The great Guard system cull

[Johnathan Nox Carter]

Edits done on page 2.

[Stoner_Steve]

I have always wanted systems to get cut whenever possible, however I'd like to see the name of the Humboldt System kept somewhere...only because I live in Humboldt County and am completely biased

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[Ironwatsas]

I actually like Humboldt like it is. Off the beaten path, out of the way.

Having a few "back trail" systems which have no NPC bases in them but good mining grounds is nice, even if they are boring. It adds to a sense of isolation and being on the frontier, and the makes pirate encounters more thrilling because there's no easy point of retreat.

While I'm all for cutting out some of the extraneous guard systems, I still feel there are a few which are strategically placed and could be better served as "Empty" systems, in a manner akin to Omega 9 (e.g. astronomical objects and mining fields, but no NPCs).

It wouldn't hurt player interaction THAT much, because players would congregate in habited space, with far-flung systems left as "free space" for players to put up secret POBs, mine things, conduct secret deals, or just explore.

I'm thinking:

• Duesseldorf
  
• Tau 65
  
• Hiroshima
  
• Fukuoka
  
• Possibly Tau-39
  

tay in their respective locations, but all the bases are deleted and the systems are dramatically rearranged. Duesseldorf could be used as a "Bypass" of Hamburg from the independent worlds (big, empty, full of rocks or dust clouds).

Tau-65 I've had various ideas on (which could fill up another thread entirely) but the general idea is to make it an empty planetary system which nobody's bothered to colonize. Alternately, put a landable "Freelancer" planet (a relict of a Hediyoshi-era colonization project that never was completed) which functions similarly to Barrier Gate/Heisenberg as the centerpiece of the system.

Kusari in general seems to have fewer systems then the other houses (Rishiri and Nagano are somewhat insubstantial "fly through" systems, and Okinawa is more of a GMG system at this juncture). So I suggest Hiroshima be opened/rearranged as a not-too-heavily overbuilt frontier system (Akin to Koeln, Ontario, or Poole). It would contain Kure Shipyard and/or Matsue base (possibly as part of the same military base. E.G. parked next door to each other) with some other stations (Kishiro especially needs more stuff) nearby, and accessible via a new Jump Gate from either Honshu or New Tokyo.

Tau-44 and Tau-39 give me warm fuzzy feelings when thinking about them. While I would perfer to see Tau-44 left be, if possible Tau-39 should be emptied out and left as basically a large series of asteroid fields/dust clouds, possibly with a jumphole connection to one of the gallic border worlds.

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All that begins must end.

[Hawksmoor]

I don't think Puerto Rico should be changed, it's used very frequently and it's a very important guard system.

[Sciamach]

[*]Puerto Rico - de-Guard, revise layout, receive Humboldt assets

Why?

PR is one of the most active systems in the mod right now?

So... Why fix what isnt broken?

Please stop trying to re-invent the wheel. I like my wheels, the spin and let me get to work safely and early enough to cry briefly before going in for my shift.

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[ sci·am·ach ]
/sīˈamək/

A simple, angry man casually working his way through life on a personal quest to acquire copious amounts of street cred.

[Sabru]

Seeing as there is no current unioner faction. and im trying to start one ill drop a few of my ideas about duesseldorf here for the devmins to consider.

Duesseldorf bases:

Duisberg Base - Maybe move it to F 6/7 in New Berlin (the asteroid field) - Gives somewhere for unioners to base off to terrorize traders around New Berlin. Stuttgart could also be an option.

Speyer Base - Due to it being the unioner sell point for Hels, maybe move it somewhere into saar? It keeps it off the beaten track, while tying into any potential activity in Saar.

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[Echo 7-7]

Rogue guy here. Firstly, I haven't talked with the PLR and my HC yet, so this is just a very personal opinion and not final.

I agree with Evo, that sharing a system with the Xenos might be problematic and pointless. However, I'd be okay with cutting Cassini and move its bases (not all of them) to more useful locations. Currently there's 8 stations in Cassini;
...

Most of this is pretty reasonable and follows the same mindset as this cutting program in the first place. I just can't quite come to terms with TNF being in NY, though; despite the Badlands being Rogue territory, it just doesn't feel secretive enough. I'm thinking a back corner either of Ontario (western edge of the north-western ice field) or Alberta (far-NW covered by a small nebula).

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Also, if you merge Humboldt to Puerto Rico, then the ore fields will come along?

What do you plan to do with Vespucci? Will it stay as it is?

Where ever Humboldt gets merged into will receive the ore fields, which is looks like it's going to be Kansas at this stage.

Vespucci, like Omega-52 and Cayman, are currently not slated to receive any changes, since they're home systems.

Primarily, it's that many, if not all, Guard systems were not designed in a manner that adhered well to the overall lore continuity (Tau-65 and Londonderry are examples of pretty bad offenders). Secondarily, they dilute activity in non-Guard systems simply by virtue of their being more systems in the mod. Lastly, the poorly-regulated designs cause unnecessary mod bloat, by virtue of having more bases than needed in many cases.

Anyway, the key point here is that Humboldt is a pretty bland system, and ought to be merged with one of its neighbours. PR basically has a whole lot of empty space in the western half of the system, which could be ripe for repurposing once the unrealistically-placed neutron star is removed. (Alternatively, the neutron star stays and the system gets a whole lot more dangerous...). Merging Humboldt into Kansas remains an option, and would probably serve to generate a fair bit more activity for the system - which is not a bad thing at all - but PR still has no reason to remain a Guard system, when it could be opened up and made far more interesting, while retaining a secure corner of the system in which to hide the shipyard.

