Recent Patch is a Good Move

[Context]

I believe the most recent patch with changes to Industry is a move in the right direction. Some of the details may need to be softened, and some may not be hard enough. However, if everyone can easily make everything there is not much economy. It basically stops at the two ends of the market, ores and final ships. This will hurt in the short term, and yes it will be frustrating to some players, especially those who are used to being able to get to the end game solo or with a very small team. This update forces us to integrate into a larger, more complex social dynamic.

 

Contrary to some comments I have heard, this does not help larger groups. Though this depends on what you define as larger. It does help medium sized groups which are well organized and can min-max their logistics well. God forbid we have to put a little extra thought into group interactions. If a small handful of people or fewer can make an everything factory, there is no economy.

 

PS. When I say end game here I don't mean the real end game, rather the being able to produce everything and do everything as if one is on a multiplayer Minecraft server. The real end game is developing a society large enough you need to craft a hundred page law codex and some players spend half their time playing as lawyers, where governments have a whole office dedicated to keeping up with and updating master service agreements with the corporations under their umbrella, and the military logistics officer figuring out how to increase the efficiency of getting supplies where they need to be by 0.6%. This is more than just Minecraft in space.