For PVP, need to create more opportunity for smaller scale engagements maybe introduce Unique buildings that give different bonus or some sort of limited resources(very limited # that spawn per day) to fight over. Colixium is a first step, but it's still widely available and it's unlimited as long as people are mining. Right now everyone can just sit in their own corner and do their stuff.

Gamma is nice but if you actually manage to kick someone off gamma, chances are a sizable number of their players will just quit. Not exactly good for the game.

For PVE/Industry, keep introducing new module/bots. Maybe a new faction of NPC to fight against that have a chance to drop elite equipments or drop "crystals" that could reinforce(aka upgrade) current equipment. Better missions that involve what hunter said, assault npc base etc.

Carebears stay for the grind that might get them something unique to brag about, like +20 dragonslayer or something.

PVPers stay for the opportunity to experience the adrenaline that comes from close fights or the slim chance of winning when the odds aren't in their favor.

puts universal answer in:

because its a sandbox!

/cynism

They were called the Conflux

They would infest TPs, bombers would have to nuke the infest to open the routs to locations. The longer the infestation, the more nukes it took to destroy it.  While high lvls of AI defended the infest.  Higher lvls of AI (talking about observer lvl or higher) destroyed structures, players, anything that was shootable in the sector,,,island,,,that was sepperated from the map.  The TP on the adjacient islands would be infested...not the isolated island TPs.. So outside forces could rescue the trapped island. 

But Conflux was lore, a part of the total game.  They had a history, and were the AI that brought conflict to everyone that flew in space. Miners were shot by them, cargo ships, everyone. When they saw you they attacked. not a matter of running around them, and they go back to their programed march...they chased you to your destination...or your demise.

This brought trades to that game,,like escorts, and conflux shooters. That kept shipping lanes open. I know someone in a sequer does not want overlords chasing them to the 'end' but this is what is missing, in this game.

I should admit that just because AI was no mercy, it was lvl set for risk/reward scenarios.  And alpha areas would still be like they are now. But a beta with its entry tps camped by AI and Observers blowing up everything for hrs on end. Including doing the SAPs, might bring some life to the show.

When Corps go awol from the game this control, or content, boots them from their home. If one player multi boxing against high lvl AI keeps a OP from going poof. Cool.  But this dynamic function puts a cycle on OP ownership, with the game doing the dirty work of booting lazy, or awol players back to alpha.

A pointy stick works,,,,,,sometimes..:)

Celebro, that cynical remark is the response i get usually when calling for upgrades to the current pet-zoo npcs in perp.

really, the backgroundstory says we are at war with the local native life-form, that are the npc robots there, and we have just gained access to 6 islands via a virus until they built up firewalls to block it off.

what the background-story doesnt tell, is that the side-effect of the "bergers virus" is also, that all robots within the captured area are totally ripped off their "sentinent logic" and most of them can only walk in circles anymore. After a mutation of the virus, some of the robots started to even ignore the human threats (orange spawns).

its an equilibrium!

Stranger,

Mega  corps?.. there are no mega corps in this game I'm afraid.

Anyways my point is there is a need to create more tools for the sand and solo content, not for my sake, but to keep other content loving players interested more than a few months of play. Religiously keeping this narrow sandbox definition to 'pvp/create your own content', is not going to keep players subbing. Reason being there are not enough players. Anyways I like the direction Devs have been taking now focusing on assignments, spark teleport.

@Anni, not too sure if the game lure is a priority atm, but surely would need some more thought in the near future.

post #3000 !

The Lore is a kinda important part, since its the base of the whole story driven content and PvE. The inital lore we had during beta had some logic-loopholes and was then adjusted to fit the games content (aka how can an evil corp like M2S even exist when we are all in the same spacestation controlled by the syndicate...)

The lore says we are on this planet to fight against someone
- The sentinent robotic lifeform on NIA, that has its own three faction that dont like each other

to gather something
- Energy for Earth, transfered through the wormhole by a building on New Virginia

and that we work for someone
- the three megacorps united under the syndicate, but each working for its own profit first.

these three core statements of the Lore are also the core elements of the PvE content for a Sandbox game.
All three are nowhere to be found ingame anymore. Fragments have been there at the beginning, but they got removed, or nerfed down, or just thrown in

1. "Standing" and "faction choice"
   Once, when you did a mission for a subcorp of conglomerate A,  you lost reputation of the conglemerate B and C. The relation extensions still contain the effect to reduce the reputation loss which is not present anymore.

2. Act of agression
   We had police towers - reacting instantly to any act of agression against someone without pvp-flag. It was possible to shoot someone down right next of the Alpha terminals, but it was a guaranteed loss for the attacker (exploits aside). The missing factor was persistant consequence for the attacker. After killing someone under police protection, he just respawned in the very same terminal as the victim, and could instantly undock again without any standing loss, or beeing perma-pvp flagged, etc. This bad agent could do that as long as he had robots to waste, as demonstrated by a group of M2S agents for the sake of the game!.

   The "Hotfix" against that was the implementation of the syndicate protection on alpha, which we still have...

3. Factions
   they have zero meaning. you can create your agent, log in, and leave your "faction" instantly, and joining a player corp. with a few EP spent, you can drive all 5 colors of robots, and use all weapons with the same efficiency.
   NPC faction are also nothing but different colored bots sheeps that drop different colored kernels. They are supposed to fight each other and trying to get us off their planet... but when i undock from Tellesis terminal, i see a nuimqol, a pelistal and a thelodica orange-NAP spawn right next to each other...

4. Storyline missions
   There was an attemt to bring in a bit storyline into this world of sheep-farming. When you read "we have to stop them from building those nukes that they could fire on us" - dont you think that when you FAIL the mission, that they would actuall fire a nuke? Well, you lose 0.01 standing when you fail, and those npcs are always there, except some that you have to dig out of the ground with an artifact scanner...

5. ....

lost the red line halfway, sorry.

/post 3k

That's just asking for gold farmers or people to create unlimited trial accounts.