That 'fewer stations would be a negative change' isn't something I came to by logical deduction though. It's how I *feel* about stations. I'm not asking you to feel the same way.
Yeah, I sort-of agree there. Fewer stations overall is bad, if only because that means there's less stuff to look-at, pillage, and burn.
No, no-one here has the power to change the number of stations anyone else builds. What we're doing is offering our personal opinions for public viewing.
Correct, and correct.
I think you can probably agree that shop blocks on ships could only reduce the number of stations, not increase them.
So, you are (
still) arguing that allowing shop-blocks on ships will somehow "magically" de-crease the number of stations being built,(
placed into the universe) despite evidence that no-one builds "pure" shop-stations in the first damn place? (
except role-players, because such a station happens to fit their role?)
Are there stations out there that don't do much aside from being a shop? Sure.
But tell me this, do those stations do
anything else at all?
The vast teeming majority
do.
Because shop-only stations are a waste of material.
(
can't be defended in any manner that results in the station not dying, and will be attacked if only to deny you the possibility of re-purposing it later)
The one shop-only I personally encountered?
Wasn't.
It was doing double duty as a claim-station. (
had been doing so since it was placed)
Most of the stations I see that even have a shop-module, have factories and/or shipyards attached to them, and the shop is used to "sell off" the leftover crap from breaking down "destroyed" ships they'd been salvaging.
(
and the only reason they were salvaging, was due to pirates constantly assaulting an NPC station in the neighboring star-system. basically free-resources.)
Or, it gets used to buy things that the owner doesn't have enough of.
Meanwhile, I see no reason anyone w
ouldn't continue to build stations
exactly as they've been doing.
I
can see a reason for change
if we were talking about Shipyards on ships.
(
that one absolutely would reduce the number of stations being built, as the people who first called for it didn't want to build stations in the first place)
But we aren't. We're talking about the lowly shop-module.
SIDE-NOTE:
(
mostly)Ignored in the above discussion are "dedicated role-players", because they
will build pure shop-stations. (
along with "travelling merchants")
They'll build stations whose only purpose is "the look".
They'll build "claim" stations that no normal PVP faction would ever deploy, because the resource-cost is obscene.
(
as in, could build a "normal" claim station and a few cruisers with that material.)
They'll build them even if no-one-else on the server ever visits their territory,
because they're role-playing.
(
obviously, they have more fun if someone does visit.)
They will build whatever they think their role-play needs, and to hell with what the rest of the server thinks of it.
This change we're advocating? Hell, it'll give them
more options for role-play.