So far, the beta has been really enjoyable, but one thing bothers me: Why are all these pirates floating around planets that have no value to them? There are no people on those planets to steal from, they have no mining facilities, and they seem to have no intention of setting up shop there. It's annoying that those pirates had the tech to get there before me (or any other race), but no incentive to do anything but...float.

Now I understand from a gameplay perspective why they need to be there. You need some force to contest a player's expansion into those worlds. I can even see leaving those pirates on dead asteroid worlds (it would be like a base for them, or something), but for the bigger planets, how about something (which I believe GalCiv II had) like a mini-faction which controls just that planet.

They wouldn't have to be strong (in fact, I would suggest leaving the planets closest to the player's starting position in the hands of the pirates) or threatening (they couldn't leave that planet's gravity well), but instead it would put a "face" on the pirates that seem to have no reason to be there.

If you wanted to expand it further, you could give these little mini factions a name (which would be in grey or some other defining color so players know that isn't a main enemy) and perhaps a few (non-functional) buildings (for aesthetic purposes) to destroy, before you take it over.

Seeing as we can have multiple stars with 20, 30, or more planets, it would be a nice way to break up the monotone of a random pirate group just happening to be at a planet who, despite my superior force, has no problem fighting a battle they can't win for a planet with no value to them. At least if that defending force had interest in that territory, I could see why they would fight back.

Thoughts?