so, from what ive read over the past few months, high ranks have been getting increasingly bored with this game. There is nothing new after rank 350, and the new stuff at rank 350 isnt anything to look forward to. If you focus on research throughout the game the tree ends around rank 500, and the only point to really keep playing is to pvp, because NPCs are a dead end...

however, there is very little incentive to keep playing when you reach this endgame, because you are posed with a few problems. Mainly,

1) you only see the same people on your battle tab. this is pretty true throughout the game, but even more true at the 'endgame'.
2) the battle market is small and none of the buildings or artifacts are really worth buying, and the ct value of the modules is pathetic.
3) the only point of planet theft is to piss people off. once you get to a certain point you dont need the resources. you just do it to make other ppl angry.
4) the thrill of collecting artifacts throughout the game is severely diminished at the endgame. the whole point of collecting artifacts was to make your ship better so people have a harder time killing you in pvp. however, because there are only maybe 100 (im being generous) people you find on your battle tab, youre bound to get alerted if you attack them. and when you get alerted, you have to deal with their friends. this is true of ALL LEGIONS. if a player wants you disabled, youre gonna get disabled. this brings to mind the screenshots of kaos being disabled posted by either adepts of vega or champions of vega. either way, he clearly outranked everyone in those legions, and they still dissabled him.
5) Research is only used for credits, or to attempt a ct lab discovery (that is, as long as you havent found everything)

so this is why i think many players are leaving. they wanted new content before, and unfortunately little has been released. i think in the last 4 months all high levels have gotten are a new titancore mission and the shadin missions. the base definitly kept some legions busy (some more than others ) but for the most part base building stopped keeping people interest once it hit level 4. base v base will be interesting, but again, im not sure how long that will keep players busy for more than a month or two.

so what can we do about this problem? especially since the people leaving are heavy ccers? here are some ideas ive had. ive posted some of them before, so i'll post the link to the thread after i mention the idea.

1) Planet Construction
Artificial Planets: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8145
Planet Forge: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5526
Moons: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3106&hilit=a+use+for+all+those+tiny+crappy+planets+you+hate

2) NEW research every month on the first. i understand dan is busy coding the big updates, but even if he made a linear chart of cost and requirements, while adding a new mineral every six months to advance the tree would be useful. im not sure about dans position on this, but maybe he can hire one person just to mess with some new module designs. new research means something for high levels to work for.

3) A secondary mission chain to go along with the biweekly for high levels only. i know this seems like alot of work, but perhaps create a new forum for fanfic missions, and let players vote on their favorite one every time a new chain starts. Zophah has made some good ones id love to see included into the game. and im sure if mission chain fanfics were encouraged then more players would write them.

4) NEW NPC factions. The ones we have are cool, but the npcs run out after a while, and once you have all the modules they tend to loose their luster. New factions would fix this.

5) Tournaments, where players have 'turns' to combat other players. 30 seconds to either initiate an attack or use an artifact. a limit of 10 artifacts and 3 restorers can be taken into the 'arena'. this would allow players to combat based on skill, instead of autoclicking really fast.

6) NEW battle market items. been suggested countless times, but we desperately need them.

7) NEW king of the hill planets. not ones like exotica that can be bricked beyond hope. i know it did get captured, but it was near impossible. anyway, im talking about tiny 1000x megarich planets. good enough to fight for, but impossible to defend efficiently without the help of a legion.

8) a war system. i read an excellent one earlier today. a predetermined engagement, where all resources, planets, and actions are taken into account. resources stolen are worth 1 point. an action is worth 500. a disable is worth 1000. a planet theft is worth 10000. you lose the planet theft points if the planet is retaken.

9) Abilities, specifically oriented for pvp. we have one for NPCs, and thats tactical remodulation, or mind trick if youre a genetaar. We need abilities that players can tactically use on other players in order to either enhance their chance at disable, or debuff an opposing ship. The tactical inner bypass did a great job at making battle more tactical. the only downside is its not worth 5 blue badges. i almost have 300 blues now, and i have yet to buy one because i cant rationalize the price for the effects.

these are just some basic ideas. im sure there are many more that can make the game fun for higher levels. but i think the key here is to make high levels happy. theyve spent the most money on this game, so they deserve some new content.

EDIT: added spaces to make my ideas easier to read.

