Well I think that having the Starbases WILL be enough because it does go along with the backgrounds of TOS, TNG, DS9, and the Voyager. Each place had its own Starbase to call home (yes, i know DS9 is a Starbase, I'm talking bout the show). The Enterprise NX had the Drydock in Sol. The Enterprise-D had the Starbase at Mercury, Mars, Earth, and Vulcan. The Voyager being a Science ship, never returned to the Earth Spacedock until they were needed or until the Voyager was decomishined. Point is that having a personal Starbase will go perfectly with the background of ST. Not only does Cryptic have the materials to build them, they also have the urge to gain money out of the players. If people new you could own your own Starbase there would be Millions of dollers more rolling into Cryptics hands. It ,as people have so often said, will also encourage people to join fleets. So not only is it good for Cryptic its good for the Socializing World of STO.

And I love the idea of being able to Customize the defenses of your Starbase and the PvP, but the PvP may not work out very well because it may cause lag and confusion between instances with all the polys. PvE on the other hand sounds good, like the person said earleir- e.x. the borg. I would love to see my fleet manning the defenses on our Starbase trying to shoot down the borg drones, while other members are taking off in their Starships to face the probes and the cubes.

This wouldnt take long to make because they could as some of you said- use the layouts from other starbases, e.x. ESD, Starbase-39, DS9( I would love to see me Starbase look like DS9)

Or maybe even owning planets? You could pick a layout from a selection of planets, e.x. Vulcan, Earth, Risa, Endoria, Qu'nos, etc.

Or maybe both? You could pick from a selection of Starbases and planets to choose from. Have the starbase for the shipyards, repair drydock, bar, etc. And use the planet as a PvE, or a social hub to cuztomize houses and shops like the ones in San Fransico or on Vulcan.

Like so many people have said- It wont cost money or take much time at all. I say once S2 comes out they should focus mainly on the fleets. S2 is already a big enough update.

i think individuals owning entire starbases is way too over the top for the star trek universe
unless you're Cap

I can see the logical expansion from SWG of multiple homes/guild halls making up a city. But other than expanding a starbase with construction docks the metaphor doesn't seem to hold true with SciFi or canon.

Although, in reality it probably would. I suspect that cities are created at geographical locations that are conducive to their formation (e.g., safety, defensible, water, resources, etc.). So, a Starbase might start as a solo outpost, but given the security would it offer why wouldn't things spring up around it?

Starbases are the property of governments, not fleets or players. I'd be all for a system where players can all contribute (mission runs, faction ownership of zone, etc.) to the ability for their faction to build a new starbase. But in the ST universe it doesn't make sense to have, for example, Captain Pikard buid and own Starbase 17.

True, but we could also think about the idea of private companys and organizations, which is techincally what fleets are. Besides the fact that we could prob not 'own' the base but we like the main 'departure' point or naval base for the fleet. We could just be like renting it from Starfleet, or the KDF.

Bad idea. You seem to be operating under the mistaken assumption that player owned star bases would serve the function of player housing. Our ship bridges already serve that purpose and soon ship interiors will greatly expand that.

Your idea would be a massive waste of developer resources that would be better used somewhere else.

It's just as silly for players to own "star ships" too. For example, how many of your friends own aircraft carriers in real life? Kirk didn't "own" the Enterprise, Sisko didn't own DS-9. I think the trick is not to view it as "ownership", but rather as a "command".

Did you even read the summary posts? Starbases as "Player Housing" is the least of it, but they do offer the best solution I've seen to add to the game a social sandbox that can provide enormous fun for players for years - rather than the months it takes now to complete the game.

IMHO, Starbases are the next logical step for Cryptic to take. After you've read the summary posts, see if you think if this would still be a waste of Cryptic Resources or if it isn't exactly what you want them to do next. If you've read the "Saving STO" thread at all, you'll see that implementation described in the summary posts resolves many of issues listed there.

You have an excellent point. Thank you for explaining it.

If done properly I suppose this could work.

Objection withdrawn.

The killer of it is, at first glance the idea does look like an absurd waste of Dev time. Thank heavens there's some people inside Cryptic that "get it".

It's only when you start to dig into it you see Starbases as a "platform" that can greatly extend the range as to what players can do in a meaningful and fun way. One of the "top" items from the "Saving STO" list is that STO is a "lonely game", there is a significant need and significant benefits to adding a "social" sandbox. Unlike minigames that you'll play a few times and get tired of, Starbases can keep players active for a long long time and give them meaningful things to look forward to.

Yes, that is the real trick! Done incorrectly (e.g., just as player housing), it becomes nothing more than a waste of developer time. Sadly, half the ideas are still half-baked and need a ton of refinement.

Hopefully, as more of the die-hards start to realize what starbases bring to the table they'll join this thread and start working more bugs out of what we have now and strengthen the solution.