This thread is for us to generate ideas on how Player Owned Starbases can work in game.

We need to answer a bunch of questions: How is it Fun/increase-player-retention? How can it work? Will it work for a Team? How does it scale? Building off other peoples ideas is encouraged, however, please don't comment like "that's stupid", instead explain why you don't think the idea would work and your alterations to improve it.

Here's a synopsis of some of the ideas already in this thread:

1. Starbases are a platform by which the existing game can be greatly expanded and serve bring many future enhancements.
2. It's in canon, just look at Benjamin Sisko of DS-9. Starfleet did build, man, and operate starbases even in times of war.
3. Building a starbase is a large enough and hard enough of a project that it takes a fleet to build, i.e., a truly social activity.
4. Months of entertainment designing/building your starbase (There should be components that people put together, not like the off-the-rack ship designs).
5. Components should be player crafted; adding new dimensions to crafting.
6. Large costs mean players have a "goal" to keep going after, which keeps them coming back
7. They could exist via a fleet's transit gate (that is, one gate (say in Sol/Qo'nos) serves all fleets), no need for "new" space to be created.
8. Works as well for Klingons as for Federation players
9. Starbase components could include a "quarters" module that acts as a "house" for fleet members to "display" their trophies (which is proven to increase retention). Perhaps players can add onto their quarters?
10. Could add completely new theme of PvE and PvP missions for mining and trading that will add loads of new content whose rewards go towards building the Starbase.
11. Starbase PvP could offer new and unique environments for PvP. Each starbase could have variable console components and weapons that an attacking force wouldn't know about until it arrived (see PvP combat posts)
12. Starbase PvE could be implemented for those that don't like PvP
13. Starbase PvP would be scaled to the defender size - allowing for more than 5v5 engagements
14. Source of RP fun!
15. There could be community involvement in building tools like station designers (just as their are character designers)

This isn't expected to happen overnight, nor is necessarily the most important thing for Cryptic to be working on right now. But, this thread provides many good reasons for the concept that will help to retain players - so it's important to get the ideas together now.

Note: Starting at post #143 s a summary of all the ideas up to that point (if you want to skip ahead )

the game engine would need to be changed of overhauled

Whoa, you have no idea what you are talking about do you? Just another Blzzard sheeple using words like "engine" yet you know nothing of Cryptics engine.

Player made starbases are possible and bad consumers and the "they cants do it more better people" just need to stop posting because they contribute ZERO to the forums. Cryptic makes millions and the player base drives an MMO. People should demand quality and stop enabling mediocrity.

This.

Players need to stop settling and push companies to make better products.

Cryptic can, and should, deliver what us paying customers want. There are so many threads and posts talking about RvR, territory control, player stations, etc. that it's obvious what players are wanting. I'm all for Cryptic working on the important things first, such as making the Klingons into a REAL faction, but they can't stop there, and I'm pretty sure they know it.

You can also bet that whatever gets released there will always be some percentage that don't like it. To me, that's why it's so important for players to work together on the forums to figure out what works best for the most people. Not easy to do, but the more constructive ideas there are on a topic, the greater the chance of getting a winner deployed.

Sooooo.... keep those Starbase ideas coming!

How about before starbases are enabled, we have a full blown Federation Council, government, bureaucracy, Star Fleet command with full command staff, Star Fleet Academy, Star Fleet Corps of Engineers, Vulcan Science Academy, etc all staffed with players.

Now you have all the necessary institutions in order to place a request to have a starbase built somewhere in the galaxy where there isn't one currently. The base would be Starfleet owned and operated but could also serve as the local command post and base of operations for your particular fleet. Good enough?

The problem with trying to implement anything akin to Eve's POS, is the instanced nature of STO vs the static nature of Eve.

So Fleet Bases would probably have to take a form similar to City of Heroes bases.

There would be a single location somewhere, possibly a quick FI burn from Sol station. Either another station, or perhaps a weird glowy anomaly like they're doing with the Lifetime area.

Once you get close, it prompts you to enter your Fleet's base.

At which point, if they really wanted to detail the outside of the base, you'd warp into the instance supporting that exterior.

Otherwise, you'd "beam down" to the instance of your base's interior.


At which point, we should be able to do all the things CoH does. Start with an empty room, and fill it up with all the stuff you want. Chairs, tables, consoles, plants... as well as integrated defenses like phaser turrets and force field emitters.

Then we could have Fleet vs Fleet combat, with space battles taking place outside the station. And eventually leading inside, where those turrets and emitters may be the only thing between them and your stuff.

I think they should be fleet owned not specifically by an individual player. What I would do is make the star bases instanced much like our bridges are. They could use existing star base models and floor plans and allow the fleet leaders to choose what style base we get, i.e. like K7, SB 39, or Earth Space dock and so on. They should be made in a way that allows people to invite their non fleet member friends. I think they should be customizable to some degree like being able to buy vendors, exchange terminals, ban terminals and so on. I would even go so far as to allow the music in the bar.

How about Starbases run by Guilds/fleets only, not individual players, and then only if said Guid has the requisite amount of members.

Maybe there could be something implemented where the Starbase could have ship repair facilities, like Utopia Planitia or Spacedock. This could enable something like Ship Damage which could be repaired for a small charge, for obvious reasons this would be capped, or some other type of transaction which would benefit the Guild.

There could also be other aspects which could be implemented by the Guild, within the Starbase.

Obviously this is sketchy and would also require aspects of the game changing and/or inventing, but the general gist is one of inter-dependency between Guilds & single players / Guilds & Guilds.

I'd rather have a fleet flag ship. Everyone can captain their own ship as usual, but we can crew our flag ship, just interact with our console on the bridge or whatever room by pressing F. With bank and other stuff on the ship, we can work out of whatever sector the fleet leader has set course for and do missions out of that area so we can do bank runs and all that more efficiently.

I'm sure the idea of a fleet base would be cool for many, but I've seen the instanced hollow base before. They're pretty much never used. I'd rather have something that would be used, and there to see by all and to interact with, since while en route to a sector a fleet ship can show up like any other ship floating by and you could invite people to your ship like you invite to bridge currently. I'd just rather not settle.