A better way to fix mission stacking

[SVL KrizZ]

I don't like the 3 missions caps you want to implement but I understand it may be too much for new players. My suggestion is simple. For combat missions:
- Harmless: 3 missions
- Mostly Harmless: 4
- Novice: 5
- Competent: 7
- Expert: 9
- Master: 11
- Dangerous: 14
- Deadly: 17
- Elite: 20

The same for Trade and Exploration missions with its respective ranks.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Very simple solution.

It could be that, or based on your reputation ​with the faction.

Hostile: 1 Mission
Unfriendly: 2 Missions
Neutral: 3 Missions
Cordial: 5 Missions
Friendly: 7 Missions
Allied: 10 Missions

Or reputation + rank as some sort of modifier.

 

[Jaylem]

But I like the stacking... why change it.

I can do 20+ data runs in Maia and Sothis and farm some massive reputation for the naval factions. why do they do this?? WHYYYYY??!!!

on a more serious note, yeah that rep feature would work nicely. fits in more realistically.

 

[Pyrotiger]

Mission stacking is stupid and comes across as very artificial.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Frontier are implementing a missions cap!?!? Damn!

I've been stacking passenger missions for ages now to build up cash. Usually just two, but occasionally up to four. This comes with its own challenges, such as pirates wanting to attack one passenger, and risking upsetting all the others.

I also used to stack a great many long-range smuggling missions. When you've got to travel 400+ly why wouldn't you want to stack up as many as you can first? When these missions were changed, I could fail a whole bunch of them for just being scanned once.

After all, if an international shipping company is sending a containership all the way from the US west coast to Beijing, why would they want to send it half-empty if they can avoid it?

Mission staking is just sensible economics, and comes with its own challenges anyway.

 

[Madrax573]

Frontier are implementing a missions cap!?!? Damn!

I've been stacking passenger missions for ages now to build up cash. Usually just two, but occasionally up to four. This comes with its own challenges, such as pirates wanting to attack one passenger, and risking upsetting all the others.

I also used to stack a great many long-range smuggling missions. When you've got to travel 400+ly why wouldn't you want to stack up as many as you can first? When these missions were changed, I could fail a whole bunch of them for just being scanned once.

After all, if an international shipping company is sending a containership all the way from the US west coast to Beijing, why would they want to send it half-empty if they can avoid it?

Mission staking is just sensible economics, and comes with its own challenges anyway.

I think they are limiting the number of active mission you can have to 3. It mainly to limit the mode switching stacking that goes on for silly amount of credits for little to no effort.

Good on them.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

I think they are limiting the number of active mission you can have to 3. It mainly to limit the mode switching stacking that goes on for silly amount of credits for little to no effort.

Good on them.

But like I said... If you've got, for example, a ship with 400 tonnes cargo space and a very long trip ahead of you, why wouldn't you want to fill up the cargo bay first?

There should be a compromise made here between sensible economics and mode switching.

 

[goemon]

I think they are limiting the number of active mission you can have to 3. It mainly to limit the mode switching stacking that goes on for silly amount of credits for little to no effort.

Good on them.

wrong.

they are limiting the number of active missions you can have of the same type to three, and that only for massacre and scan data missions.

20 missions is still the total cap.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

wrong.

they are limiting the number of active missions you can have of the same type to three, and that only for massacre and scan data missions.

20 missions is still the total cap.

For Massacre missions I can understand, that's the primary way of ranking up for many people.

Can somebody help me out here and define the difference between "Active missions" and what I can only assume are "Inactive missions" :/

 

[xondk]

I don't like the 3 missions caps you want to implement but I understand it may be too much for new players. My suggestion is simple. For combat missions:
- Harmless: 3 missions
- Mostly Harmless: 4
- Novice: 5
- Competent: 7
- Expert: 9
- Master: 11
- Dangerous: 14
- Deadly: 17
- Elite: 20

The same for Trade and Exploration missions with its respective ranks.

