Devs: List of requested improvements for Missions system

[Vitamin Arrr]

I am a long-time player dating back to the XBOX beta. Thanks for implementing several of the things I requested, like the ability to store and transfer modules, the exploration-focused engineer upgrades, and the ability to filter your hyperspace route to only stop at systems with certain properties, etc. Below are some suggestions for the missions system.

General facts about the current game, which are related to the root causes of the problems that I would like to see ameliorated:

(A) Flying to a station, landing, interacting with the missions board, and then taking off again is very time consuming. Missions always require taking off and landing at a station.

(B) The missions board displays a rather small, random assortment of missions of random quality.

(C) Factions don't seem to respect your reputation with other factions very much and put too much emphasis on your combat/exploration/trade ratings. Due to this, almost every time you go to a new star system, you must build up your rep with the local faction before qualifying to take the best kinds of missions.

(D) There is no way to see an overview of your standing with all the factions you have ever done work for, or a history/log of missions you completed and where it happened.

(E) The game does not show you exactly how much % of rep or rank a mission will give you.

(F) When you do a missions that requires you to turn-in at a different star system than where you got the mission, when you turn in the mission, you often don't have the option to pick up another mission for the same faction.

(G) Mission timers continue to run even when you're not playing the game, leading to deleterious and unfair in-game consequences for players with busy and unpredictable real lives. (You should never get punished in the game for taking your wife to the hospital.)

(H) Some types of missions allow multiple missions to be satisfied at the same time (e.g. Massacre missions where one kill counts towards all the missions, rather than just one of them as it should be). This is especially bad in scan missions in places like Quince, where all the stations you're supposed to scan are stacked in the exact same spot (I know this is already fixed in some respect in 2.3).

(I) There is no official guide anywhere that explains what all kinds of missions are available and where to find them.
​

These facts lead to the following problems:

(i) Players end up re-logging between game modes until they get the mission they want, due to (B). Players don't LIKE to re-log, though, and would avoid it if possible.

(ii) Players end up re-doing the same kinds of repetitive, high-paying, local-sytem, stackable missions, due to (A), (C), (F), and especially (H).
• Players especially tend to focus on missions in the same star system, because you need to come back to the same system to keep grinding up reputation there—caused by (C).
• This makes mission that span star systems much more odious due to (F), because if you are trying to grind up a particular faction, if you took a remote mission, now you have to land at three stations (giver, turn-in, and giver again) instead of two, since the turn-in station will not necessarily give out missions that help your rank with the faction you are trying to grind up in.
• If you fix (H) then there would not be a need to limit the number of missions people can take at the same time, but as far as I'm aware, 2.3 so far is set to limit the number that can be stacked anyway, which goes too far if you ask me.

(iii) Players similarly avoid missions that take a long time (stuff like "kill X number of Y ships in the Z system" or "deliver X units of Y to Z system"), due to (A) and (C)—but also due to (E) meaning that you don't know if any additional relationship/rank payoff will make a more odious mission worth the extra time and/or risk.

(iv) Players avoid taking multiple missions with short timers that take place in a variety of different star systems because of (G). I'm always afraid I'll hit the time limit due to something taking longer than expected, or something coming up in real life.

(v) Players end up not experiencing the full range of cool missions that might exist. I once read that a dev at Frontier was frustrated, because there are certain cool missions they developed and put in the game, but which 99% of players had never seen, because no one ever did enough missions in enough different places to find them. The revamp of the mission system in 2.1 was supposed to help fix this, but I don't see that it really has, based on what I see people doing.
​

Suggestions to ameliorate the above problems:

(1) Dramatically increase the number and variety of missions of each type available at each station, allow a large quantity to be taken on at a time (20 was a fine limit), and guarantee that a decent amount of the best kinds of missions will always be available to players.
• Look, we just want to play the game. Please let us. Don't put so many roadblocks in the way.
• If you implement suggestion (1) here, this will eliminate the need for relogging (i).
• Implementing this suggestion will not hurt any players or make the game too easy. You still have to actually do the missions.

(2) Allow the missions boards and contacts to also be accessed without landing at any stations.
• Presumably they actually have computers and networks in the future.
• It would be great to be able to access missions from any star system in a 15 LY radius of your current system. It could be explained in-game in terms of mission information being posted on beacons.
• Clearly, bounty information seems to have no problem spanning across systems; why not missions?
• Commanders can communicate with wingmates across multiple systems, why not communicate with mission givers at star bases, too?
• If limits need to be in place, perhaps say you have to be within 500 LS of a station to interact with its mission board and contacts.

