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[TheDTYP]

I'd say Alex has done quite a fine job with this game, I just got back into it a few days ago and it's still as fun as ever
That said, I have a few suggestions that I feel could make the game feel more alive. Most of what I'm about to say is either my take on features that are obviously being worked on, or something that is plausible for the existing engine (hopefully) and could be added with relative ease by Alex and his crew or even modders

I'll start with the more abstract, uncertain stuff first:
I'm not exactly clear on how systems are going to work in the final game. I heard it would be all procedural, then that there would be like 20 systems and like 100-1000 more procedural, to, more recently, all of the game being made by hand with no procedural generation, so anyone who knows the state of affairs, maybe help to settle the score with what the galaxy will eventually look like?

Now, it has been established that the Independents and the Pirates aren't factions as much as simply a category of starfarers. That said, would it make sense, for example, that Independents in Magec to have a different relationship with the player than the Independents of Corvus? Being that the Independents in these systems are completely different from one another and may or may not have any affiliation with one another. And maybe differentiate them even further by creating "sub factions" like the mercenaries, bounty hunters, and miners, who are all Independents but may not turn on the player if another group under the umbrella is attacked? Sorry if I'm not phrasing it clearly, my main point is that maybe, since the Independent and Pirate factions are so diverse, that they should have different relationships with the player from system to system.

Next up is the Bounty Hunting system. I pretty much guarantee this is already being worked on, but could named bounties be made into other factions besides the Pirates? Like say Tri Tachyon wants Hegemony captain X blown up as a named bounty? It would make life easier for someone who is trying to befriend Pirates, since Bounty Hunting (one of the best ways to make money in the game) is immediately off the table for any player trying to take that path. Also, I wouldn't mind if Tri-Tachyon would post any kind of bounty in the Valhalla system. I've never once seen anything of the sort and I want to do a playthrough as an ally of TT and enemy of Hegemony.

Now, this is guaranteed to be in the process of being made: more events. I know for a fact Food Shortages and trade disputes wouldn't be the only events to be a part of the game. That said, I hope more are added soon in a small (or large?) update. I have a few ideas for such events.
I remember reading somewhere a while back from an official description of the game something along the lines of "There is unrest in the streets of this planet and the rebels are trying to get guns. Smugglers are en route with weapons that will completely destabilize the planet if they get into the rebel's hands. Take out the smuggler fleet (which would be Independent, I'm guessing? If so, it would make sense to take a similar approach to my first idea about dividing factions so that the good decent Independents wouldn't hate you for taking out the smugglers.) to gain favor with the faction in control of the planet, chip in with weapons of your own to make money and destabilize the planet yourself, or blockade it." That sounds like it would be awesome to play around with, just saying.

My next idea is a Raid. Basically a single planet (or system) is targeted (in a similar way to food relief fleets) by several pirate (or (insert other enemy faction)) fleets who will all simultaneously converge on their target and clean house. Stopping the raid would get you a boost in rep for the threatened factions, or joining the Pirates for a cut of the booty or whatever.

Another event I have in mind would be similar: a War. Basically, 2 factions in the same system (like Tri-Tachyon and the Hegemony in Valhalla) would stop floating around randomly fighting each other and one day decide to start producing fleets in massive (if certain criteria are met) numbers and degrees of armament. Rather than Hegemony Patrols and Detachments, Legions and Armadas would be produced. These fleets would be assigned a target and a war would basically play out in the system, with the factions trying to actively wipe each other out rather than a "cold war" state that the player could capitalize on by working for one side and receiving a reward or waiting for both to murder and deplete one another and swoop in to salvage what they can from the carnage.

My next suggestion would be fleet trading. Maybe if you're neutral or welcoming or whatever+, a player could make limited trades with other fleets. Maybe exchanging one weapon for another or paying an inconvenient fee for something the other fleet owns. This could also work in Hyperspace. Say the player runs out of fuel and is drifting through the stars and an Independent fleet stumbles upon them (maybe implement a distress call mechanic?) and offers some fuel in return for weapons, credits, or even a ship, if they're feeling sadistic. Of course, it would have to be differentiated from trading with planets and stations in order to encourage players to make those interstellar trips to the Askonia system to buy unique stuff. It's a small addition that I feel would really make the game feel more alive.

I asked a while ago about the "open comms" system, and I was told that the current system was a placeholder for a system to be implemented in the future. Maybe this system could involve a Mass Effect or Deus Ex style persuasion system (something as simple as a "roll of the dice" system to determine how the AI reacts to certain dialogue?) in which one could talk the fleet into lowering theoretical trade prices from my earlier idea or convincing an enemy fleet to surrender or disengage. The would also be a small (and I'd like to hope relatively easy, maybe) addition to make the game, again, feel more alive.

