OK been playing for a few days again. Elite is a fun game with good details, but...I must complain about the loot system, or lack there of. In every game I ever played, and there have been many, loot after a battle becomes property of the winner. Missiles, guns, and often cargo is left behind and gathered for a bonus for the pilot. Here...no...even loot dropped is illegal, and hauling it can get you killed or a loss of rep. There HAS to be legal cargo, like weapons dropped after a battle. If not then the game is purposely being screwed away from salvage, and that means it loses roughly 20% of the reason I and many others play space fighter games. There is also no way to hack/capture ships here, even npc pirate ships, thats another -20% so please keep this in mind, not everyone is a pvp player and bounties are nice but salvaging is a serious way of life too, make it so here also.
a few things I miss
- Thread starter krm398
- Start date
I wonder if salvage is coming soon(tm) as salvage commodities now make an appearance in some stations. There was also mention of a 'salvage licence' in a recent Galnet post IIRC.
It was always the intention to have salvage in the game, but that doesn't apply to just anything that you find floating around in space. If it belongs to someone, it isn't yours just because you found it.
You can steal cargo from ships by targeting the cargo hatch or dropping their shields and applying a hatch breaker limpet controller. As for stealing or boarding other ships that's been talked about as part of a possible expansion that involves pilots leaving their seats.
It was always the intention to have salvage in the game, but that doesn't apply to just anything that you find floating around in space. If it belongs to someone, it isn't yours just because you found it.
You can steal cargo from ships by targeting the cargo hatch or dropping their shields and applying a hatch breaker limpet controller. As for stealing or boarding other ships that's been talked about as part of a possible expansion that involves pilots leaving their seats.
Doesn't even need to be that complicated. Hacking a computer, in a ship with autopilot, is as good as being there yourself. Even if only npc ships can be hacked , then if its a pirate ship to begin with, gaining ownership of the ship can be made as part of the bounty process. No need for big costly changes to codes. Just new ideas and the easiest way to add them.As far as cargo goes...if the pilot is dead...who owns it then? Hes not coming back for it...stations cant send people for it to get it back...it COULD be added as missions...'go to these coordinates and pick up our cargo and return it here'...that would make sense. But any weapons or salvage from enemy ships is the pilots property after the pirate or enemy is dead...no one else is ever going to come for it.
And hacking ships for capture can be as hard as you like. The bigger ships especially hard. The shields MOST be down to even try, and they need to be of a certain size, electronically. So heavy ships with firewalls and such can not be hacked by small ships. The computer isn't capable of it. So hacking a ship would need new, more powerful computers, sold as add ons, and software too, other than that, stay with ships close to your size, fight them, lower their shields to zero and try, chance of success? maybe 10-20 % depending on ship class on both sides, but its a mini game of sorts, with a prize if you win, also could be used by pirates, with loss of rep of course...like they care anyways.
And hacking ships for capture can be as hard as you like. The bigger ships especially hard. The shields MOST be down to even try, and they need to be of a certain size, electronically. So heavy ships with firewalls and such can not be hacked by small ships. The computer isn't capable of it. So hacking a ship would need new, more powerful computers, sold as add ons, and software too, other than that, stay with ships close to your size, fight them, lower their shields to zero and try, chance of success? maybe 10-20 % depending on ship class on both sides, but its a mini game of sorts, with a prize if you win, also could be used by pirates, with loss of rep of course...like they care anyways.