Was just wondering how locals of all these stations and installations built in the bubble and elsewhere are viewing us pilots. With literal access to billions of credits and ships the size of cruiseships in some instances, are we like rock-stars and celebs floating about and adding glamour as we go? Maybe non-space faring locals use a different currency system so as to avoid market distortions from player influence. More of a game lore question than gameplay if you know what I mean.
Status of player (Commanders) vs galaxy locals (game lore)
- Thread starter Capt. Hook
- Start date
Player credit was a little more sensible back in Elite, Frontier (at least before you got a Panther) and the early days of ED. Yes, it is a bit weird to own a fleet carrier filled with enough Tritium that can take me anywhere in the system, and enough credits to have paid for its upkeep until the heat death of the universe, whilst the poor slobs on that last station I founded eke out a meager living...or do they? There seems to be plenty of people just hanging around in station concourses. Maybe we're the ones living la vida loca, but they're just all paid enough to chill for most of their lives.
Also, if all the players put their credits in a pot, would it be equal to one of the powers or maybe even a superpower? Being one of the most mercenary, mobile and hostile forces around, perhaps that is why we get a wide berth from the rest of the galaxy.
Also, if all the players put their credits in a pot, would it be equal to one of the powers or maybe even a superpower? Being one of the most mercenary, mobile and hostile forces around, perhaps that is why we get a wide berth from the rest of the galaxy.
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Several of my systems have tens of millions of inhabitants scattered amongst stations, installations and outposts. Yet, according to the station logs a handful of commanders visit each day so commanders probably represent something like 0.000001 of the system population at any one time yet the commander's impact seems way more than that of the others combined. The only way I can sort of make sense of it is that we are not truly part of the local eco-system as far as the locals are concerned and more like exotic space unicorns
| Bounties claimed | 9,637 |
| Profit from bounties | 2,872,876,103 Cr |
| Combat bonds | 5,924 |
| Profit from combat bonds | 3,302,237,894 Cr |
| Surface combat bonds | 2,629 |
| Profit from surface combat bonds | 375,909,587 Cr |
| Assassinations | 789 |
I doubt that I will be seen as a rock star
Given that the general behaviour of the Pilots' Federation and its members is somewhere between an organised crime syndicate, a mercenary band, and secret police ... I expect the general reaction of most other inhabitants of the setting is to try not to attract our attention and if they do, hope we go away as quickly as possible without killing them.
This is a dystopian setting, ruled by maybe a hundred oligarchs, dictators and career politicians, with maybe a thousand of their favoured deputies, children, etc. available to succeed them, and it's our job as members of the PF to ensure that anyone trying to upset that cosy and uncomfortable status quo gets what's coming to them very quickly. We'll be respected for that - at least to our faces.
On the other hand, Brewer Corporation are currently funding a CG where the tier payouts alone currently sum to five trillion credits and are likely to rise significantly, and the excess paid on each tonne of cargo will be so far adding another twenty trillion credits or so, likely to triple by the end of the CG. Seventy trillion credits appears to be such an insignificant sum for Brewer that it's not even considered worth mentioning, and Brewer is a large and important corporation but hardly superpower-level.
(And Brewer, to whom 70 trillion credits is a minor marketing expense, and Kavanagh, who Rackham can buy up for a tiny fraction of a trillion credits, are apparently both major station manufacturers despite operating on scales perhaps millions of times different in budget)
There's basically no consistent scale used for what a credit is, how many an individual (or corporation, or superpower) might have, what they might be able to buy, etc. so go with whatever makes most sense to you here.
This is a dystopian setting, ruled by maybe a hundred oligarchs, dictators and career politicians, with maybe a thousand of their favoured deputies, children, etc. available to succeed them, and it's our job as members of the PF to ensure that anyone trying to upset that cosy and uncomfortable status quo gets what's coming to them very quickly. We'll be respected for that - at least to our faces.
