Let me start by saying simply, I get it. I get that people don't want their hard work cancelled by perceived "magics". I get that people want to see effort and dedication hold more sway than not. However, I have read several of your posts, and have constructed what I feel to be a well though out and hopefully level-headed counter-argument I would appreciate a respectable debate on. Grounded on this argument are 3 main points: first, we already have some small immersion breaking mechanics, and they actually increase the enjoyment of gameplay, not decrease it. Second, this is the best option of the alternatives, allowing everyone to enjoy the new mechanic, not only the most hardcore players, and that's a good thing. Third, this is believable within real-world mechanics and lore, if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, as we already do.
This isn't the first "immersion breaking" mechanic, and that's a good thing.
We all know that FTL travel is likely impossible within the real world, and have accepted this breaking of the laws of physics to enjoy the Galaxy Frontier have created for us. Furthermore, shielding technology is another unlikely technology we've accepted. These are not really the one I'm going to hone in on though, instead, I'd like to comment on the base combat mechanic: dog-fighting.
It's been said before, I know, but dog-fighting in space is ridiculously unreal, an entirely laughable concept that is still, without a doubt, immense fun, and a large part of why many people play the game. One need only look at the current state of Naval warfare to realize how silly visual-range space-fighting is. Currently, ships engage each other at the extreme ranges of vision. Tech currently exists to allow engaging well outside visual range (i.e. the Railgun currently set to be installed on Zumwalt-class destroyers in the United States Navy, which has a range of over 160 km, compared to the visual range at sea of 4.7km).
Warfare has always been about who can deliver a killing blow outside the lethal range of the opponent. No reason that should stop when the potential theaters of war grow to solar systems. However, we accept this "gamey" mechanic because without it, or the others mentioned above, the game would lose some of the fun. We have accepted that this isn't what Elite is about, and with all of its science and realism, we allow certain mechanics because they make the game more enjoyable. Why not give the transfers, something we have been asking for since Beta, a chance before we tear Frontier apart for listening to us?
This is the best option available to allow everyone to enjoy the new mechanic.
We all know Braben loves realism. Hell, he spent the majority of one of the interviews talking about the science behind the game! But he is also a game designer, and with that comes the need for compromise. Developers have to take a look at their player-base and determine the best way to implement each new mechanic so no one is truly "left out". Now let's look at ship transfers, a mechanic that has been wanted for quite some time, that Frontier has taken the time to implement. There were likely several options available, and while I wasn't a fly on the wall for the discussions, I can make an educated guess on what these likely were.
First, we have free, instantaneous ship transfers. After all, you own the ship, why not allow yourself access at any time? This is an obvious no for several balance reasons.
Second, we have free, timed ship transfers. Not a terrible idea, as again, it's your ship, but then you have to think about the more casual players, of which there are likely many. It's been said on these forums before, but many of us work full time jobs, have a family, have other social obligations, or a combination of the three. As such, many of us can devote only a few short hours a week to the game. Myself, a full-time student, married, with a part-time job and what I like to think is a moderately active social life, I can maybe dedicate a good 6-10 hours a week to the game depending on school-load and how introverted the Mrs. is feeling that week. If ship transfers took say, half the regular travel time, I would still be looking at a rather extensive wait when moving from one CG area to another, or when finding a well situated war-zone to fight in. What is there to do during this wait? Not a lot. Sure, I could have Netflix on another screen, but then what's the point of playing the game? Maybe if we had walking in stations with some in-built mini games like casinos or such, I could bide my time, but these ideas have not yet been implemented, so it's a moot point. So we see people like myself unable to effectively use the mechanic to enjoy their limited play-time.
Finally, we have instant transfers at a cost. This cost will need to be balanced appropriately, likely using a simple formula that takes ship cost and range into account, and seem the route Frontier have decided to take. And this makes sense. It's a decision on whether you want to spend those hard-earned credits on a ship-transfer, or a new module. Yes, I know there are the super-rich, those who have either dedicated countless hours or utilized exploits to gain unfathomable riches, but I feel those are a small percentage of the player-base, and cannot truly be balanced against when considering new mechanics. Neither should they be punished for their riches, as this would punish the average players to a much greater degree.
This isn't so much magic as a bit more suspension of disbelief/Handwavium-239.
We all know that fantastical element Handwavium-239. It's what explains FTL travel, shields, space dog-fights, and other hard-to-belief mechanics within games and media. It's a great thing that allows us to break away from the mundane reality we all live in to enjoy our fiction. It allows us to ignore the unpleasant truth that we as a species will likely never reach further than our home-planet, and definitely not within any of our life-times, to instead explore the stars, interact with alien life in the most human way possible (blowing it up), and see vistas that no human born today will see without the aid of cameras and robots.
Many have described the new mechanic as magic, something above and beyond Handwavium-239. Magic goes beyond suspension of disbelief into: "It happens because it happens, and can't be explained at all." Handwavium-239, on the other hand usually has a cursory explanation that one need only take at face value without looking behind the curtain, an easy thing for most humans to do. This is why we have FTL travel, using, likely, a version of the Alcubierre drive, even though such a drive would be impossible when broken down to the real requirements (the primary culprit being
causality and time itself). So why can't we apply a bit of this versatile isotope to the new mechanic? It took me all of a minute to come up with a decent explanation:
Stations keep spare ships not available for sale ready for this transfer service. Upon receiving your transfer request they outfit one of these earmarked ships exactly as yours was using schematics from the ships entrance scan and load it up. Your ship X light years away is then stripped and set aside within that station for when someone else wants to "transfer" their ship. Kind of like HourCar for space. These ships are owned by the transfer service, not the ship sales-people, explaining why you can't buy every kind of ship, but can transfer any kind of ship. Your transfer fee pays for materials required to "print" your ship components, offset by the fact that your original ship was stripped and kept for use by someone else at your old station.
Boom, done. Now remember the most imporant part of utilizing Handwavium-239, don't look behind the curtain. Otherwise you risk a complete meltdown within the suspension-of-disbelief reactor leading to contamination of your fun-supply. Thank you for your time, here's a funny comic for the trouble.
http://www.explainxkcd.com//wiki/images/5/52/space_elevators.png
