Escort Missions?

artao

A
I dunno. Perhaps these are in the game but I've just never seen them available. Entirely possible. I've only been "in-game" like 7 game days. (according to the game. Steam says around 150 hrs, which mostly lines up)
Seems an odd omission, as they're a classic space game mission. Not to mention real-world mission.

You know, the standard "Escort the cargo/passenger transport to its destination and protect it from pirates" or "Escort the large fleet ship to defend it from enemy fighters."
 
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[VR] DDM_Reaper20

[VR] DDM_Reaper20
artao said:
I dunno. Perhaps these are in the game but I've just never seen them available. Entirely possible. I've only peen "in-game" like 7 game days. (according to the game)
Seems an odd omission, as they're a classic space game mission. Not to mention real-world mission.

You know, the standard "Escort the cargo/passenger transport to its destination and protect it from pirates" or "Escort the large fleet ship to defend it from enemy fighters."
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Nope, they are not in the game.

I have no idea whether or not those might be coming one day, but I kinda doubt it...
 

Lugh

Lugh
artao said:
I dunno. Perhaps these are in the game but I've just never seen them available. Entirely possible. I've only been "in-game" like 7 game days. (according to the game)
Seems an odd omission, as they're a classic space game mission. Not to mention real-world mission.

You know, the standard "Escort the cargo/passenger transport to its destination and protect it from pirates" or "Escort the large fleet ship to defend it from enemy fighters."
Click to expand...
What bazaro world have we been connected with where someone is asking for escort missions to be added. That's a part of gaming history most don't ever want to remember, let alone relive.
 

artao

A
What? Why would people not want to "remember let alone relive" that? o_O weirdo LOL :p
Those are fun! And exciting; you never know when they'll be hit. Or maybe it never happens and it's basically free creds. There's also myriad direct real-world examples. Such things would very much happen in a galaxy such as we have.
HECK!!
I was running gold for a little while. It occurred to me how cool it'd be if I could hire other players to escort my shipment. Then I could get rid of weapons and even some defenses to haul more.
...
.... OT .... speaking of "hiring other players." We can't directly transfer creds to other players, can we? Cuz if not, that really should be there.
 

artao

A
Lugh said:
wait how old are you? Escort missions are near universally hated in nearly every game they were added to. So much so that most games don't even think to add them any more.
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Um
I'm 50 ... so? Ear elephant.
Why the heck don't people like these missions? They're awesome? They're suspenseful. They're exciting. They can be quite challenging.
In an MMO setting like ED, a wing of humans could sign on for escort missions.
Are people insane? What? Why .... how ... huh?
What do people have against such missions?
Way more interesting than "carry the cargo/data" or "kill the pirate/traitor/etc."
They can be made pretty personal too with the inclusion of NPC interaction. REAL consequences for failure.

For instance, escort cargo ships for the Colonia Bridge. The whole route from ... wherever. Cargo doesn't get there? Community goal suffers. With representative loss in reputation of the pilot(s) involved.
Players could hire other players. Wings of players.
SOOO many lost opportunities by disregarding that mission type.

How is "kill the pirate" any moar betterer than "escort the cargo?" I don't get it. Huh? That makes zero sense to me.
What, do people not like having to make sure an asset survives? Do they not like the multi-jump length of such missions?

Consider: It's more like a "real story" (can be) than some random "carry this stuff/kill this person/group."

What if there were nefarious entities trying to destroy rescue missions from space stations in the midst of attack and destruction? (EDIT: Thargoids and pro-Xenos) How awesome would that be eh? Greatly awesome IMO.

Get hired in some contact in a seedy bar to escort a smuggling run. Of whom you were made aware of thru a "fixer. Perhaps making a new contact thru it. Increase rep with a faction.

There's been a coup on some planet/moon and you get hired (or your wing) to escort the fleeing rightful govt to safety. Fail that and system control changes. Player(s) rep changes accordingly.

SO much more engaging than the standard random .... rigamarole.
People complain about "grind." Well ... PART of grind is the lack of a more compelling reason to do it besides upgrading your stuff or making contacts or improving rep or whatever. Give the missions a story. And escort missions are more suited to having a story than most other types.
ESPECIALLY if they have real, serious consequences. Make it legit. .... Fail and an entire system may fall. Plus galactic reknown as the person who let it happen.

