Should Ship ID Tags be set for good ?

[Commandeur_Brin]

Obligatory "The Expanse" reference to naming your ship here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZazjNovg4kQ

What that clip doesn't show you is that there is a small thermonuclear device attached to the transponder. Mess with it in the wrong way and BOOM!
You don't go changing your ship name easily.

Exactly my thought ! The amount of gameplay mechanics based on thorough ships ID and naming is through the roof !

 

[777Driver]

Like you are not trying to impose your's onto others ? You already have ship naming for all you fleet fantasies.

I am not trying to impose anything on anybody, you are the one asking to restrict ship ID's. I am simply saying you are free to restrict yourself to a fixed ship ID, I would prefer to have the choice to select my own.

@Yaffle - Before I found out we can choose our ID's, my initial plan was to prefix the ship names with an ID - Basic example below, three Anaconda's, one for mining one for Exploration, the other for Freight.

Ship 1 - EX-Tokyo
Ship 2 - MI-Osaka
Ship 3 - FR-Yokohama

With customizable ID's I won't need to mess around with ship names, the categories for my 100+ fleet of ships can be set using the ID's. The topic is pointless, we have been given the option to choose an ID whether the Op likes it or not.

@Stealthie, as already explained, I have a vast collection of ships spread all over the bubble and beyond. The vast majority are fully configured and ready for various roles in game.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

I am not trying to impose anything on anybody, you are the one asking to restrict ship ID's. I am simply saying you are free to restrict yourself to a fixed ship ID, I would prefer to have the choice to select my own.

@Yaffle - Before I found out we can choose our ID's, my initial plan was to prefix the ship names with an ID - Basic example below, three Anaconda's, one for mining one for Exploration, the other for Freight.

Ship 1 - EX-Tokyo
Ship 2 - MI-Osaka
Ship 3 - FR-Yokohama

With customizable ID's I won't need to mess around with ship names, the categories for my 100+ fleet of ships can be set using the ID's. The topic is pointless, we have been given the option to choose an ID whether the Op likes it or not.

@Stealthie, as already explained, I have a vast collection of ships spread all over the bubble and beyond. The vast majority are fully configured and ready for various roles in game.

And yet again you can do all this with ship naming as already implemented. Your EX-Tokyo has a hull number that canno't be changed but you can still name it the way you want.

 

[777Driver]

And yet again you can do all this with ship naming as already implemented. Your EX-Tokyo has a hull number that canno't be changed but you can still name it the way you want.

Going around in circles with you mate so I'm not going to carry on. The point is I don't want to have to prefix the ship name... Call it Tokyo and choose an ID eg EX-001

Exactly how it works in reality if you have the cash.

 

[Andovar]

...for my 100+ fleet of ships can be set using the ID's.

Holy cow, seriously?? :O
That is a mighty fleet. What's your net worth?

 

[777Driver]

Holy cow, seriously?? :O
That is a mighty fleet. What's your net worth?

Don't have access to the game, a couple of billion from memory, always sunk the money back into ships. Was one of the rare breed old school traders (I know most hate it) made a huge amount of cash in the first year. Plus side is I'm never far from a decent fully equipped ship.

Things would probably be different if we could plough cash into personal bases, nothing else to spend credits on in this game.

 

[Ian Skippy]

We will soon be able to name our ships and rename them as much as we want. But what about Ship ID tag ?

Currently, our ship's ID tag is generated and set for us but can be changed at will just like the ship's name.

Shouldn't it be fixed and refer to the hull of you ship to give it a sense of uniqueness ? Losing your ship would also mean a new tag for instance.

There should also be prefix for each major group in the game : Federal, Alliance, Imperial, Canonn, etc...

What do you think ?

EDIT : I must have been away too long... We cannot make polls anymore ?

How about you just keep yours and let others change theirs if they want to? Or is that breaking your immersion to much?

- - - Updated - - -

Just curious - why would you need two fields you could set?

For when ATC start using it, and you dont like the sound of the name you picked before ATC was a thing. And maybe others have different reasons, which is cool too. And if someone does not want to change theirs, hey, its optional.

 

[Jethzk]

They should not be fixed. I'd like to rename my ship after it has been destroyed. Insurance might replace my ship, but it's not the same ship!

 

[Andovar]

Don't have access to the game, a couple of billion from memory, always sunk the money back into ships. Was one of the rare breed old school traders (I know most hate it) made a huge amount of cash in the first year. Plus side is I'm never far from a decent fully equipped ship.

Things would probably be different if we could plough cash into personal bases, nothing else to spend credits on in this game.

Yeah, I can't do much trading for long. It's ok though, i'm still happy with my mini-fleet (some day I'll get my conda).
I too would love to see the personal bases. Maybe some day.

Anyway, back on topic. I can see both sides of the argument here, and don't really have a preference. Though i have to say that Conch's idea about having to go to a shady contact to have your "VIN" number changed sounded like a cool idea. Though I suppose without some associated gameplay attached to it, it just becomes another hoop for people to jump through.

 

[TheChafing]

Make em somewhat fixed.. but have a shady contact be able to change it for a price..

