Given that the space stations are now constructed out of numerous separate entities, would it be possible for each section to have a hull strength, take damage, and ultimately be destroyed? Obviously there would need to be some sort of repair bots to put the sections back or something, but it would be very satisfying to attack an Itani base, and actually cause damage to their space stations ;-)

It would be cool, since there are now areas of the station that are not essential to docking. But what would be the practical purpose of such a feature? If the stations had defenses, all destroying it will ever do is piss 'em off.

Not to mention that in a persistant universe with thousands of players there would be serious questions of continuity and accessibility if stations were 'destroy ok'.

If stations were destroyed, but not regenerated, wouldn't we eventually have no stations? It's ok to say that a station was repaired I guess, but what about the NPC's (or PC's for that matter) living within them?

If stations were destroyable, would that mean that there were significant periods of time in which certain NPC's or items weren't available to every player. How would you like it if the only two hours you could be on that night the station you had to get into to finish a mission was destroyed?

I think the core structuring, where the docks and living quarters are, can still remain invincible for functionality. But all the other extra modules that extend from the central core can become destroyable. I guess you could argue that destroying a station will make the game more dynamic by affecting the economy or friendliness towards one nation/guild/person of a particular region. Nevertheless, if something like this is going to be implemented, I doubt that destroying a station will be an easy task if they're going to have defenses in the future.

Arolte, i must admit i can't think of any real practical purposes for destroying the station at the moment, other than pissing 'em off ;-) Although maybe it could limit the availabilty of cargo or ships from that station if parts of it were destroyed? Perhaps every nation should have a central monetry fund, which would be reduced by having to rebuild the station. Perhaps everyone in a nation should get points or cash if they succeed in destroying an enemy station, rather than the Capture the Flag setup we have now... i dunno.. just would be pleasing to cause damage to those damn Itanai's... ;-)

Celebrim, i see how it could be difficult if the whole station was destroyed. However, i'm not saying one man and his Valk should be able to pull this off... more like it has to be a very large scale group effort, with numerous heavy bombers,and fighter escort...

All this is very nice, but i wonder if the current engine would allow for this?

Maybe, in the future when stations or segments of stations are owned by guilds we could destroy them. They would have to be very strong though. I'm talking stronger than the frigate. But to quote Dana Carvey: "I don't think it would be prudent at this juncture."

Yeah... I've been thinking... if you see a station that's being used by a particular nation/guild to gain resources and money, why not send out a bomber with an escort behind enemy lines and partially destroy that station to cut a source of funding for the enemy? But then again maybe destroying the cargo of a station may make the demand even higher, raising those profits. D'oh!

Or better yet, destroying a guild's station will destroy all their stocked up ships. There could be some slight random factor introduced so that for every so and so amount of damage, one of the ships gets damaged. Of course, repairs couldn't be done to ships inside the station after it gets wrecked up enough until the repairing bays are fixed. It has potential, but again, until reputations, guilds, NPC police are all implemented it is too early to put it in.

Good idea. It doesn't necessarily have to be random though.

Certain modules on the station can be hangars, and when they're destroyed everyone's ship inventory in that station will be cleared. Of course this is only for the people who are currently online (just to be fair). Destroying the living quarters module of a ship will reset the "home station" of those players also, forcing previously homed players to respawn from their home nation sector instead.

I'm liking this idea more and more.

"""-- Certain modules on the station can be hangars, and when they're destroyed everyone's ship inventory in that station will be cleared. Of course this is only for the people who are currently online (just to be fair). Destroying the living quarters module of a ship will reset the "home station" of those players also, forcing previously homed players to respawn from their home nation sector instead. -- """

I like the first part, the second part needs serious tweaking. right now resetting the home station to the home sector isn't that big of a deal, but what about when there are 1000 sectors.. or 10,000 sectors?

maybe reset it to the nearest station that you have a "good" or better rating at? otherwise you could be talikng about a jump of several hundred sectors.

I can see how resetting the home can be annoying. But at least it'll provide some incentive to actually stay alive besides conserving money. It's something that has been lacking for a long time now. Besides, I don't think you'll be able to die as easily once all the weapons and ships have been properly balanced. Stations will also be defended against such attacks, making it even harder for the enemy.

In any case, even If you do see that your home station was destroyed, all you have to do is make a run to the nearest exit and dock yourself to the next station for a new outpost. The support for multiple stations in each sector has been added in a recent build, so I don't think it would be hard to find another home quickly at all. It would only be a matter of using your head to prevent such an annoyance from happening.

I'd hate to see the home nation sectors be completely ignored in the final version. If you allow players to set their homes thousands of sectors away permanently, you'll end up having the majority of players venture out from their homeland and never return throughout their entire career. It makes the home nation sectors with huge city stations become completely meaningless. By resetting the home of damaged stations, it'll imply the importance of that home nation sector as a safe haven and it'll emphasize the importance of your origins, in terms of storyline or whatever.

Nevertheless, the overall idea is that it can be used strategically in a way where you'll have the choice of confronting a larger and stronger fleet than yours with little odds of winning, or having a shot at destroying their station and pushing that entire enemy back rather than having a head-on confrontation.

NOTE: Destruction of stations should not be permanent. They would automatically repair themselves with progressive construction models to show this visually. Depending on the number of resources a particular station has, the time it takes to fully repair a station can vary.

what about the players that are docked when the station is destroyed. or the ones that are homed there but log in 2 minutes later?

just a thought.

Like I said, the docks will be indestructable to restore functionality. You'll still be able to dock and purchase/repair on a damaged station. You'll simply have limited access. For example the set home button will be greyed out if the barracks are destroyed. And you won't be able to buy more than one ship if the hangars are destroyed. Stuff like that. You won't die while you're in the station.

I really like the idea that it could be used tactically, the choice to take on a fleet, or try and take out an outpost.. great stuff..

The original idea is sounding more credible now!

Thanks Arolte, your not all bad! ;-) When you back by the way? After this reset? I'm looking forward to an in-game confrontation (its been too long)! hehehe...

Instead of attacking and destroying the stations, which seems a little... over the top? Why don't we just wait and add a few more features to the game, and make them destroyable/repairable.

An idea would be non-station dockable items in some of the sectors. These would be of several types.

Type 1. Repair Dock Medium size tube you fly into, press the dock key, and recieve hull repairs, bringing your ship, not instantly, but quickly back up to 100%.

Type 2. Upgrade Station. Specializing in hull plating, weapons upgrades, armor types, and other upgrades that would not be available at the main stations, but instead at these special stations.

Type 3. Bank. Put one every couple of sectors, link em up like a bank chain. Call em the national bank. Maybe have several chains competing with interest rates and stock markets to go with the fancy economy.

Type 4. Cargo Drop. Not a place to sell your cargo/ship. But a place to trade. Players go in, pick a player to swap cargo's with. Or ships with. And Boom, small transaction fee/agreed to terms and your all done.

There are many more nifty little items that could take up space in a sector, allowing people to have more than just stations to dock at, and be allowed to be destroyed/repaired to hinder travel through some sectors. Maybe even at some point make a "repair" weapon? Something that goes in a S/L weapon port, perhaps 2 sizes, one for small one for large, that repair items the player pulls up against. This way players could take it on themselves to fix other ships/stations they pass by.