38 mins to deliver to Hutton - is there any point?

[Red Anders]

Well to be fair on me it was 3150 crs and they never said where, just meet some bloke called "Vedar" for further details.
Needless to say if I see him again...

LOL OK now that is broken.

I posted a screen of a mission I was offered on a BB in Sol the other day which was for a delivery to Hutton, paid about 4.5k and had a 55 minute timer, obviously I declined it because I knew I couldn't reach the place in time. Having it give you a mission with an impossible timer as a 'meet in space' one though where you've already accepted it before you find out it's impossible to complete? Surely they can add some parameters to the mission generation that would prevent it - I think I'd do a bug report for that.

This Vedar guy, did he have this decal on his ship?

 

[insanephoton]

Now I want to see that place.

You're welcome to try, just make sure you top up your fuel tanks before you go (there is another outpost at a much more convenient point in the system). It's an entirely unremarkable outpost no different to many others, but it does have 2 rare goods. To make the most of it you'll want 37 tonnes of cargo space and maybe 100,000 credits to buy the 7 tons Centuari Gin and 30 tons Hutton Mugs.

 

[Starlanced]

And on that note I want a Hutton mug for my dashboard not some silly letters, heck they can make it steam when I get close to a star and keep steaming afterwords.

 

[Leadfoot]

And on that note I want a Hutton mug for my dashboard not some silly letters, heck they can make it steam when I get close to a star and keep steaming afterwords.

Seconded - I thought Frontier was going to make that an item to sit on your ships dashboard...in a non-spill cup-holder.

 

[Red Anders]

And on that note I want a Hutton mug for my dashboard not some silly letters, heck they can make it steam when I get close to a star and keep steaming afterwords.

+1, brilliant idea.

 

[ratchet5000]

And on that note I want a Hutton mug for my dashboard not some silly letters, heck they can make it steam when I get close to a star and keep steaming afterwords.

They should make that a special reward for those who land at Hutton in outfitting - so there's another reason beside rare goods to go there. The only problem being large ships wouldn't be able to get it.

 

[Noddie]

I'm never sure if Hutton Orbital is actually just procedurally generated and happens to be a long way from the star, or if it's more a question of a joke from someone at Frontier. Certainly the fact that it's rare good is a "Mug" (British Idiom for "Patsy" or "Sucker") suggests FD know about it and added this as a joke. It may even be an in-joke, maybe "Hutton" is someone who works a long way from frontier's Cambridge HQ?


It's not worth it from a commercial standpoint - It's an unremarkable station that serves only to remind you to check the distance between the star and the station before agreeing to go anywhere


But from an entirely "bucket list" point of view, go for it. But you won't make it quickly. Makes you wonder why they built it, and what it's supposed to orbit...

 

[Devantejah]

It takes at least 90 mins to get to Hutton so the mission is going to time out.

Oh, you're exaggerating.

It only takes 85.

 

[ElectricZ]

I'm never sure if Hutton Orbital is actually just procedurally generated and happens to be a long way from the star, or if it's more a question of a joke from someone at Frontier.

Hutton Orbital has been around since Frontier: Elite II so it's established lore from that standpoint. FE2 didn't utilize supercruise, though, so there was really no upper velocity limit and also being single player the game had time compression so getting there wasn't quite as long a haul, timewise. It's the mechanics of E: D that turn it into a 90 minute marathon.

I'm glad they kept it in even though it really makes no sense from a gameplay standpoint other than to provide a rite of passage. Though they really should generate missions to distant outposts (not just Hutton) that offer proportional rewards in credits or reputation to give them a reason to exist.

 

[Sapyx]

The "Lore" reason why Hutton exists is that it was founded as a research station, way back before the invention of the hyperdrive. Cruising through Newtonian space at a fraction of C all the way from Sol took decades and when they got there, they found the target planet (Eden) wasn't a paradise after all, but they built the station anyway. With Newtonian-space flying, it obviously didn't matter about its distance from AC, because AC was pretty much irrelevant for anyone flying to Proxima. But with the invention of the hyperdrive, which couldn't fly to Proxima direct because of its proximity to AC, it suddenly became much less viable to visit there. The replacement of the old hyperdrives with the Frame Shift Drive has not helped since it too cannot fly direct to Proxima.

