2022-01-13 FYI

[Phoenix]

Here’s a thought that could be explored.

Avatars accumulate points based on online time. 

Some large number of those points could be spent to establish a new empire. 

The game could start up with two to five existing empires that always allow new players to join.

This gives me an idea.

Concept: NPC Empires inside "Civilized Region of Protected Space
Goal: Give new non-emperor avatars a place to adventure, give empires a safe meeting ground, provide a bit of lore and populate the universe.

I think you could let a few designated players each build 5-10 planet empires (or bigger if you want) in a designated region of space. Then you could import those empires into the universe as NPC empires of civilized space. Inside this space players would be unable to attack each other without being destroyed by an overwhelmingly powerful NPC ship. This would allow a neutral meeting area for all civilizations and an area where solo players could spawn a basic ship and start flying trade missions or exploring/adventuring. Player empires would exist anywhere outside this "civilized NPC controlled space." The NPCs would not expand or interact with player empires aside from providing them a place to visit and perhaps sell some items to via trade ships. 

This would allow for a safe area for new non-emperor avatars and a place where in game meetings could be held. It would also add to the lore and sense of permanence of the Hazeron Universe. Players could decide for their own reasons if they wanted to stay near the bubble of established colonies or make their own way on the other side of the galaxy.  

If you allow semi-trusted players to build these empires in Hazeron Starship and then submit the saves to you then it would save you the time of building out a system for AI system development and give players a great way of feeling like part of the game. Each of the NPC empires would be guaranteed to be unique as each player builds differently. Giving them 5-10 systems would allow them to build a somewhat rounded out empire with a few farming worlds and mining outposts and major population centers. You could pick different players for each universe. 



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Second Concept: Semi-Civilized Region of Space
Goal: Provide an area for Player empires where combat could happen under agreed terms

Additional features: Outside of civilized space there could be a region where player empires can build, but can only war with mutual agreement. This would be as if the NPC empires were enforcing some type of rule of law in this region and would allow empires to safely build next to the NPC hub without fear of being immediately destroyed by 1-2 players determined to do so. Please note that this "semi-civilized" space would not take away from player's ability to PVP and attack others outside of civilized space.

Perhaps a Limit on Player Controlled colonies within this space would be 5-10 so one player could not monopolize the area. 

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Third Concept: Limit Travel in Civlized and Semi-Civilized Space to Wormhole
Goal: Provide a sense of distance within civilized space and provide "terrain" which players could exploit for trade or tactical purposes

Additional Feature: I would also like to suggest that both the Civilized Space and Semi-Civilized Space regions be limited to Wormhole Drive only. This would give more a feeling of galactic terrain (choke points and long travel times to distant colonies) so battles would be tactical as players attempted to deal with the limitations of this space. This could be explained away with a lore reason such as the civilized powers utilizing some sort of technology or perhaps a natural feature of a galactic region where warp travel does not function. 

There would be be long distance wormhole corridors in order to keep the space crossable in a reasonable time. 



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Bottom Line: This system would allow players to transition from a protected play style to a more traditional Hazeron Experiance where it is dog eat dog. Players would not be forced to interact with this system and it would allow for the best of both worlds and a unique new NPC empire feature.