Alright. I have been playing eve on and off since 2008. And what i consistently did in eve was PI since it had been added to the game. I love the complexicity of PI that you actually need brain if you want to set up a PI infrastructure of 18 planets on all of your chars. That you have to consider them to be in close proximity for hauling, while at the same time trying to prevent ressource “bottlenecks” by finding proper planets and spots to engage in an effective, timesaving and lucrative PI business.
Now as I mentioned, what I love about PI is, you put up a plan, and the smarter you designed the plan, the less time you have to invest in maintaining your PI infrastructure afterwards. It is great because it kind of reminds me of the game FACTORIO, but slower paced(so a mixture of a Browsergame combined with the intelligence required like in factorio)
Now some of you might remember DUST 514, which was kinda an experiment from CCP to implement a cool feature, that did not work out that well, which is why they scraped it later on. It was the idea that corps can fight over planets. And up until now I think this might be a feature that CCP should look into in implementing, but of course differently.
I am talking also about giving some purpose of some currently pretty useless ingame items (humans, militants etc). These could be assets for PI. For example Stack up your PI command center with Scientists for faster Manufacturing speed. Slaves/robots or whatever for improved yields. And then there also comes the PVP component into place. It shouldn’t be necessarily Corp based, but Capsuleer based. Like an individual player can actually buy or manufacture and then send Militants(soldiers, and maybe other units) towards neighbouring PI systems, raiding them and taking some of their ressources if successfull. Also you could add a feature of Scouting or trading with other PI infrastructures , for peacefull coexistence, or sometihng like that. PI could be turned into something like a Miniature Strategy game.
Ofc this idea is very raw, and I think it should be carefully thought through to not ruin the current already great PI experience. It should be an addition and make PI really an even more mentally challenging ingame feature but not in a way where as someone who does PI has to constantly worry about attacks etc…
Maybe allow to conflicts only to occour in areas where 2 PI capsuleers try to mine in the same region, allowing them to destroy the Mining node of the other by sending military units. Also using military units to mark a territority etc…
There would be plenty of possibilites for that.
Whats your opinion/ideas to adding new features to PI?
Adding extra configuration options to a PI setup in the form of items allows players more choice to speed up their factories or the extractors, or to more succesfully defend against raids.
I wonder how feasible it is though.
And I have a lot of questions, like how it would work when you attack PI on a planet that has dozens of players on it. Would you raid one setup? At random? Or would you have control over which one to attack? Would everyone be able to defend, giving better PI survivability if people get together on one planet instead of spreading out?
Would attacking PI be allowed in high sec? Where would troops to raid and defend come from, player made? New PI troop trainin centers?
I think it could be a great minigame within the game and add a lot of planetary gameplay even for people who aren’t invested in PI - they can now buy (or train, manufacture?) raiding troops to try and steal from other players who have a PI setup.
Pros:
More depth to PI because of new choices - extra yield, production or defences
Something to keep you busy even when all PI setups are running
Possibility to fight and interact with other players on planets
Planets are meaningful even to people who don’t do PI
Cons:
It’s not a simple change, I think it would require a lot of development work to allow players to raid planets. Is that worth it?
Lots of interactions still unclear how it should work
CCP actually discussed the possibility of attacking each others colonies, as part of a potential expansion to PI.
It was when CCP Seagull was the Exec Producer.
All that was delivered in the end was updated graphics and little else. I still hope that one day, CCP will expand the play around PI, because it could be a complete game within the game and have a lot more depth, if CCP implemented what they previously discussed.
I know too little about PI, but those all sound like great ideas.
And I fully appreciate the way you steered clear of outright colony to colony attacks. This game is already based too much on aggression and the end game of that has always been obvious…mega-faction monopolies and stagnation.
The limited aggression you suggest would add to PI play, yet maintain its attractiveness as a stable production activity. Too many people think unhinged PVP is the answer to everything, despite no game succeeding with that formula…there has to be limits.
Yeah I dont want the current PI experience ruined. PI should still be mainly a great sideincome source with low maintenance.
So if there is some kind of PVP, it should occour with a warning a few days or week prior for Troops to arrive somewhere. Also could be arranged like Highsec no pvp allowed, lowsec limited or complete pvp allowed and nullsec eventually complete pvp allowed.(allthough again, with some limitations to not ruin the sideincome of players)
I think CCP should really take a look into FACTORIO, I’d love to see a similar, probably a slightly less complex concept, or parts inspired by factorio integrated in PI .
Also stuff like Planet types provide different bonuses, like Lava planets provide more Powergrid/power due to abundance of thermal heat. Maybe even powerplants, and maybe more buildings for more complexicity. There are really thousands of possibilities how you could add new features to PI by looking at some strategy games/buildergames. Or even Native populations causing troubles if you try to dismiss a warning that you try to harvest an area occupied by natives etc… Maybe even affecting the Planets Climate etcetc… (would all be probably too indepth already, but whatever just brainstorming some of the ideas that just spring into my mind)
Also stuff like, an Astrahus or other form of station in a planetary orbit may benefit from the number of PI Colonies of the planet its above(maybe lower fuelcost or some ■■■■), maybe even with a functioning Customs office module… making PI on that planet cheaper&safer. This would add a more strategic value to planets.