As far as the bypass is concerned, it is mega at low ranks. If you opponent is running 3 cannons 2 defense (like I do) and then 4 dominions, 2 bypasses leave you defenseless.

i said the tactical bypass is a step in the right direction, but at higher ranks its effects dont justify the price. i have 24 uninstallable weapons and 21 uninstallable defenses. i'll have over 30 cannons if dan decides to implement a 'class' system where i can easily swap out my ion ballistae and prejoran cannons. so to leave me defenseless you would need to use 11 tactical inner bypasses, so 55 hacks. which is most definitly not worth it. the whole point of this thread was to give new content to higher levels, hence the suggestion for pvp abilities.

Pretty sure you don't have to multi-hack. As for what should be introduced at high ranks, I honestly can't comment.(rank 99)

lol ur right, you only have to hack the player once to use it (as far as i kno) but the price of the artifacts will be 55 blue badges, so 55 successful hacks of people around your own rank. thats what i meant...

Fair enough. My bad.

sounds like a very much needed area of improvement, I support that

although im not quite at the point of running out of content, im at the beginning of the end so to speak. ive unlocked all the missions and im just about to hit flamehawks. sadly, i dont think this game will be able to hold my attention once i finish the research tree and finish the missions, which is unfortunate.

its a good game, but is built to cater to casual gamers who log on maybe once a day, if not once every two or three days. 'hardcore' players, as in those who are ranking at least once a day, are running out of content faster than its put in. especially players who pay for the game. i know gp keeps the game running, but the main thing players buy (that ive observed) is energy. but since this allows players to rank faster than their research can keep up, npcs become too difficult to kill efficiently so they stick with missions, which only causes them to run out of missions faster, and be stuck killing flamehawks sooner than later.

so unfortunately, the most enjoyable way to play this game, is to not pay for it, which is counterproductive. once you hit rank 300, you have everrything unlocked, and theres no incentive to get any higher, especially since flamehawks were introduced to slow the leveling process and rogue tech collectors were introduced throughout the game to slow everyone down.

personally, i believe this game has it backwards. most games have filler quests to cater to low ranks and keep them interested, but the real content dosnt even start until the player has been playing for about 6 months. i know thats what has kept me interested in several ftp mmorpgs. with this game, everything is at the beginning, and if you stick around long enough then eventually the well runs dry. we need some major new features implemented throughout the game at varying levels that will keep people interested, and match the level requirements in difficulty.

the complex theory lab was an excellent addition in the way construction of artifacts was desgined. i believe kaos was right about how it was originally built as a ploy to get players to waste rp instead of converting it to credits, but the construction of artifacts is amazing for the 200-500 level range. theyre difficult to get, but not completely out of reach. ive been saving since the ct lab was released and now almost have enough to build my first velox thruster and aegis capacitor. this is the type of difficulty level im talking about for varying level ranges. at level one, youre introduced to the basics of the game (what we have now), which is do missions, scan for planets, collect your rewards, and build your ship. at rank 200 (for the most part) youre introduced to the ct lab and constructing and developing prototypes in it. now, at rank 400 most players have a type of galaxy destroyer. if they dont, its because they didnt want one. anyway, at rank 400 your ship is big enough to construct planets and add moons. because for the most part resources are in abundance at these high ranks constructing planets wont give higher ranking players that much more of an advantage. it will set them apart from lower levels, but as many higher ranks have stated, once you hit 400-450+ the playing field is pretty much even, so it wont matter.

i think there should also be new content added at 600, 800, and 1000. there are VERY few players who are this rank, so for the most part the development can be postponed, but more and more players are hitting 350 every day. Its of my belief that for a game to be successful new content has to be released ahead of the top player in the game, so if a player was rank 1300, missions would already be available to rank 1350s even if no one in the game is that rank yet. that way players actually have something to work for, instead of getting to 350, and then wondering what they should do, because theyve pracitcally fallen off the edge of the 'galaxy' so to speak, and into an endless pit of flamehawks, and other players that have previously fallen into the void.

even a complex system that requires specific artifacts from npcs that only spawn in a 30 minute window over the course of the day would be interesting enough to players. it would at least give them a puzzle challenge to deal with and buy some extra time for the devs.

+1

it took me 15 minutes to read



im not at thepoint but will be there soon, id love to see lots of new bosses