Should ship transfers have a time delay or not?

[WR3ND]

There is a need for this poll here on the forums as well since there is not a clear distinction of community preference made in other polls elsewhere, i.e., the mega thread. (I've read most of it most of the way through, but it's an uphill battle trying to keep up. My goodness we're a passionate bunch!)

It is clear that most of the community seems to prefer some form of ship transfer or are indifferent about it, so that is not what this thread is about. If you want to discuss that, please use the thread linked to above.

So, simple and direct... Which would you prefer? (Again, if you'd prefer some other solution or don't want ship transfers at all, please use the mega thread to voice your opinions and concerns.)

Thanks!

 

[Lobstris]

I'd like the delay to be a lot longer than it will take for a mod to close this thread ideally.

 

[Ren Garris]

Time delay: YES

1:1 ratio: NO

2:1 or 4:1 ratio: Maybe

Instant: NO

There needs to be a decision on how much time it takes to transfer the ship. If I left a ship at Sothis and I live in Eotienses (about 450LY out), I think it should take half the time or something. I can make the trip normally in about 20-30 minutes or so. I think that waiting ten minutes is not too much. That's a simple bathroom/food/drink break.

2 cents given.

<in B4 merge>

 

[Darth Ender]

I think it should be 1 minute per ly. Or whatever is long enough that lobstris rage posts about how long it is taking to move ships on the forum. Whichever is longer. Because any amount of time is going to be quicker than the current do it yourself and instant is .

 

[Ziljan]

Thank you WR3ND. This poll was extremely NEEDED. The other poll was way too convoluted, and some people even thought this issue was 50/50% when it clearly is not.

 

[Brusilov]

I would also rather see some sort of time delay and high costs.

 

[Mohrgan]

Any delay that isn't based on the existing travel mechanics would just be there for window dressing. We don;t need window dressing. If the stated purpose for this improvement is to let players enjoy the content with fewer barriers, then let it be so. A cursory delay would just be for show. We are all adult enough to understand a decision taken to advance game play. Aren't we?

 

[Panticus]

I'd like the delay to be a lot longer than it will take for a mod to close this thread ideally.

Not your call.

 

[LameoveR]

or whatever.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I'd like the delay to be a lot longer than it will take for a mod to close this thread ideally.

How does a week or so sound?

 

[Arubeto]

Thanks for this poll. I think it was indeed necessary to show the preferences of the forum community (which may or may not be representative of the ED player base) regarding instant ship transfer since the other poll splitted the "non-instantaneous" option into three options!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Short answer: yes
Long: yes of course they should have a significant time delay based on the distance of the transfer.

 

[Ziljan]

Any delay that isn't based on the existing travel mechanics would just be there for window dressing. We don;t need window dressing. If the stated purpose for this improvement is to let players enjoy the content with fewer barriers, then let it be so. A cursory delay would just be for show. We are all adult enough to understand a decision taken to advance game play. Aren't we?

The delay could be longer, it just shouldn't be shorter than the time it would take to travel there. Otherwise people will be using fast travel taxis.

Tbh, I am all for getting rid of the jump range ecosystem and having all ships have 50 LY jump ranges. I think jump range was a silly way to balance ships in the first place. It should be based on utility of the ship itself. Simply being able to go from A to B quickly isn't nearly as important as what you can do when you get there. It's not like jumping 5 times as opposed to 10 times is some form of enjoyable gameplay, lol.


But either way, I am glad we finally have a poll that clearly shows how the community feels about the major sticking point of the suggested "instant" transfer time.

 

[Martin Schou]

Just swap the direction of the transfer.

If you have to be in the same station as the ship you want to transfer, then instantaneous transfers are irrelevant, and it goes for module transfer as well, because it won't seem magical. You won't see your FDL magically appear in a system 500 LY away just after you clicked a button - all you'll see is "in transit to [target destination]" until you arrive there yourself.

The only downside to this approach is that now ship and module transfer requires forethought. You can't just start jumping towards a destination in your long range transporter and summon your ship when you get there - you have to go to where you have it stored and transfer it ahead of yourself.

This, in turn, will make it more reasonable to have a home system in which you store your stuff, and as a result it'll make it more appealing for the people storing it to keep that system and station safe from BGS manipulations.

 

[WR3ND]

Any delay that isn't based on the existing travel mechanics would just be there for window dressing. We don;t need window dressing. If the stated purpose for this improvement is to let players enjoy the content with less barriers, then let it be so. A cursory delay would just be for show. We are all adult enough to understand a decision taken to advance game play. Aren't we?

Having instant ship transfers as opposed to having time delayed ship transfers is also destructive to compelling and meaningful gameplay for many people. There are the immersion and continuity issues as well as game balancing, ship balancing, and player investments in already outfitting and upgrading their current ships given the current game mechanics.

Having time delayed ship transfers also allows for the possibility of more compelling game mechanics being added in the future – for example, watching your ships dock, escorting ships, etc. – even if it isn't viable and practical to do so currently, given the current game mechanics and features.

These issues should not be overlooked and swept under the rug just because there are some players who might prefer having all their ships available to them whenever and at whatever station shipyard they happen to be at instantaneously.

Beyond just immersion, a sense of causality, continuity, meaningful agency, and forethought are important in games as well. Especially this game, in my opinion.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Any delay that isn't based on the existing travel mechanics would just be there for window dressing. We don;t need window dressing. If the stated purpose for this improvement is to let players enjoy the content with fewer barriers, then let it be so. A cursory delay would just be for show. We are all adult enough to understand a decision taken to advance game play. Aren't we?

Dear adult,

Boogaboogaboogaboo.

Yours truly,

Ziggywiggybiggyboo.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Voted yes.

 

[Ziljan]

Just swap the direction of the transfer.

If you have to be in the same station as the ship you want to transfer, then instantaneous transfers are irrelevant

Then the convenience and utility of calling a ship to your location are gone, and it's still open for abuse by fast transit via Asp Taxi. Also how did your FDL beat your Asp to the destination?

 

[Trueno33]

So this is the new megathread. But indeed this is a better displayed poll, considering that the essence of the debate is delayed vs instant.
And the results will be definitely way more explicit

Voted for delayed and hoping that FD will listen

Edit: furthernore, for optimal verisimilitude (thanks mossfoot) I would expect the ships to be delivered having acount of their fsd range, this meaning that they wont be delivered to places that they couldnt reach o their own. All this unless it exerts an excesive amount of work on the devs.

My reasons for voting yes are that in my case immersion equals fun. The impact that instant transfer would have on gameplay (that probably we cant even fathom now) and the fact that waiting wont be a problem at all when/if we get to walk in stations. But by then it will be too late if instamagic enters the game now

 

[Andovar]

Martin got me thinking...
How about they make it something available from your ship's systems panel, so you can "call in" a ship delivery. This way you could do it ahead of time while you're traveling to whatever station. The only requirement is you'd have to have the system data available to be able to target that system/station for delivery. You may or may not still have to wait a bit once you get there (depending on the shipping distance). But this would eliminate a lot of the waiting downtime, while still having a sensible time element in place.

I'm sure someone will come along and tell my why this is a terrible idea. But whatever... just a thought.