cool things to do with notoriety

[Bionic Bytes]

I was revisiting my Python and all those outposts where the bigger ships can't get to and it made me think about the kinds of missions being offered at these locations - for example this outpost was offering a permit acquisition mission. I had no idea this system had such a thing.

I was thinking a cool idea would be to develop the notoriety side of the game; for some players/styles they like to take on illegal missions and may involve NPC murder. So why not develop a small part of the game for this kind of career choice, where there are certain outposts where you can only access by way of having notoriety. So for example, when you gain notoriety you could get offered other dangerous related activities, eg smuggling that could be used to gain reputation with a certain faction that would eventually unlock a permit. These permits could then allow docking at restricted outposts where the only kinds of missions offered are 'illegal', eg smuggling, kill orders, etc. The major difference between these missions and similar ones at regular stations could be that you can align yourself to those other factions (other permits in different systems) and a much higher reward to compensate for the increase in notoriety.
I think that this idea could create an interesting adrenaline rush because the more missions you take, the higher your notoriety and the harder the missions are to complete as a result. Mission rewards could be enhanced with notoriety based bonuses.

I'm thinking a sort of vile scum and villainy location like on Mos Eisley for the Han Solo types.

 

[Teh Smoo]

I was revisiting my Python and all those outposts where the bigger ships can't get to and it made me think about the kinds of missions being offered at these locations - for example this outpost was offering a permit acquisition mission. I had no idea this system had such a thing.

I was thinking a cool idea would be to develop the notoriety side of the game; for some players/styles they like to take on illegal missions and may involve NPC murder. So why not develop a small part of the game for this kind of career choice, where there are certain outposts where you can only access by way of having notoriety. So for example, when you gain notoriety you could get offered other dangerous related activities, eg smuggling that could be used to gain reputation with a certain faction that would eventually unlock a permit. These permits could then allow docking at restricted outposts where the only kinds of missions offered are 'illegal', eg smuggling, kill orders, etc. The major difference between these missions and similar ones at regular stations could be that you can align yourself to those other factions (other permits in different systems) and a much higher reward to compensate for the increase in notoriety.
I think that this idea could create an interesting adrenaline rush because the more missions you take, the higher your notoriety and the harder the missions are to complete as a result. Mission rewards could be enhanced with notoriety based bonuses.

I'm thinking a sort of vile scum and villainy location like on Mos Eisley for the Han Solo types.

Modeling ways to reward and enable bad behavior might be hard.

Putting systems in game to reward and enable bad behavior might not be the best idea, long-term?


Pirate stations or pirate settlements is an interesting notion, though. You could simply require notoriety to dock. But I have questions. Is this to enable random PKing? Or to enable people to go nuts on NPCs for the rush of outrunning the cops when they show up? The latter is fine, but the former does not sound like it has positive effects on Open.

How do these stations stay in business? Are they aligned with governments? A new "Bandits" faction? Do they charge for docking rights? (Cheap for small pads, more for large pads?)

This would definitely be a good way to get rid of pirated cargo at a premium, though. The big "BUT" here is simple- if people can unload cargo at a REALLY good price, what would stop them from teaming up with 0-notoriety friends, having them get a bunch of cargo, jettison/scoop it all, and go sell it at a premium? How much is notoriety worth? Then buy some legit cargo with the money they make, and jettison+abandon it, and their friend goes and sells it, making profit both ways. (Replace "friend" with "other account" if needed.)

And lore-wise, why would government factions not just send in a battlecruiser to clean the place out? Or, just drop a few hundred tons of junk, while going near the speed of light, in the direction of something you don't like. Slow down and watch the fireworks as jetcans become kinetic weapons with the energy of thousands of nukes.