Transferring ships TO a location?

[Macy]

I was just thinking about the same idea. Today i needed to transfer a ship over 500ly. Its a fighter with a useless jump range. I was thinking how great if i could send it there while I'm doing other stuff instead of going there and waiting hours for it to arrive.

 

[XrayRomeoAlpha]

No thanks to transfer ship to a location.

Yes it makes sense.

However, this is a space travel based game. So removing the travel kind of undermines it at a fundamental level.

Ben, What I'm proposing would actually allow players to be in the game more than they would normally.
If I can send my ship somewhere and have it waiting for me then I won't have to request it and then wait and go play other games or watch Netflix. I could plan ahead and have things ready for me when I get to a location.
I don't like to sit around and wait for my ship to show up.

 

[Noctover]

I've found a work around for this:

Open galatic map and set course for the destination
Close the map
Click "Launch"
Follow the planned route.

Works a charm .

-EDIT-

Dont forget to raise landing gear

 

[Blackcompany]

Seems like the only reason not to have this is "gameplay" related.

The "lore" of the game was originally that systems were isolated from each other and no information passed between them automatically but that idea has gradually eroded away with a variety of things including tip-offs, mission updates, ship trannsfers and, of course, telepresence so there's really no remaining justification for why a person in, say, Lave couldn't just phone up a station in Cubeo and arrange to have a ship delivered to Colonia.

Let's face it, if you're having a ship delivered somewhere it's because you're going to USE it and you can't do that unless you're there.
That being the case, does it matter if you arrange for the ship to be moved before you arrive at the proposed destination or after?
At worst, the only difference is that the ship will be there when you arrive, rather than you having to arrive first, arrange for the transfer and then wait for an hour before it arrives.
It's not like you could use that ability for any kind of "exploit".

If they really wanted to enforce some kind of "gameplay mechanic" surrounding ship transfers, why not make it so that you can only arrange for ship transfers at stations where you have a good reputation?
This could even be variable depending on your level of reputation.
If you're allied to a faction, they'll bend over backwards to get your ship to you in double-quick time.
If you're only cordial with that faction, they'll get your ship to you eventually, when they get around to it.
And, if you're disliked by a faction, get your own damned ship.

That'd actually encourage a bit of gameplay because if you just abandon a ship in some system you might want to take on a bit of work there, just to raise your rep' so one of the factions is willing to transfer a ship for you.
And, of course, it'd also make you feel like there was some benefit to becoming allied with a faction if it meant they could send ships to you express-delivery.

The very idea that each of these systems exists in isolation is absurd, though. I mean...how could one system know what another system needs in order to ask you to haul it there, if no information passes between systems? It...makes no sense. Handwavium it might be, but some form of communication would have to exist.

 

[XrayRomeoAlpha]

I've found a work around for this:

Open galatic map and set course for the destination
Close the map
Click "Launch"
Follow the planned route.

Works a charm .

-EDIT-

Dont forget to raise landing gear

You clearly missed the point on purpose.
Its not like I'm asking for fast travel.

We have this mechanic going One Direction why can't we have it going both directions?

For logistical purposes it would make complete and total sense.

Nobody's twisting your arm and forcing you to use this.

I see no downside to implementing something that would allow people to spend more time in the game not waiting around.

Everybody's entitled to their opinion and that's just fine.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I'd support transferring a ship TO a station, but only TO a station you have actually visited at least once. No shipping your Anaconda to Jacques while you fly there in your Asp, if you've never been there before.

 

[XrayRomeoAlpha]

I'd support transferring a ship TO a station, but only TO a station you have actually visited at least once. No shipping your Anaconda to Jacques while you fly there in your Asp, if you've never been there before.

I could definitely agree on that.
I don't think it's necessary but I would not argue against it either.
A compromise could be reached.

It does make things a little bit more difficult, but I think it is within the realm of acceptability.

 

[Brieus]

This is strictly IMO of course, but I think the waiting periods and transfer costs are an attempt to balance out combat monsters with absurdly low jump ranges. "Hey, I can save 16 MCr if I put a 2A FSD in my Federal Corvette instead of a 6A FSD."

