Ship Transfer Mechanic: An Alternative That Retains Immersion

[MickyG1982]

Like I've said (in another large thread you may have read some of) I actually don't mind the instant ship transfer, in a manner of speaking.

It should be limited to larger stations (for obvious reasons) and not actually ship transfer. It should be selling Ship X at station A & rebuying Ship Y at station B.

Ship Y will match ship X's specifications EXCEPT for any Engineers mods (these will be replaced by standard versions of that module).

Engineers mods will be shipped by interstellar transport (module storage) and locked out for a set period of time depending on Ship Y's distance from the originating station.

Convenience maintained, (players can play straight away). Immersion maintained engineers mods unique to your previous ship are transported to you (or simply locked in your module storage).

 

[Andovar]

Honestly, I don't think backstory really matters. Anyone can come up with any RP story of what's going on behind the scenes.
The bottom line is that a bunch of players would like it to simply take some time.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

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.

This is my biggest issue with ship transfer. Insta transfer...meh, what ever. The ship absolutely has to be able to make the trip as equipped, as if a real human were flying it, else it shouldn't be able to be transferred.

The other immersion related side affect of this is now the question...since ships can be inst transported anywhere, it reasonably follows that every ship should be available at every shiyard at any 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.

 

[Tin Actual]

I like it. 2 min per jump whether you're online or not.

Sell and rebuy doesn't make sense, nor does having your engineer's mods (that they had to install in person) stipped off and sent via 3rd class space mail make sense either; not every backwater trading post has your godly equipment.

The only thing that would make ship transfer better is if you could move it to a system you're not currently in. So if you're heading toward the start of a new CG, you can call ahead and tell your ship to meet you there. That would make it perfect.

 

[Alric]

It's not just immersion, it's the actual game change of being able to teleport any sort of ship to where you need it. Imagine if paratroopers in a World War 2 setting could just summon up tanks and heavy artillery - it's not just a matter of it feeling odd, it would change the game.

I think being able to have your ship transported should be in the game. They should be loaded on to huge transport vessels which can make big jumps in safety. That would be relatively quick but not instant, safe but expensive and only available in well populated space, The Frontier should remain the Frontier, and if you want a ship at Jaques station you should have to fly it there yourself.

 

[Brian of Ardagh]

I get that people find it immersion breaking, or call it "shrinking the galaxy".

However, there are many more aspects that are immersion breaking. You should be required to fly another ship when your main ship is being repaired. If a station doesn't sell a 6A FSD, but your FSD is damaged, replacement parts have to be flown in, resulting in extra wait times. You should have to wait until cargo is loaded when accepting missions or buying something from the marketplace. In fact, your broker is probably only available during the stations working hours.

All these things would result in 'extra' immersion. However, you cannot argue that this would result in better gameplay. It would only result in waiting.

While immersion is great, its more important to add immersive aspects to parts of the game that result in meaningful gameplay, instead of simply adding wait times.

I've seen this waiting thing mentioned elsewhere but the only reason you'd wait would be if you had nothing else to do.

Personally I would be fine with having to get a "loaner" ship while mine is being repaired.
The outfitting might not sell certain FSDs but unless it's a tiny station or outpost they should have replacement parts on hard, FSDs shouldn't be unique in design. Even so, "loaner" ship.
I'm also fine with "waiting" for cargo loading and unloading. Makes sense to me to actually go to the commodity market in person and buy/sell auction style. While the good are being delivered I could go to the security office to turning bounties or pay fines and then head to the faction rep to pick up missions.

Right now these things can't be done until FD adds the ability to leave your flight seat. The way things are going now, if FD implements more "gamey" game play there will be no reason to add features like I mentioned. For example, what's the point of actually walking around your cabin or greeting your passengers? It will just be seen as a time-sink to some players who only want to get to the "good parts" of the game.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I've seen this waiting thing mentioned elsewhere but the only reason you'd wait would be if you had nothing else to do.

Let's take the extreme case of going to Jaques to do some mining. I spend a week taking my Asp to Jaques, with a little of what passes for exploration on the way. When I get there I request my mining ship. If it is going to take another week to get my T9 to Jaques, I'm just going to log off and come back after a week, as I would be totally sick of exploration by then.
Another player suggested a far better mechanic, that still has a delay. Don't summon the ship, but arrange for the ship to be sent to Jaques before I go. This way I could send the ship and then take my time getting to Jaques. But instant summoning of the ship once you get there has exactly the same effect as this, but it is just applied a bit weaker.

 

[Brian of Ardagh]

Let's take the extreme case of going to Jaques to do some mining. I spend a week taking my Asp to Jaques, with a little of what passes for exploration on the way. When I get there I request my mining ship. If it is going to take another week to get my T9 to Jaques, I'm just going to log off and come back after a week, as I would be totally sick of exploration by then.
Another player suggested a far better mechanic, that still has a delay. Don't summon the ship, but arrange for the ship to be sent to Jaques before I go. This way I could send the ship and then take my time getting to Jaques. But instant summoning of the ship once you get there has exactly the same effect as this, but it is just applied a bit weaker.

I also tend to prefer the send ahead vs. the summoning transfer but either way once you have instant there will never be a need to have any kind of ship transport game play in the galaxy. By that I mean that FD will never feel the need to make ship transport or ship transport vessels a part of the game, in missions, as a career, even if they are just new cargo missions on the mission board.

The same goes for multi-crew, given this instant transfer I'm 99% sure that FD will follow up with instant pilot teleportation to a common ship. Without a reason to actually join up in game in some virtual location before boarding a ship they really isn't a need to walk around a station. I've read posts in the past about walking around stations as just another time sink; to me that's part of the point of this game/galaxy simulator. In the name of expedience and convenience some people would get rid of the entire sim part of the game and just jump from station to station making credits or jump from CZ to CZ killing players or NPCs. I don't want ED to just be a series of interconnected mini-games but it's looking more and more like that is the direction FD is taking.

I'd like ED to try and simulate what it must have been like for early humans to struggle and spread out across the globe. Spreading out amongst the stars should be just as much of a struggle. Jaques should be the new frontier and building a new human bubble should feel hard. It's not a struggle if you can get to the frontier in your quickest vessel and summon your workhorse ships to your nascent new lands.