- Proposal
- I propose a series of instanced space scenarios for endgame PvE in space.
The idea
Imagine you are a smuggler. In the DWB, you find a terminal and slice it. The terminal gives you a hyperspace point to program into your astromech.
You gather a group of pilots and head to space and activate the program. It sends your entire fleet into hyperspace and you land in an unknown system. When you land, you can see a moving asteroid field and in a more clear direction a Black Sun Lancer Frigates. Your objective comes up on the screen "Find the contraband smuggler before the cargo has been transferred".
Knowing the Lancer Frigate is full of fighters, you make your way through the asteroid field. Your friend in an x-wing fail to avoid an asteroid and is severely damaged. You can barely see each other as the asteroid field has severely reduced your targeting distance. However y0our other friend in an Y-wing warns you that his scanner (new ship component for bombes), has picked up a tier 10 black sun patrol 2,5km further into the asteroid field. You wait for a while, dodging asteroids, while the patrol clears. Later you come out on the other side of the asteroid field and there it is, a tier 10 YT-1300 with a few escorts. You scramble to disable it and succeed, but fail to kill the Vaksai that is heading straight for the Lancer Frigate.
You as you are about to dock with the YT, a warning comes up "Your presence has been discovered, patrols have been sent out". You probably should have stopped that Vaksai. You notice the Lancer Frigate is now heading straight for you at high speed and second later the first wave of fighters hit, with many more following right behind, coming from the Lancer Frigate.
As you finish docking with the YT, you are told to meet up with another transport on the other side of the asteroid field. An escape ensues , where several players are lost to asteroid hits, missiles or lasers from the waves of ships pursuing you. Luckily you had two players in an ARC-170, and that rear facing gun really helped the escape. In the end, the team meets up with a friendly transport, completing the mission and hypering everyone out again, with a swarm of enemy ships approaching.
The Short Version
Make different heroic like scenarios in space, that requires different ships in different roles. Make scenarios that interacts with the environment, detection and situations where escaping is the goal, because staying will overwhelm you in the end. The example above was Black Sun, but this can be applied for every faction. Be it reb/imps, Hutts or any other. It could be capital vs capital fights. Help a ship escape, destroy a station with an ISD approaching and so much more. The goal is to have fun group activities that cannot be done alone and rewards the gameplay with tokens/loot. It is also a possibility to make these on different difficulties, like heroics.
- Justification
- Right now there is little group play in space that rewards all participants. There is Patriots of Dathmoir, where everyone can sit in a gun and shoot and there are convoys. Convoys are easiest with 2 players, so making the group larger, just makes it take longer in most cases. This means on the PvE side of the game, you at some point reach a place where you can basically solo/duo anything in the game. Compared to ground where there is plenty of 8 player group content.
- Motivation
- I would like to see some high end PvE content for space, that requires more than just blasting away ships with higher and higher amounts of hitpoints/damage. I also want this content to be group focused, so it can bring more players into the space game. I think the way heroics have done it with different mechanics is a great way to make people hooked on such content.
See above
