Building a Fleet Starbase - Strategies

[Athos]

How to efficiently utilize Fleet Member Resources in the construction of a Fleet Starbase
 
Introduction:
Below is an explanation of an efficient way to build a Fleet Starbase based on a small to medium Fleet.  Note that this is one strategy that would be effective and not the only strategy that could work.  This is not meant to be judgment; rather it is intended for the betterment of the Fleet. 
 
I consider Lotus Fleet to be a small or medium sized Fleet as there are only a few players contributing to the construction of the Fleet Starbase.  Fleets with a large number of players who all contribute actively towards the construction of the Starbase can essentially do any mission/project and still quickly build a Fleet Starbase.  This is due to the fact that with enough players, their collective resources are almost unlimited.  Lotus Fleet has only a few active contributors and thus resources are limited in that the resources slowly become available with little time to accumulate.  Based on this information, a strategy must be utilized which most effectively utilizes available resources and which most efficiently builds the Fleet Starbase.
 
 
Background Information:
A Fleet Starbase is made up of the following facilities:
- Shipyard (Military)
- Industrial Fabricator (Engineering)
- Communications Array (Science)
- Transwarp Conduit (Science)
- The Starbase
 
In regards to building a starbase, the following are the relevant types of resources that must be donated in order to complete various projects, upgrades and special upgrades.
- Dilithium
- Fleet Marks
- Common Duty Officers
- Expertise
- Various Commodities
- Various Data Samples/Particle Traces
 
In order to build facilities, the Fleet must complete multiple repetitions of two different kinds of projects.  The first type of project is worth 1,000 points towards the construction of one of the types of facilities (shipyard, fabricator, comm. array).  These projects rely on Fleet Marks, common duty officers, expertise and various commodities for completion.  For common duty officers, the 1,000 point projects separate the two kinds of duty officers for that division.  In other words, if it is a science project, it will require X number of science duty officers, and X number of medical duty officers.  For these missions, it is typically the more difficult to obtain type of common duty officer that delays the completion of the project.  Medical, Operations and Security are the more difficult kinds of common duty officers to obtain.
 
The second type of project is worth 500 points towards the construction of one type of facility and also provides a certain number of provisions.  Provisions can be used for other purposes to include allowing members to obtain Fleet Support Starships.  These 500 point missions rely on fleet marks, dilithium, expertise, various commodities, and depending up the type, a small number of common duty officers or various data samples/particle traces.  Typically it is the lack of dilithium that delays the completion of these projects.
 
Once enough points are obtained to upgrade a facility, the fleet may then work towards upgrading that facility.  Upgrades of facilities take a great deal of resources, increasing as the level increases.  Resources that are needed for these upgrades include fleet marks, dilithium, common duty officers, and various commodities.  Typically the lack of dilithium is the source of any delays in completing the upgrades. 
 
Special upgrades are completed in order to enhance the look of the Starbase or interior functionality, such as unlocking options (i.e. bartender, counselor, fleet duty officer, etc).  These missions require dilithium to complete. 
 
 
Strategy:
In the small Fleet environment, the Starbase Commander (i.e. anyone who assigns projects towards the completion of the Starbase), must take into consideration the limited available resources.  Dilithium, medical, operations, and security duty officers are the hardest to come by resources.  While players have multiple avenues to collect dilithium ore, we are limited in the amount refined per day and therefore a scarce commodity. 
 
Refer to “How to obtain Common Duty Officers”.  While many methods exist in obtaining common duty officers, one cannot select exactly which kind of duty officer you get.  More often a player will receive tactical, science, and engineering duty officers.  The problem is that each character is limited on the number of common duty officers they can have at one time and, once full, cannot take on any more.  The main point here is that obtaining a certain type of common duty officer is hit and miss.  A player can reassign underperforming duty officers, but it will cost you dilithium (a limited commodity) and it is a 5 to 3 exchange ratio (pay in 5 common duty officers for 1 uncommon, exchange 1 uncommon for 3 common).
 
