[Psyche]

{Before I start, let me say I'm not opposed to the idea. I thought of it myself and was thinking about it a few before I realised some of the problems with it. This post isn't to kill the idea but change it into something more viable for the game}

A few problem I found with the idea:

• Favors certain playstyles over others (aerial units mainly) which would be a problem for non-aerial centric outfits (infantry, armor, Infiltration, etc.)
• Adds load to general gameplay area[if present there] and disrupts the map layout [bugs will happen and this being mobile will generate more if present in the game area]. My understanding is these won't actually be in the gameplay area but rather in another area above it so most of this point is moot.
• Believability - its hard to believe something like this being available [regardless of technology] - its large, it wasn't brought here since its planetbound, it has to be built somewhere, it will require a great deal of resources just to maintain it, what happens if this thing fails and falls to ground? it doesn't provide enough benefits/advantages for the cost without entering gameplay area which would disrupt/imbalance the gameplay area.
• It only enriches the game for some [Outfits] by providing a private lobby/staging area/sanctuary and possible outfit versus outfit battles [air cruiser vs air cruiser] leaving everyone else empty handed [doesn't justify development costs/work - not enough bang for the buck because of this - niche application]
• It could potentially work as RMT item or Premium benefit (which would justify the increased load on the network datacenter and asset creation) as its basically equal to a leased & private server in online games. Ie. Virtual housing.

These are some of things I thought of to correct the issues I noticed:

• Use Orbital Platforms {specifically Low Orbital *see below} instead of Air platforms.
  • Easier to maintain and more limited mobility
  • More believable and eliminates reasonable access of base to gameplay area but is close enough to Interact with gameplay area [Drop Pods, Mass Elevators, Rocketed supply loads,etc.]
  • Can accomadate All playstyles via EVA modification (even tanks can move and maneuver in a soft vacuum with maneuver thrusters) while Air Vehicles would still have there inherent mobility advantage.
  • Seperate play area like a seperate continent but a more drastic climate/environment difference. Which could potentially function like an expansion {like Core Combat though hopefully a lot better and not game-breaking to basic game}.
  • Still allow mobility of Outfit Base via Orbital Drift and repositioning so it could hover over a continent and essentially function as a Private Sanctuary [non-gameplay area] if it shifts into Upper Orbit [not instant].
  • Exotic environment but familiar enough to be accessable [Low Orbit is inside Gravity Well just above Ionosphere{re-entry}. Newtonian movement with gravity providing decay/slowdown [EVA systems would concentrate on maintaining altitude/countering gravity but not slowing down movements which would happen regardless of EVA's activity]. World is also basically upside-down (Ionosphere is a 'soft' boundry - it either kills you for going straight in too fast or 'bounces' you back out into vacuum or drops you into base gameplay area because you actually Re-Entered at the right angle & speed & survived but your EVA stuff is WORTHLESS and your free-falling) with Satelites/Orbiting Ships[derelict or partially active]/Orbital Graveyard & Debris Field {Dust fields & micro meteorites & small scrap held in orbit - kind of like Saturns rings but not natural - litter from us} being the Ceiling and where most of the public and more or less permanent ground is [artificial islands]
  • Items/Mods don't translate to Planetside well or at all (they are largely useless planetside).
  • Situation in orbit can indirectly affect Basic Gameplay (provide buffs) via: modifying Orbital strike availability, reduced Drop Pod respawn times, increased sensor range due to Satelite availability, etc.
  • Provides Lore excuse for its existance & production/construction space. These aren't going to built on the planet and launched (modules and/or pieces might be), they are going to be built in orbit (resources might come from planet or Orbital graveyard). Lore: We came here on Ships - well those ships weren't going to land on the planet with anyone onboard surviving so they'd still be there and they would be neutral ground (what ones were still intact and largely functional) as they are our link to earth [no ship = no earth anymore for us]. The contestable area's and source of materials/components/manufacturing capabilities could be derelicts that need to be restored to produce repair parts[self maintenance capability necessary for long range travel] that are used to build the platforms since most planetside facilities will be geared and designed for build planet bound items not space capable items.
  • Always active but not always accessible to everyone - ie. launch windows to get up there but the sky isn't going to dissappear [except for bugs & server crashes, etc.]. Might have to jump continents to get to a portal (shuttle) to get to it [Outfits with bases will have a respawn at there base and easier access].
  • Provides protection against SWG's Ghosttown epidemic & Gamespace maintenance without an unattractive cost to players. Ie. Bases could be parked in Orbit out of play area to avoid cluttering gamespace without actually destroying them and giving players less reason to want to invest in them.
  • Orbital Platforms scale better than an Air Cruiser would. Meaning: You can have dinky small Orbital Platform that say a very small outfit could afford access and an obscenely large orbital platform without it appearing wrong. With an Air Cruiser, by virtue of its environment and it being an artificial element in it, would have a much larger minimum size that might not be as accessable to small outfits while its max reasonable size would too small for an extremely large outfit [ex. a very large Armored oriented Outfit]. Orbital Platforms are also less known to players [most people haven't been in space but have likely seen astronauts/cosmonauts on TV] so the Developers would have more room for error/inaccuracies in the environment than Air Cruisers which is in Atmosphere [despite differences in upper atmosphere that are very different and unknown to most people but they probably won't realise just how different and assume its wrong].

