Defending planet provides planet with bonus attack/defense/cloak, but planet do not provide bonus to defending ship? In this case, won't it means a player defending a planet provides useless Attack/defense as the enemy planning to attack the planet can easily target the defending player, disabling him/her and the "defending bonus towards the planet" didn't even apply? So does this not make the defense/attack bonus redundant assuming the attacker takes out defending ships before attacking the planet?

Perhaps planet should also provides attack/defense bonus (but not 100%) IF the attacker targets the defending ships from the planet window. OR - make it only possible to target the defending ships when the population drops to half or so. (so the bonuses are taken into account ) I prefer the half population idea though

I like option #2. Some people were asking about this recently. Since it is a requirement to disable ALL guards before an invasion, it makes sense that you would be able to target the ship at that time...

Ill put something in place soon.

Forgot to mention this, but also make sure the "planet invading artifact" is not Disabled by this change

This change is now in effect. Please see the latest status update. BTW, the Mutagenic Cartridges are still just as powerful as before. Strategically, it would be unwise to use them without first making sure the planet is ready to be invaded.

I think the planetary defense is an ok idea. The reason I think it is only OK is because at higher levels when 3 or 4 people are guarding a planet with 700 defense (like I have) its going to be damn near impossible to get the planets health down when you have population modules on the planet.

Also when you take into account the bonus of legion, if a person has a high bonus its going to be insane. Say I have 1400 defense because only I am guarding it with a 100% legion bonus. And then 3 more people guard it with 400 defense each 2400 + 1400 defense 3800 defense, its going to be impossible to take over that planet nearly.

I don't necessarily think that this is the way it should be because I like the back and forth of not knowing if you have enough defense to keep it and this sort of change invokes a sort of permanence if set up right.

I definitely think if your going to do it this way, changing the wormhole artifact is a very bad idea. It takes 30 energy to use it and I have seen planets with 5+ people on the planet. Especially regarding a Dyson planet, if you have 6 people guarding the planet, doing it 1 by one with enough wormhole artifacts will be expensive. I realize there is a quest for it, but I don't see it as a necessary change.

Maybe limiting the wormhole usage to one per half/full hour before you can use it again. That way guardians have time get back on the planet.

I realize that engineered viruses can be used to help stop the growth but I don't necessarily view this as a good change.

Edit: Actually I think this change isn't very good. I think simply removing the wormhole effects from 3 to 1 would have been a good change. It takes a lot of energy to take down people unit by unit and as such seems like the best route instead. This way it seems like a LOT more energy is going to be put into taking a planet that is already going to be insanely costly in the long run because of invasion costs.

All in all I truly believe for some setups this will invoke a permanence because who is going to try and take a planet that will costs them 3 days worth of energy, multiple repairs, a bunch of money to actually take it over, and then artifacts like fluxes and such.

Edit Edit:

Also there is no incentive for teams of players to take down one planet. Even if you really want it, if someone isn't getting anything out of it, why do it as a team.

Edit Edit Edit:

I think the best way for this is to be balanced is to simply remove wormhole emitters. That way I have to go down the list of people and actually take each out.

for now i really like the idea of having to take down the planet 1st before being able to invade. from a tactical point of view, the defender(s) are going to be entrenched and wont come out individually and fight 1 v 1 with you till they all die leaving the planet defenseless. ships like that would try to draw you in close enough to allow the planet to deal some damage too while the attacker is trying to take the planet. the only options i see is killing individual ships but being dealt damage from planet and the rest of the defenders, or the current system.

i agree on the incentives. it would be cool if the game kept track of who dealt damage to a planet so rewards and stuff can be shared. perhaps the legion member could be rewarded with minerals IF the planet is taken. enough to be an incentive, and enough to cover repair costs and such (scaled by level and % of damage done). the payout for all participants could be the combined planet output (converted to minerals) and points distributed by % done into the participants mineral pool(with notification).

and this tracking could also allow the victim to know more than just who took the planet, it could show a list of everyone who took it from 100% strength to the point of invasion. if the planet reaches 100% again the attacker list will reset. it would be useful to know if the attacker was working as a team or working alone.

Here are some random ideas to throw out:

* If a planet is invaded, all other players who attacked the planet since it had a "calm" rating will get bonus experience. The XP will vary based on the rank of the person who owned the planet prior to it being invaded. This bonus should be high.

* Similar to the above, attackers can be automatically paid out a stipend from the cost of the invasion.

yes