Spoken like someone who doesn’t understand how much planets give right now.
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agree, not for real money
I dont like the idea personally, alot of what SElephant mentioned why, but also due to the biggest impact… ADMINS TIME!!
Something like this is a change for id say mabye 7.0… not 6.0 v2_redux… HWS team has put a ton off effort into 6.0 already… but we can all agree there is only so much they can do… and as more than 2+ weeks in, we still havent gotten something like the guide™ finished yet. Makes no since to toss in yet another “feature” and delay things even further.
I have already made a great recommendation on the other thread about the running a 3 server setup and keeping donator/starter stuff on that 3rd server. Easiest/fastest solution at this time IMHO, with great impact to all servers performance. No redesign of donator stuff, no adding/verifying BP submissions, etc… that will kill thier time for sure and 7.0 will be out before they get that implemented. Maybe im wrong here… but im just making an observation… square away CSW best a possible and move on I say…
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Community designing the stations, and admins spawning them in and updating donation forums isn’t massive amount of work, redesigning all the donator planets as well sure that would be a different story, but its nice to get things going so long so idea’s can kinda iron out all the kinks way before 7.0.
I agree with Pumpula. This isn’t something we should be thinking about for 6.0, but makes sense in the long run. There are a lot of people just getting used to HWS server and a bunch of new players just getting used to donator planets. To switch it up in the middle might turn them off completely. The idea Pumpula had was pretty solid imo and would go a long way toward easing the burden on the server.
I do not like the idea of pre-made stations only.
There should be an option with custom base. I.e. user creates base in creative mode, then spawns it, then admin checks it once and replaces the core with admin core. or share the blueprint with admin before spawn. or something. I believe it is possible.
But in case you cannot repair and build ships it makes whole thing almost useless and restricts us to make closed hangars. But open shipyards are still possible.
Probably we need another kind of cores.
Also few asteroids with common resources would be nice. And no free energy supply on station, only o2. Please fly and mine asteroids in PvP space around the station to fuel the station.
Why donator planets are usefull ?
Because you can store all your 52 Cvs here its only for your faction so lag is limited and you can build and have w/e you want. Stucking giant space stations that not only prevent editing them but also stuff nearby with those 52 CVs can cause problems and will provide very limited utility. Area will probably end up like kta HQ… with 8 fps even on good pc.
It may be something cool extra in pvp space as small space safe harbors.
Or, we could do a ‘donor’ only system that’s PvE and has one donor planet that has indestructible terrain?
i agree with u that unloading a playfield would be a blessing for hardware . but u cannot compare a planet and a space station . i know sharing is caring but u would deny individual space /storage . unless @RexXxuS would figure out a way to create an individual restricted access to areas of that space base without the need of codes . then it would be competitive with a planet concept .
Otherwise as an added value to players and donations its a thumbs up .
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With zoning this might technically be feasible but it would be a bit of a challenge to implement let alone alert people they are entering faction “space”.
It would also take a lot of Jascha magic. But theoretically we could see them enter a “zone” and do something like teleport out… maybe.
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I am a bit late to this discussion, so I have tried to start a list the features and benefits as I see them, after reading through the post to date:
Planet:
Massive area
Customisable - build what you want
No restriction on vessel building
Visually impressive (who hasn’t built a lakeside base!)
Resource nodes
Pick-able plants/forestry
O2 & H2O, Hydrogen production
Breathable (O2)
Admin Space station:
Fast start - already spawned structures ready to go at no resource cost
More server efficient
Free O2/Fuel
Cool space theme fitting for a space game!
For me it would appear clear that the planet as it currently stands provides more value and potential.
However the space station does offer features that some may prefer. If the station design is fully stocked with a constructor factory and farm, this could be very attractive for smaller faction that want to just play and explore rather than build/settle a new home. ie. you get off the starter world, reach your space station then work on resource gathering to spawn your BP’s (or pull from your OCD) - so you are pvp’ing /exploring/adventuring from day one. Of course you could always spawn your own space station BP - but this would take resources, not be invulnerable and be limited to class 3/4?
So if the space station is a large class size, this would help and also is if it is not located in deep space (to compete with the current easy of access of the donator planets - that are not 60K out from the warp point).
I do not think that space stations should be tailored to specific “farm” or “factory” uses - I would expect any donator space station that I would live in to have both in impressive scale. But perhaps in a similar way to the current donator planets you could have a “restricted” type - that shoots down any non faction vessel and a “trader type” that does not have outward defences up (invulnerable anyway) - with a large internal hanger/dock (with lots of turrets) to protect faction vessels and a safe external docking area for visiting “traders”. These would be akin to the PvE/PvP planets.
Summary, I think that space stations could have a valuable role and a position that is “different” to the current donator planets and simply for performance reasons it is not unreasonable to even consider phasing out donator planets over time. However the donator planets do offer more value/resource and possibility for those that want to put in the effort to maximise them, so it would be wrong to not continue with the planets for those who have already paid for them in this season (unless they want to voluntarily surrender their own planet).
Lastly if there is a CCC to build such a space station, I will probably have a go myself - but I can see that to make a space station sufficiently impressive and functional for a donator package will take A LOT of time. Possibly not achievable by the restart.
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Yea I agree with you, but after a lot of thought I feel like it shouldn’t replace planets one day but be a different option, because it would be better to keep heavy objects split between the 2 servers in the long run, if everyone used stations on the pvp side then that server would become overburdened again. Not possible before next wipe 
i think your highly underestermating the public 
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All reasonable points. But I do think that if there is a contest to be launched It needs to be sooner rather than later! And need very clear guidelines on what the parameters are to be - ie smaller (cheaper) focus use stations or the bigger comprehensive version. Otherwise we could be designing for an out of scope solution.
Well the nature of it would be quite open because there are many different faction size’s, why not just create a few versions of the same design for different number of people, I feel a nice starting point will be 2,5 and 10 (A Faction of 40 would have to purchase 4 10 stations right next to each other). 4 constructors, 12 farms (9 food 3 special), 20 double cargo boxes and 1 CV Parking spot for class 3/4 per person, then shared fridges and the rest of the needed stuff that doesn’t get used often. Max Guns, 12-20 Ammo box’s and personal quarters would seem reasonable 
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I think a build contest would be a great way to engage the community and not overburden the owners and admins.
The contest should provide basic parameters to build towards. What is a combat hotel? It needs to have a minimum of X constructors, separate compartments for X number of players, each compartment to include…
I agree, its better to start this soon (if its decided to take this approach) and provide ample time for builders to contribute. Possibly as a 7.0 option.
The more rushed this is, likely the fewer the builders who would attempt to submit a design.
A station will never be a feasible replacement for a donator planet because a station doesn’t have deposits. The main reason to have a donator planet is for a safe place to automine critical resources, plus hydrogen collection.
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Thanks for the feedback everyone!
I think we will be hosting a couple contests this week. We can hold one for this also, however I’m not certain if it will make it in the next season. Let’s see!
T_T just realized that 2 of the largest hanger doors mirrored is not really big enough to fit a Class 4 CV, that just ruins my plans 
would need like 50x25 doors.
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Getting ONE CV inside would be hard with these small doors… imagine trying to park a whole fleet of combat CVs’… oh… and the lag to go with it and all the great damage we get to constantly repair from ships “docked” in deep space just jumping all around…
ie: recipe for disaster IMHO and why i hate the idea… but just my 2 cents…
If these bases have defenses that must be maintained. IE ammo manufacturing. Provided the bases don’t
take damage then only the entrance need be protected. Then something like a dyson sphere would be a
viable option.
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