NOTE! TOO MANY edits for spelling, grammar, and clarity.
 
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artao

A
BTW. Part of the greatness of a total open world game like Elite is that if you don't want to take such missions you don't have to.
I know I'm not the only one who'd love to have these.
 

artao

A
Lugh said:
Yeah... that's Escort missions on paper. In reality they are full of frustration and losing to things outside your control because the thing your escorting seems hell bent on suicide
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There are often (almost always) things outside your control. And AI is good enuf these days to (mostly) get rid of the idiotic AIs of old. Elite in general has pretty decent AI in my experience. Better than some racing games I tell you what LOL.
Of course, there's no denying they could be better and don't do dumb things sometimes; WAY less than they used to tho. Until we have real-time AI neural nets it'll be that way. ... and do we REALLY want that? hehe :p
Mission success should not be "guaranteed" just cuz you're really good. AI NPC and/or human foes. There's always uncertainty. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." -- Helmuth von Moltke, 1871
There SHOULD be (and are, to be fair) missions the player(s) are not capable of completing. I know I've taken a few I had to abandon.
Only taking missions you KNOW you can complete is boring. And I think that's partly why people complain of "grind." They don't take on ACTUALLY challenging missions. Just stuff they know they can do. (Single person missions? Try taking missions marked for wingmen by yourself. Still too easy? DAMN you're good then!! <shrug> That's it really. How about other humans?)
I get it. Insurance can be $$$$$$$$$$
Greater risk greater reward.
EDIT: Greater risk more fun and excitement. ACTUALLY being nervous about losing all yer . Having to cut loose and flee. Resort to kamikaze. Make you literally scream. That's a GOOD thing. That's non-grind. That's gameplay that actually MATTERS and you care about.
 
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metatheurgist

metatheurgist
RPG on foot escort missions are very much hated, largely due to on ground NPC AI being suicidal. Plane/spaceship/boat escort missions are a no brainer that really should be added, there's less chance of them being suicidal in space. These exist in Oolite and are a good addition.
 

Lugh

Lugh
metatheurgist said:
there's less chance of them being suicidal in space.
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Plenty of navel and space missions have had these, from fps to rts they have been tried and failed.

While navel and space ones you can at least avoid path finding issues with terrain, they will still fly face first into a hord of enemies or fly away from the objective and get them selves killed by waves of enemies.
 

artao

A
WOw.
Such missions are pretty common in both naval and air combat simulations. The realistic ones. It's a pretty essential mission. There's aircraft designed specifically FOR that role. Fighter escort. Bomber escort.
Not hated. Commonly taken.
Apparently I have an uncommon game paradigm crossover here.

This is a historical and accurate and essential mission since air warfare became a thing, and in the space combat paradigm of Elite (maybe Korean war era, but worse) ENTIRELY accurate.
What. In 1300 yrs escorts won't be needed anymore? LOMAO c'mon
The only reason they're not here is "gamic," as in gamey. As in no explanation, it's just how the game is.
If YOU'RE fine with that sort of gameplay? well ... wow
What can i say.
I would think MOST people would expect more.
 
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TobiasFuzz

T
You can always offer escort to human players when you are in open at Hotspots like CG's or similar. Problem is with payment so... as p2p transfer of credits is not possible. You can only receive the wingtrade bonus.
 

gorankar

gorankar
Escort missions are great on paper, but they just tend to suck.
I can see how it would go. Get all the way to the end and then have the ship you escorted do something stupid in response to another NPC, player, or even yourself, and then get themselves blown up by the station. That is how they would end up working in ED.
 

metatheurgist

metatheurgist
gorankar said:
Escort missions are great on paper, but they just tend to suck.
I can see how it would go. Get all the way to the end and then have the ship you escorted do something stupid in response to another NPC, player, or even yourself, and then get themselves blown up by the station. That is how they would end up working in ED.
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More likely you get them there and they get stuck in the mailslot and blown up, but the rest of the escort scenario would be great. ;)
 
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