Who am I paying taxes to?
This abstract Aphellia entity, which also collects market taxes and already makes huge sums of money that way?
What do I get from Aphellia for this generous donation of 1M per tile per week?
The privilege of magically being protected from looters to take away my hard earned assets?
I already expected this when territory warfare was rumoured, but it just doesn't seem to come.
So what am I paying for exactly?
The entire Lore of DU is about settlers colonising new worlds and tailor their own fate. There is no "state" that I bought the territory from. It was new, unclaimed land. If anything, I should be the one that collects taxes to my tenants (If I manage to find some anyway).
And if you really think that Aphellia or "the state" can and should do this - Then give us ability to overthrow this greedy bastard, because apart from collecting money from us by selling us schematics, charging territory and market taxes and God knows what else in the future, Aphellia is just in the way of progress.
I've been living in this universe since Alpha, and I was really enthusiastic about the game. I understand that progress should come at some price. But from my perspective I already paid the price by investing insane amount of time in mind-crushingly boring mining (thank god for mining units), doing logistics to transfer the ore, selling on maket, etc - all that so that I can finally start doing what I came here for - construct a cool starship, and go and explore the universe.
Stepping out of my DU character and looking it from a casual gamer experience:
NQ, you made so much effort in slowing down the game (schematics, and now taxes)- up to a point of grinding halt.
DU no longer feels like a getaway form a real-life grind. Instead, it now feels like a prison where you are taunted with a promise that you can do anything that you want, only to be blocked with an overwhelming amount of grind that's in the way of your dream.
Being a software developer myself I know that you sometimes need to make compromises in order to deliver in a timely manner, but Demeter as-is is not acceptable.
Cut down the taxes to a symbolic amount, get rid of Atmo brakes tweak, and then we can continue to fight to live another day.