A starbase commander must help members by rotating types of projects.  Mistake #1: Concentrate on only 1 type of project.  For this example, let’s say we are concentrating on only military projects.  While this works for large fleets, and will work for a short time with small fleets, it is not a sustainable strategy.  Why?  Members run out of security duty officers, fill their rosters with every other type of duty officer, and cannot obtain any additional security duty officers to help complete the mission.  For example:   currently my one character has 0 tactical, 0 security, 31 engineering, 22 operations, 46 science, and 48 medical common duty officers. 340 out of 350 slots are filled which means that this character is essentially full and cannot take on more duty officers without first off-loading.  In such a circumstance, one can reassign underperforming duty officers but at a 5 to 3 ratio (5 common into 1 uncommon, exchange 1 uncommon into 3 common) but this exchange costs dilithium which is sorely needed.  If other Fleet Members are in a similar situation, then the Fleet is essentially stuck on this project. 
 
Strategy:  Due to the situation described above, it is actually more efficient to load the other two types of projects (engineering & science) once in awhile in order to allow players to donate duty officer so that space can be created for additional common duty officers.  In this way, the military shipyard is actually completed faster than solely loading 1 type of project (i.e. military).  Between my 2 characters, 1 science 1,000 point project and 1 engineering 1,000 point project could be completed just by me.
 
Mistake #2: Loading projects and upgrades which all require dilithium.  Note Upgrades and special projects must always be loaded when available; the mistake is queuing up projects (500 points, X provisions) which require dilithium while at the same time trying to upgrade a facility.
 
Strategy: A starbase commander must help to focus the Fleet’s resources.  Upgrades are important and must be loaded when available; special projects must be loaded when available as they are on a time limit.  Therefore, when these upgrades & special projects, which have the requirements of dilithium heavy are queued up, the regular projects which require dilithium should not be queued.  Rationale: Dilithium is a limited resource; if multiple missions are queued up, then donations will be allocated across various projects instead of concentrated on the one or two that are more important to be completed.  Also, with only 3 project slots available, if two are loaded with projects that require dilithium, and all of the dilithium goes into the upgrade, then the projects will not be completed thereby wasting project spots and ultimately delaying progression.

Conclusion
Above all, building a Fleet Starbase (or Embassy) takes a FLEET.  By that I mean while 1 person could eventually do it, it really does take a Fleet to make this happen.  If we in Lotus Fleet want to max out our Starbase or Embassy, then we need to actively participate.  This does not mean that everyone must grind every day; I play for short periods every day just to complete duty officer missions and Deferi daily missions (2400 dilithium), but a little bit from everyone goes a long way.

Thank you for taking the time to read and consider what I have described above.  My hope is that it is useful and aides Lotus Fleet in the construction of not only the Fleet Starbase, but of the Embassy as well.  If I think of other strategies which can be applied, I’ll update accordingly.  If you see something that I do not, feel free to post your own strategies!

[Hera]

This is a fantastic guide.  I probably have 50-100 science officers in my mail if not more.  

[Athos]

Keeping in mind that I do not know specifically who loads the missions to build our Fleet's starbase, I wanted to use the current setup as a case study.

Right now there are 3 science projects loaded and are as follows:
1) Theoretical Modeling Projects III - Requires: 900 Fleet Marks, 60 Science DoFFs, 70 Medical DoFFs, etc.
2) Ongoing Research Projects III - Requires: 900 Fleet Marks, 54,000 Dilithium, 20 Sci or Med DoFFs, etc.
3) Provision Science Operational Assets - Requires: 900 Fleet Marks, 70 Science DoFFs, 70 Medical DoFFs, etc.


Special Projects:
1) Upgrade Industrial Fabricator III - Requires: 5,400 Fleet Marks, 324,000 Dilithium, 120 Eng or Ops DoFFs, etc.
2) Advanced Multidisciplinary Research - Requires: 600 Fleet Marks, 8 Science DoFFs, 8 Ops DoFFs, etc.


Additional Information: The Fleet has accrued enough points in all areas (sci, eng, mil) to upgrade to tier III facilities.

Given that we have enough points to upgrade the Fabricator and Shipyard to tier III, and we've already upgraded the comm array, Starbase, and transwarp gate to tier III, it is inefficient to throw all projects at one category (i.e. science). 

Problem 1: Our concentration should be in upgrading the facilities of the starbase first.  Right now, the long pole in that tent is dilithum; we're only at 63,500/324,000.  But take a look at the #2 science project; it requires 54,000 dilithum to which we've only provided 10,000.  That's 10,000 dilithium that should have gone towards the fabricator.

