in my experience most people who drop out early do it because of the "forced" group fights at the end of a system
I agree. It's one of the main factors of why I am off & on with this game. I only return for the nostalgia, and fairly unique playstyle & game mechanics. But the use of "implied," forced group fights is a main factor in the declining player population.
"Implied", due to the
- requirement of leading or being in a clan for Sirius access,
- blueprint drop quantity when defeating boss units, and
- the sheer "difficulty" in being able to kill Sirius units, even if you start from Ring 1 w/ a maxed Draconis ship. "Difficulty" in quotes, because it's not difficult, but rather it is a pure number difference game between you and the NPC. You are essentially forced to rely on the NPC missing its shots in order to get your kills
When it comes to solo-play or story missions, requiring player assistance should never,
ever be a requirement.
And to the players in this thread, and on this game, saying this game requires skill, play another game such as Star Conflict, or Dark Souls. Those games require skill. Pirate Galaxy is not at all a skill based game. Skill only comes in for PvP & PvP only. Even then, it's lackluster.
and because of the way golds work
I can't comment on it too much, as that change did not appear to change the rate at which players continued to drop from the game. But I can imagine it did not contribute towards improving a player's quality of life.
One of the biggest hits to me I've noticed, is the requirement of getting Sirius blueprints unlocked, in order to access any of Tau Ceti's. Now I'm put in quite the spot for that. You're telling me, that with me being unable to get any sort of help in Sirius system, I am now effectively eliminated from being allowed to play the game? In order to get any help, I have to stay up late into the night/early morning in order to have any sort of progression?