Behind the Scenes: The Progression Module

Greetings, Spacefarers!

Following the very successful wrap-up of the movement module, which was focused on Free movement, interactive FOW, and a number of improvements to POIs, the team is now moving into work on aspects of the game surrounding progression. This includes aspects such as advancement, development, harvesting, and other mechanics that advance the player’s strength in the game. As we move through this module, we will be looking at the major features in turn and giving a better understanding of what they entail and what they’ll bring to Echoes of Empire.

The focus on progression will allow us to ensure that the way a player moves through the game feels rewarding and keeps you on a steady path where gameplay doesn’t become stagnant. It will be especially important to balance these aspects, as they will impact tokenomics and the overall game economy. An imbalance in harvesting, for example, would leave a player scrambling to acquire enough resources to keep playing, much less having extra to sell or trade. We want to ensure that people coming into the game as free players can work toward ownership in the game and experience a rich progression path that cements value in the game.

While the mechanics around Celestial Claims (Land claims) are a known variable, we will also be reviewing provisioning and maintenance. Maintenance is another critical area where we need to be sure the balance is correct, so that players are not trapped in a grind where maintaining land holdings or fleets is cumbersome or overly difficult. While it is intended to take some work, and ongoing participation in the game to reap the highest rewards, we want the game itself to be fun to play and engaging to interact with.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the work that will be undertaken in this module. Stay tuned for our upcoming explainers on these features! We look forward to sharing more on these areas with you in the near future!

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I really appreciate the balanced view towards progression and the in-game economy. Getting this right will create a rewarding game for years to come.

I have confidence the Ion team will get this right. The DUST tokenomics are a big variable for me. This P2E space is very new and we are seeing the tokenomics growing pains in games like Axie and Town Star. I certainly do not have all the answers but I think one thing can be agreed on by many: DUST will need a numerically limited supply to tie nicely into the in-game economy and prevent runaway inflation.

Thank you for these updates!

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