01-14-2022, 01:45 AM
Hi there, it's great to see you again Haxus!
I would like to comment about the Noncombatant feature, regarding another specific point which I'm hoping has not been covered yet--otherwise, my apologies.
"A noncombatant empire cannot be attacked and its units will not attack anyone else." This means an empire's defence line will no longer be a reliable countermeasure against spies and infiltrators. Foreign avatars will be able to access your planet and ships while your empire is off, and set the stage for some sabotage operation, place avatars on strategic positions for later, or simply reconnoitre the area and access information which they should not be able to obtain. I feel like it might be safer for units stationned on an Empire-controlled planet and in ships/stations orbiting Empire-controlled planets, to fire at enemy avatars even in Noncombatant mode. That would stop spies from having it easy with this feature.
I also agree with the idea of a two-hour-or-so cooldown between logging off and activation of Noncombatant status. That would make the game more balanced. Another idea for it not to be easily abused with alts and whatnot would be to have it so the accounts themselves, related to avatars who are part of an empire, would have to be logged out for Noncombattant status to be enabled for said empire. That way, even if you're playing in an alt empire, you still being connected on your account would still make your empire vulnerable. I don't know if it's already the case or not, though, but that sounds like a reliable way of deterring exploiters.
I would like to comment about the Noncombatant feature, regarding another specific point which I'm hoping has not been covered yet--otherwise, my apologies.
"A noncombatant empire cannot be attacked and its units will not attack anyone else." This means an empire's defence line will no longer be a reliable countermeasure against spies and infiltrators. Foreign avatars will be able to access your planet and ships while your empire is off, and set the stage for some sabotage operation, place avatars on strategic positions for later, or simply reconnoitre the area and access information which they should not be able to obtain. I feel like it might be safer for units stationned on an Empire-controlled planet and in ships/stations orbiting Empire-controlled planets, to fire at enemy avatars even in Noncombatant mode. That would stop spies from having it easy with this feature.
I also agree with the idea of a two-hour-or-so cooldown between logging off and activation of Noncombatant status. That would make the game more balanced. Another idea for it not to be easily abused with alts and whatnot would be to have it so the accounts themselves, related to avatars who are part of an empire, would have to be logged out for Noncombattant status to be enabled for said empire. That way, even if you're playing in an alt empire, you still being connected on your account would still make your empire vulnerable. I don't know if it's already the case or not, though, but that sounds like a reliable way of deterring exploiters.