(3) Allow non-delivery missions (like assassinations and scans) to be cashed in without landing at any stations.
• This suggestion is similar to (2), but turning in the mission could possibly be done from a longer range.

(4) Have mission timers stop running while players are offline.
• This would encourage people to take on more time consuming and difficult missions with higher payouts. There are a lot of devoted addicts of Elite Dangerous who play 20-40 hours per week or more, but most of us (however hardcore of gamers we consider ourselves) might have extremely busy and unpredictable lives. The timers running while you're offline, with steep penalties for failure, really hurts this game and is a huge turn-off when it bites you.

(5) Allow certain kinds of missions not to require high reputation with a faction itself.
• When it comes to many kinds of missions—e.g. assassinations, fetch X of Y commodity and bring it here, donations, etc.—it makes no sense for the faction to care about your reputation. If I kill the guy, or fetch you the commodity, why should you care who I am or whether we're friends? That's dumb.
• This change would open up a wider variety of missions with good rewards to players without having to do as much grinding, and that would make the game more fun and encourage people to take on a wider range of mission types.

(6) Let factions have more respect for a player's resumé, references, and current equipment.
• Having to re-prove myself in every star system just makes me not want to even do it.
• If I have a high rank and Allied status in the Empire, then Imperial factions should recognize that, and give me access to the better missions normally reserved for those with whom they have an Allied relationship. (If there is such an effect currently, then it doesn't seem very strong.)
• A faction in a remote, frontier, Anarchy system should have a much lower bar for who is considered "Allied" than someone in a high population, busy system. If I am risking my butt to even show up at your low-security podunk station, then you better not hold any good missions back from me or expect me to do the same amount of grinding for a bunch of missions that all send me 10x farther away, etc.
• Factions should give instant rep based on your over-all resumé. When applying for a job, it's common to accept people's references from past jobs. Why should these mission-givers require me to grind a bunch of low-tier stuff when I already did it for other factions? Why can't they call my references?
• Let factions see jobs you've successfully done for other factions everywhere else, and also consider how good your current ship is. They already care if you have enough cargo space, but they should also care if your ship is well equipped etc.

(7) Add a mission journal to the game.
• It would be really nice to have a log of all my activities on missions, so I could remember where I found those good mining missions etc.
• This would also help players remember where they already have high rep.

(8) Add a way to filter the galaxy map according to systems where your faction rep is highest, and filter galaxy map by specific factions.
• This would also help players find where they have been grinding if they forget, take a long break, etc.
• Let you see which systems a faction is in. This would be cool if you're trying to help them expand.
(9) Increase the variety and quantity of missions offered that can be completed in the same star system or planet.
• Almost all missions except a couple types always take place in a different star system. Why do these people not have work available in the same system?
• There should be plenty of jobs to do around any of the little bases. I should not always have to fly to some other base really far away—those are cool missions but I mean, add some stuff closer as well.
• When you find a crashed ship or escape pods on a planet, this should trigger a cool mission, like to deliver the black box back somewhere, or deliver the victims back to their families. In real life there are high rewards for rescuing long lost people.

(10) Have an online website/wiki that explains all the different types of missions available, and how to find them.
• Most games these days have a printed game guide that explains all the missions in the game—how long they will take, which ones can be unlocked (and how), etc. While I realize that Frontier wants to have hidden easter eggs, at the same time, there are hundreds of populated star systems and the vast majority have the same randomly generated mission content. I would love to know about some special ones that I could find and do.
• If you want players to play the content, then create a guide to the content. Otherwise it's content that's lost in a sea, and some players will find it on their own, then post about it online, and eventually maybe some other players will find those posts and then do the content themselves, etc. I think it would be much better to just have a guide up front for all but the "mystery" stuff, and as the mysteries get divulged by players who find it, then add it to the guide also.​

 

[Strangepork]

This is great thanks. I'm a great beliver in missions being very important to the game.

Imagine an on-board mission board, that was filled up with mission types in space, when in proximity to certain assets and ships, and as you pass near or through systems at the star.

 

[Arry]

Stop or at least, slow down the major faction reputation decay. For those that play every day, this does not matter and have no reason to agree. However: I would guess for a large number of the player base, that are older, with real world lives and responsibilities; who only get to play now and then, it makes a difference. It matters, because reputation is worked for and the player has done nothing to reduce it. If it makes no difference to what the game offers the Allied player, then A: Why be Allied, what is its purpose? B: What is the point or reason to reduce it, for not being logged on? What is the point?