Maybe a system could be put in place for destabilized planets (maybe stabilization level <2) to generate pirates and mercenaries? Just to give a bit more of a visible indication that this place is in bad shape.

Now this is where things start to get a bit more abstract and more outside of what is currently possible with the game.

I remember also asking about planet ownership, and it was hinted that something like that was in the works. Basically what I'd have in mind is maybe planet... say... Maxios or whatever was one day invaded by TT. With sufficient victories in the area, maybe a system could be put in place where the planet would fall under the ownership of Tri Tachyon? This one is just speculation, and may not work with the current vision of the game, but it would be nice if this is on the road map.

And lastly, a feature that would cement my love for StarSector: and endgame. Maybe creating multiple endings (and maybe an intro? Something as simple as a slideshow of David's awesome artwork with a voiceover.) in leau of the Civilization (or Age of Empires, I forget) in which, if the player built a Wonder, they won the game. Maybe the same could apply here? If the player conquers every system, that would be an ending, or maybe if the player solved (somehow) the mystery of the Gates and used it to restore the Sector or destroy it and plunge it into anarchy forever? Just wild speculation at this point but I wouldn't mind seeing something like that in the distant future.

Thank you for sitting through all of that, even if you simply skimmed through it. I commend your endurance, and let me know what you think about my two cents? These are just my ideas on how to possibly make an already phenomenal game even better, I'm not telling Alex how to do his job or anything! Let me know your opinion, everyone

[Alex]

Without getting into too much detail, just want to say that a lot of this is surprisingly in line with ... stuff. I wouldn't say "plans", since things can and do change, but let's say "current vision of where things are going"

Interesting idea about per-system independents; going to think about that. You've hit the nail on the head about some event options being problematic due to "well, you could attack that Tri-Tachyon relief fleet, but, um, no". Splitting independents up might help with this, but might not be enough - anyway, definitely something to think about more.

We've also had some internal conversations about what an endgame might look like, with good results, but on that as it's still a ways off.

I'm not exactly clear on how systems are going to work in the final game. I heard it would be all procedural, then that there would be like 20 systems and like 100-1000 more procedural, to, more recently, all of the game being made by hand with no procedural generation, so anyone who knows the state of affairs, maybe help to settle the score with what the galaxy will eventually look like?

To expand on that, the idea is to have some amount of handcrafted systems (possibly with some random elements), and then to have more procedural systems to flesh it out. How many, exactly, is up in the air, though I certainly wouldn't expect anywhere near a thousand. Beyond various performance/optimization concerns, it turns out that even one star system can feel fairly big. The main thing is to give what's there meaning. Certainly, you need a bunch of empty systems and space to accentuate the places that are important (and to give the player places to explore and exploit), but how much exactly feels right? I suppose we'll see.

[Pushover]

I like a lot of these ideas for events. There's plenty of side things that can go on behind one of these events. For example, in the war event, the military bases could take a premium on ship parts and weapon parts as they build up, and possibly the more parts you provide, the larger the fleet that gets built.

One other event idea would be trade events. These would be somewhat similar to bounties, except for trading instead. A colony could request a certain amount of goods. So a refinery planet that was running low on Machinery might request 50 units of machinery, paying an extra 10000 credits if you can deliver them within the next month. A heavy industrial world might require a shipment of 200 metals, or a shipyard could request ship components.
This could also replace some trade disruptions, where instead of a trade disruption driving up the price of a good, instead the colony requests a shipment of whatever goods that
would have been disrupted. This would put a cap on large scale trading through trade disruptions, where trade events could instead escalate to some bulk deliveries, such as 3000 ore to a refinery planet.
This would also make the player more in tune with how the economy works. If demand is met, the trade event won't happen. Hopefully this would avoid the abuse case of 'store 10000 food waiting for a food shortage to happen' with different resources.

[Thaago]

Nice ideas! I do like the idea of independents and pirates being per system - its always been odd how unified they are. Then again, maybe it could be that word gets around? So if you manage to get high rep with one set of independents, the others like you more also? As a more general rule that accomplishes the same thing: if you get high rep with a faction, its allies like you a bit more and enemies a bit less. And vice versa.

I would like to see some way of fighting with the major factions without becoming enemies for life. Basically: mercenary play. Its hinted at in the missions (Huzzah for the Black Star...) but not really doable at the moment in game.

[nomadic_leader]

Yea, if the pirates and independents are so unified and galaxy spanning, we might as well give them non-generic faction names.

 It's a convention in games like this to have generic 'pirates' and 'independents' but it's never really made sense to me, and always seemed more like a shortcut to cope with the limited computing power and data capacity available to the first games in this genre.

[Ahne]

I had also some nice ideas posted some time ago, maybe you find something interesting in there too

http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=9038.0