[netburnr]

Absolutely, more faction stations is a must, regardless of if there are POS. I'm not sure about the whole blueprint thing, that sounds a lot like EvE and just causes there to be tons of more "upgraded" equipment which is a non-stop balancing nightmare.

[Scorch]

I agree with the concept of more player consumables, and more player made items is a good thing. Giving players who create items a critical role really improves an MMO IMHO.

[netburnr]

So I guess my question now are.

What are blueprints, how do you get them? Do you purchase them from TRI, find them in Artis, etc etc.

What makes your player made equipment different? Are certain stats improved? How will they be priced differently than stock equipment?

Lastly, with new equipment being developed by players possibly with better stats, will it create kind of a treadmill of equipment where if you say use last years guns, you will be outclassed?

Sorry, I never really played EvE enough to actually understand how they did it, and I'm curious how the people here would want to merge that idea into a Jumpgate world.

[Wild_Bill]

netburnrol I never played EVE or WoW, or anything that actually had crafters, but here's what I invision: blueprints could be bought from NPC players or businesses; other players; found in artys (DSS) or issued by your own faction to favored producers. Of course they would ultimately be made by the Devs with whatever limitations that implies. This is for equipment / modexs.

As far as the equipment itself and balancing issues, whatever equipment is produced will be made by the Devs to start with so they would be responsible for any balancing issues. I also see them as being more like artys based both on performance, longevity and production. Players would be making tens or even hundreds of items, not thousands or hundreds of thousands. So it would be faster than arty hunting for PCE-5, but it would also cost more for the factory and blueprints. You could also make the blueprints with a limited production capability. 500 units and "POOF!" blueprint "wore out" etc. Plus, the next time you took a pod ride, your specially crafted equipment would be gone. You would have to repeat whatever procedure to get a replacement.

I'm still on the fence as to whether these items should be sold retail or wholesale, as Wild_Bill sells twelve hyper-range-radars to Ambrosius and Ambrosius is the only one who can use them, or Wild_Bill produces 100u of hyper-range-radars and sells them to OutPost for resale, or to a retail merchant for dispersal. Any of them would be workable, but if it's limited to one producer/one purchaser and no secondary resale, then the overall effect on balancing would be minimized considerably. You could only get your H-R-R from Wild_Bill until his blueprint/copyright expires. Then H-R-R would be gone until someone gets a new blueprint.

Now if the Player Factories were for production of commodities made from tier 1 or tier 2 items rather than equipment, then if you produce it yourself from ore or bought materials, then you should be able to make a greater profit than if you simply bought it and resold it. The more of the production process that was in the player's control, the higher the profit after the initial purchase of factory module. I don't see any need for a blueprint to make tier 2 or tier 3 commodities.

Now possibly for stock equipment you would need blueprints. Say for Barraks, you'd buy the blue print from Octavius or Dorator; the Shard from Quantar or Cromforge Ent. No balancing issue, but it's possible Quantar/Cromforge might not be willing to sell the blueprint to an Oct, so you might have to buy it from a spy or Solrain, etc.

If getting blueprints from artys, then like all artys there would be variations in both quality and popularity of product. Think of the efficiency artys, or size 1 anything artys. Some of the stuff you couldn't give away. Some of it could make your fortune. I see arty derived blueprints being pretty much the same. Some produce crap; some produce gold.

To make it really a gamble, you have to put the DSS into the factory and produce a set minimum amount of (whatever) just to find out what the DSS blueprint makes! No listing in cargo or market to find out what you have. You must produce with it to find out what it makes. Puts you in kind of the same place as a pirate with a burglar looting a freighter with traps on board. Profit or Boom? After you had produced the minimum amount of (whatever) but less than the unknown maximum amount you could then sell the blueprint to someone else. The buyer though they would know what the blueprint produced, would never know how many production runs the blueprint was still capable of producing. If you want an even bigger risk, every so often a DSS blueprint would destroy the factory and possibly damage the POS or Station it was on!

So there you go, two different types of Factories and some possible RP twists! Wait a minute... what I've described are actually THREE different Factories or types of Factories. One for commods, one for stock equipment (with blueprints) and one for arty-style equipment (blueprints again, but if from Artys or 3rd party seller a certain amount of risk involved in production).

[netburnr]

Very interesting, and well thought out. I like a lot of what you have said.

I do agree about the problem of player to player sale only causing a problem of certain "strong people" remaining strong, while everyone else is left out in the cold. but thats supply and demand, and available credits I guess.

[Jonboy]

One thing about blue prints is that you can make missions out of them.

An extreme example would be having flashfires only available as blueprints... For example: Octavian PvP Mission - Kill 10 solrain tagged fighters for a blueprint of 5000 Flashfires.

The person who completes the mission could sell the blueprint to a hauler to manufacture. Thus, haulers and PvPers could be made to interact.

[Chaser]

I like the idea of manufacturing in a pos or station. Perferably a pos if they are still here. As a miner it would add a lot to my game, I could mine certain ores, store them in my pos, sell them at a slightly higher price to anyone who needs them and wants to buy from me. Then if I get a bp..I could set up a station module and manufacture say, homing missiles of some sort. This gives me more incentive to mine certain things again. It becomes a profit loop, I mine, sell or use to make stuff to sell. Trading might be possible too, say my station says it will sell 10 missiles for xx credits OR a bp of lev 2 size..see what I'm saying?