Agreed: A system needs to be in place to up the Hostile reputation, for those who cannot make it change themselves. Even though we can increase the reputation ourselves and do not require an artificial system to do so.

Agreed: If we do something that will reduce our reputation, then fair enough, hit us appropriately, but don't penalise us for having to sleep.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I guess we all have different priorities. I love landing at Stations, Outposts & Settlements to get my missions.

However, I do want Faction Rank to be a bigger factor in what missions are offered. More importantly, though, if a mission hurts another faction, then I want a rep hit with that faction equal to the rep gain you get from the mission giver.

What is most important to me, though, is the so-called "flavour text" for these missions. A lot more variety in the flavour text, both between & within specific mission templates, would make a huge difference to me-this is especially true if, for example, I'm salvaging a black box as opposed to Trade Data or personal effects. The flavour text should directly reflect the item I am collecting and/or hauling. I wanf that more than I even want more mission templates!

 

[Lestat]

Well for once a lot of good ideas. The fly by a station to turn it in with out docking seems fine.

The only one I disagree on is the Timers. This is not like the other MMO like Lord of the rings or wow that you can stop for months or even years and then start playing the game again and you still have the missions left to complete. We have to remember Frontier made a game that changes over time so the short 24 Hour timers give the player ample time to finish the mission. Longer the mission the Longer the time limit.

What I tell people who trying to fill their ship with missions. Find a system with 2 or more stations so you can collect all the mission they want. Just flying back and forth then set forth and do the missions and come back.

Dose this mean your still playing?

 

[MDHansen]

Good thoughts there. Thumbs up.

Going in on your suggestions:

Spoiler

(1) Dramatically increase the number and variety of missions of each type available at each station, allow a large quantity to be taken on at a time (20 was a fine limit), and guarantee that a decent amount of the best kinds of missions will always be available to players.
• Look, we just want to play the game. Please let us. Don't put so many roadblocks in the way.
• If you implement suggestion (1) here, this will eliminate the need for relogging (i).
• Implementing this suggestion will not hurt any players or make the game too easy. You still have to actually do the missions.

1: Yes. My suggestion here is once opening the mission baord, nothing loads. You first choose your line of work (e.g - bounty hunting), then hit load, and you only get those. 20 missions appear, ofc divided inbetween the local factions, according to their system influence.

Spoiler

(2) Allow the missions boards and contacts to also be accessed without landing at any stations.
• Presumably they actually have computers and networks in the future.
• It would be great to be able to access missions from any star system in a 15 LY radius of your current system. It could be explained in-game in terms of mission information being posted on beacons.
• Clearly, bounty information seems to have no problem spanning across systems; why not missions?
• Commanders can communicate with wingmates across multiple systems, why not communicate with mission givers at star bases, too?
• If limits need to be in place, perhaps say you have to be within 500 LS of a station to interact with its mission board and contacts.

2: No. Just a simple no on this one

Spoiler

(3) Allow non-delivery missions (like assassinations and scans) to be cashed in without landing at any stations.
• This suggestion is similar to (2), but turning in the mission could possibly be done from a longer range.

3: Yes. As long as if the mission has cargo rewards you need to land.

Spoiler

(4) Have mission timers stop running while players are offline.
• This would encourage people to take on more time consuming and difficult missions with higher payouts. There are a lot of devoted addicts of Elite Dangerous who play 20-40 hours per week or more, but most of us (however hardcore of gamers we consider ourselves) might have extremely busy and unpredictable lives. The timers running while you're offline, with steep penalties for failure, really hurts this game and is a huge turn-off when it bites you.

4: A definite NO. It's a live game. If you don't know if you can finish the mission, don't take it. (as in, I got 1 hr 'til wifey gets home, I need to have dinner ready, should I really take on this 160Ly delivery mission?)

Spoiler

(5) Allow certain kinds of missions not to require high reputation with a faction itself.
• When it comes to many kinds of missions—e.g. assassinations, fetch X of Y commodity and bring it here, donations, etc.—it makes no sense for the faction to care about your reputation. If I kill the guy, or fetch you the commodity, why should you care who I am or whether we're friends? That's dumb.
• This change would open up a wider variety of missions with good rewards to players without having to do as much grinding, and that would make the game more fun and encourage people to take on a wider range of mission types.

