Hi! I'm really new in the community, I'm not commenting much, (but I read these forum often) but after a few hundred hours of gameplay I gathered some ideas about ED gameplay mechanics and features. Most of these aren't that big to create on the content side, but may upset the balance, so I'm open to discussion with more experienced pilots. (I posted this on reddit already, they suggested I post my ideas here, so I copy the whole post).
Defensive combat: Being in a non aggressive role, you have limited options: you may go barefoot and try to avoid combat, no matter what, and die occasionally, when you can't run out, or you may arm yourself as best as you can, limiting your jump range, module slots, and try to fight - but if you can't kill your attackers, it won't make a change, they'll kill you. It is not a very complex system right now, and I think it needs an upgrade, because plenty of the content in this game is non-combat type.
The only defensive weapons today would be mines, but only damaging enemies brings nothing, you can't escape sooner, and it won't hinder their ability much to kill you. So I think we need more "defensive weapons" - ones that slow and disturb attackers:
EMP mines - mines that disturb modules, HUD, navigation. Would be great to slow down and pause enemy fire. Countering: 2 second charge up time, when everyone - the attackers too - get an alert to avoid blast radius, AND the mine deploying ship is also affected if in range
Venting fuel - venting all the fuel, except what needed for one jump, to gain more speed for a limited time, also to make a corrosive cloud behind you, which damages shields and modules on contact. Countering: your drive is more susceptible for damage if hit during venting, and you also left with limited fuel, so you'll need to plan ahead
Emergency jump - we all know that scenes in movies, where "the calculations aren't complete, we could jump into a star". Just like that, we should be able to initiate an ER Jump on a push of a button. It has to be fast and VERY dangerous, so instantly giving 100% heat, a random chance to exit right next to a sun, or in deep space many Ls away from anything, damaging modules, accidentally venting fuel, dropping cargo, etc... So the players would think twice before using it. Also it must produce a high wake so strong, it can be scanned with normal scanners, so the pursuer can catch up in a minute, so the trader will have to recover fast after an ER Jump
Jamming weapons - Weapons that won't make much damage, but randomly jam modules, so one can engage in combat, and disable ships for a limited time. Countering the effect: these weapons must use extreme energy, making shields weaker and FSD charge up longer, every time used
Note: I know that there are some similar mines and weapons in the game, but I think there should be ones developed specially for traders and explorers - so low weight, can't cause real damage, only giving time to escape
Crime: Crime, as in active crime, not the punishment system (that is also important, I'm curious how the next upgrade will change it). I think there should be more opportunity to be a criminal, and it must have much more rewards, so more people try it. Also it offers great possibilities to counteracting roles, but they underused today (bounty hunting maybe the only one)
Heists - this one needs a mechanic: station permits. Some stations can use these permits, locking down the perimeter, and only letting in faction members. You can get a permit if you work your way up to allied, or you take a courier mission to these stations, where you get a limited permit (timer to enter, and exit, you'll be fired upon at once if you deploy, more aggressive scanning from npc-s). If you have a permit to a station, you may get a heist mission, to be the getaway driver for robbers. You put the boarding party in a special passenger cabin (Military ready room, or with some better name). You could also install a scan jammer, which delays or even disrupts ship scan, but after used more then once, you'll get suspicious, and will be scanned from more ships at once. If you dock successfully, the boarding party robs the place, meanwhile you have to counter sentry skimmers on the station surface. When the boarding party returns, you have to get out. Now, here the station could deploy minefields, FSD inhibitors, and all sorts of things, but you'd be able to use the defensive tactics I listed above. The stations could also hire commanders to defend the stations against known attacks. It'd create two new roles and loadout types: patrol ship / security expert - and getaway ship / robber.