Trivia: in the old FE2/FFE games, "Hutton Orbital" was called simply "Eden Station". It was also the only station in the AC/Proxima system so if you jumped in there hoping for a quick dock and refuel, you were sunk. Reload save game.

Finally, I should point out that accepting a 3000-credit mission to Hutton is foolish from a profit-making point of view, even if you did have the time. The prolonged high-speed Supercruise of a Hutton Run causes a 60% drop in hull integrity, and the repair bill to fix that is usually in the tens of thousands of credits. Even picking up the Hutton rare goods, you'll be struggling to make a profit no matter what you do.

 

[Shadowed]

I don't remember it being even close 90 minutes.... Are you guys sure it is that long?

 

[yoda711]

Haven't been there myself but I'm pretty sure that's accurate. Someone posted that they went there in a wing of 2 or 3 guys, one guy watched a movie to pass the time.

 

[o2thaZ]

So I got a Secure data delivery mission to Hutton... and my contact gave me 38 minutes...

Obviously this is impossible, but nonetheless I am 1/3 way there. Is there any point in doing this, will it be a straight fail or is there a twist?

Rgeards

GunnerBill

because: nostalgia

 

[Comrade Napoleon]

Young padawans
Did the Hutton back in the day, a month after launch, in a Python (me idiot) : Usage repairs 2,5 Mill Credits
Great fun

Cheers

 

[Devantejah]

I don't remember it being even close 90 minutes.... Are you guys sure it is that long?

Positive, I set a timer and go afk every time I do the run.

I return about 80 minutes later and then it will take another 5 minutes to drop out.

 

[Gran Solo]

I'm never sure if Hutton Orbital is actually just procedurally generated and happens to be a long way from the star, or if it's more a question of a joke from someone at Frontier. Certainly the fact that it's rare good is a "Mug" (British Idiom for "Patsy" or "Sucker") suggests FD know about it and added this as a joke. It may even be an in-joke, maybe "Hutton" is someone who works a long way from frontier's Cambridge HQ?


It's not worth it from a commercial standpoint - It's an unremarkable station that serves only to remind you to check the distance between the star and the station before agreeing to go anywhere


But from an entirely "bucket list" point of view, go for it. But you won't make it quickly. Makes you wonder why they built it, and what it's supposed to orbit...

Actually, that rare good is the result of the player community rallying behind the idea of "I went all the way to Hutton and all I got was this lousy mug". The resulting community goal marks the birth of the Hutton Truckers player group... Go to huttonorbital.com to learn more - it's also a radio station that you can listen to while you cruise there.

 

[grae3107]

Hutton, that brings back memories. Seems OP had to learn the hard way like everyone else. Never take a mission to Hutton.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I never quite understood why mankind decided to set up camp 0.22LY away from a parent star without setting up several outposts on the way to A.Cent B. CAn you imagine the length of time to haul resources for building a station there?

I have a list of stations that are over 200,000LS away, where I won't accept a mission to deliver. They can all starve, or pay a whole lot more to haul stuff!

It is like globalization, we import goods (our creations) of China, while we could manufacture them locally

 

[Shaamaan]

They should make that a special reward for those who land at Hutton in outfitting - so there's another reason beside rare goods to go there. The only problem being large ships wouldn't be able to get it.

I, personally, think that existence of Hutton (or, more accurately, the distance the station has been placed at) is stupid and is an insult towards players. Some players take said insult lightly and as a joke (and power to you; I wish I had the same sense of humor). I, on the other hand, value my time, and things like Hutton are what irks me about ED.

Anyway, IF it was a singular "Easter egg" (as in, the only station so far from the star) with a bonus tied to finding it, then yeah. I'd say it's a fun idea. Otherwise, stations 500k ls away from stars (or more) are just bad all around. The fact that missions don't take said distance into account is just another kicker...

 

[Devantejah]

I, personally, think that existence of Hutton (or, more accurately, the distance the station has been placed at) is stupid and an insult towards players. Some people take the insult lightly and as a joke. I, on the other hand, value my time, and things like Hutton are what irks me about ED.

Anyway, IF it was a singular "Easter egg" (as in, the only station so far from the star) with a bonus tied to finding it, then yeah. I'd say it's a fun idea. Otherwise, stations 500k ls away from stars (or more) are just bad all around. The fact that missions don't take said distance into account is just another kicker...

Why is it an insult?

You never even have to set foot in Alpha Centauri, let alone go to Hutton.