If there was a transfer to option, you'd have to increase the waiting period to maintain the same "balance" factor. With the transfer from option you can use a stripped down jump taxi to travel and then just do nothing. Or you can use a slightly slower, mission capable ship to travel, then do something else ingame while you're waiting.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

No thanks to transfer ship to a location.

Yes it makes sense.

However, this is a space travel based game. So removing the travel kind of undermines it at a fundamental level.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that our CMDRs are transferred as well, at least not in this thread. You still need to travel to the destination. Only if you sent your other ship ahead, you could then take your time, maybe picking up a few rare goods on the way.

I think it would be better gameplay than the current method of going somewhere, summoning your other ship and logging off.

 

[Gunnet]

Well most do this any way with current system. You fly somewhere, summo ship you want to use, log out of the game and play something else meanwhile, wait while watching youtube/netflix or come back tomorrow. Its same for the player doing it but bad for frontier as players use less time to play the game. The delay and the ability to not sent ships just mean people play something else instead.

I'm extremely dubious of the "most" claim there. I'm sure some players do that, and it's unfortunate that they don't actually enjoy playing Elite, but ship transfer was never meant to replace all travelling with 50ly taxi ships.

Ship transfer is seeming more and more like a step on this game's inexorable slide towards being an instant gratification arcade shooter.

 

[Noctover]

You clearly missed the point on purpose.
Its not like I'm asking for fast travel.

We have this mechanic going One Direction why can't we have it going both directions?

For logistical purposes it would make complete and total sense.

Nobody's twisting your arm and forcing you to use this.

I see no downside to implementing something that would allow people to spend more time in the game not waiting around.

Everybody's entitled to their opinion and that's just fine.

Actually you missed the point, i was just kidding, im all for a deliver to option .

 

[fossil]

I made a thread on this: Send ships rather than summon them. But it was (understandably) closed as at the time every second thread on the forum was about ship transfers.

I was told:

I hope it does happen. It makes so much more sense to me to send ships rather than summon them. It's also completely irrelevant whether the transfer is instant or delayed, as you still have to travel there yourself.

Not quite irrelevant - for the transfers I've done I can fly there much quicker than the transfer.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Not quite irrelevant - for the transfers I've done I can fly there much quicker than the transfer.

Yeah, but would you think your immersion was broken if you rushed there and found that your ship had beaten you?

But a delay with a sent ship isn't as limiting as a delay summoning a ship.

Say I'm in Sol and want to fight a war in Maia. Currently, I fly my Asp for 30 minutes to OO, go to the shipyard, summon my Gunship and log off for an hour. So 30 minutes playing, 60 minutes not playing.
But with sending, I sit in the station in Sol, send my gunship to Maia, it tells me it will take 90 minutes to get there. I estimate it will take 30 minutes to fly, so I droop into Delta Pavonis - oops forgot no eargrubs, go to Vega, yep got lots of slimweed, Check the clock, 75 minutes left, Hutton would take too long, so I drop via Epsilon Indi and Bast. Then I go to Maia with a full load of rare goods and find my Gunship in the station when I arrive. So 90 minutes playing, 0 minutes not playing. and that's with a 50% extra bonus delay for sending ships.

 

[Ben Ryder]

How so?

I mean, if somebody wants to spend a bunch of credits punting their ships around the galaxy like chess pieces, that's up to them and affects nobody else.

If they actually want to USE any of the ships they move around, they still have to travel to them and fly them.
The only difference is that you'd be able to move a ship from A to B as you set off from A, knowing that it'd be waiting for you when you arrive at B, instead of having to arrive at B and then transfer it.

Being a cynical so-and-so, I always look for the potential to exploit a thing but I just can't really see any way this could be used to unfair advantage.

Im just going with me feelings on this really. The effect nobody never stands up in multi player game development because its a shared experience even if you are playing solo. Any way, the ship transfer to a location is not about what a single player does its about teh direction theg ame goes in and the development resources that could be used to progress the underlying them of game. One thing leads to another.