Forgery and a better black market - we should be able to scoop up engineered modules from destroyed ships, and sell them on black markets. Also would be interesting an engineer, that can create you a false identity, even from an another player. You have to scan the other cmdr or npc with a special scanner, and the engineer would create a forged transponder for your ship. If you are identified as an another player, you won't get fines and bounties for crimes, but he'll get one (so basically you too, while impersonating him), and also you get the reputation, permits, everything the other player has. But bigger the difference between your ships, bigger the chance you'll be caught. Also, to make it much less easier, if you scan a novice sidewinder, and you'll equip a forged transponder on your battle FDL, the system automatically notices you and sends patrols against you. So you'd have to seek out actively a ship similar to yours, outfit it like the other one, and act like it, to not get suspicious. Also if you commit crimes, the other player will be notified. If they sell their ship on a lawful station, the forged transponder will be useless right away, but he can also decide to seek out and destroy the fraud. If destroyed, the forged transponder always drops, and one can scoop it, to lift any bounties they've got because of the thief.
Hacking: Stealing data should be possible, like star charts from explorers. BUT to not to make it too easy, the stolen data is only viable if the original source exists. So if you catch an explorer outside the bubble, and you intercept him, hack his systems (maybe a minigame?) and you successfully copy his charts, then you have to leave him alone, because if you kill him (or he kills himself) your instance of the data will be also erased. So after this, it'll be a race to the nearest station, and the first one to sell the data, gets the money (and upon selling, every other instance gets erased). Also hacking should only be possible if the opponents shields are offline.
Services: An ingame system for commanders, to put out missions, and give rewards on completion. So one may be stranded outside the bubble? Give a mission and offer a sizable reward for helping you. You get harassed by a griefer? Put a bounty on his head (and you should also get one, if the ganker is not wanted when killed). You need materials? Make a trade inquiry. We should be able to write out all sorts of stuff, and give rewards each other (may have to balance it out with taxes, if it upsets the simulation). It would make the player interactions more complex, role playing factions could hire players to defend their stations, or to rob their opponents. Also it would empower rich-but non aggressive traders, and explorers, to counter aggressive actions. They could hire players to defend their ships when returning from an exploration mission. This would also need an in-game player profile, where others can see you reputation, bounties, affiliations with factions (f.e. if you are a member of the fuel rats, or just a pirate)
So, what do you think?
Defensive combat: Being in a non aggressive role, you have limited options: you may go barefoot and try to avoid combat, no matter what, and die occasionally, when you can't run out, or you may arm yourself as best as you can, limiting your jump range, module slots, and try to fight - but if you can't kill your attackers, it won't make a change, they'll kill you. It is not a very complex system right now, and I think it needs an upgrade, because plenty of the content in this game is non-combat type.
The only defensive weapons today would be mines, but only damaging enemies brings nothing, you can't escape sooner, and it won't hinder their ability much to kill you. So I think we need more "defensive weapons" - ones that slow and disturb attackers:
EMP mines - mines that disturb modules, HUD, navigation. Would be great to slow down and pause enemy fire. Countering: 2 second charge up time, when everyone - the attackers too - get an alert to avoid blast radius, AND the mine deploying ship is also affected if in range
Venting fuel - venting all the fuel, except what needed for one jump, to gain more speed for a limited time, also to make a corrosive cloud behind you, which damages shields and modules on contact. Countering: your drive is more susceptible for damage if hit during venting, and you also left with limited fuel, so you'll need to plan ahead
Emergency jump - we all know that scenes in movies, where "the calculations aren't complete, we could jump into a star". Just like that, we should be able to initiate an ER Jump on a push of a button. It has to be fast and VERY dangerous, so instantly giving 100% heat, a random chance to exit right next to a sun, or in deep space many Ls away from anything, damaging modules, accidentally venting fuel, dropping cargo, etc... So the players would think twice before using it. Also it must produce a high wake so strong, it can be scanned with normal scanners, so the pursuer can catch up in a minute, so the trader will have to recover fast after an ER Jump