5: Yes. A few special missions could be spawning from time to time, story could be "I see you got a high rank and we could use a man/woman like you to sort something for us". A bit of hush hush maybe, but not necessarily illegal.

Spoiler

(6) Let factions have more respect for a player's resumé, references, and current equipment.
• Having to re-prove myself in every star system just makes me not want to even do it.
• If I have a high rank and Allied status in the Empire, then Imperial factions should recognize that, and give me access to the better missions normally reserved for those with whom they have an Allied relationship. (If there is such an effect currently, then it doesn't seem very strong.)
• A faction in a remote, frontier, Anarchy system should have a much lower bar for who is considered "Allied" than someone in a high population, busy system. If I am risking my butt to even show up at your low-security podunk station, then you better not hold any good missions back from me or expect me to do the same amount of grinding for a bunch of missions that all send me 10x farther away, etc.
• Factions should give instant rep based on your over-all resumé. When applying for a job, it's common to accept people's references from past jobs. Why should these mission-givers require me to grind a bunch of low-tier stuff when I already did it for other factions? Why can't they call my references?
• Let factions see jobs you've successfully done for other factions everywhere else, and also consider how good your current ship is. They already care if you have enough cargo space, but they should also care if your ship is well equipped etc.

6: Yes, yes, yes. This should mean much more than it does now. Being Triple Elite should not have faction spawn novice missions, of any kind. Also maybe here from time to time spawn a special mission as mentioned above. And relations with the faction the same, more lucrative jobs appear, with chances of special missions.

Spoiler

(7) Add a mission journal to the game.
• It would be really nice to have a log of all my activities on missions, so I could remember where I found those good mining missions etc.
• This would also help players remember where they already have high rep.

7: Yes. Also be able to sort active by time remaining (at the very least)

Spoiler

(8) Add a way to filter the galaxy map according to systems where your faction rep is highest, and filter galaxy map by specific factions.
• This would also help players find where they have been grinding if they forget, take a long break, etc.
• Let you see which systems a faction is in. This would be cool if you're trying to help them expand.

8: Yes.

Spoiler

(9) Increase the variety and quantity of missions offered that can be completed in the same star system or planet.
• Almost all missions except a couple types always take place in a different star system. Why do these people not have work available in the same system?
• There should be plenty of jobs to do around any of the little bases. I should not always have to fly to some other base really far away—those are cool missions but I mean, add some stuff closer as well.
• When you find a crashed ship or escape pods on a planet, this should trigger a cool mission, like to deliver the black box back somewhere, or deliver the victims back to their families. In real life there are high rewards for rescuing long lost people.

9: Yes.

Spoiler

(10) Have an online website/wiki that explains all the different types of missions available, and how to find them.
• Most games these days have a printed game guide that explains all the missions in the game—how long they will take, which ones can be unlocked (and how), etc. While I realize that Frontier wants to have hidden easter eggs, at the same time, there are hundreds of populated star systems and the vast majority have the same randomly generated mission content. I would love to know about some special ones that I could find and do.
• If you want players to play the content, then create a guide to the content. Otherwise it's content that's lost in a sea, and some players will find it on their own, then post about it online, and eventually maybe some other players will find those posts and then do the content themselves, etc. I think it would be much better to just have a guide up front for all but the "mystery" stuff, and as the mysteries get divulged by players who find it, then add it to the guide also.

10: YES. Implement all that's on Inari and other usefull sites. Basically EDEngineer and EDDiscovery and so on ingame. Yes.

 

[CMDR Spadino]

Thumb up!

 

[znôrt]

wall of text

sorry, no.

while i agree that faction reputation should have more impact (i.e. you get hostile to your friends hostiles, etc), and visibility (you have an overview of what your standings are) and that missions could be more varied and deep, it appears that most of your concern is in following the path of least resistance to get your credits/rewards asap.

and that's fine but a no go for me and just a wrong direction for the game. landing, wading through the galactic pub and making a deal, then dusting off to the skies is integral part of the game. consequently, i personally would disable mission stacking altogether. more mission types? yay!!! rank progression displays? not really needed.

and the only problem of bulletin board switching is that a sluggish architectural decision in the game allows it, and appears to be too costly to work around. the fact that people actually use and abuse it, however, accounts for their own mindset. you want to 'just play the game' meaning get your credits/rep with minimal effort? do the trade runs or equivalent grind that are already there. again, fine for me, but don't solve what isn't broken by making the mission board work like a piñata.

