A bit surprised by the forced-on-me base.

[PeaceMaker]

Ok, so I never bothered with going to the Boron or building a base. I just did the Merc thing, as some know.

Got a new ship after my last one got blown up and decided to try and head for that Gate that leads to the Boron DLC thing. I tried before, but too many Xenon, forgot about it.

On the way, to my surprise, that Boron base just appeared out of nowhere. Wow? It just happens now? Let's have a look. The Dock's already built?

I land. The Boron does it annoying tinny waffle, and I start drifting off,
"blah, blah, blah, I need someone else to take over the running of the base, blah, blah. How about you?"

"Well actually..."

"Don't answer- It's all yours now! Everything is signed over to you!"

"Er- really? The whole base? Just like that? ok then."

I liked it better when I had to make a bit of effort to discover it. Also would've liked a choice to say, "No, maybe later." Reminds me of No man's Sky which just gives me a humongous Freighter for doing nothing at all.

smh...

[mcb0ny]

Not many people prefer the old school ways nowadays. Or at least those who don't make more noise.

At least the PIO way of getting PHQ still works, so you can go for that next time ;]

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by mcb0ny:

Not many people prefer the old school ways nowadays. Or at least those who don't make more noise.

At least the PIO way of getting PHQ still works, so you can go for that next time ;]

My issue with the new way is the PHQ is exposed to Xenon cutting supply lines in HAT and Xenon invading from the Emperor's Pride sectors. Experienced players probably won't have too many issues but new players are in for a rough time. Then there's the issue of Kha'ak base starting in the same sector as the PHQ.

Old area was the same jump calculations away from the highway but with less manual flying. Old area also was well protected from Xenon threats but had to deal with pirates. Now new players are essentially railroaded into helping Boron with their economy if they want to be able to grow their personal faction. On the flip side new players avoid the tedium of buying a small ship with antimatter cells and building a dock.

It's really a mixed bag and hard to tell which is "better". Luckily there's the option of doing a custom start and just spawning the PHQ in whatever sector I want.

[Dunkler Messias]

I was surprised about that, too. But I am thankful for this. The original mission for the PHQ is very annoying after the third time.
As I started a new game with the boron start, I decided to don't do the PHQ mission. But it was such a relief to see that I don't have to do that anyway. Was very happy to see the PHQ is already unlocked. \o/

[6000 Chipmunks]

I don't like the forced free HQ either.
However; It's a must, just be able to have access to the Boron DLC.
Also, I'm fairly certain you cannot even build your own HQ in X4,

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by 6000 Chipmunks:

Also, I'm fairly certain you cannot even build your own HQ in X4,

You can't build one but you can choose where it goes via Custom Start or Teleportation research.

[mcb0ny]

Originally posted by Pandorian:

Originally posted by mcb0ny:

Not many people prefer the old school ways nowadays. Or at least those who don't make more noise.

At least the PIO way of getting PHQ still works, so you can go for that next time ;]

My issue with the new way is the PHQ is exposed to Xenon cutting supply lines in HAT and Xenon invading from the Emperor's Pride sectors. Experienced players probably won't have too many issues but new players are in for a rough time. Then there's the issue of Kha'ak base starting in the same sector as the PHQ.

Old area was the same jump calculations away from the highway but with less manual flying. Old area also was well protected from Xenon threats but had to deal with pirates. Now new players are essentially railroaded into helping Boron with their economy if they want to be able to grow their personal faction. On the flip side new players avoid the tedium of buying a small ship with antimatter cells and building a dock.

It's really a mixed bag and hard to tell which is "better". Luckily there's the option of doing a custom start and just spawning the PHQ in whatever sector I want.

PIO questline still places PHQ in Grand Exchange, and this does not stop you from doing all the Boron DCL stuff. Now, i know that new players will miss the option, unless they do a PIO start, but once you know it's there, the option can be used for any start ;]

[Duke Flapjack]

To be fair it's both the PIO AND Terran starts. Still, I agree with OP. I like getting the HQ on my own terms and I preferred the original location (except when playing as a Terran as it's a pain to get materials all the way over THERE).

Personally I think they should have kept the original way to get the HQ and made it a gatekeeper for the other mission chains. Personally I also think it should go farther and have the Hatikvah chain be a prereq for getting the HQ as well.

