Summary: This post contains a series of relatively simple ways to create real, player-driven demand for higher tier goods and resources. It does not address, nor attempt to offer solutions, to the concepts of currency inflation/deflation through creation/destruction. The belief of the author is that a more organic and natural state of player-to-player transactions is desired over MM buys.
Current State/Solution: MM buys for high-tier goods that have (currently) low player demand
Potential Alternatives: Use current game mechanics to create a need for these goods.
1). Building Degradation
2). HQ upgrades
3). Recipes in Tier 1 and 2 buildings that require Tier 3 and Tier 4 inputs to produce at better resource efficiency (in-game example: FLX)
4). Drones and Electronics as building costs in new “automated” buildings – high-tier versions of low-tier buildings that do the same thing but with less area and at much higher cost/unit due to building cost/investment.
Examples:
1). Building Degradation
Add UTS to buildings costs for Technician and Engineer-tier buildings (as TRU is used); especially where thematic (PP3, PP4, ECA, ELP, SCA, MCA, SKF, TNP, APF, DRS)
Add DEC to building costs for HB3, HBC, HBM, HB4… HAB to HB4, HBL… FUN for HB5/HBL
Basically, better utilize the UPF as a way to create interesting costs for buildings (and HQ upgrades)
2). HQ upgrades
Slightly less reliance on fabs, add in other goods. HAB is a great way to keep FAB costs in the equation while adding demand from the under-utilized building. LOG and COM could be included reasonably early to require a push for tech. SP, BWS, BMF, RAD, FLP, FC, TRA, BCO, DEC, UTS could all make appearances early in the progression to require pushes for higher level goods by players.
Goal is to make “going wide” with bases feel more similar in effort to building ships as far as variety and tier of goods is concerned, rather than just mass producing fabs.
3). Recipes in low tier buildings that require high-tier goods to produce at better resource efficiency
This may require some tweaking of high tier recipes to reduce cost per good to make recipes viable. The other option is to make the new recipes longer duration with commensurate input costs to “spread out” the cost of the high tier good. Examples:
BMP – 10C, 20H, 1BAC –24hrs–> 2600PE
INC – 4HCP, 1SEN –12hrs–> 6C
PP1 - 2FAL, 40NR —12hrs → 6BSE
WEL – 2AL, 1HE, 1BCO –5hrs 45m → 8TRU
FP - 200H20, 1AWF → 240DW
POW, NFI, BAC, BLE, FAN, LDI, AST, FET, FAL, WAL, CF, AWF, SAR, HPC, SEN, LD, SAL, SA – all examples that could quite easily be used in lower tier ingredients
4). The most complicated of the ideas, essentially new higher-tier versions of low-tier buildings that operate with only a few technicians. They include drones in their building costs as well as some other flavorings like LOG, DOU, etc. The point is – they don’t do it more efficiently in cost, but in area, which makes their lower ROI attractive only if area-limited. Perhaps they also have higher volume output as well (further emphasizing their role as reduced-area-at-higher-cost role)
[edit - showed some love to software in a list]