, what if they worked a little like this:
Assault:
Group of players take the mission. However, when they take it, their respective empire lends an "Escort Carrier" to help aid the pilots - basically, it gets stationed about 5k away from the station to be attacked and allows killed attackers a respawn point. However, due to its small size, only x number of respawns per pilot is allowed (say 3 for example).
Station Bots respawn a set number of times, then are "exhausted" from the station.
Works pretty much the same after that, except the transports warp in and attempt to dock after all the Station Bots have been destroyed. If any of them make it to the station, they raid the base. Each player who participated recieves a nice stolen technology, along with experience / cash. The more transports that make it, the better the item since a greater search / raid was conducted.
However, the whole raid is on a timer once the Escort Carrier enters the target system (not sure how long it should be), after which time an opposing fleet jumps in-system to save the base and slaughter the attackers, if they try to stay.
And I like the idea of say how after 100 successful raids it switches to your hands.
Defense:
When an Escort Carrier is detected in a system, bases nearby are all alerted, and players can accept the mission to save it. No respawning is allowed to the besieged base, but the nearby bases you can respawn to are put to "Attack Status" and fling you out 1.5k (distance should of course be tweaked) away from the station when undocking.
If the station is defended successfully up until the Assault raid fails, all defenders (whether in the sector or not) are awared exp & cash based on their participation.. probably a cross of time spent in target sector and # of kills earned, so people cant just take it right before it ends and get free exp.
Assault:
Group of players take the mission. However, when they take it, their respective empire lends an "Escort Carrier" to help aid the pilots - basically, it gets stationed about 5k away from the station to be attacked and allows killed attackers a respawn point. However, due to its small size, only x number of respawns per pilot is allowed (say 3 for example).
Station Bots respawn a set number of times, then are "exhausted" from the station.
Works pretty much the same after that, except the transports warp in and attempt to dock after all the Station Bots have been destroyed. If any of them make it to the station, they raid the base. Each player who participated recieves a nice stolen technology, along with experience / cash. The more transports that make it, the better the item since a greater search / raid was conducted.
However, the whole raid is on a timer once the Escort Carrier enters the target system (not sure how long it should be), after which time an opposing fleet jumps in-system to save the base and slaughter the attackers, if they try to stay.
And I like the idea of say how after 100 successful raids it switches to your hands.
Defense:
When an Escort Carrier is detected in a system, bases nearby are all alerted, and players can accept the mission to save it. No respawning is allowed to the besieged base, but the nearby bases you can respawn to are put to "Attack Status" and fling you out 1.5k (distance should of course be tweaked) away from the station when undocking.
If the station is defended successfully up until the Assault raid fails, all defenders (whether in the sector or not) are awared exp & cash based on their participation.. probably a cross of time spent in target sector and # of kills earned, so people cant just take it right before it ends and get free exp.
EXCELLENT ideas, I believe. I'd like to see at least some implemented. On the subject of the goliath cannons against fighters, I would imagine that the goliath cannons are more likely to be employed as anti-capital ship emplacements (can be justified by power expenses, targeting/tracking difficulties, 'powerup' timers or delays to cannon activation, etc.), and small fighter-based incursions into Itani space would be more likely to be dealt with by Itani fighters. (This could allow the creation of counterintelligence missions created when someone from the opposing faction accepts a reconaissance mission into hostile territory, similar to the relationship between convoy and pirate missions).
Wow. These are good. If the station assault/defense missions were put in, the game would suddenly have a purpose besides levelling up. THat would be cool.
However, with #3, make it so that it fails if more than half the group leaves the sector/is destroyed/logs off. That way it won't take 5 or 6 hours to do.
However, with #3, make it so that it fails if more than half the group leaves the sector/is destroyed/logs off. That way it won't take 5 or 6 hours to do.
Roguelazer: right. Of course this would all subject to tweaking, and would need some testing. Conceptually though I hope we see a few of these types of missions implemented (especially the convoy/pirate missions ;)
Bored: thanks! I actually intended "Border Defense" missions to be linked to "Border Incursion" just as you describe it. One group gets a mission to go into enemy space, another group gets a mission to destroy them.
