BIG DISCLAIMER: I'm well aware this game is still not fully done (despite how fun and bug-free it is), and there are many features still missing. I'm sure a lot of what I'm about to say will have been said here before, or will be currently inhabiting Alex's Good Ideas List. But I feel I should still make mention of all of it.
So, I've been playing the game for quite a long time on my current run; my Colonies make about 3m a month, I supply all the products they need by in-faction trading, I have cornered quite a few markets, my mercenary patrols are strong enough to take out even the strongest pirate armadas, my own personal fleet is just as capable of taking on any invasion the major factions may throw at me, as well as having the money to bribe all the AI inspectors that may come.
At this point, I am long past the playstyle of Space Mercenary; chasing quests for rewards and market advantages for trade profits- a 200K payoff is no longer a great reward when the oldest of my colonies makes 280K a month by just sitting there, and without having to chase some pirate to the other end of the universe.
And this... is perfectly fine; I really like that shift in gameplay.
I am now a Space Emperor, sitting comfy on his Space Throne; making sure all my colonies have Alpha and Beta AI Cores assigned, putting Synchro Cores on my Fuel Productions, and Pristine Forges on my Orbital Works. Only leaving the comfort of my Space Capital to explore the uncharted, colonize some newly found world, hunt some [REDACTED] for more Synchros, Forges and AI Cores, as well as some annoying Pather Base, or maybe just to try this brand new, fully perfect Paragon ship equipped with the best pieces of my giant pile of ship weapons in a rather novel setup.
However, unlike the quest-taking Space Merc, the Space Emprah has far less gameplay options, and this is what I want to talk about. Now that we have all the money... we really have nothing to do with it besides bribing invasions away, and even the Bribes function can feel a bit short handed- Why can't I just sink some of that money into hiring a Merc Armada to take down those Pirate/Pather bases or go Survey faraway worlds for us, just like all other factions do?
Also, it feels kinda... off, that, even after you're a space superpower, spanning more colonies that all of the main factions together, they still don't even BOTHER in getting into a REAL WAR with you. There SHOULD be a threshold of recognition- a point all the other factions go "Damn! Looks like we've got a new challenger emerging." and stop seeing you as some lone Independent entrepreneur with a planet of his own, but as an equal and rival candidate to the power of the sector. This could be triggered by one of many things; either how many planets with active colonies you have, how much monthly income you're making, how big your mercenary fleets, or how great your share in the commodities' market.
Once you reach this point, some things will change drastically; gone will be the days of personal bounties and survey quests; now your undertakings happen on a much larger scale. Maybe the Hegemony will offer to buy all of your Heavy Armaments production of an entire year at not just a premium price, but a promise of not doing any AI Inspections (which now will have raised considerably in bribe prize) for that same time, all in preparation for a big war with the Diktat, but just at the same time Admiral Andrada will make you a counter offer of not selling the Hegemony the Heavy Armaments and offering you to increase his AM Fuel prices in a way that makes your faction the leading market holder of AM Fuel, as well as giving you a special permit to trade Illegal Goods on his system, vastly increasing your profits, or maybe you'll take the third option and pretend to help both yet declaring war on them while they're busy taking on each others.
Whom you choose to help will cause either a reputation boost or malus with them, with Reputations now having more advantages (or disadvantages) than before; maybe you're in such good relationship with the Luddic Church that they'll use their influence to prevent the Pathers from targeting your worlds, or maybe you've been allowing the Pirates to use your colonies as safehouses to escape other factions' justice, and they've paid you back not just by leaving you alone, but by harassing those worlds whose markets are still above yours.
The possibilities for all of this are endless...
