I think it would be great if a huge fleet of nomads were constantly wandering through the galaxy, as could be seen on the mini-map. They could be a huge fleet (maybe 30 ships or something) so it would be near impossible to kill them, but rather you would simply have to deal with them (I am thinking like how the ancient Romans had to deal with barbaric tribes or the Byzantine empire had to deal with Crusaders). Thus, when they appear in a system, some things would happen:



1. FIDS in that system is drastically lowered as the nomads 'borrow' from your planets resources

2. With the right diplomacy and money, you might be able to:

a. Hire a special hero unique to their race

b. Buy a special item which unlocks a good event for your empire

c. Get a technology from them

d. Get them to leave (with enough diplomacy/money, maybe even direct them towards thr rich planets of your enemies.



This would simply be to spice the game up, but I think it would add some complexity, and while initially a bad event, with enough money, can turn to be a great good. Any thoughts?

Yeah, this would be interesting. So it would be something similar to how the quarian in the Mass Effect universe live...Although, if the devs did this in Endless Space, they might draw some criticism that they did basically just take the idea of a space-faring nomadic peoples from BioWare.

I really think this would be cool! this is like something from Battlestar Galactica or The quarians from Mass effect!

That's an unuasual but kind of good suggestion, totally unlike the pirates. It obviously should be only an option but it would spice up games. But then make it so that there are more than one nomad fleets so that it's not always like someone draws the short stick.

KNC wrote:
That's an unuasual but kind of good suggestion, totally unlike the pirates. It obviously should be only an option but it would spice up games. But then make it so that there are more than one nomad fleets so that it's not always like someone draws the short stick.

yea I agree there should be multiple

Interesting similar to Necromangers from 'Chronnicals of Riddick'

jetkar wrote:
Interesting similar to Necromangers from 'Chronnicals of Riddick'

I was also thinking of the Dark People from The Longest Journey. You could have some of the nomads be hunked together pieces of junk, while others could be mysterious civilizations that no one really knows about or understands. Another race that is like this is the Vorlons from Babylon 5. For now, they could simply be a mysterious race, possibly even developed later into something more (like a remnant of the Endless).

closer76 wrote:
I was also thinking of the Dark People from The Longest Journey. You could have some of the nomads be hunked together pieces of junk, while others could be mysterious civilizations that no one really knows about or understands. Another race that is like this is the Vorlons from Babylon 5. For now, they could simply be a mysterious race, possibly even developed later into something more (like a remnant of the Endless).

Well you will have the opporunity of creating your own custom race

Just killing the Nomads should have more penalty than just difficulty, surely. Imagine if the Systems Alliance were to assault the Migrant Fleet. It would be a huge and expensive war sure, but the real problem is that it would become a major diplomatic nightmare. Quarians are sympathetic!



I'd say that the Nomads should have a few more good traits, too. For that matter... At the start of every game where Nomads are turned on, it would be cool if a random set of 'Nomad Traits' were rolled up. In one game, the Nomads are traders who temporarily give their host systems several trade routes and the Blockade Bypass ability (permits trade with hostile factions). In another game, they're thieves, scammers, and other 'legitimate businessmen' who consume your resources until they move on or you chase them away. In a third game, they're both!



In most games, attacking them should have diplomatic consequences (and a little popup that calls you out for genocide 'what the hell' style if you're successful), but even that could be a randomized trait.



The quarians themselves were very scientific. Although it wasn't appreciated much in-setting, the entire migrant fleet was a rather large population of skilled technicians and engineers. Sure, they stole resources and tech that didn't technically belong to them, but they offered technology access too. This suggests that in addition to the idea of purchasing technology, a localized research boost could be something that a system could get from migrants.



Since some of the Nomad Fleets would be profitable, bribing the Nomads to stick around should be possible and have a cost dependent on how nice they are. The nicer they are, the harder it is to keep them.



EDIT: Also, when I opened this thread, I expected it to be about wandering nomad planets. That is to say, planets flung away from their star when it went nova, or just ones whose orbits eventually decoupled from their star. It might be neat if such planets were findable and colonizable if you had warp engines and powerful sensors... although the absolute dearth of local energy sources would make their starting FIDS horrible.

Anybody elce think it would be cool if other nomad fleets started to chase them across the map and attempt to destroy them.



Giving you the choice of helping them (Become allies + 20RP a turn).



Or destroying them (The agrresive nomads no longer attack you while passing by +1000 Dust reward).

Igncom1 wrote:
Anybody elce think it would be cool if other nomad fleets started to chase them across the map and attempt to destroy them.



Giving you the choice of helping them (Become allies + 20RP a turn).



Or destroying them (The agrresive nomads no longer attack you while passing by +1000 Dust reward).

I think especially works if the two nomad groups broke off from one another, and one wants to eradicate the other. Perhaps helping one group would give you one set of bonuses, while helping the others another set.

I like the idea of a huge fleet of nomads in this game !

It would contribute in making a more living galaxy.

I'm also liking this idea, though Amplitude will have to tread a fine line to not make them too much like the Quarians.

Would be cool to randomize and either have a peaceful trader fleet, or an armada of pillagers and thieves.

chaz420 wrote:
Would be cool to randomize and either have a peaceful trader fleet, or an armada of pillagers and thieves.

It's actually possible the fleet could be both. Mix-and-match benefits and penalties could make it really ambiguous whether you want them present in a system or not.