No doubt merging Kansas and Humboldt would be good.
Neither system generate enough activity to warrant being separate.
As for Puerto Rico.. that system is constantly active and we use it DAILY.
We purchased it long ago with the intent of maintaining, securing and setting up events along with future RP with it.
We have done just that many times over and the neutron star has played into it as well.
I didn't setup the neutron star but after reading its info card decided to develop our own RP about it and for our POB there known as San Juan.
It's been the basis for the station being a secret research facility and the place we develop things like jump drives and cloaking devices.

Loads of time and energy have gone into us developing PR and also keeping it secured.
Would be a real shame to see all our game time and effort get 'repurposed' or removed.
Since activity is very high there it could be prove to be counter productive to do so.

I can respect PR's current relatively high activity, and so I'll merge Humboldt into Kansas instead; however, the system is not escaping without a layout revision and de-guarding. The cost of keeping the neutron star is a system-wide radiation field... with increasing intensity the closer you get to the source (I will try and add protected pockets in proximity to the bases and inside asteroid fields so that you don't die while sitting and talking in space). Carolina will be recycled into a Hacker base, perhaps, or cut entirely.

... That aside, on a more serious note, if one of the three Ellesmere bases need a home, instead of throwing them all into Alaska, one could be put into Virginia as a way to "de-guard" the system, but still have it as a highly secure one. Haven't spoken with the LN HC about this yet, so this is just a personal opinion.

If LN and LSF are happy with that, it works for me.

I have no idea what to do with it yet... but it might involve juggling assets between there and Saar.

While I'd rather not to see BHG/DHC base in Omega-54, LWB assets within empty part of Omega-54 would make sense.

I've just received a request for some LWB assets to move into O-54, so that could work. I wasn't implying that BHG would show up in O-54 - it's far too soon for that to happen. The system will be de-guarded anyway.

Keep in mind that the new Cassini would look nothing like it does now. I've been brainstorming ideas about how this could work, and the best idea I've come up with so far is essentially having the two factions in opposite corners of the system with a no-man's-land in between.

So, kinda like turning it into Omega-5. Did/does that really work, though? Didn't seem to work for Hessian/Corsair fights, or maybe I just wasn't around when they were bigger.

A similar concept, but different execution. It's a moot point if Cassini is cut entirely, though.

I would like to know what's going to happen with Sakhalin, Namura Research and Niigata station + GMG Battleship in Sigma-59 :|

No good suggestions or ideas yet. I'm shifting it down to the de-guard list, possibly pending a link to Ellesmere (shock horror!).

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With regards to Tau 39, whether the system is gone or not isn't of great relevance... and truth is having it deleted would create a more stable corridor between the Taus and the Omicrons [for, hopefully, more activity]. Still, as the only Colonial asset there is the Hades, we've been thinking of having it relocated. Our best option is somewhere in Tau 31, around sector F/G-3, far enough from trade-lanes so it doesn't get spotted easily, but relatively close to the jump points for T-23 and T-29.

As another mention, if it were possible; we'd like to request one of the stations in Tau 44 to be given back to CR from the GRN and moved to Coronado, in the orbit of either Planet Baja or Yuma, as a secondary docking point - especially considering the plans we have for Yuma becoming the Colonials' home.
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Hades to Tau-31 is acceptable.

Yuma is not getting a second docking ring, but perhaps a T-44 base might be recycled for the first ring.

I actually like Humboldt like it is. Off the beaten path, out of the way.

Having a few "back trail" systems which have no NPC bases in them but good mining grounds is nice, even if they are boring. It adds to a sense of isolation and being on the frontier, and the makes pirate encounters more thrilling because there's no easy point of retreat.
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No. The entire point of these changes are to stop players from being widely distributed over empty systems. While you might like the particular atmosphere, it's clearly detrimental to overall activity.

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There was a sig here, once.

[Evo]

Slapping a hostile base in Alabama sounds fine. I'm not opposed to activity in Alabama, however I would like the entrance to remain relatively the same. The 8 or so wep platforms obvi need to be reduced or removed but I definitely don't want the field and the LNS-Alabama wreck removed. It's a huge part of what makes Alabama special. It basically embodies "Don't tread on me." LNS-Alabama being destroyed was one of the Xeno's first major victories against "lawful" forces.

Alabama should remain an evident danger to any who seek to enter it with capital vessels. I really don't want to see dreads and labc's in there. If the weapon platforms are reduced/removed, it would be awesome if the system could become mainly asteroid fields. When the Xenos left Colorado and other sections of Liberty due to oppression and abuse, we went to the most backwater section we could find safe from prying eyes. My image of Alabama is similar to what American Revolutionaries had during the revolution against the British. Natural chokepoints in the form of forests and wooded areas that diminish the importance of numbers.

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[Mao]

Just one question.

Will these actions get RP justifications in Disco's lore?

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[Blodo]

Guard systems are generally ignored by lore as it is. De-guarding will actually make them included, rather than the system just being a faction circlejerk. Which means stuff will happen to them and be taken into account. I'd consider that a buff to the lore of most (if not all) of the factions involved really.