[Bozz 💀]

It's stupide in my opinion and makes no sense...
I mean I play as a pirate, boarding ships etc...
Boron arrives and he's like "hey you look like a decent guy, here I give you control over this whole new station"...

I have played this game 2.800 hours, Done the old H.Q plot like 20 times already and I'd rather do it for the 21st time than this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lol

[Duke Flapjack]

Originally posted by Bozz 💀:

It's stupide in my opinion and makes no sense...
I mean I play as a pirate, boarding ships etc...
Boron arrives and he's like "hey you look like a decent guy, here I give you control over this whole new station"...

I have played this game 2.800 hours, Done the old H.Q plot like 20 times already and I'd rather do it for the 21st time than this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lol

The underlying issue is that Egosoft made the Boron campaign a tutorial and ALSO made Boso a requirement of the storyline. I have no problem with either, but I also think there should have been a soft lock on progression like the Northriver campaign: allow the player to go with the expedition to the first unlocked cluster then stop the campaign until you have a "scientist" who can interpret the star pattern.

[PeaceMaker]

Originally posted by mcb0ny:

Not many people prefer the old school ways nowadays. Or at least those who don't make more noise.

At least the PIO way of getting PHQ still works, so you can go for that next time ;]

Some of the best games I ever played I still remember fondly cos nothing was just 'free' unless you nicked the little things lying around at your own risk or used skillful thinking. You had to make an effort. You had to work, even in a game. it keeps the mind sharp and not...lazy. Useful in real life.

But now everything has to be free now in games and it don't matter if there's no logical reason to it. "Ohhh! A megga giant big thing that nobody in his right mind would give away for free? Just have it! For free! Hooray! How can that be bad? It's FREEEEE??"


Life don't work like that. Free things are not always good. Games Devs just teach people very bad habits today.

Maybe I'm just too old for modern games. :/ Call me grandpa, even though I'm not.

[Donauwelle]

Well the old PHQ quest was always a bit problematic,
it was great for the Foundation starts / Friendly playthrus
but with Terran and Split starts, not to mention Pirate/Bad-guy playthrus...

For any kind of "not-so-friendly" games, Boso is just too.... much Boso...
Your a Pirate, dont bother with law,
dont bother to blow up ships with dozends of crewman if they dont surrender,
dont bother helping a weak unworthy Boron...
Dont get Ship-mods

And for TER and SPL plays its just weird to help someone steal a High-Tech Terran research Station or Help a Boron escape from Split....

Atleast small diversions in Plot to either... Give PHQ to Terrans or bring Boso back to ZYA/FRF

The new way to get HQ is.... better....
*even tho its a bit "unrewarding"

Still id prefer (just for the few "dark" RP playthrus) to just....
get rid of Boso or.... "Force him" to work for you...
something to make him...
less gawd damn Friendly....

[SirProsik]

Its not free though. You are technically his assistant and HE is the owner of the base in his mind and in PIO's determination anyway :)

[Ygolnac]

You can move the station with high mass teleporting tech, altough it requires a bit of efforts.
If Heretic's End gets swarmed by XEN or KHK you can still fill their storage for teleportation with L freighters and escorts, more even so with Barbarossas and the likes. Will require some babysitting but they can make it.

Also, AFAIK, the HQ itself doesn't get attacked, at least the core module and a docking SHOULD be unkillable, so if you don't have big plans for it you can just leave it there, but you might want to do the research before it gets impossible to freight stuff to it.

But the RNG is always there, my last run I'm 60 hours in and no XEN, KHK or pirate showed in Heretic's End, aside from a K that came from the north and slowly moved out of the sector after having combed a couple of my freighters, and at the time I could just watch since I had no means to deal a K.

[Tommytools]

Nobody is forcing you to do anything with the station, it cannot be destroyed, so you can ignore it and go about your business.

But since it is a requirement to be able to research teleportation, module hacks and ship mods I'm not surprised it is given to the player.

[Ygolnac]

Also, If you help the Borons to rebuild the Shipyard in Great Reef (if you don't help them they'll eventually do it by themselves), they will start to patrol Heretic's End with multiple Carriers, Dozen Fighters and Gunboats.

They took care of the second K that came in to the system and it was so occupied fighting them that my freighters passed by with no harm.

So if you advance a tiny bit the Boron storyline, Heretic's End it's not the dangerous system it used to be. It's unclaimed, but Borons seem to patrol it since it's their only connection to the rest of the Commonwealth.