Ship Transfer Mechanic: An Alternative That Retains Immersion

[sqzbox1]

I don't think the comparison with zero time for repairs and so on is a valid one. Waiting for repair or refuelling or whatever is actually just dead time - you can go and make a coffee or something. So you could argue that it was time in the bar or asleep or whatever - but it would be time when you can't actually play the game. There would be no choice in the matter - you simply have to sit and twiddle your thumbs so it adds nothing to gameplay - you can't even roleplay that dead time. So having insta-repair and refuelling actually makes sense. You just pretend in your head that you went to the bar while they fixed it and now you are back and it is done - no problem with immersion at all really.

But insta-porting ships is entirely different. You are doing it because you can't be bothered to manage your fleet properly - or screwed up with your planning - or whatever. You COULD go and get it. But you can't be bothered. Well, that's fine, you should be able to hire a service to go get it for you - but it should be delivered in a similar amount of time as that you would have taken - perhaps shorter due to professional capability and so on, but SOME time. This would be realistic to a sim and also to roleplay. And you can do something while waiting.

I think that the solution FD are giving us here is the quick and nasty one - just to get it done and stop the grumbling. They COULD have done it in a more sensible way but just couldn't be ... well, you know.

 

[camper]

I know what is the next step to 'immersion retaining'

If your ship is destroyed in space - you just float in the escape pod until you get rescued and transferred to the nearest port. Just imagine how great it will be to lose ship 65kly from Sol! Whole month (if not more) of thinking about those immersive things while playing CQC only. Or wait... You must be in the game in order to be found and saved, then transferred to the port. Otherwise it breaks immersion too...

 

[Helfar]

Nice idea, but in all honesty if you find it such a game breaker, just dont use the ship for an hour, or whatever timeframe you deem acceptable, after you get it transfered.

 

[Heater]

Hello Frontier and Community Members,

I wanted to create my own thread as I was concerned these ideas might get swallowed wholesale by the mega-thread/poll above. I hope it's okay with you all.

As you know, one of the biggest concerns regarding the proposed ship transfer mechanics is that the break with immersion....

Stopped reading at this point, You complain about it " breaking the immersion" but yet we have instant ship / module repair, instant ship replacement when killed.... instant cargo load/unloading etc... the list goes on and on.

 

[Stewart Forgie]

I posted my idea here.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...port-Yay-or-Nay/page166?p=4386367#post4386367

 

[Omgzzwtf]

I like your idea, OP, it's immersive, it's got a delay, but I especially love the part about the union negotiated break, lol. I say that      all the time IRL, although it's usually when I'm at work (spoiler alert: I'm in a Union)

 

[Eloy]

To all antis: Yes, we yet have immersion breakers ingame. But that's no reason to add another one.

 

[Kaybe]

You should probably change the name though. An STSI sounds like something you'd catch after a drunken fling...

lol ... the funny part of that statement was that I was originally going to call it just Ship Transfer Inc (STI) ... and then I got the same thought as your's above. Fact of the matter was that I was pretty tired when I wrote this post and just couldn't think of anything more creative

By the way, I *strongly* disagree with some comments above that say there should be a risk element to ship transfers. I love the fact that this game is dangerous. It's in the name after all. But all that danger is still something that players control. Getting interdicted by some fast dangerous NPC? Chaff, point defense, high wake out. Flying high speed through a planet's canyons? You can slow down or demonstrate rad piloting skills to save your hide. In all dangerous situations in the game, the player is in control. You should *never* have a situation where an NPC flying your ship to a different space station should be able to lose your ship and make the *player* pay for it. All insurance buyback costs need to be assumed by the shipping company, just like they would in real life.

 

[Attila22]

Seems like a good idea. I'd prefer if it was called Ship Transfer Delivery though.

 

[Mr_sukebe]

Agreed on the idea that ship transfer should take some time. Good call OP.

 

[Trueno33]

Op is a good idea. Anything could work for me as long as instamagic is left out of the system

 

[Thebadmf]

Stopped reading at this point, You complain about it " breaking the immersion" but yet we have instant ship / module repair, instant ship replacement when killed.... instant cargo load/unloading etc... the list goes on and on.

Well said. I wouldn't complain if a small (read minutes) delay was introduced but I would much rather it be in and instant, than left out completely.

 

[Vicktore Beskor]

I like this idea but I still would like to see players haul the ship to and fro. If ship hauling was mission based that would add to the gameplay of elite

 

[X-Terminator]

Another solution is to Select Ship at START SCREEN. Yup, it instantly transfers YOU and NOT YOUR SHIP.
Stop mode switching Missions by making them the same data.

 

[MarkAusten]

Exactly what I was thinking. Immersion breaking for me is the passengers which are just numbers on a screen with no faces or voices.

Yet...

 

[Julio Montega]

Dear OP the idea is a reasonable one,
but there are some factors that irritate me:

- Why would a company elongate the time needed for transfer, by replacing the FSD?
- it is not economically for the STSI to pay mechanics to remove and reinstall the drive.
- What about ships without fuel scoops, or special military ships requiring refined fuel,
instead of scooped which might void the warranty?

 

[zeep]

I think ship transfer should be a service, and it should have a price. That price can be instantaneous, or some extra tax you get later on.

Also, i'm shocked that FD is making it they way that they are to please the crowd that wants everything fast, instead of honoring the Elite way of doing things. From way back Elite has always instilled a strong awareness of distance, about traveling and time.

 

[OfftheRails]

The new part is printed right there on the docking pad. The old part goes on the shelf at the Outfitters', ready to be sold or disassembled. A 33rd Century DRM solution called LensLok 2.0 is used to avoid any funny business like printing your own parts for free.

 

[Garagiste]

Not a bad plan, but it sidesteps the biggest problem for me and that is ships appearing at places they could not have got to.
For me it's dead simple - can the ship actually travel to the selected delivery port in its current configuration?
If yes, then no problem you can get it delivered (delayed or otherwise, personally I think it should take some time).
If it can't get there, then it has no reason being there and should not magically appear where it cannot be.

Otherwise it just gets silly. If you want to show up at any given point in the galaxy in a tanked out Cutter then you should still have to go to the considerable expense of outfitting it so that it can get there. Not fit it with a gazillion tons of armour, a thimble for a fuel tank, no scoop and a D rated FSD. If your range is limited when you're flying it, then it should be the same for the delivery bots.

 

[Kaybe]

Dear OP the idea is a reasonable one,
but there are some factors that irritate me:

- Why would a company elongate the time needed for transfer, by replacing the FSD?
- it is not economically for the STSI to pay mechanics to remove and reinstall the drive.
- What about ships without fuel scoops, or special military ships requiring refined fuel,
instead of scooped which might void the warranty?

Simple. Liability.

Transportation companies would always prefer using their own vehicles and equipment for shipping. But in the case of ship transfers, it's impossible to fit an entire ship inside another ship for transportation. The best they can do is make sure that they delivery mechanism itself is proven to work and covered by their own insurers ... in this case, their own FSD modules. Given how quickly and easily swapping ship modules ships in game is, I'd say that all these modules are easy to swap in and out. Plus, should the shipboard FSD module installed by it's owners be defective or have taken damage, they would be entirely liable should that ship's FSD fail in mid-hyperspace jump. How would they prove otherwise if that ship exploded while in hyperspace. Not to mention the PR nightmare of losing all their own crewmen. By using their own carefully maintained FSDs, they can guarantee, as best they can, that this wouldn't happen.