Parahelios: I like that carrier idea, definitely something I can see happening once we get cap ships. Getting some kind of booty from a successful raid is also a good idea. I don't think there would be a problem with letting defenders home in the station that's under attack, it should be very hard (although not impossible) for the attackers to succeed. I guess it would just need some testing/tweaking.
Bored: thanks! I actually intended "Border Defense" missions to be linked to "Border Incursion" just as you describe it. One group gets a mission to go into enemy space, another group gets a mission to destroy them.
Parahelios: I like that carrier idea, definitely something I can see happening once we get cap ships. Getting some kind of booty from a successful raid is also a good idea. I don't think there would be a problem with letting defenders home in the station that's under attack, it should be very hard (although not impossible) for the attackers to succeed. I guess it would just need some testing/tweaking.
I'd like to see this concept as well, but not limit the assaults to Serco or Itani stations. Why not expand it to Grey Space as well? Let's go colonize! :D
Just wanted to update the list with a few more ideas:
7) Group mining missions
The group would recieve a list of ore which they would have to find and bring back to the station. The ore could range from the very easy to find (Ferric, Carbonic) a little more rare (Ishik, VanAzek) to the very rare (Denic, Lanthanic). The amount of ore to find would be scaled according to the number of group members, giving a slight edge to larger groups. The entire group would be given a mining xp bonus when the list was completed.
8) Research vessel defense mission
These missions would be a lot like group combat, but instead of going out to hunt bots the group would be sent with an NPC "research vessel" to monitor an out of the way, empty sector where wave after wave of increasingly difficult bots would be sent after them. The group would get a combat bonus at the end of each wave. I think this one would be a lot of fun because the bots would all come and attack you at once and it would be a challenge to survive each wave together as a group while defending the research vessel. If the research vessel is destroyed, the mission ends.
7) Group mining missions
The group would recieve a list of ore which they would have to find and bring back to the station. The ore could range from the very easy to find (Ferric, Carbonic) a little more rare (Ishik, VanAzek) to the very rare (Denic, Lanthanic). The amount of ore to find would be scaled according to the number of group members, giving a slight edge to larger groups. The entire group would be given a mining xp bonus when the list was completed.
8) Research vessel defense mission
These missions would be a lot like group combat, but instead of going out to hunt bots the group would be sent with an NPC "research vessel" to monitor an out of the way, empty sector where wave after wave of increasingly difficult bots would be sent after them. The group would get a combat bonus at the end of each wave. I think this one would be a lot of fun because the bots would all come and attack you at once and it would be a challenge to survive each wave together as a group while defending the research vessel. If the research vessel is destroyed, the mission ends.
In the design wikki, the devs have said that capturable sectors are going to become a reality. So, perhaps we could get some discussion on this going again? How difficult should it be to capture a sector/station? How long/how many missions would it take? How many players would comprise a reasonable assault force? Should the involvement of a cap ship be a necessity? (see Parahelios' suggestion) What about having defense turrets on the station? What about the Itani goliath cannons in the backstory?
How difficult should it be to capture a sector/station?
To capture a sector would require taking out and holding at bay any strike forces from that system that come to defend it. Taking a station should be very hard. Once you've initiated combat with the strike force you should loose all docking privilages as if you had fired inthe NFZ, and any and all defensive bots should be launched to defend. Only after all station bots have been terminated should you then be able to attempt a docking. Also, once this is possible, stations themselves should have turrets. But that will be covered below.
How long/how many missions would it take?
This all depends on the number of stations in the system, and how many different factions your having to deal with. If it's Serco in Itani space I would imagine that you would need to take every inhabated sector (stations) in route to the final destination, so if there are 4 stations in a system and your mission is to control one, you'd need to disable the defences of all the bots in the system, and control the wormholes so that seekers from neiboring friendly systmes can not come in to re-enforce there station defences. So, one (1) mission per station, plus wormhole.
How many players would comprise a reasonable assault force?
To take a single station, I would imagine probably 15-30 players. But per previous question, you would need other groups to hold wormhole sectors so re-enforcements don't show up. Those groups would probably be in the 5-10 player range, and possibly 2 of those groups at max (if border system, you only need to defend one wormhole.
Should the involvement of a cap ship be a necessity?