Problem 2: Take a look at Projects 1 & 3; we've filled all requirements except for filling the 70 medical DoFFs.  On #1 we're at 47/70 and #3 is at 13/70.  Given that medical, ops, and security DoFFs are the hardest to come by, we shouldn't have 2 projects going at the same time requiring the hardest to come by resources.  Why?  Because we could be completing ops/eng and tac/sec missions while we wait for medical DoFFs to be procured.  Additionally, the procurement of medical DoFFs would actually occur faster.  Why?  Once DoFF slots fill up, a player is stuck meaning that one cannot procure additional DoFFs making the overall process of completing the project relying on medical DoFFs slower to complete.

Strategy: Given the situation where a Fleet has enough points to upgrade facilities, and it's just looking to build points to the next level, I propose that the most efficient project queue is:

        Active:           Que:
1000 Sci/Med  -   1000 Sci/Med OR Provision Sci/Med (if provisions are needed)
1000 Eng/Ops -  1000 Eng/Ops OR Provision Sci/Med (if provisions are needed)
1000 Tac/Med -   1000 Tac/Med OR Provision Sci/Med (if provisions are needed)


As far as the #2 Special Project goes: it is only worth 5 points in the three area and essentially a waste of resources.  It's only hung up on Fleet Marks which I could fill but refuse to as the costs far outweigh the benefits.  Think of it this way; that's 600 Fleet marks that could have gone towards the embassy or other starbase project.

[Kheren]

Excellent points.

All tier 6 in the game (which are all tier 5-6 in the Fleet) are the ones managing the starbase.

Things to consider however: projects that give 1000 points for fleet advancement are what is important for base progress but are not always (in fact rarely) available in all three divisions at the same time. So sometimes you see several ones from the same division active instead of a nice spread out like we would wish to. It is much more a waste of resources to endeavor in projects that give barely 5 points, as they contribute almost nothing but starbase/embassy resources wich we have aplenty but are useless because most players do not avail themselves of them and are related to overall fleet tier anyway.

One other point to note; the queued project can be replaced at anytime if another, more suitable 1000 points project comes up. Adjustment can thus be made when possible to try to find that balance.

That being said, spreading it all on all three divisions causes the stack up of upgrades (more often than not the costliest ones) which further stall developpement and risk missing special timed projects because we have too many of them at the same time. By concentrating on one division, (as fleet building guides suggest) we get that upgrade faster and can free space for the next and for special projects.

That's the problem with Embassy currently. The current timed projects have been sitting there for months now and we missed two new ones already because they are not prioritized by fleetmmembers. We also missed one once on Starbase because we were also stacked.

The dillithium cost will always be a problem; most people keep Di for themselves as they allow to get free stuff on the C-Store instead of paying; and most players are not fond of grinding Di. So unless many puts a conscious effort to sacrifice their time to get lots of Di for the fleet instead of themselves, we will always lack enough to fill up tasks quickly. 

The only other (partial) solution is to have everyone concentrate things like Di and Fleet marks on ONE project at a time before moving to the next instead of spreading ourselves all accross the board. Upgrades should come first; then Timed Special projects; then regular projects, starting with let's say top first then down.

As for regular special projects; granted they do not provide much but they allow people to free space for other resources later useful for the other projects without sending what they have down the drain (like a few complained about). It's been two months without any timed special project from the game and there is still space to catch the next one; so it is not a hinder to fleet progression and would come last in our priorities to begin with. This also avoid the "empty slot" problem that had also raised complaints in the past.

Obviously, our most difficult resources to gather are Di, Doffs and Fleet marks. Therefore, those that are truly devoted to base and embassy should endeavor on those. One other major hindrance however is the need for several resources like warp coils, entertainment provisions and such, which requires players to spend their own credits to get; and the tasks require now hundreds if not thousands of them and these are the ones that often stalls the whole task because players have to pay for them. Again, player interests and fleet interests can conflict in favor of the player's own personal interests and goals.

WE can plan as much as we want but, in the end, human nature will always prevail and we have to live with it. Forcing members to contribute would not be productive either; more than one fleet was destroyed because they tried that; so we should all take this as excellent suggestions, not orders to comply to. So our dedication must also be balanced with patience. We will get to Tier 5, sooner or later. This is not a race but a long term project. Let's give what we want and what we can, keeping in mind your suggestions, and we will get there together.

