Mission filter "before" fetching missions

[lemny]

AFAIK the mission server is one of the most stressed server at frontier.
I think it's mostly because of the board hopping, which is sadly sometimes mandatory to get larger ships running.

If you are in a specific role (trader, bounty hunter, warship, miner, smuggler...) and looking for missions, you go through the factions (lets say 5) with around 8 missions each.
Often you don't find any or only 1 good mission because you get ton's of missions offered which have nothing to with your current role or you are sitting in an ELITE Anaconda and should run 4 tons for 30k to the next system.

If you reload the board 3 to 5 times the mission server generates around 120 to 200 missions for the trash bin.

If I am an ELITE Cmdr sitting in a trading Cutter for example, I would like to be able to set a filter wich fits my needs. I don't need massacre missions or a harmless cargo run for 30.000cr.

I understand, that different factors like system states and other things are kicking in for the mission generator, but this could still be the case.
The state and other factors could massively alter the payouts for the different mission types, but should not change the number, because the number of missions leads to re-logs and to server stress.

Frontier already did this for passenger missions, they are only being generated if you ask for them. Why not use this system for all types of missions.
Make a sub menu (trade,smuggle,passenger,war,...) or a filter which stays the same until the cmdr changes it and don't offer missions too far below the cmdr rank.

I think this would avoid the board hopping for nearly all of the cases without changing the server architecture and take much stress form the server AND the players.

 

[gord-s]

AFAIK the mission server is one of the most stressed server at frontier.
I think it's mostly because of the board hopping, which is sadly sometimes mandatory to get larger ships running.

If you are in a specific role (trader, bounty hunter, warship, miner, smuggler...) and looking for missions, you go through the factions (lets say 5) with around 8 missions each.
Often you don't find any or only 1 good mission because you get ton's of missions offered which have nothing to with your current role or you are sitting in an ELITE Anaconda and should run 4 tons for 30k to the next system.

If you reload the board 3 to 5 times the mission server generates around 120 to 200 missions for the trash bin.

If I am an ELITE Cmdr sitting in a trading Cutter for example, I would like to be able to set a filter wich fits my needs. I don't need massacre missions or a harmless cargo run for 30.000cr.

yep, generate/offer missions based on classic ship fits

has plenty cargo space? offer cargo missions tailored to cargo capacity (not always cargo cap. currently fitted, just a generic small/medium large cargo class
has prospector/collecotr? offer spawn mining missions, small or large based on ship size
no cargo, no prospector? combat or data missions offered
has SRV? offer surface mssions
has pax cabin? offer passenger runs (already implemented)


I'm not saying that these are the ONLY missions that should be offered, just MORE of the above types. Noone wants to wait 4 hours in a station checking the board every 15 minutes until it's worthwhile risking a big ship delivery run - all that does is take up network sockets :/

Of course, they probably already do have such a "ship role favouring" mechanism, but it seems to be untouched since the days of the tiny ships in 2015. If it's currenty in force, it needs cranked well up.

We should all be flying/trading/in combat, not sitting on our asses in stations for 8 hours a day trying to fill up with missions

 

[Para Handy]

I quite like this idea - I never want to see illegal missions so that would be great to be able to set the board to just download legal ones.

 

[Stealthie]

So, in summary....

- I want missions that suit me in quantities that satisfy me.
- I can't be blamed for mode-flipping while it's possible.

[sad]

 

[Stealthie]

I quite like this idea - I never want to see illegal missions so that would be great to be able to set the board to just download legal ones.

There are already filters to help you locate the missions you want.

What he OP's asking for is for the board to actually only generate desired missions.

That's silly.

You can't just expect to rock up at a system in, say, a T9 and insist that you're provided with enough bulk cargo missions to satisfy you, arrive at the same place in a Corvette and demand "kill the pirate lord" missions or go there in a Beluga and expect to be offered a never-ending supply of passenger missions.

In terms of game-breaking silliness, it's right up there with "Station Outfitters should do mail-order deliveries".

