Bluedick

From what I've gathered, the main way of travelling between systems will be through stargates similarly to EVE, except here they will be player made. Now I was wondering what would be the benefit for an organisation to build a stargate if anyone can use it after being constructed ? Will stargates be player controlled, or will they just become neutral entities once built ? And will they be destructible ? Having them player controlled would open up a number of gameplay possibilities such as taking over stargates, setting up tolls, limiting the use of the gate for enemies of the controlling corp, or if you're banned from using a gate, hacking into it to be able to use it... Of course even if the gates will be neutral, gameplay like that can arise, you just have to camp one side or the other with ships or a station. Moreover having destructible stargates would open up a lot of options for warfare, making it possible for a defender to slow an enemy down by destroying stargates on their path, as well as to allow an attacker to destroy gates between enemy systems to hinder their movements (that would be similar to blowing up bridges/railroads behind enemy lines to prevent reinforcement of the front line), or between enemy systems and the outside world to destroy their trade with the rest of the galaxy. Finally, having an evolving landscape of routes between places, would alongside spicing trading up a bit, give some use to the mechanic that has been mentioned several time of travelling between systems using FTL engines. They mentioned that the trip would last around a week, and you would need a very well built and expensive ship, so if stargates become public and indestructible after construction, the only use of this would be to travel to systems outside the network of gates. However, if some of the aforementioned mechanics are implemented, you might have a much better reason to do such a trip, for example to smuggle goods into an embargoed system or to make a strategic attack deep into enemy territory if you can't break through their stargate's defenses. What do you think ? Should stargates be neutral, or should they be player controlled ? And should they be destuctible ?

This is not necessarily the case, in the real world for example ground resources in Europe are pretty much depleted, but it is still a main hub of activity as it has stable governments, high population, a lot of infrastructure, and can easily import what it needs raw material wise from abroad. If the right mechanics are in place, the same thing could arise in this game as well. As long as there is enough value in land and the infrastructure already built, and the cost of buying raw materials is not too high (depending on the ease of ferying materials from the ressource rich places to the resource depleted ones), people are not going to abandon depleted places. If all the mechanics are well designed, having depletable resources could create different places specialized in producing different things, which besides making the game world more interesting would be a great thing for trade gameplay, as it will be profitable for merchants to ferry ressources from the fringes to the core, and on the return trip to bring back manufactured stuff like ships, weapons, components, food or whatever is in need on the fringes due to the lack of efficient manufacturing/farming there. And more trade would mean more piracy, which in turn will provide a need of policing/protection of trade routes by government or mercenary forces, and the list goes on. All this to say that places can still be important hubs of activity even after the depletion of their resources, if the gameplay mechanics are done right. And to be done right, the mechanics need to ensure that the cost of importing raw materials is not too high and that there are big incentives for people living in depleted areas to not move out.

Congratz !

To balance that (keeping in mind that it is off course really hard to predict anything at this point), I can see established players or organisations ferrying new players out off the starting area/planet for a couple of reasons: -New players, would be one of the most valuable resources for competitive organisations, and these would surely invest into a couple of recruiters and "space-buses" at spawn areas to snatch up new recruits. Depending on the population of the game, and the level off competition between factions, new players could be faced with a very large choice of organisations and frequent departures of ships to these destinations. -For the same reason, as the game matures, and given the right game mechanics the starting planet's economy might develop to be centered on new players, with accomodation, jobs, storage, as well as organisations dedicated to the interstellar/interplanetary transport of new players once they've earned enough money to pay for the ticket, but not enough to pay for their own space/jump worthy space-craft. -Some charitable people/organisations might help out new players by handing out starter ships, or organizing free transportation though I wouldn't count too much on it.