I decided on Low Orbit instead of full space because Space while popular is a niche in gaming. Most people don't like space games unless they non-spacey enough to be easily accessable. Making a dumbed-down space would come across as cheap to a lot PS vets I think, it wouldn't give a sense of progression or accomplishment by getting better at it/learning about it. Which would mean SOE would have to provide some other reward that would likely mess up the base game. Low Orbit is about as non-spacey a space game can get and still be an actual space game.
Why?:

• Gravity is still present and its almost a low gravity moon environment except for the lack of land surface. Which has been experimented with in various games in isolated areas within them, it was largely well recieved where it was used like this.
• Land Surface can reasonably be added to the environment to make it more accessable to players without it seeming out of place or wrong to players or space enthusiasts.
• Its close enough to the base game area to expect interaction between the two environments while still allowing radical differences.
• Its a small contained area instead of an extremely large open area and can be presented as a 2d area with altitude instead of being a full 3D area. Which makes technical/asset requirements for it a lot less than having a whole other set of code/assets/functions that would be optimised for 3D to support core game feature [massive player battles].

Here is my fabricated 'excuse' for how it would work:
The Orbital platform essentially floats on the surface of the Ionosphere just like a ship uses bouyancy to float on water. It does this using magnetics as the Ionosphere is charged matter/ozone layer of the atmosphere. The magnetics doesn't hold the Platform up, it actually clamps it down to it. It still have station keeping drives to maintain a stable orbit and allowing to maneuver using mainly drift caused by movement/wind/flow of the Ionosphere particles which is constant and normal. It also taps or scrapes the Ionosphere to generate power via Energy dump of the Ionosphere particles [Ionosphere is what burns stuff up during re-entry because it has a large amount of energy in it [its basically plasma or effectively a natural energy shield that blocks radiation/other energy by reflecting because the particles are already overcharged and will only allow certain wavelengths of energy that can 'fit' in] using Thermal power generation as well as providing a source of matter [the particles themselves, ie. Resources for various uses].

The core Platforms are built from the remains of the Fleet that brought humans here and most refurbishing & manufacturing must be done in space by the few remaining Fleet vessels as they are the only manufacturing facilities designed to produce components/parts that are space-capable for maintenance purposes. New technology advances need to modified to be operable in space. Consequently, maintaining Orbital Platforms allows for more frequent and efficient transfers between plantbound facilities and Orbital facilities as the platforms eliminate most of the problems of re-entry & achieving orbit effectively acting as gates between the planet and space.

Allowing New technology and planetary resources to be used for space advancement and unfortunately have caused a 'space race' and perpetual conflict in orbit frequently centered around the Orbital Platforms and the remaining manufacturing facilities regardless of the operational state of the facilities as the faction struggle for an advantage either by taking each others facilities, refurbishing derelict facilities or manufacturing new ones.

Surviving Fleet personell(SOE/Dev's) have been declared 'Neutral' in the conflicts though some have declared alliegance to certain factions {*cough*cough* lousy NC lovers} and have retreated to geostationary orbit between Auraxis and one of its moons {edit: not sure if there are any} to monitor the situation for any potential catastrophic events occuring due to Orbital decay and successful re-entry of orbital bodies.

{A Dev/GM Staging area aka Outfit base to help with like Live events and is outside the accessable play area unless your using the Development Client Build. Live events play havoc on Network resources [easy to test & prep for Live events because your in the Live but in a redundant area] and most Players like to 'kill' Dev's they see in game [giving GM's a private game/social area when needed - ie. porting a player with them to a chamber here so they can 'talk' etc.]. In Live Game test environment are a lot more effective for reproducing and/or testing bugs/glitches since your in the same environment to get a 'look' at the Live version of them - doing that in a simulated environment requires duplicating all factors that cause it and often some will be left out. Not to mention a place to 'park' there toons without getting killed when they are just playing. The SOE Outfit base which will be a lot better than anything any of us will ever get.}

{EDIT: THAT IS A VERY LONG POST...and I spent 6 hours typing it in due to being pulled away by Daily RL stuff. Hope its useful.}