I love Elite, but it does need some more gripping missions. I think this is why people end up complaining of grinding for better ships/upgrades - because there's little to do in between getting that upgrade to enjoy or new ship to fly. The missions are too samey, although hopefully chained missions will help somewhat with this. However, here are some ideas I think would fit with Elite and would help make the day-to-day something more engaging and "less grindy."
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1. Scrap the current military ranking system.
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First, I'd let those who got the rank to keep the ships they unlocked. It would be unfair to snatch them away from people. But beyond that, reset everyone to civilians and make them join the military if they want rank. You can only join one military at a time - no-one works for the US military and the Russian military simultaneously. Even powerplay doesn't allow this. So stop ranking up in both Empire and Fed. Next, if you want to work for the military, you have to WORK for the military.
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So you sign up and get assigned a tour of duty. You're new, so best you are getting is to patrol some outlying system. You can either fly your own ship or get assigned one by the military. Obvious advantages and disadvantages either way (your own ship might be superior to what you are assigned, so that's better. But if you get a military-owned ship blown up, they pay the insurance). You do simple patrol runs, scanning ships and dealing with criminals. Combat should be improved to allow for a clearer ability to simply disable a target - that way its not "murder every criminal," plus you get the added play of having to defend the "police van," as it flies in, docks and arrests the criminal. Perhaps nothing happens. Perhaps his mafia buddies show up and try and rescue him. Things to do!
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Your tour of duty can expand as you get chained missions to scout nearby systems and scan for pirate bases and all culminate in taking down the local pirate lord and brining a bit of peace to an outlying system. Its simple enough that its the sort of story that can happen multiple times (so doesn't feel like every player is playing the same hero character) and can have different missions chained up in different lengths and orders to make it not repetitive. Once your tour is done, you get a promotion and some perks and its either off back to civvie life or sign up for another tour (or off to civvie life and come back later to sign up again). Later tours can be bigger missions against other powers, rather than criminals and perhaps even be assigned as part of a fleet attached to a capital ship. People could spend moths just being in the navy and never doing anything else.
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2. Dynamic missions encountered in space.
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Instead of just picking missions up off the board, have them discovered in USS sites. Respond to a distress call and you might end up escorting a Princess back to her homeworld. Or perhaps you just rescued a dictator under stack by rebels and only discover this as you approach the homeworld. Maybe you decide to switch sides and blow him away. Or take the bigger paycheck and waste those rebel scum. Or turn on both and steal all their cargo.
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Essentially, let us encounter missions in the void and have a simple narrative unfold from a set of branching options. Yes, eventually you will encounter enough randomly-generated missions that you will see the same basic missions repeating. But then these are the sort s of things that will happen to a lot of people, so why not? Try making a different choice on a later mission. There will also be room for Frontier to add in new missions over time, too.
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3. Sort out crime and punishment
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Yes, I know this is a big issue regarding griefing, but that's not the reason I'm suggesting it here. If you commit murder, then you should be hunted. If you are a serial killer, you are going to have your name on wanted lists across the galaxy. If you join the Imperial Navy, you will not be welcome in Federation space unless on a diplomatic mission and vice versa. If you are a bounty hunter who preys on a specific pirate faction, don't expect to be welcome at any of their bases. Make there be a good reason why the scum of the galaxy congregates in anarchy systems and honest traders stick to well-policed trade routes. Make me feel like the world around me is responding believably to my actions. If I want to role-play Han Solo, then I expect to be interdicted by the odd Imperial cruiser and have crime lords putting a price on my head when I fail to deliver their cargo. Make me persona-non-grata in systems where I've off the locals. Make allies come running to my aid when I've made an ally of a faction. Make me feel like my actions have consequences on other people.
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4. Dynamically generate my character profile.
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Taking into account the above systems, let my character become known by certain traits. Let's say I turn on my employer during an assassination mission because the other side offers me more money. I'll start to build up a reputation as treacherous. Or if I never break a contract and always support the same side, I'll start to be known as loyal. If I open fire first a lot, I'll become known as hot-headed or trigger happy. If I try and talk my way out of situations, I'll be known as diplomatic.
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Going back to role-playing Han Solo - I shouldn't simply get to write some text saying I'm a smuggler who's only out for number one, but occasionally might stop to rescue a Princess in distress. If I want to be that character, I have to BE that character. Create a reputation that other players can see. Become famous or infamous in the galaxy. Or just be a quiet privateer who is satisfied to know that those few who know him, think he's trustworthy.
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Then have this all feed back into the prior new mission system. Your reputation will affect what options become available. If you are known as moral, then the downtrodden rebels are more likely to ask you to join their fight. If you are known for only playing with the highest bidder, then only those who can afford you will bother offering you money. If you are treacherous, then anyone who deals with you will be constantly looking over their shoulder. Heck, perhaps they might even try to fail to pay you and murder you at the end of a mission. Treachery breeds treachery.
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Essentially, gives us more to do in missions and make our choices count. Blaze our own trail, one might even say.
