Probably not spacebattles as we want people to fight on the planet. You can expect most customizations to be visible by members of your strike force.
Yer please don't add space battles... yet, since the second you do, I will throw down my helmet and go to Imperial navy school Just the thought of controlling an Emperor class battleship, shouting orders at all the other players around the ship makes me way too happy :')
Hmm.. several things are scurring through my mind right now. First of all, I've read in another thread that every player starts with his own little ship and once he joins an alliance ("guild") they merge together into a guild ship where every player has his own room he can manage. I think that's a wonky description, ships don't merge together and become something bigger. I would prefer some big capital ships that house all the players that are not in a guild, and if they eventually get into a guild, they will find themselves placed in the guild ship with all their stuff and maybe some more customization possibilities. Speaking of customization, I'd like to see the cruiser itself as piece of "equipment"; it would be a neat feature if you had some options for your apartment that give you benefits in the game. For example you focus the interior of your room to be more of a training room so that you get a little bit more HP, or you can place down a little shrine that improves another stat you have. I like to think of it as some kind of skill tree, mutually exclusive upgrades that give you very small benefits to your character (it would be nonsense to have a big bonus, because you can't fit an entire shooting range into your room to improve your aim... but maybe a little shrine so that you can pray to the machine spirit in your bolter so that it won't spray as much in your next battle?). Naturally, it has to be balanced. The performance of someone,who has a standard-issue room shouldn't be too different from someone who has a "fully upgraded" room. It should still be a battle of skill, but just a little bit more forgiving for the second guy. And while I am writing all that down something more "on-topic", regarding orbital bombardment. I like the idea of a firing cone and a relative position in orbit around the planet. It would add a whole new layer for organized guild play if you would have to manage the position of your strike cruiser if you want to use it. I take orbital bombardment as an easy example: Your cruiser has to be around your area in orbit to perform an orbital strike. The enemy can now counter this by using planetary defense systems (that are placed around the map in bases that cover an area) OR by placing its own guild cruiser in the orbit, suppressing an area around it's position, because it would be kinda strange if there is a 4-way fight in the middle of the map and every cruiser and its mother(ship) are hanging around above them. That brings me to my last idea: Customization of your guild-cruiser. Maybe some guild wants to establish "orbital-dominance", then they could refit their ship (over the course of some days / weeks and maybe resources ?) so that the generated field of suppression is bigger (improved ship-to-ship weapons at cost of the main ship-to-ground weapon). Maybe someone else REALLY wants air support, even in suppressed areas ? Then they could upgrade it so that it can perform a swift attack by strafing through the enemy presence, but at cost of accuracy of the attack. Again, these upgrades should be mutually exclusive and they should be long-term decisions so that the community is obliged to work together, not only as a guild, but as a nation that struggles in a war. Okay... that's quite an essay. Sorry if I went off topic while writing all that, or if I missed an earlier statement that makes some of my points obsolete. I just think that the cruiser shouldn't only be a housing equivalent, but an instrument of war defined by the fighting style of the group that owns the ship. Supportive guilds should have the option to support - either the ground forces or the orbital force - while agressive guilds should be able to drop orbital strikes or scans to reveal enemies, even in fortified and defended areas. (BTW, managing a strike cruiser as a guild leader could be performed with a smartphone app :3) ah.. and sorry that I wrote "guild" that often... I forgot how the equivalent of a guild will be called in EC... >.>
Guilds are Strike Forces. And thanks for sharing your ideas! First of all, if your Squad joins a Strike Force, your Squad ship will probably just attach to the Strike Force ship instead of merging. This needs to be defined so all ideas are good at this time. For the whole features surrounding the ship, again we are trying to have the minimum needed at launch for it to be fun (which still needs to be defined). We will keep adding to the experience after launch that's for sure.
As long as i can pull out my good ol' Ultramarines Gladius upon reaching Veteran status/buying one in the cash shop/somehow acquiring it, I'll look forward to sparring with my battle-brothers on our battle-barge. Also, in regards to orbital artillery control; has the team put any thought into how long the cooldown for the weapon will be or what limitations will be on it so that it doesn't end up with people spamming it.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole "Cruiser" idea. If anyone can help me, that'd be appreciated. First, will there be set Cruisers? By that I mean, are they going to be placed in the game-world indefinitely, or will players be able to buy/craft/steal them? In accompaniment to this question, will there be Cruisers for each faction/sub-faction? Secondly, will they be open to attack or any sort of damage? It currently sounds as if Cruisers will be able to make orbital bombardments at will, and this is (obviously) very overpowered. Third, and this is my favorite part, will cruisers be able to launch drops pods, and if so, how? Will drop pods have to be bought, are they on a timer, are there a set number for the Cruiser that respawn over time? Again, thanks to anyone who can help clear this up.
For now, we are still defining how cruiser will work. But for now, we are conservatively aiming at having your cruiser "somewhere" in orbit, only accessible by your squad/strike force. No interaction between each cruisers initially (if any, it would be indirect). You will be able to use cruiser abilities when on the battlefield for support. These abilities still have to be defined. Same thing with Drop Pods, the specific mechanics for it need to be fleshed out a bit. So, the cruiser is your "home in space" that will have a limited impact on your available abilities on the battlefield.
Will drop pods be the way onto the ground or another version for each race, or would it simply be some form of teleportation to the group? Or even have the option of both ^^ Cruisers sound awesome at the moment, but even though I would love to see space battles, I can see how they would have a huge effect on what happens to future ships and members on the ground.
Is there going to be an animation for the drop pods or will it be you enter you appear on the ground?
