Citadel Shanty Towns?

Soon (TM) Citadels will be launched. There will be various sizes to suit one-man corps up to the behemoths that the biggest alliances will be able to field. However, will rank and file members be able to feel engaged with these? As far as I'm aware it'll be like docking in a NPC station or an outpost. You'll have your standard captains quarters. Will normal members think "This is MY home?". I'm not sure they will when you compare housing in games such as the likes of Skyrim. However for Eve, and specifically low-sec, I was thinking about perhaps one of the best features of old Star Wars: Galaxies, towns!

If you never played SW:G, a guild could found a town on the planet. Within that radius, individual players could place their own house. There were many styles of different houses and it was yours. I was wondering if this sort of mechanic has a place in Eve Online, and I think it does.

 

Eve Online certainly needs those XL citadels. Goon HQ standing proud in all its 250km glory (or however big those things are going to be). Even the smaller organised corps especially the industrialists and the like. Their own citadel to show off.

However my opinion is that way is not appropriate for Stay Frosty or other similar corps. Yes we could build a medium sized one, but again, I don't think that fits in with the attitude. We are solo and small gang players brought together under an umbrella. We're in low-sec, the wild wild west of New Eden. A big shiny starbase just doesn't seem to fit in my opinion. We want a backwater outpost. A wretched hive of scum and villainy were us -10's can live. I'm thinking the Firefly type outlying worlds. Mos Eisley spaceport (in space) obviously. The diner from Spaceballs the Movie.

Perhaps a good example other than the SW:G type of towns, I'm thinking Defiance. A settlement of individuals, united. A hotpotch of "self built" structures. Individuals in a tight group (but not so tight that they are a pain to navigate). On their own they are weak and defenseless. Clumped together they are more of a threat. Obviously I'm thinking low-sec here as opposed to hi-sec where we'd see more structured and permanent citadels. Low-sec should be shanty towns like Defiance.

Your "space house" should be built by the industrialists of New Eden, but could be customised cosmetically with AUR items from the NeX to improve incoming for CCP. I want to mount a big neon sign on the house I've placed next to Rixx that says "Space Jail" with a comedy pointing finger.

Another option along this theme would be to have a base structure that a corp or alliance could deploy and it has a number of "plots" on it. The frame comes in various sizes and allows corp members to build their "house" on the structure.

There are several ways of doing this and I think it would be popular with a lot of players. However I do accept just as many will think its a waste of time. Then again if we all liked the same thing, Eve would have died out long ago!