I just had a thought that could add some fun and diversity to the game. In addition to the starter planets provided by the devs what if there was an alternate list of starter planets offered by existing players?
I suppose there could be different ways of implementing this and choosing the planets. What I was thinking is that it would be a selectable option for the governor of a planet. In addition, these alternate starter planets would offer incentives such as “start here and get an extra 25k cash” or “start here and get extra fabs & building materials”, etc.
I think this would be a great way to give new players more options or get a kickstart if they are willing to be more adventurous. It also gives established players a way to encourage development of more planets with a mix of new and old players.
I think that would make a nice gameplay addition to the ‘Representation Center’ coming soon. Like the top five rep center are added to the starter planets with a disclaimer.
Something like having a governor set (with a cap) amount of money or resources pulled out of the ARC’s funds.
An interesting mechanism for vets to try and influence the economy long term, provides an interesting use for the rep center besides it being a unironic money hole, and provides a new way for new players to engage with the game.
for New players, it complicates the [already daunting] task of choosing your Start Planet (more options, more anxiety about how to make a choice that you don’t/can’t understand, though you know it will make a big difference to how the Game goes)
therefore Devs might need to put some work into that phase of the Game (at least more Documentation, but maybe new screens)
money/resources set aside by Govs for new players could get sucked up quick when there’s a big wave of Noobs. Those Incentives would need to stop when the reserve runs dry (which means more Dev work)
I suspect that a very high % of new players drop out very quickly, so the Incentives could get expensive for Govs
I figured rather than be listed alongside the dev provided starter planets they would be listed separately (though on the same selection screen) along with a disclaimer.
As for the resources - yes, the starter planet availability would have to be limited by how much the governor sets aside. So if the incentive is 25k cash and the governor has allocated 100k then on the selection screen it will say [4 spots available] and once those spots are filled nobody else can start there until the governor allocates more.
Maybe incentive resources could be returned to the pool when people COLIQ or inactive accounts get wiped. But that additional dev work might not even be necessary. Plenty of governors can easily afford the losses from new player drop outs. Anyway, I think this is a more fun money sink than some of the other things like the corporate “prestige” buildings that don’t do anything.