Former Federal Presidential candidate Zachary Rackham became considered seriously for the position at a net wealth - largely consisting of shares and other illiquid assets, not actual cash - of just a trillion credits. Rackham owns outright several major Federal corporations, including the manufacturers of Duradrives, Kavanagh Spaceframes, and so on, so that trillion credits includes the market value of those corporations. There are of course individual CMDRs with larger bank balances than that.
On the other hand, Brewer Corporation are currently funding a CG where the tier payouts alone currently sum to five trillion credits and are likely to rise significantly, and the excess paid on each tonne of cargo will be so far adding another twenty trillion credits or so, likely to triple by the end of the CG. Seventy trillion credits appears to be such an insignificant sum for Brewer that it's not even considered worth mentioning, and Brewer is a large and important corporation but hardly superpower-level.
(And Brewer, to whom 70 trillion credits is a minor marketing expense, and Kavanagh, who Rackham can buy up for a tiny fraction of a trillion credits, are apparently both major station manufacturers despite operating on scales perhaps millions of times different in budget)
There's basically no consistent scale used for what a credit is, how many an individual (or corporation, or superpower) might have, what they might be able to buy, etc. so go with whatever makes most sense to you here.
Players are viewed generally negatively. In a similar manner to gpysies are stereotypically viewed negatively and blamed for crimes and stealing children. So are commanders they come in with no alligiance. Do what they will and move on to avoid consequences. You can improve that standing by demonstrating that you're actually trustworth aka gaining reputation with local factions but by default sometimes useful but not trustworthy.
hahaha well it would appear that station bars and interiors are off limits to civilians as all in-habitants (bar the employed staff) are wearing suits, non space faring peoples not invited
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous I think its Dev Diary 3
rootsrat
Volunteer Moderator
This is an interesting question, but also a one that can be answered with "it depends" I guess.
Galnet tends to praise Commanders through many different lips. But it's enough to land in a ground settlement to hear how ordinary people and guards react to us. Mixed feelings I'd say!
Also, from game design POV, Elite does a pretty good job in not making us The Chosen One, like most of other MMO/Multiplayer games, but at the same time our characters are definitely not ordinary people.
Of course a few (or more than a few after these 10 years) are much more widely known than others, but it's due to what they've actually done in game, rather than "by design".
It is really well thought out from that perspective.
The short answer is they love me.
They don't keep the civvies away from spacers; they keep trigger-happy greedy murderhobos as far away from the civilization as they can
Is it really you, or just your culinary aptness?
Slightly longer answer:
Those that haven't been turned into Kumo burgers, love you.
The others were unavailable for comment.
They don't keep the civvies away from spacers; they keep trigger-happy greedy murderhobos as far away from the civilization as they can
Is it really you, or just your culinary aptness?
Maybe I mistook the smiles for faces frozen in terror? I always thought it was some sort of welcome ritual when they threw salt and pepper over their own legs...
Galnet tends to praise Commanders through many different lips. But it's enough to land in a ground settlement to hear how ordinary people and guards react to us. Mixed feelings I'd say!
Also, from game design POV, Elite does a pretty good job in not making us The Chosen One, like most of other MMO/Multiplayer games, but at the same time our characters are definitely not ordinary people.
Amusingly enough, what's the chance that Galnet runs at The Club's behest to stoke Commander's Egos overall?
I do much prefer games where I'm just part of the universe, not someone obscenely special. The five or six systems I'm building are there and exist with my name because I did it, not because I inherited something.
I swear that there is something about imperial ships that makes people think weird things.
For example, recently, while I had been waiting for my Cutter to change its trajectory,
I had been contemplating the ancient virtues of chivalry, the natural order of things
and how some people were naturally superior while others were naturally inferior.
But then I thought, "What's the female form of Knight? Knightress?
If so, why would it sound like Nightdress?"
That one thought probably saved me from going all in
and way over the edge into the realm of decorum-blalalaland.
But maybe my Cutters smell a bit different.
They've been used to haul fish, coffee, tea,...
So maybe it's some kind of airborn drug
and people who use their Cutters for exotic tasks, like... actual work?
are less likely to be affected.
Speaking of things I may think while waiting for my Cutter to change its trajectory...
