This has been rattling around in my head for the last few days, so I finally decided to try to actually get the idea fleshed out. TL;DR universal rewards, more events that motivate in-universe changes instead of more hangar flair.
4.2.1 brought the Resource Drive online, which I’m not a fan of. It tries to get players to care about in universe events for out of universe reasons. Because of the earnable paints and armor, players are more concerned with those than supporting a particular planet/corporation. Events like the Resource Drive are closer to “item giveaways” than “events”. These “events” are unhelpful in fleshing out the Persistent Universe as something that feels alive, and instead promote hollow, laborious gameplay sessions that actively discourage engaging with the Persistent Universe by replacing it with FOMO. Why choose a corporation that aligns with you/your character when you can grind for all of them? Another good example of the type of event I dislike was the “Fight for Pyro” event. The in-game lore and motivations for each faction was mostly ignored for whichever paint each player thought was the best. I’d agree that actually finding faction information was difficult and even basically impossible in the case of the Frontier Fighters; but even if each faction had a 5 page dossier and backstory I still think they would’ve been ignored for the red and black paint that was up for grabs. As simple as it sounds, I think most of these issues I have will go away once hex code paints are available (I know, I know, soonTM). Once custom paints are available, players are going to toss these event paints to the side. Players can have a red and yellow ship instead of an ArcCorp themed one, or a green and purple ship instead of a Headhunters one.
Until we get that, I think the solution is to run events with a universal reward similar to the Supply or Die Event, but with opposing sides and only one winner (To be clear, anyone who participated, winning or losing side, would get the reward). What would be a mandatory addition is easily accessible lore for each faction involved in the event, tailored in particular like a prologue to the event itself. Something like Hurston Dynamics vs the United Workers of Hurston in some kind of struggle about the Indentured Servitude contracts. Make it a competitive event with cargo hauling or PVP, but the important bit is that doing just one mission will attribute the hangar reward. This would motivate players that care about the storyline to take a side and shape the outcome of the universe, while letting players who just wanted the reward quickly get back to gameplay they enjoy.
I’m just shooting from the hip on these ideas but maybe HD wins and they charge higher docking fees to make up for the extra security they hire. Or the UWH wins and the price of Attritions go up to compensate for the demands for better working conditions. This is getting beyond the scope of what I’m talking about, but there could even be an economy based trigger that restarts the mission line every X months/years for newcomers or anyone that missed it the last time. This can deeply enrich the Persistent Universe itself with storylines people can easily pay attention to along with a universal hangar reward for participating in any capacity on either side. Unfortunately the entire storyline itself would be completely ignored if working for one side gets a blue paint in their hangar and working for the other a red paint.
The Persistent Universe as a living, breathing place will continue to suffer at the expense of ship paints and item giveaways. I understand it’s still in Alpha so I’m willing to be patient, but the halfway approach to introducing lore and storylines to the game in 2025 and beyond will continue to fall flat until there are tangible consequences in the game itself, instead of another paint that will ultimately be forgotten about once there is more customization in game.
