 Frontier announced last week that they are closing applications for the player minor faction system. In this video we take a look at the available evidence suggesting that they might be looking at something altogether more accessible to every player. You know how this bit goes if you enjoy our videos please do hit the thumbs up, subscribe and ding that little bell so you don't miss any of our Elite Dangerous content and to directly support our work here at the pit you can also join our patreon links to that and everything else are below. Ahead of news ramping up about the impending arrival of update 15 to the Elite Dangerous live game Frontier let go a raft of announcements last week that very much felt like getting their desk clear before the next thing arrives. We covered the specifics of the entire announcement in which space news on Friday you'll find that linked on screen now but in those announcements which largely covered some delays and operational updates was news that player minor faction applications would be closing. Any existing applications would be dealt with by Frontier but no new applications would be processed. If you're unfamiliar with the existence of player minor factions here's the briefest of overviews. Historically throughout most of the life of Elite Dangerous player groups of more than 10 people have been able to apply to Frontier for a player minor faction or PMF to be injected into the game. Whenever you travel to a star pool or space station in the game upon connecting to the mission board at station services you'll see portraits of faction representatives. Those factions can be NPC factions created by the game or player minor factions. When commanders take on and complete missions on behalf of a faction that factions influence in the system can be increased. All of the factions have an influence level and it's this influence level expressed as a percentage that determines the state that a faction in a given system is in. For example war or economic boom etc. The state a faction is in will determine what mission types are available from it. If a faction's influence reaches a high enough level then they have the potential to expand from that system into neighboring star systems and so on increasing the factions presence in the galaxy. When players talk about playing the BGS or background simulation this is what they're talking about and the resultant gameplay tactics discussions and real world diplomacy outside the game that go on form a large part of many players Elite Dangerous core experience and it becomes their primary reason for fighting wars on the ground and in space trading or exploring or running missions etc. In their announcement last week Frontier did say that the PMF system played a key role in giving players the ability to shape the bubble and they further stated that quote this goal is at the heart of our plans for Elite unquote. The announcement continued quote our focus is now turning to investigate how upcoming systems will allow every player and player group to have a meaningful impact on the galaxy's landscape unquote. It's clear from this that it's Frontier's intention to continue or replace the PMF system with something but that it will in all likelihood not be the system in its current form. Also Frontier's choice of wording in this announcement is important they state that the PMF system has been key in players shaping the landscape of the bubble. The announcement then says that they wish to give every player and player group the opportunity to affect meaningful impact on the galaxy's landscape galaxy not bubble. The bubble is around 300 light years across and for the most part that largely hasn't changed since the games launch. With even half decent jump range on a ship you can be clear of the bubble in just a few jumps the galaxy by comparison is of course absolutely gigantic measuring some 80,000 or more light years from side to side that is a colossal amount of space that isn't yet being actively used for anything other than exploration. The bubble whilst not yet full is pretty crowded so it is at least conceivable that F-thev's motivations for changing the PMF system is part of a resolution to any potential future overcrowding issues. If Frontier are looking to keep and expand on that level of player agency then its obvious question would be what would that new player agency look like? When the announcement first broke there was a ripple of comments across social media proclaiming that base building should or would be coming to Elite Dangerous. Player owned and maintained properties and houses are a staple of MMOs in general. World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2 and Star Trek Online are just three examples where an instantiated player group or individually owned property of one fashion or another is a feature. As I've mentioned the more regular MMOs choose to instantiate their player owned assets presumably to prevent their gaming worlds becoming jam packed with player owned condominiums. It goes without saying then that the multiplayer space simulators set in large expansive galaxies of hundreds or indeed billions of star systems each with their own system of planets are even better placed to allow player owned buildings than most regular MMOs are. The sheer volume of available real estate makes something like the overcrowding condominium problem an almost mute point and there is a significant precedent for base building making its way into Elite Dangerous. Elite's nearest two rivals for player attention in the multiplayer space No Man's Sky and Star Citizen have base building features already or have them as intended features and then of course there's the leak from 2019. If you're unfamiliar with the 2019 leak then allow me to elaborate a moment. In April 2019 a post appeared on the website 4chan proclaiming to have inside information on unannounced games and features for existing games all being developed at Frontier. One of the games discussed in the leak was Elite Dangerous. At the time Frontier was rightfully so known for being notoriously uncommunicative and to have such details purportedly from inside the company was manna from heaven that was surely too good to be true. This is remember from a time before the announcement of Odyssey. Amongst its predictions the post claimed to have knowledge of unannounced DLCs and expansions from Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution and Elite Dangerous. It also spoke of unannounced new projects including Planet Zoo, Jurassic World Evolution 2 and a handful of others. Enough of the purported leak across all the titles mentioned has come true in the time since it's posting with more than enough accuracy therein to validate the leak as actually being genuine. You'll find a link to a Reddit version of the leaked information below but the section on Elite Dangerous in particular I'm going to talk about now. If indeed the leak around Elite specifically is accurate then it could be considered spoilers so consider this fair warning if you're sensitive to that stuff stop watching now. Still here? Okay then. The Elite Dangerous leak specifically mentioned space legs and first person style gameplay that has obviously come true. It also mentioned Thargoids on foot and it mentioned base building saying that the update overall was due around the end of 2020. That was indeed the original window for Odyssey's release but it was delayed before its eventual release in May 2021. We obviously haven't yet seen Thargoids on foot or base building but there is yet more weight to the base building argument. In September 2019 a Reddit user digging around the ARKS website at ARKS.EliteDangerous.com discovered a reference in the website's code that mentions purchasable cosmetics for player owned buildings. Upon its discovery the reference was quickly removed by Frontier. This is all very compelling however in a post to the official Elite Dangerous forums in June 2020 nearly a year after the leak and after Odyssey had been officially acknowledged by Frontier but a year before its eventual release the then Elite Dangerous community manager Tim Smith said base building was not currently on the roadmap for Elite Dangerous. So where does this all lead us? It's been acknowledged by Frontier's own developers in interviews that the company experiments with features during development some of them make it into the game and some go back on the shelf perhaps never to see the light of day at all or to be brought down again when needed. The Scorpion SRV is one such long shelved but eventually made real feature. I do think it likely given all the evidence that we've seen over the years that Frontier has experimented with the idea of player owned or constructed buildings at the very least. If nothing else it makes complete sense that they would look at such an obvious feature for Elite Dangerous. As to whether they are now actively working on it to replace the PMF system I think any tin foiling in that direction is completely valid entirely reasonable and understandable. Such a feature would doubtless be popular with large sections of the player base and it's certainly the sort of feature that is absolutely ripe for monetisable features such as decor ornaments and trophies etc. From a business perspective on a surface level at least you're looking at player investment and a sense of ownership agency and the all-important player retention all of which can then be monetized. It would seem to someone sitting on the outside at least a no-brainer where the Frontier holding all the cards see it that way of course is another matter entirely. Would you like to see player constructed buildings in Elite Dangerous? Do you think that is indeed what Frontier are working on and if not what would you like to see replacing the PMF system? Let us know in the comments below. That's it for now. Thanks very much for watching. If you enjoyed this video consider subscribing to the channel and maybe take a look at one of our other videos linked on screen right now.