Very inspired post, and the idea really tackles the issue from a new angle. I like your mention of capital ships, and when I think of space scifi I think of a capital ship warping the whole near by fleet. How would people feel about this: Capital ships can have a warp drive, and also can warp all nearby fleet ships to its target jump. All other ships other than properly constructed ships cannot warp on their own except with charged cells. They either have to use a jump gate (Making them more useful to build), request permission to join a nearby capital ship for its journey (this gives more to politics and cooperation, better have good standing with that faction), or use highly expensive warp cells. Warp cells can be recharged at stations and capital ships which have the proper tools to do so (lots of power, special factory?)
Pros:
- Make communities tighter knit in the vastness of space (Instead of players sprawling out evenly across the galaxy, pockets develop better within it)
- Makes Stations and Capital ships much more valuable (If you faction only has one Capital ship capable of jumping, aka: the only viable transportation across the galaxy, you are less likely to risk it in major battles, and when you do its really thought after.
- Adds more politics, cooperation, and adventure to space (Thinking being stranded at Alpha JigglyPuff 9 on the edge of the galaxy and finally a factions capital ship stops by at the local station to allow the crew to stretch their legs at the station and to resupply. You have been pissing this faction off lately and now you really need to jump for these guys to hith a ride on their warp journey. Dig your pockets or your favors deep!)
- Makes the climb up the ladder from newb to galaxy warring faction leader more interesting in the early stages.
- Makes warp gates much more valuable. (Build a warp gate along a popular trading route and charge toll for its use)
- Doesn't take all possible modes of warping away from small fighters
Cons:
- Can be annoying to be stuck with out charges in your warp cell
- Makes the early game harder
- Takes away independence away from loners in the early stages of play
- Require the implementation of yet another new feature, makes the game more complex
- Tunnels players into thinking that striving for a capital ship is the goal of the game (puts traders, adventurers, and mercenaries at a disadvantage)
I feel like this idea can be tweaked to remove some of the cons while keeping most of the pros. Maybe instead of just capital ships having the ability to charge warp cells, allow smaller ships to be designed in such a way to charge cells. I imagine a smaller ship requires less charge to warp, so a band of pirates for example, would have several fighters and a small trading vessel which is rigged entirely to charge the little fleet's cells. So this charger ship follows them around and works to charge their cells while they are stopped.
Im not sure, but hopefully it contributes to the discussion.