'better' for who? this solves absolutely nothing of the issue of mission stacking it simply delays it?
Mission stacking and such is a problem on 'all' aspects not just with newbies. normal heck, any mission now a days pays fairly well, especially once you are allied, you can earn plenty of money, but yes, not the level of the exploit. And that's the problem, it is an exploit an unintentional mechanic, add that it even messes up BGS which some people have spend a lot of time and effort working on simply by virtue of people going to a location and hammering those kinds of missions causing rep system to flip out because of the amount of actions of one specific type.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

I don't like the 3 missions caps you want to implement but I understand it may be too much for new players. My suggestion is simple. For combat missions:
- Harmless: 3 missions
- Mostly Harmless: 4
- Novice: 5
- Competent: 7
- Expert: 9
- Master: 11
- Dangerous: 14
- Deadly: 17
- Elite: 20

The same for Trade and Exploration missions with its respective ranks.

'better' for who? this solves absolutely nothing of the issue of mission stacking it simply delays it?
Mission stacking and such is a problem on 'all' aspects not just with newbies. normal heck, any mission now a days pays fairly well, especially once you are allied, you can earn plenty of money, but yes, not the level of the exploit. And that's the problem, it is an exploit an unintentional mechanic, add that it even messes up BGS which some people have spend a lot of time and effort working on simply by virtue of people going to a location and hammering those kinds of missions causing rep system to flip out because of the amount of actions of one specific type.

This also doesn't take into account that the higher your rank, the greater the financial reward you'll get from a mission, and that it's the people at the bottom of the food chain who need the cash the most. I could only see this as a disincentive for newbie players.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

wrong.

they are limiting the number of active missions you can have of the same type to three, and that only for massacre and scan data missions.

20 missions is still the total cap.

Thanks for the clarification.

This basically doesn't effect me, unless i happen to stumble across 3+ of those missions by accident. Lol
Which since 2.2.03, hasn't actually happened.

 

[Madrax573]

wrong.

they are limiting the number of active missions you can have of the same type to three, and that only for massacre and scan data missions.

20 missions is still the total cap.

Ah cool.

As you can probably tell I don't do that many missions to worry about the changes anyways

So the mode switching is still an ok activity then just not for those missions that allow for multiple rewards for a single activity.

Fair enough. After all if you stack delivery or passenger mission to still have to fly to the different locations etc.

 

[Ben Ryder]

Hwo about getting rid of missoin stacking entirely and just taking the payouts from bonds etc cos that's what they are there for.

And stop wastin dev time duplicating bonds etc by creating stuff liek massacre missions and use that time to make some decent missions for other activities that are actual missions

 

[goemon]

Can somebody help me out here and define the difference between "Active missions" and what I can only assume are "Inactive missions" :/

active missions: missions which you haven't finished. afaik you can kill the skimmers of three kill skimmer missions, and pick up 3 new ones, without handing the old ones in (why ever). 20 mission limit counts active and inactive missions.

Ah cool.

As you can probably tell I don't do that many missions to worry about the changes anyways

So the mode switching is still an ok activity then just not for those missions that allow for multiple rewards for a single activity.

Fair enough. After all if you stack delivery or passenger mission to still have to fly to the different locations etc.

- you can stack missions heavily without mode-switching. as the server sends only 20 missions, you'll find some new ones, after taking missions, closing the mission board and returning to it. no log to menu necessary. with that alone i rarely leave a station with <10 missions, when working the BGS. but i don't focus on a specific mission type, which many mode-switchers do. they are looking for a specific mission type (for exampel, because they want to play an assassination now) or a specific payout.

- that mode-switching for mission-board refresh isn't "in the spirit of the game" is the maximum FDEV ever said to the question, whether mode-switching for mission-board refresh is considered an exploit. i assume, because "you can switch mode at any point of the game, as often as you want" is a design-principle of the game (and i personally think that's good).

- as most people working the BGS, i heavily stack missions when backing a minor faction, because it is the heavy hitter in terms of influence gains. i do so without mode-switching, as i dislike leaving the game "when playing it" - but each his own! stacking provides also a nice logistic juggle for me (... okay, i can bring this there, get that on the same way, than pick up this, but not before salvaging that from that anarchy system... deliver this there, bring profitable goods with me ... etc.)

___

@ben you and me would like that... actually, if not working the BGS, i don't do missions anymore - sandboxing is just too interesting, and you don't have to wonder about erratic mission boards, or weird multiple spawns of the same object...

 

[Madrax573]

goeman stop giving reasonable answers that I want to Rep but can't so quickly!

I wasn't aware that the mission board will reset if you leave it and go back in. I can't be bothered to mode switch so this is good news for when I want to do a bit of rep/bgs work.

Cheers mate o7