Why can Commanders earn several tens of millions of credits for some simple job?
First of all, commanders are people who work pretty hard.
Many of them work at least once a month and some of them even work almost every day, sometimes for hours.
They haul building materials to Colonies, tirelessly, and no Commander would ever complain about the amount of work it takes.
In addition, commanders are pretty smart.
Just look at the intelligent conversation in system chat in CG systems.
That's how smart commanders are.
In addition, commanders are courageous beyond measure and they dare to fly into anarchy systems and fight pirates or even thargoids.
NPCs, however, are inferior to commanders in many regards.
Just look at NPC pirates, who consider it too much work to mine themselves.
Or look at NPC miners, who all mine like I did when I started mining.
And these are NPCs in ships.
Now imagine that NPCs in ships represent the elite of all NPCs out there.
And a Commander is unlikely to meet an "average" or "below-average" NPC.
That, unfortunately, is the sad state of affairs.
On the bright side, I have just obtained a Panther Clipper.
And somehow, I find myself less likely to think about such issues.
For example, recently, while I had been waiting for my Cutter to change its trajectory,
I had been contemplating the ancient virtues of chivalry, the natural order of things
and how some people were naturally superior while others were naturally inferior.
But then I thought, "What's the female form of Knight? Knightress?
If so, why would it sound like Nightdress?"
That one thought probably saved me from going all in
and way over the edge into the realm of decorum-blalalaland.
But maybe my Cutters smell a bit different.
They've been used to haul fish, coffee, tea,...
So maybe it's some kind of airborn drug
and people who use their Cutters for exotic tasks, like... actual work?
are less likely to be affected.
Speaking of things I may think while waiting for my Cutter to change its trajectory...
Why can Commanders earn several tens of millions of credits for some simple job?
First of all, commanders are people who work pretty hard.
Many of them work at least once a month and some of them even work almost every day, sometimes for hours.
They haul building materials to Colonies, tirelessly, and no Commander would ever complain about the amount of work it takes.
In addition, commanders are pretty smart.
Just look at the intelligent conversation in system chat in CG systems.
That's how smart commanders are.
In addition, commanders are courageous beyond measure and they dare to fly into anarchy systems and fight pirates or even thargoids.
NPCs, however, are inferior to commanders in many regards.
Just look at NPC pirates, who consider it too much work to mine themselves.
Or look at NPC miners, who all mine like I did when I started mining.
And these are NPCs in ships.
Now imagine that NPCs in ships represent the elite of all NPCs out there.
And a Commander is unlikely to meet an "average" or "below-average" NPC.
That, unfortunately, is the sad state of affairs.
On the bright side, I have just obtained a Panther Clipper.
And somehow, I find myself less likely to think about such issues.
So we're Witchers then.
That one's easy. We own our ships. Never seen an NPC that didn't have some sort of major or minor faction affiliation. As such, we get paid far more than someone who is just a pilot.
You, sir, must own a fleet carrier.
If only the powers that be would make piracy a viable profession.
Zorgon Peterson...the Aston Martin of DeLacey. Proceed on, good sir.
That doesn't really explain it.
1) We regularly get paid more than the cost of buying a whole new ship capable of doing that task. And not for ultra-complex tasks either, even for the routine stuff.
2) On the occasions where we can see how much the NPCs get paid, it's way less than we would.
For example, to transport a data packet between the current station and another one <20 LY away pays (just checking the missions on the board here) between 36,000 and 1,101,156 credits if done by a CMDR. More usually somewhere like 80,000 credits. Apex - counting the wages of the pilot, the desk staff, the various back-room support staff we never see, rental on their desks, Adder maintenance, etc. will transport the data packet and someone to carry it for between 4,500 and 8,500 credits depending on the exact range. The person carrying that data packet can of course be a CMDR who is getting paid somewhere between 30,000 and 1,000,000 credits - i.e. somewhere between the price of a factory stock Sidewinder and a C-rated Cobra III - for the effort of carrying a briefcase of data onto that shuttle, and off it at the other end.