When they were specifically the cause to the lack of those targets, due to constantly attacking the same hostile to the point where that player felt that his game wasn't getting any where. So they quit the game. This I have seen happening in a lot of online games especially when it is a militaristic game. If they were to take a more liberal approach by having several hostile targets and juggling them to allow those others to grow and feel that their game is progressing. They are more likely to stay around. If a farmer over milked his cows they would go dry on milk too. The same goes to exhausting your targets to the brink as well.


    As for the resource protection of the researcher :- Maybe we could make a function similar to the Sirius Defense Up and down function. Where the protected resource's have to be lowered into a Tunnel System and brought up from the tunnel system to actually be used. This would allow for a period of time where the resource's could be attacked as they would be considered un protected while in the up stage but once completely lowered the resource's are safe.


    This would lead to the researcher having to be actively be involved in the resource protection part to their spec. By downing the resource's to protect them and upping the resource's to actively use the resource's or to load onto ship's. This would then give a hostile small windows of opportunity to raid resource's.

    What you describe is already implemented. It is called the escape flight and it is not a bonus, but a basic feature, open to everyone. Due to the attacker having the initiative and the sole control over the attack and the complete ineffectiveness of defenses the attacker already enjoys a tremendous advantage. It is always emphasized that SI is a war game. This is not - quite- true. It does not model war, but plunder, giving all advantages to the attacker and no recourse to the attacked.
    The researcher is the weakest of the specializations. Why does it get picked on so much? Because it jeopardizes the risk free farm attack?
    The fleeter can loot up to 97% from any given target, flying faster and cheaper than anyone else at the same time. There should be a trade off between between cargo capacity and speed. Fighting ships don't have cargo capacity, they need the room for armament and ordnance. Only freighters should be able to carry cargo, however, they are slow and fragile. Ships should cost maintenance. The fetish of the lossless attack needs to be eliminated. There is no such thing as a casualty free full scale fleet action.