On the second point. How could this be used to advantage.Rightly or wrongly you fly to Sag A in a Asp and transfer your capital class kill machine there and kill all the explorers with you mates laughing from their telepresence gunner seats back in sol. Then the captain jumps in a side winder and smashes it in to a wall and selects the free rebuy back in Lave or where ever and recalls his death machine. They have pizza and laugh at the effortless fun the had kill weak explorers and the fact that no-one can track them down. Stuff like that.

 

[Stealthie]

On the second point. How could this be used to advantage.Rightly or wrongly you fly to Sag A in a Asp and transfer your capital class kill machine there and kill all the explorers with you mates laughing from their telepresence gunner seats back in sol. Then the captain jumps in a side winder and smashes it in to a wall and selects the free rebuy back in Lave or where ever and recalls his death machine. They have pizza and laugh at the effortless fun the had kill weak explorers and the fact that no-one can track them down. Stuff like that.

Is there a station at Sag A that I didn't know about? [woah]

A ship always has to be sent between stations. I don't think anybody's advocating anything different.

Sure, there's the possibility that a person could send a ship to, say, the location of a CG so that when they arrive they could jump right into it and go BHing.
But, then again, they could also spend the credits to have their ship delivered to the CG and then they might find there's no BHing to be done so they'd have wasted their credits.
And what's the alternative?
They travel to the CG, arrange a ship-transfer (after verifying that there IS a reason to do so), go eat pizza then come back, jump into the ship and go BHing.

I don't really see any difference in terms of what can be accomplished.
The only difference is that it gives people a bit more flexibility and I don't see any harm in that.

 

[Jaylem]

I understand what you are saying mate!

yeah there are many occasions I would have liked to send a ship to a planned destination prior to travel...at least that way you don't have to travel there and then wait for the blasted thing to come. sending ahead of time would be far more nicer. It would just mean less waiting time at the station you arrive. there should be implements though that systems you have visited are able to have ships sent. otherwise as stated by some of the others here it could be exploited.. all and all +1 from me

 

[Rhaedas]

The "lore" of the game was originally that systems were isolated from each other and no information passed between them automatically but that idea has gradually eroded away with a variety of things including tip-offs, mission updates, ship trannsfers and, of course, telepresence so there's really no remaining justification for why a person in, say, Lave couldn't just phone up a station in Cubeo and arrange to have a ship delivered to Colonia.

That lore was actually specific to the economy and prices. That knowledge was limited not because of the technology, but by the Pilot's Federation so that fluctuations wouldn't have sweeping effect throughout the galaxy. And gamewise it makes sense so that you can't find the instant best deal and not have to run some risk or remember some history from previous travel (or word of mouth, since we have 3rd party ways of monitoring it that still aren't instant or perfect).

As for sending, sure, why not? Affects things just as much as calling for it to be shipped, doesn't give any advantage outside of repositioning or making sure some ships can get where you travel.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

A ship always has to be sent between stations. I don't think anybody's advocating anything different.

It would have to be stations with a shipyard too, so transferring a ship to OO in Maia wouldn't be possible either.

 

[Carabeener]

It may well have been suggested before, but I'm surprised there hasn't been some gameplay gleaned out of this. I'd like to see ship transfers being done as missions.

Someone wants a ship transferring from one place to another, you accept the mission and then you fly the ship to where they want it. The customer pays you for delivering it within a time limit, with any damage coming off the fee, and if it is destroyed the insurance money comes out of the Flyers pocket. You could take a ship with you flown autonomously in wing, so you have a ship when you get to the destination.

It would be great to fly some ships that you can't afford yet, like fdl or condos, or fly some mule of a ship that takes you ages to get there!

Thoughts?

 

[Tryst]

Sorry, I misunderstood.

If there are any reasons, it's laziness reasons.

No. If you have a ship at one end of the bubble and want to use it at the other end but you are somewhere in the middle, rather than go there and wait hours for it to arrive or spend hours flying to get it and then flying it to where you want it, you can have it sent and travel there yourself so the wait is shorter.

This is an online game and some of us have lives outside of the game (shock, horror), not all of us have the time to spend sitting around just waiting for a ship to turn up.