Jamming weapons - Weapons that won't make much damage, but randomly jam modules, so one can engage in combat, and disable ships for a limited time. Countering the effect: these weapons must use extreme energy, making shields weaker and FSD charge up longer, every time used
Note: I know that there are some similar mines and weapons in the game, but I think there should be ones developed specially for traders and explorers - so low weight, can't cause real damage, only giving time to escape
Crime: Crime, as in active crime, not the punishment system (that is also important, I'm curious how the next upgrade will change it). I think there should be more opportunity to be a criminal, and it must have much more rewards, so more people try it. Also it offers great possibilities to counteracting roles, but they underused today (bounty hunting maybe the only one)
Heists - this one needs a mechanic: station permits. Some stations can use these permits, locking down the perimeter, and only letting in faction members. You can get a permit if you work your way up to allied, or you take a courier mission to these stations, where you get a limited permit (timer to enter, and exit, you'll be fired upon at once if you deploy, more aggressive scanning from npc-s). If you have a permit to a station, you may get a heist mission, to be the getaway driver for robbers. You put the boarding party in a special passenger cabin (Military ready room, or with some better name). You could also install a scan jammer, which delays or even disrupts ship scan, but after used more then once, you'll get suspicious, and will be scanned from more ships at once. If you dock successfully, the boarding party robs the place, meanwhile you have to counter sentry skimmers on the station surface. When the boarding party returns, you have to get out. Now, here the station could deploy minefields, FSD inhibitors, and all sorts of things, but you'd be able to use the defensive tactics I listed above. The stations could also hire commanders to defend the stations against known attacks. It'd create two new roles and loadout types: patrol ship / security expert - and getaway ship / robber.
Forgery and a better black market - we should be able to scoop up engineered modules from destroyed ships, and sell them on black markets. Also would be interesting an engineer, that can create you a false identity, even from an another player. You have to scan the other cmdr or npc with a special scanner, and the engineer would create a forged transponder for your ship. If you are identified as an another player, you won't get fines and bounties for crimes, but he'll get one (so basically you too, while impersonating him), and also you get the reputation, permits, everything the other player has. But bigger the difference between your ships, bigger the chance you'll be caught. Also, to make it much less easier, if you scan a novice sidewinder, and you'll equip a forged transponder on your battle FDL, the system automatically notices you and sends patrols against you. So you'd have to seek out actively a ship similar to yours, outfit it like the other one, and act like it, to not get suspicious. Also if you commit crimes, the other player will be notified. If they sell their ship on a lawful station, the forged transponder will be useless right away, but he can also decide to seek out and destroy the fraud. If destroyed, the forged transponder always drops, and one can scoop it, to lift any bounties they've got because of the thief.
Hacking: Stealing data should be possible, like star charts from explorers. BUT to not to make it too easy, the stolen data is only viable if the original source exists. So if you catch an explorer outside the bubble, and you intercept him, hack his systems (maybe a minigame?) and you successfully copy his charts, then you have to leave him alone, because if you kill him (or he kills himself) your instance of the data will be also erased. So after this, it'll be a race to the nearest station, and the first one to sell the data, gets the money (and upon selling, every other instance gets erased). Also hacking should only be possible if the opponents shields are offline.
Services: An ingame system for commanders, to put out missions, and give rewards on completion. So one may be stranded outside the bubble? Give a mission and offer a sizable reward for helping you. You get harassed by a griefer? Put a bounty on his head (and you should also get one, if the ganker is not wanted when killed). You need materials? Make a trade inquiry. We should be able to write out all sorts of stuff, and give rewards each other (may have to balance it out with taxes, if it upsets the simulation). It would make the player interactions more complex, role playing factions could hire players to defend their stations, or to rob their opponents. Also it would empower rich-but non aggressive traders, and explorers, to counter aggressive actions. They could hire players to defend their ships when returning from an exploration mission. This would also need an in-game player profile, where others can see you reputation, bounties, affiliations with factions (f.e. if you are a member of the fuel rats, or just a pirate)
So, what do you think?