I would hope so, this is what will give players a place to heal and reload (if implemented as such at some point). This is also a great way to disable the stations turret defences and provide cover from attacks.
Should stations have defensive turrets?
Most definintly, just use the ones that are currently on the HAC's, or at least there programming paramaters. And allow players of the defending nation to dock and man such turrets.
Should there be "Itani Goliath Cannons" in Itani border systems, per backstory?
If it's in the backstory it should be in the game, unless for some reason the story is altered so that they were destroyed by a serco incursion at some point in the not so distant past, pre-present time. These should not be player controlled though, and really should only be used to defend against HAC's and other capital ships from entering that system/sector. IIRC, this is why the Serco started invading Itani space via grey space.
To capture a sector would require taking out and holding at bay any strike forces from that system that come to defend it. Taking a station should be very hard. Once you've initiated combat with the strike force you should loose all docking privilages as if you had fired inthe NFZ, and any and all defensive bots should be launched to defend. Only after all station bots have been terminated should you then be able to attempt a docking. Also, once this is possible, stations themselves should have turrets. But that will be covered below.
How long/how many missions would it take?
This all depends on the number of stations in the system, and how many different factions your having to deal with. If it's Serco in Itani space I would imagine that you would need to take every inhabated sector (stations) in route to the final destination, so if there are 4 stations in a system and your mission is to control one, you'd need to disable the defences of all the bots in the system, and control the wormholes so that seekers from neiboring friendly systmes can not come in to re-enforce there station defences. So, one (1) mission per station, plus wormhole.
How many players would comprise a reasonable assault force?
To take a single station, I would imagine probably 15-30 players. But per previous question, you would need other groups to hold wormhole sectors so re-enforcements don't show up. Those groups would probably be in the 5-10 player range, and possibly 2 of those groups at max (if border system, you only need to defend one wormhole.
Should the involvement of a cap ship be a necessity?
I would hope so, this is what will give players a place to heal and reload (if implemented as such at some point). This is also a great way to disable the stations turret defences and provide cover from attacks.
Should stations have defensive turrets?
Most definintly, just use the ones that are currently on the HAC's, or at least there programming paramaters. And allow players of the defending nation to dock and man such turrets.
Should there be "Itani Goliath Cannons" in Itani border systems, per backstory?
If it's in the backstory it should be in the game, unless for some reason the story is altered so that they were destroyed by a serco incursion at some point in the not so distant past, pre-present time. These should not be player controlled though, and really should only be used to defend against HAC's and other capital ships from entering that system/sector. IIRC, this is why the Serco started invading Itani space via grey space.
Moving along with the group attack on stations, if we were able to fly into the atmosphere of a planet then a group could do attacks against stations on moons, planets, secret bases, cites. You wouldn't have to stop there. You could take alot of ideas from the upcoming movie, Serenity (aka FireFly). On stations there could be hostage situations but on planets you would be able to take hostages from the private sector. I imagine the list of ideas once we can fly into the atmosphere of planet just explodes. :)
Haven't the Devs said there isn't going to be any intereaction with planets, though? Or, at least, we won't be able to land on them?
Great Ideas!
The idea of taking over sectors/systems would be excellent and would incorperate the backstory into the game, I look forward to seeing these missions in-game if they are created
The idea of taking over sectors/systems would be excellent and would incorperate the backstory into the game, I look forward to seeing these missions in-game if they are created
> Haven't the Devs said there isn't going to be any intereaction with planets, though?
> Or, at least, we won't be able to land on them?
Actually, I think I remember John saying in one interview that landing on planets is likely to be implemented eventually, just not for a long time, and once they do start on it, it'll probably take about a year of work to get it how they want.
> Or, at least, we won't be able to land on them?
Actually, I think I remember John saying in one interview that landing on planets is likely to be implemented eventually, just not for a long time, and once they do start on it, it'll probably take about a year of work to get it how they want.
Also when a nation captures a station, they should get benefits from that station. say if Serco aquires an Itani Barracks Station, they get weapons, ammunition, and ship prices reduced by a certain percentage. And this increases the prices of ships, ammo, weapons etc. for Itani. This makes it a sort of strategy-based mission. Making the nation/group think of which station should be attacked first that would benefit them and would hurt the other nation etc. Just a thought