In this episode, hear an AI summary of the latest Star Atlas community event. Full video recordings can be found on the YouTube channel of Star Atlas TV at https://www.youtube.com/@staratlastv.
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Podcast Transcript
[00:00:00] Hi, this isn’t Matt with Intergalactic Herald. This is AI Matt. Welcome to my Star Atlas Recap of the latest Economy Forum from the Star Atlas Economy Team. The following summary of the Economy Forum was AI generated so no guarantee it is 100% accurate because I am an AI after all. If you want to listen to the entire recording, please check out the YouTube channel of Star Atlas TV. Enjoy the summary.
[00:00:26] Welcome to the 12th monthly Star Atlas Economic Forum, celebrating its one-year anniversary. Hosted by Jose, the session featured Chris and Gareth discussing the state of the Star Atlas economy, future plans, and addressing community topics.
[00:00:41] A key point of discussion was the upcoming C4 release, which includes claim stakes, combat, crafting, and habs. While limited information is available due to restrictions following a recent “sneak peek,” the team is deeply involved in C4 planning, especially integrating its economics with the current Sage product. This transition is anticipated to be more challenging than the previous move from the Score economy to Sage. Resources are currently focused on C4 development, which impacts progress on other projects. More detailed C4 updates are expected next month. Separately, a town hall is being planned, though a specific date has not been confirmed.
[00:01:21] Gareth provided an update on the community dashboard, highlighting the transition to a new backend. This new system offers faster performance and is better equipped to handle growing data sets, particularly with C4 on the horizon. It has resolved some smaller data errors, such as underestimated Atlas emissions. The primary remaining issue is a tool tip bug potentially related to the platform used (Looker Studio). The new backend enables progress on significant data tasks like fleet activity lookup, DAO Treasury, and game activity wallet lookup. A locker summary view is also planned for release soon. The team remains open to community suggestions for adding specific charts, especially DAO-related ones, which can be communicated through the Council community chat.
[00:02:07] A major topic was the transition from the Faction Fleet (Score) program to fleet rentals. The rental program is showing significant success, with about 9 million VWOP from unique Score players having transitioned or interacted with the program. Fleet rentals currently offer approximately 20x more Atlas earnings per VWOP unit compared to Score, making it increasingly attractive. Over half of the ships remaining in Score are estimated to be negatively yielding under current market conditions. Remaining Score users constitute a minimal portion (less than 5%) of total marketplace resource volume related to upkeep. The deprecation of Score has been discussed for roughly two years and is becoming more likely due to the successful transition to rentals and Score’s inherent issues. Score lacks a plan for self-sufficiency and relies on the token emissions curve, which is scheduled to end, making it unsustainable long-term. Deprecating Score would encourage the activation of currently inactive VWOP. While Score is a low priority compared to C4, its shutdown is realistic possibly within the next year. Atlas emissions associated with Score, if deprecated, would likely be absorbed or shut off rather than directly transferred to Sage.
[00:03:21] The issue of FIC (Faction Infrastructure Contracts) sniping was analyzed in detail. FIX has become a very popular Atlas earning method, with Gen 2 (named Fix) showing significantly higher redemption rates than Gen 1. To curb emissions, a rule was introduced requiring both Gen 1 and Gen 2 to be claimed before either is refilled. This has led to Gen 2 emissions occurring in massive spikes primarily on refill days (Thursdays) because Gen 2 runs out quickly but isn’t refilled until the less popular Gen 1 is also depleted. Analysis shows significant inequality, with a few top players accounting for a large portion of Atlas emissions. Data indicates that more unique users are being pushed into claiming the less attractive Gen 1 recipe as Gen 2 is quickly claimed by fewer players. There is also a noted correlation between high OTC traders and large FIC claimants.
[00:04:13] Several potential solutions for FIC sniping were presented:
[00:04:17] 1. Adjusting the refresh schedule to remove the fixed Thursday refresh, only refilling when all FIX are out. This is easy to implement and would help spread out emissions but wouldn’t prevent immediate claiming by whales when refills occur.
[00:04:32] 2. Forcing crafting locations to be different from redemption locations, making it harder to instantly liquidate crafted FIX. This is difficult due to implementation challenges tied to Starbase tiers.
[00:04:44] 3. Bringing Gen 2 in line with Gen One, potentially by nerfing the Gen 2 recipe or deactivating it. Gen 2 is seen as “broken” compared to Gen 1’s more stable and predictable emissions. This is a favored option to reduce current high Atlas emissions.
[00:05:01] 4. Changing the specific FIC recipe (mint) each cycle. This would be difficult to implement and communicate, creating issues with potentially useless old assets.
[00:05:11] A community idea to introduce a new extra extra small ship recipe as a redemption option was discussed. This would be a new ship and would likely be priced less competitively than existing options (like Mamba X or Calico Maxhog) to avoid immediate minting by whales. It’s an easy change to implement and wouldn’t impact C4 development. Another community suggestion involved creating a FIC 3 recipe by combining FIC 1 and FIC 2. There is general agreement that current emission levels need to be addressed.
[00:05:42] Other updates mentioned include the current lack of plans for direct Polus usage within the game itself. A food update is planned to remove the food upkeep requirement that reduces crafting speed. Starbases will maintain a base 100% efficiency. Players can still contribute food for LP. The update will also increase food consumption for ships, scaling more aggressively with ship class to address the current imbalance where larger ships pay proportionally much less than smaller ones. Scanning ships will also receive a 50% reduction in scan cooldown. Finally, adjustments to fleet scores (mining, scanning, cargo) are planned based on community feedback.
[00:06:22] Overall, despite challenges like high Atlas emissions, the economy is viewed as being in a good place with relatively stable user numbers.
