"Society Headquarters"

I don't know if this has ever been floated to Mindark but, there have been many games that have tried this one and completely missed the player viewpoint...
There are huge advantages to having a Society Headquarters... AKA Guild House, if it is done right.. if you like, I can cite several examples that are ongoing.
From the Dev point of view.. and Mindark.. it COULD be a moneymaker... The grounds would need to be "managed".. and it would be good if things could be bought and spread around, such as the Trade terminal and Teleport.. also, the Soc could buy a landing-field and parking lot for the building. It would be possible to even restrict access to Society members or guests.. yes, I know, MORE programming, but useful, in the long run.
A tp location would be an asset for sveral reasons.. first, If access is difficult, (anyone who has played Lord of the Rings Online will tell you about this.. Easy to get to but, a pain to get back out), Players will not be very willing to go there. This can serve as a gathering point for players in a Society.. if it can have services, (bought by the Society, possibly), that make it a convenient place to go to, say, sell to other Society-members, or simply resupply.
the main reason I suggest this is pretty simple... I have played many online games and have seen, first-hand, what a lack of unity in whatever you want to call the groups, does to the eventual "dribbling-away" of players. Any of you who have, or do, play LOTRO, will know what I mean... they are, as of this point experiencing an increasing loss of players because they have not arranged things so that the players seriously identify with their "Kinship". I believe this will turn out to be a fatal mistake.. Entropia is too good to have that happen here.
I know there are probably considerations I am clueless about but, I stand on my history as an RPG gamer... lol.. I am from the dark ages of paper and pencil, lol.

 

I like your ideas Iceflame but so far, we are having a hard time even getting them to open up merchant / store fronts, ie something that already IS programmed in. What you are asking for is a major renovation type thing, like stables only a lot more complicated. Given their past history, that is years away. Everquest is another one that had 'guild halls' where members could gather etc. It would be expensive, like a HUGE apartment, and if you had shops in it repair terminals, so forth, the society would need to figure something out to pay for it and upkeep it. ie REAL money, and Id safely say thousands of dollars worth of it. At least with a land area, others can use it and their hunting / mining etc help for it's upkeep. A members only 'house' umm big stretch there.

Good idea there, I DO like it, but won't hold my breath in seeing it anytime soon. A LOT of logistics in that there are.

sluggo

 

i rly like ur ideas OP.
(Cyrene Stable will be the Task Force society HQ: )

 

Drop the darn need for a certain amount of players on a planet to sell off all existing estates on the planet... really, really dumb to leave all those apartments and shops empty, making the game look like ghost towns... if every estate in game was on the market, it'd make it easier to get several members of a society to have places next to one another... under current market, it is possible, but takes a long time... At one point in time I personally owned about 5 apartments in one building, and a booth and shop in the basement of the same building... however, it took a hell of a long amount of years to get all of that together because estates are so hard to find as market... can't imagine how hard it'd be for a full society trying to take over all apartments in one building or something like that.

once all estates that currently exist are on market, give estates a function, possibly with societies... to do something that would not require a hell of a lot of programming, do something like a shopkeeper that only sells to 'guests' of the estate with a markup of zero..., and make it so that you can add all society members as a guest. next give estates some buffs for avatar, similar to the ones that you can get from pet ownership if you buy em from the stables...

Perhaps give hangars a use as a society hub since they are so freaking big... give them society npc that gives out society daily missions, etc. Make those missions have weight on the society ranking vs other societies... in other words make skills and number of folks in soc. not as important as a functioning society that does daily stuff together, etc. Make some n00b society that has daily team hunts show up on top of ranking of some uber skilled society that has members log in maybe once a month... give people a reason to be in game more... then make those rankings count for something... give away freebie buffs, etc. to societies in top 100 or something.

Taking your idea further... make uber society have a new 'hub' that is their own... sort of like the main hq in dc universe... where you can tp to almost anywhere from the hub and have all sorts of different shops and things you have access to in your little hub... now that factions exist, lets have faction hqs.

 

Nice post! For me the best sign of your insight is the line about "the eventual "dribbling-away" of players". Most of what MA does in terms of new content has this, but vastly accelerated. More content has been left to rot in this over 10 year old universe than might be discovered in the next ten years.... I dunno if that could be judged as being an improvement.
However, some content does at least stay viable and has its own niche of players. The closest thing we have to society areas right now is probably the motherships in space, with crews that do not actually need to belong to the same soc, but encourages getting to know each other.
Space will be undergoing changes again soon, so we will discover if the motherships get an increased role soon. In terms of programming, the basics of 'society instances' could be taken from the mothership idea, but with entrances at any desired places on the planets.
I'm not holding my breath though.... still, nice to see some fresh input here! GL!

 

Hi Sluggo.. BELIEVE me when I say I understand, lol.. I am very familiar with development.. also, I have had my own copy of the various versions of Cryengine, which I work in periodically, for several years, now.. ( just for myself.. I am retired ).
You mentioned price of something like this... One thing that does come up in many games, is prestige.. status symbols.. I have seen many players practically beggar themselves to acquire something that has, lol, no practical use except for the prestige it gave them..lol.. me, I would rather buy a better weapon... or armour. If it were possible, I seriously think you would have many Societies aiming for it.
I have no idea how much or what MA specifies.. there are somethings that would be a given, of course.. but.. how much control do you have over the planet.. I mean.. can you subdivide areas, for example.. also, how large, or small, and an area you sell or lease to someone be? Some groups would, of course, want a business type setting, like an office building.. others would tend to want a more remote setting like a lodge... for something like that, the area need not be very large.. maybe 500 metres max. In any case.. I kinda just wanted to put it out there, to see if, perhaps, anyone else had thought of it or, if it were flatly impossible.

Hi Justina... Something I have watched with virtual dispair is MMOs who just heap on the content, but don't address what is really going wrong. One thing I have seen, is certain death to an MMO.. a lack of player cohesion.. If a player ends up playing effectively solo.. despite being in a guild.. sorry, I am very used to that name.... they don't have any loyalty to stay. Look at the dynamics of it.. a person who feels they are a part of a group will be less likely to just leave than one who has none. If we can build that kind of unity, it will go a long way to helping success here. I have two... for now, Disciples.. I call them apprentices, as well as several friends who I help every day... they feel a certain loyalty to me and we have formed a bond that will last a long time, I think. the people I am mentoring KNOW they can count on me to help and are willing to lend a hand when I help someone else... this is what a Society should be.. and makes for a MUCH healthier game.
Like you said... I am not holding my breath for something like Society Headquarters or Guild Homes but, we can hope.

 

I've seen this implemented on Caly. At one of the small islands next to Atlantis there is a society restricted area.