Man, there's all sorts of cool gameplay that could arise from that:

1. In supercruise, your identification, including ship type, wanted status, Pilot federation ranks, etc. is all based on the ship ID.
2. The ID is spoofable with sufficient skill, meaning that you can masquerade as a different ship entirely.
3. A detailed scan at close range will reveal a spoofed ID
4. Spoofing the ID is super illegal (for obvious reasons), and earns you a kill bounty if you get caught.
5. This is also used to identify friend or foe, meaning there could be missions in hostile systems where you have to masquerade as a member of the hostile faction and scan things, kind of like those planetary scan job missions. If they detect you, the target station turns hostile, like a planetary outpost.

Regarding #2, imagine if, as a pirate, you chould change your ID so that you appear to be just some upstanding Type 7, even if you're really a Python, armed to the teeth.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

They should not be fixed. I'd like to rename my ship after it has been destroyed. Insurance might replace my ship, but it's not the same ship!

That's precisely why they should be fixed for a given hull ! When you loose your ship you get a new ID that is unique to the new ship you get through insurance !

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I'd hoped they'd be fixed.

A good compromise, is have two IDs.

One is permanently fixed to the ship, and unique galaxy wide to identify that ship. But you don't see it, its purely for the game to see, and a new one is generated on destruction/sale.
The other is your own ship ID, which you can change. But it's basically just cosmetic.

Then, you could start using the unique ID for bounties and things.
That'd mostly fix the suicidewinder problem. Assuming you can't sell a ship with a bounty on it.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Going around in circles with you mate so I'm not going to carry on. The point is I don't want to have to prefix the ship name... Call it Tokyo and choose an ID eg EX-001

Exactly how it works in reality if you have the cash.

Thing is a fixed ID can bring lots of actual gameplay.

The fact is you want to manage a 100+ ship fleet in a game tailor-made for an immersive one ship experience and it does not make your point valide in my opinion.

 

[Certacito]

Thing is a fixed ID can bring lots of actual gameplay. The fact is you want to manage a 100+ ship fleet in a game tailor-made for an immersive one ship experience and it does not make your point valide in my opinion.

"Blaze your own trail"777Driver chose to buy 100+ ships, you choose to buy 1. Neither is wrong or right, just the players "own" trail.As far as I can 777Driver has a valid point, and so do you. But for my twopenneth, I am with 777Driver on this one (I have 20+ ships all with different roles or specific functions they excel at).

 

[mp4x]

Contemporary ships/boats can be named and renamed.

It's not an ID tag, it's a name...

 

[X-Terminator]

+1 obviously and FD see this as a sure easy way to generate cash.
I seen it as a way to make you have fun with although the filter sorts most of the crap.
If it does not resemble a ID as it did then it kinda mocks the point of the ID Nameplate - REMOVE EDITING IT!

I had used : -
Ship name: "WANTED" / "TURN LEFT"
ID: "ALIVE" / "ID-10T"

It's a mock and even more so to be on sale as such to mock others.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Contemporary ships/boats can be named and renamed.

It's not an ID tag, it's a name...

...

2.3 adds ship name AND ship ID tag. We get both. You can change the name of your ships to whatever you want and add the ships function in it.

Besides, I'm pretty sure he won't be giving specific and unique names to the whole 100+ fleet so the name is all he needs.

Let us have a fixed hull number for further gameplay reason. Please.

 

[mp4x]

AH, if there are two different items than the ID should probably last until rebuy, and be the only ship that can use that identifier/license within your super power or maybe just faction. Agreed. Name can change every day.

Not entirely sure that a ship identifier in one system, faction and power should be reserved in any way in another system with a different faction/power. I put that on par with countries of Earth and car license plates.

If its static across the galaxy and there can be only one, than the ID should be assigned at the factory and be completely out of our hands, I guess, more like a VIN

...

2.3 adds ship name AND ship ID tag. We get both. You can change the name of your ships to whatever you want and add the ships function in it.

Besides, I'm pretty sure he won't be giving specific and unique names to the whole fleet so the name is all you need.

Let us have a fixed hull number for further gameplay reason.

 

[Watcher]

Well I think some sort of unchangeable unique ID would be a nice idea. Something that shows if you lose a ship you really lost that one, even if this one is basically the same.
So yes. Probably.
If you want to get complicated you could have the option to switch it in more shady establishments. Perhaps something of a black-market for valid IDs? Perhaps that's something the police could check for? Hey ZY-57392-A, shouldn't that be a Hauler? Why is it an FDL? Oi, pull over...

Anyway

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Well I think some sort of unchangeable unique ID would be a nice idea. Something that shows if you lose a ship you really lost that one, even if this one is basically the same.
So yes. Probably.
If you want to get complicated you could have the option to switch it in more shady establishments. Perhaps something of a black-market for valid IDs? Perhaps that's something the police could check for? Hey ZY-57392-A, shouldn't that be a Hauler? Why is it an FDL? Oi, pull over...

Anyway

Exactly my point. There is a lot of gamplay mechanics that could be added.

Scanning ships could be further refined. When the cops are searching for a car in trafic, they see your license plate, not your full name.

We could have some privacy settings added where you only broadcast your full identity only to friends and you'd need police scanner to get more info.