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[SafariJohn]

It seems to me that AI cores are kind of oddly abundant. It's not that they drop too often, but that they never go away. I think a very low consumption rate of in-use AI cores (being destroyed for "signs of disloyalty", per the lore) would add a new dimension to how players use AI cores - power vs sustainability.

The more AI cores you use, the more powerful you are, but the faster you run out. To counter that, you can either hold some in reserve or hunt more REDACTED. The choice would be up to you.

[AcaMetis]

At that point I don't think anyone would use AI cores anymore. They invite a lot of (semi-)permanent annoyances as is, their benefits aren't that major (assuming they're a benefit at all, which for Gamma Cores isn't necessarily the case), and having to grind replacement cores and travel to places to periodically install said replacements would really start to call their actual value into question. I don't know what "very low consumption rate" would translate to, but it's entirely possible for even a slow rate to end up being less profitable overall than just selling cores to the Tri-Tachyon instead of using them.

[Megas]

It would be like officers dying in combat in various mods, which I dislike.

Cores are somewhat rare until player is ready to farm Ordos (at endgame).  But grinding Ordos is tedious enough.  No need to make the player grind more like farming uniques and other rare items in Diablo.

[SafariJohn]

I was thinking something like a chance for each core to be destroyed once every X months. If you only use a few you probably wouldn't lose any for years, but if you use lots of them at once then the odds go up.

[AcaMetis]

That would still mainly encourage selling cores to Tri-Tachyon, I think, especially Gamma Cores. You'd get a choice between an immediate and guaranteed payout, or gambling on getting more out of them by sticking them in your colonies despite the Hegemony AI inspections/Pather attacks that AI cores attract and the chance of it going *poof*. That alongside the promise of having to eventually farm a replacement core and travelling to your colony to install that replacement if you want to keep using it? I really can't see myself ever justifying the use of AI cores in that case.

[Megas]

I was thinking something like a chance for each core to be destroyed once every X months. If you only use a few you probably wouldn't lose any for years, but if you use lots of them at once then the odds go up.

And thus, more magic-find runs for cores, assuming player did not wipe out all the Nexus.  Just... no.

[Killian]

It's all fun and games until the two alpha cores you were counting on to keep your hypershunt tap running both get torched and you have no replacements on hand.

Besides, Alpha Cores assigned to governorship have shown they're capable of imitating you well enough and/or just resourceful enough to have their core relocated to safer environs. Is that a sign of disloyalty, then? Or is it a sign of resourcefulness and forward-thinking? Gammas and Betas are reasonably plentiful even if you're not actively farming Remnants (just fighting those you do encounter and recovering them from wrecks/ruins/etc.) so replacing them would just be busywork if it wasn't automated.

Whilst more interactions for AI cores would be interesting, I don't see this adding anything meaningful.

[FastestDraw]

While I agree that there should be some more risk to using AI cores, habving them go 'poof' is pretty boring. At least with AI inspections there is a story there, something to do.

A lot of this games strength is that it generates interesting stories; getting AI cores to do that needs an interaction between the player and the uiniverse. Fresh AI rebellions would be dope, more depth to LP interactions, Cores impersonating you to mess with your relationships with other factions - there are endless options beyond 'turn them off' all of which can tie neatly to the various ways the game can be played.

[some guy]

Echoing here, going poof (especially if its a case of rocks fall everyone dies levels of heavy handedness) seems to make em a case of why bother...  Similar to the current nerf to some of the colony items...  Just my two bit on the subject, why not make these items attract unwanted attention instead? The sector is decaying after all, why wouldn't one of the major players snatch/smash and grab a nanoforge or ai core from someone likely to go poof at anytime, taking the goods with them. Bet the pirates would love to get there mitts on these things too, perhaps allowing them to make new/better ships easier... also mitigating losses due to failed raids... Funny how I think the pirates and pathers are going to be the ones to retain ship building knowledge better then the main factions... The idea of the player starting a new ai war sounds fun too could start quiet at first you know a sabotage/error here strange ships showing up there and ai sympathizers cropping up, and other factions investigating why their stuff's broken (esp hegemony) and sniffing around maybe they find "your" ai, maybe they go on a wild goose chase instead and cause problems for other factions culminating in more direct blue/teal flavored problems infesting the sector like them taking planets via invasion (crippling ai ran stuff beforehand) perhaps something special would happen if they knocked over the hedgemony perhaps they find end and they break out the flaming hot doritos with dip but enough spitballing will be here all day if I don't stop.