 

[Pville_Piper]

OP, where would you like your "I WIN" button to be placed in the cockpit? In some sense though, it would make sense... A trucker wouldn't go to the local sheriff to solicit haulage nor would a bounty hunter show up at a warehouse to solicit for warrants. It could, if done right add, to the immersion of the game. You want to do bounty hunting, log into the security office and see what they want you to do. Want to do haulage missions, go over to the cargo dispatcher and see what he has. You already have this with passenger missions so why not extend this to separate the trucking/combat?

In terms of game-breaking silliness, it's right up there with "Station Outfitters should do mail-order deliveries".

Please enlighten me on how this would "break" the game... Sorry to hijack your thread OP .

 

[Wyaston Hypatia]

I don't see why a board should deliver missions to suit the commander. It's representing what the station needs driven by the BGS not by what the Commander wants.
I get that this is more a SIM over Game thing, and is down to personal taste how much this bothers people, but I like to think that there should be boards with missions you don't want. So finding the ones with ones that do have what you want takes at leat a modicum of thought.

 

[Mengy]

In terms of game-breaking silliness, it's right up there with "Station Outfitters should do mail-order deliveries".

I disagree. Allowing players to request missions of certain types only from the mission boards would be a great QoL change. It would directly address the very reason why board flipping exists while greatly reducing the need to do it at all. I don't see how it is game breaking in any way.

 

[piercehead]

The one thing I would like is having it remember the filter. Having to always select 'legal' gets repetitive. Also, not sure why they haven't implemented filters for the passenger board yet.

 

[Stealthie]

Please enlighten me on how this would "break" the game... Sorry to hijack your thread OP .

The whole premise of the game is that you're supposed to fly around, finding places which provide you with opportunities of some sort.

You want to be a trader, you need to find somewhere that sells the thing you want at a suitable price and then find somewhere else that buys it for more.
You want to be a miner, you need to find sites which yield the things you're seeking to mine.
You want to be an explorer, you need to find systems that yield the most profitable scans.

Same philosophy should apply to missions.
You want to make a profit from running missions, it should be up to you to find the places which offer the missions you want.

If that ceases to be the case, people will be able to just sit in one system and never leave except to complete their chosen missions.
No need to build ships to serve different purposes, no need to consider what ship to be flying at a given time, no concerns about flying a vulnerable ship in a hostile region, no need to plan ahead, no need to venture out to see if there's anything better elsewhere.

 

[Stealthie]

I disagree. Allowing players to request missions of certain types only from the mission boards would be a great QoL change.

Of course it'd be a "great QoL change".

Anything that provides the player with a ridiculous and implausible advantage is going to be a "great QoL change" for those who enjoy having that kind of advantage.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

So, in summary....

- I want missions that suit me in quantities that satisfy me.
- I can't be blamed for mode-flipping while it's possible.

[sad]

No one really can't be stopped to dream not to play game for some reason.

 

[Mengy]

Of course it'd be a "great QoL change".

Anything that provides the player with a ridiculous and implausible advantage is going to be a "great QoL change" for those who enjoy having that kind of advantage.

It's not about an advantage, the pilot still needs to complete the missions. It's about the freedom to play the way you want to without needing to fight the RNG mission boards in order to do so.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I disagree. Allowing players to request missions of certain types only from the mission boards would be a great QoL change. It would directly address the very reason why board flipping exists while greatly reducing the need to do it at all. I don't see how it is game breaking in any way.

Not really. Fact you don't get missions you want is part of the challenge of the game. If you grind missions, that's up to you - game doesn't have to serve them as part of your gameplay.

It is game breaking and in fact fundamental 'screw you I don't want to play game, I want thing x in game'. Which is fine that you want it. Fact that you can't get it right ASAP is major goal why you play the game.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

It's not about an advantage, the pilot still needs to complete the missions.

LOL. Missions he has grinded for hours and know almost by heart without any challenge? Yeah, right.

It's about the freedom to play the way you want to without needing to fight the RNG mission boards in order to do so.