[Athos]

Thank you for the response Fleet Admiral Kheren.  The response helps to understand your approach and concerns in regards to building the Fleet Starbase.  In essence, building the Starbase is a project where managing resources, including supply and demand, logistics, and avoiding bottlenecks is essential.  In my professional life, I am a certified program manager who deals with all of the above, but with schedules, budgets, policies, laws, and various agencies to contend with, on a global scale.  The Fleet Starbase is child’s play in comparison which is good as this is a game and is supposed to be fun.  However, the same basic principles still apply.  So please allow me to respond and you can use it or ignore it as I am not actively engaged with running the Fleet, in or out of STO.
 
With all Tier 5 & 6 FO’s having access to manage projects in STO (building the Starbase & Embassy), my first concern is to ensure that everyone understands and follows the same strategy.  Not being on the same page would be disastrous regarding effectively & efficiently managing the program.  I had once suggested appointing a “Starbase Commander” position within the Fleet to act as the point person to manage in-game projects.  That person would work with the FO’s to determine the strategy of in-game projects, etc. etc. 
 
Consideration 1: “projects that give 1000 points for fleet advancement are what is important for base progress but are not always (in fact rarely) available in all three divisions at the same time. So sometimes you see several ones from the same division active instead of a nice spread out like we would wish to. “
 
Response 1: It’s a given that I have not seen the admin panel so I do not have your perspective.  However, I have seen on multiple occasions all three divisions with their 1000 projects running at the same time.  Given the assumption that they are not always available, this does not negate the case study strategy provided above.  In that case, load it as such:
Project 1: Sci/Med 1000
Project 2: Eng/Ops Provision
Project 3: Tac/Sec 1000
 
The basic point is to NOT have 3 projects of the same division going at the same time.  By doing this, you are creating a bottleneck.  (i.e Players continue to build resources, but cannot expend them.) It’s good to know that the queued projects can be replaced if better options come along, but this is also contingent upon admins being situationally aware and monitoring what’s going on…and all understanding the same strategy.
 
Concern 2: “That being said, spreading it all on all three divisions causes the stack up of upgrades (more often than not the costliest ones) which further stall developpement and risk missing special timed projects because we have too many of them at the same time. By concentrating on one division, (as fleet building guides suggest) we get that upgrade faster and can free space for the next and for special projects.”
 
Response 2: In my opinion, this is flat-out wrong.  If all three divisions’ upgrades became available at the same time, then all of the upgrades simply wait in the queue until being selected and worked on to completion by the Fleet.  Translation; the Fleet simply takes each upgrade one at a time while (which we have to do anyway with only 1 upgrade slot), while at the same time completing regular projects which work towards the next upgrade.  There is no penalty by having multiple upgrades ready at the same time. 
 
The second incorrect statement is regarding the special timed projects.  There are 2 different slots under the special projects category; the first is for starbase upgrades and cannot be used for those special timed projects that you mention.  The second slot IS for the special timed projects and those worthless 5 point projects.  If you’re worried about missing a special timed project, then don’t do the 5 point project. 
 
Finally, by concentrating on one division, you are creating a resource bottleneck greatly slowing work towards the next upgrade.  Your strategy of concentrating on one division works for the Embassy, but NOT the starbase. 
 
Concern 3: “The dillithium cost will always be a problem; most people keep Di for themselves as they allow to get free stuff on the C-Store instead of paying; and most players are not fond of grinding Di. So unless many puts a conscious effort to sacrifice their time to get lots of Di for the fleet instead of themselves, we will always lack enough to fill up tasks quickly.”
 
Response 3: I agree with you on this one.  In fact, this supports my strategy even more. Provision projects often require dilithium; by selecting 1000 pointers, you save on dilithium.  Hmmm, I’m not a fan of dilithium grinding, but perhaps I should write up a “How to get dilithium” guide like I did with common duty officers.  This is also why it is important to help focus where the dilithium will go towards.
 
Concern 4: “Obviously, our most difficult resources to gather are Di, Doffs and Fleet marks.”
 
Response 4: Agreed, with Fleet Marks being the easiest (at least for me) to obtain and Dilithium taking the longest to acquire.
 
