I am working on a concept here that should accomplish both goals (cutting down Xenon traffic while boosting economy by creating shortcuts) - let me know what you think.
Gate Set 1:
Terran Unknown Sector 3 (E) <----> Xenon Sector 598 (E)
Explanation:
Gate 1A effectively isolates the Xenon sector east of TUS3, which seems to be VERY active (at least in my game) and constantly sends Q's, J's, and K's through the gate. This also creates a shortcut to Aldrin & Neptune, both of which are just 3 jumps away.
Gate 1B isolates the entire Xenon cluster (Xenon Sector 627, Xenon Core 023, and Xenon Sector 695), which includes a Shipyard, thus hampering the Xenon ability to send reinforcements out from this part of the map (I confirmed that when Xenons are under attack, the Shipyard is where new Xenon ships continuously spawns. Yes, Xenon sectors that don't have shipyards will spawn ships as well, but most of the time nothing bigger than Q's). This also conveniently creates trading shortcuts to the entire eastern half of the universe, as well as lower-mid (Ocean of Fantasy is only 4 jumps away, Queen's Retribution 6 jumps, Cardinal's Domain 7 jumps). As for Xenon Sector 598 itself, I plan on patrolling the hell out of it with a large fleet of M2's
). The last added bonus? The player-owned sector is just 3 jumps away!Gate Set 2:
Nopileo's Memorial (S) <---> Wherever
Explanation:
Gate 2A isolates Xenon Sector 101, which contains a shipyard. I don't typically see much Xenon activity emerging out from this sector, but sealing it off doesn't hurt. The main thing is this creates a trading shortcut to the entire western side of the map (Argon Prime 7 jumps, Paranid Prime 6 jumps, Third Redemption 3 jumps, Great Reef 9 jumps).
So, with only 3 of the 6 gates, you would effectively isolate 5 Xenon sectors, 2 of which contain shipyards (and one of which seems to pull J's and K's out of vacuum without a shipyard), while conveniently linking Aldrin/Neptune to Commonwealth space, as well as linking large parts of both eastern and western halves of the Commonwealth territories, not to mention creating a shortcut to your own sector where you can now centralize most of your commercial productions - both Terrans and Commonwealth races have access to your space in 3 jumps!
The remaining 3 gates can be used to do whatever - either creating additional shortcuts (Kingdom End / Depth of Silence are two areas that are still a bit far with the 3-gates setup, so additional shortcuts can be created), or you can use them to seal off additional Xenon space (the ones bordering Getsu Fune and Menaleus' Paradise are both very active, or you could seal off Xenon Sector 472 - although that sector seems fairly quiet even though it has a shipyard)
Feedbacks welcome!