Not really. You play game as it is, not use cheats to enable things you want to play with. It is similar road why MTs and other nasty things in gaming exist.

Either you play ED, or not. That's your choice. Game doesn't have to carter to 'I want play this and nothing else' in game.

 

[Stealthie]

It's not about an advantage

Okay.....

It's about the freedom to play the way you want to without needing to fight the RNG mission boards in order to do so.

That IS the advantage.

It's like suggesting that you should be able to pick your own cards in a game of Poker.

 

[Mengy]

Okay.....

That IS the advantage.

It's like suggesting that you should be able to pick your own cards in a game of Poker.

So, when Frontier implemented a passenger mission board which only generated pax missions, did that break the game?

 

[Muetdhiver]

It's not about an advantage, the pilot still needs to complete the missions. It's about the freedom to play the way you want to without needing to fight the RNG mission boards in order to do so.

Braze your own trail. If RNJesus let you. Pretty much sums it up.

Mission filters (or separate tabs for the professions) would be great. Surely a 10B pop system can generate more than 3 haulage missions ? Right ?

 

[Pville_Piper]

The whole premise of the game is that you're supposed to fly around, finding places which provide you with opportunities of some sort.

​

Sorry, not buying it. Maybe you play the game to solve puzzles, I don't. I think the whole "go forth and seek modules" thing is the biggest time waster in the game and the source of the my greatest frustration. Outside of the whole Sirius permit/engineer progression thing the first time through... [sad]

No need to build ships to serve different purposes, no need to consider what ship to be flying at a given time, no concerns about flying a vulnerable ship in a hostile region, no need to plan ahead, no need to venture out to see if there's anything better elsewhere.

Why does being able to buy the ship modules you want mean that there is now "No need to build ships to serve different purposes"? You're making no sense here... As far as the rest of it, how does filtering missions, or going to a dedicated mission board for trade , salvage, or combat negate any of this? For that matter, lets just dump the passenger missions into the Main Mission board and be done with it. Or would that make it "too convenient"? I mean, that would make it so you didn't have to log out of one mission board to hand in your missions on the other... NO, NO, NO! We can't have that level of convenience! Why, if I had to walk 5 miles a day, in waist deep snow, 5 miles uphill both ways you darn sure ain't gonna get somebody to plow your roads for you!!! You'll play the game my way or it's the highway for you chump!

It would in no way negate "flying a vulnerable ship in a hostile region" because if that was the case you can simply transfer your new "vulnerable" ship as it stands now while you flit about in your el cheapo taxi hauler.

As fas as it goes, mission filters are coming in 3.0... Should we start some petitions or pen a few final pleas to the Devs to get rid of these? If it would speed up the process of getting the mission board to come up quicker because less missions have to be generated and sent out then I'm all for it. Here's something else to think about, why were some missions, like finding a missing pilot, scrapped? They worked fine and I loved those missions. Could it be that mission diversity would killing the response times of the mission boards?​

 

[lemny]

I am not sure that all of you understood my approach.
The main goal of this is to get the stress of the mission servers for generating 95% of missions which will be ignored anyway.

And I never met a player who waited 10 or 15 minutes multiple times in hope to get a suitable mission or flew to another station if the mission type he is looking for is available on the current station, but only in wrong levels or numbers.

I would be totally happy if frontier finds a way to prevent board hopping at all by using a unique player seed rather than a server based solution wich results in different mission boards every time you switching modes.
But I think that is much more complicated than the filter based solution.

And if a system state prevents a certain mission type, fine... it should not be available. But if a mission type is available in general, why limiting it. Lore wise, all available missions are available in thousands because if 1000 players are docked at one station, everyone will get a few of them... and most of them will relog to get a few more of the type they are looking for.

Another and even more complicated solution could be limiting the number of mission in general. So the mission pool can be emptied by players if they do more missions than the station could provide. But this would require a real time mission board where you can get a mission wich is then removed from the pool and no longer available for others. But I think this is technically impossible.