Concern 5: “One other major hindrance however is the need for several resources like warp coils, entertainment provisions and such, which require players to spend their own credits to get; and the tasks require now hundreds if not thousands of them and these are the ones that often stalls the whole task because players have to pay for them. Again, player interests and fleet interests can conflict in favor of the player's own personal interests and goals.”
 
Response 5: I disagree.  These provisions are readily available and only require credits.  If you’re playing at all, you will get item drops.  Selling the items will give you credits allowing you to buy the provisions.  This can sometimes be a mild bump in the road, but I would not describe these items as a “major hindrance.”  Speaking of which, I hope that EVERYONE knows to buy their provisions from the freighter near Sol?  Buying them that way is 50% less cost than via your ship’s replicator.
 
Conclusion: I agree that we should not try and force anything for our members.  That was never what I was suggesting.  Right now there are inefficiencies which is hurting our overall progress; I am attempting to point them out so that they can be corrected.  And if inefficient strategies are used, then yes we will eventually get there even if it takes much longer than necessary.  If you would like to discuss, feel free to contact me and we can chat via Team Speak or Skype.  I’d also like to point out that this is NOT for my benefit; it gains me very little to donate my resources to the Fleet.  This is about the best interests of the Fleet.

[Kheren]

Excellent points Athos and I urge everyone involved or interested in getting involved with our Fleet Starbase and Embassy to read what you provide.

To further the discussion:

Point 1; yes for some time it was easy to spread through all three divisions. But since Season 7 it has not been. Sometimes all the 1000 points one are in but one division. Seems the devs found this new way sto slow down the base building process. Rest assured that trying to spread out the tasks through all three division will always be done as much as possible first and foremost because of ressources availability considerations.

Point 2: Special timed projects are also sometimes slotted in the upgrade section, not just the special projects section. Two of them have been so far that I am aware of and so it may happen again. That is why guides state stacking upgrades is not a good idea. That being said, if participants do prioritize those, stacking should not be that much of a problem.

As for the "useless 5 points one" putting one in there when there is not even one limited time project on the horizon is no great obstacle but help some players in gaining fleet credits, especially by using their expertise points which everyone has millions of and doing nothing for them. Not everyone has 10 millions like you or even a million like me. So it does allow a few others to gain points to buy the goodies we already have and that will come later without much hindrance to starbase developpement.

Points 3 and 4: we agree on these

Point 5: yes the ressources are easily available but when you need those credits to get those ressources to do the 50 and 250 and 500 Di Doffs missions, it can dry out your credits pretty quickly unless you play quite often. Case in point; if they are so easy to obtain and pay for, why are they, beside maybe the Di one (and not all the time even) always the last slots to be filled? Possible answer; people don't have enough, or don't want to spend, credits on them?

And in conclusion, no one doubts that you try to help the fleet here. And we all thank you for it.

[Athos]

Fleet, I am quite pleased with the most recent patch coming out.  http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=756731

Why am I posting in the building a starbase thread?  Two patches caught my attention:

• Updated all Fleet project inputs to allow fleet members to input Engineering and Operations department duty officers where you could previously only slot Engineering OR Operations.
• Updated all Fleet project inputs to allow fleet members to input Science and Medical department duty officers where you could previously only slot Science OR Medical.

Why is this important?  First, read above.  The basic run-down is this: aside from dilithium, the biggest road block for the Fleet completing missions has been the lack of certain common duty officers (DOffs).  Medical and Ops officers seem to be much harder to procure.  By making it to where our projects now combine both Engineering & Operations and Science & Medical, projects will be able to be completed much faster.  And yes, I am working on that "how-to" guide for accumulating dilithium like I did with the common duty officers. 

I'm also interested in the Dilithium Mine Fleet Holding which is similar to the Embassy...but that's another topic entirely.

[Teancum]

Hello Admiral. I tried to contribute to the holdings, but the response "transfering ..." has been on screen for a long time. Is there a trick to it? I figured it out. Sorry to bother you.
Thanks
Fleet Capt Teancum

[Kheren]

It's either a glitch (happenned to me too from time to time) or because something you want to input is not readily available (like a DOFF busy somewhere else in a task). Usually I just close it all and restart again and that solves the problem.