Ship tree and ship rank harmonization

I suggest a harmonization of the ship tree and the ship ranks (only speculative, my intention is to discuss a way to get free of the problems with Match Maker and different ship ranks in battles and preserve the basic progression type of the game).

 

I’d like to introduce the idea of abstraction of rank from ships, see the picture. Ranks given by achievements. Certain rank thresholds unlock special ships (e.g. pirate versions, premiums, DLC). Ships of higher ranks can be bought any time but they can only be flown with the required pilot rank (say: wing commander) reached. Its like licenses to fly higher ships.

 

Abstraction of Ranks from the Ship Tree:

 

[Note: Example picture of an reworked Empire ship tree. Medals earned unlock the ability to fly certain ships and give access to modules and weapons and certain sectors in open space. On the right side you see the available ships of the empire faction (ranks 1-8) on the left side you see possible medals for privateer missions of the Empire. In the middle section you see all medals earned so far by the example pilot. In the upper left corner is a depiction of the overall rank reached and its name: Ensign. The columns are for flight-patents (flight-licenses) in regard to the various ship classes: interceptor, fighter, frigate and destroyer. Rank promotion is reached by earning synergy per faction and per ship class. Free synergy could be spent to promotion goals of choosing - say a player doesn’t like to fly interceptors, so he can level up a bit but very slow.]

 

Basic idea: all base stats in reverse, that is the best stats going to the lowest ranked ships, lowest rank base stats go to the highest rank ships. This is compensated for the higher ranks by more variability in regard to modules, weapons, modifiers, and active slots.

 

Pilot ranks:

(exemplary)

  1. Mercenary
  2. Recruit
  3. Spacemate
  4. Quartermaster
  5. Shipmaster
  6. Spacemaster
  7. Cadet
  8. Ensign
  9. Lieutenant
  10. Squadron-Leader
  11. Group-Leader
  12. Wing-Leader
  13. Commander
  14. Captain
  15. Commodore
  16. Counter-Admiral
  17. Rear-Admiral
  18. Vice-Admiral
  19. Fleet-Admiral

Examples:

 

[Mercenary] (can fly standard rank1 ships

 

 

[Vice-Admiral] (can fly up to rank 18 ships)

 

Alternative Factions:

 

From a certain pilot rank on, lets say rank 6 (medium difficulty, rank title=Spacemaster) a pilot can earn himself into alternative fraction. In this example the Privateers and the Shadows, both Empire associated corsair factions with alternative ship designs, weapons, and modules).

 

Difficulties:

 

 

Ship development:

The player keeps his initial ship and may upgrade it until rank 17. But in the curse of progress he or she might want a more pleasing or individualistic design, so he can buy different ships (GS premiums, DLCs, Special project ships, Unique ships, Ellydium ships, etc) 

In easy difficulty ( ranks 1-4) pilots fly (rather boring) standard ships with standard modules and weapons from the factions/stations.

In medium difficulty (ranks 5-9) pilots can have access to all modules and weapons.

In hard difficulty (ranks 10-17) pilots can select from wider variability of ships . They can re-fit their ships like the Special Project ships and destroyers (for credits) to rearrange the module slots.

 

In essence it says: fly the standard ships as a rookie (easy), equip your ship with variable modules ammo and weapons as a veteran (medium), and custom-build your ship (hard) as a pro. Lower base stats for higher ships are compensated by better modules.

Refit ship (ranks 10-17  [hard difficulty]):

 

In the endgame difficulty level all ships can be refit for credits (like the destroyers). Different special modules might be available and must be aquired through missions or other tokens / currencies (xenochips, GS, iridium).

 

Goal:

Goal: To let all players have balanced conditions for fights in PvP, PvE, Co-op through all ranks of experiences. If a certain pilot’s rank is reached, there is no way back. This must be addressed in the way that fixed rank missions & assignments should be avoided.

 

Ok guys and gals, lots of ideas; please let me know what you think about them.