 

[Vitamin Arrr]

I guess we all have different priorities. I love landing at Stations, Outposts & Settlements to get my missions.

You could still get missions by landing if you want, under my suggestion. I'm just proposing they add additional ways to get missions and turn them in, to speed up the game by making some of the time consuming steps unneccessary.

I mean, it is dumb that I have to land to access the missions. Especially since I never leave my ship. I suspect someone will say "you do leave your ship but they don't show it yet. Eventually they will show it."

But I really don't want what Star Citizen is doing, where after you land, you must run all over tarnation in first person on-foot mode to do anything. Please don't make Elite into a rat race like that. Or if you do, maybe just do it once per NPC faction to establish the relationship, but after that, everything can be done from remote.

...

And I agree with what someone else said, the Major Faction relationship should not decay. If I am out exploring in the name of the Emperor why should I lose my standing?

 

[Vitamin Arrr]

i agree that faction reputation should have more impact (i.e. you get hostile to your friends hostiles, etc), and visibility (you have an overview of what your standings are) and that missions could be more varied and deep

I'm glad you think I am correct about my main points.

it appears that most of your concern is in following the path of least resistance to get your credits/rewards asap.

That is not at all what I said. I did not argue in favor of missions that get completed quickly, nor did I argue in favor or missions being easy.

The only thing behind my post is plain game theory and logic. Players tend to favor activities with higher benefits and lower costs. For some players more than others, time is a major cost. Remote-system missions require significantly more time, yet often do not carry commensurately greater benefits compared with local missions, especially when the player is trying to "grind up" their rep with a single faction in a single system which they must now return to in order to get more missions.

That's why it's bad to require players to land before they can turn or accept new missions. It raises the cost of remote missions disproportionately as compared to local missions, because with local missions, the next (set of) mission(s) can be acquired without taking off and landing again—whereas with remote missions you must often land somewhere else to complete it, then fly all the way back to the original system and land again before you can accept another one.

Pointing out this fact in no way reflects what I personally want. It also does not mean I advocate for "rewards ASAP". But I do think this game would benefit by eliminating repetitive and time consuming steps that seem unnecessary and anachronistic from a story perspective.

and that's fine but a no go for me and just a wrong direction for the game. landing, wading through the galactic pub and making a deal, then dusting off to the skies is integral part of the game.

Wading through the pub? Excuse me but, what game are you actually playing?

I like pubs as much as the next... how would the Brits put it... "bloke". But there are no pubs in this game, and I hope there never are, because seriously, who goes to pubs to find jobs, other than bouncers and bartenders? Or is that a thing in the UK?

Also, why should I have to land in a station just to see a photo of my contact (if, y'know, it eventually loads) and accept a mission via a holographic interface projected inside my ship? If I'm just going to visit a glorified website anyway, why can't I do it from somewhere within comms range, at least?

consequently, i personally would disable mission stacking altogether. more mission types? yay!!! rank progression displays? not really needed.

Look, under my suggestion, you could still land at stations and imagine wading through imaginary pubs full of generic NPCs (that you can't rob, kill, or screw) as much as you want.

Also, you are free to take only one mission at a time, if that's how you prefer to play the game for role-play or immersion purposes.

But many of the rest of us don't share in your fantasies nor do we want to.

and the only problem of bulletin board switching is that a sluggish architectural decision in the game allows it, and appears to be too costly to work around.

Sir, you are just speculating as to the underlying cause of why missions can be refreshed by switching game modes. That's not a "problem of bulletin board switching"—it's the cause of it, if your guess is right. The problem of it is that it's the only way to get a decent amount of missions.

the fact that people actually use and abuse it, however, accounts for their own mindset.

Actually, I think you meant, "is accounted for by their own mindsets." Even if corrected, however, your statement is merely a tautological truism, because of course, people's minds determine how they play the game.

The real issue is how the game's design and balance affects people's decision-making and enjoyment. As game theory, evolutionary theory, and economic theory all tell us, most organisms tend to prefer higher benefit and lower cost. You may be the exception to this, but under my suggestion, no one would stop you from playing the game in whatever manner you prefer, even if it is most inefficient.

you want to 'just play the game' meaning get your credits/rep with minimal effort?

No. By "just play the game" I mean performing the core gameplay activities like combat, smuggling, piracy, and exploration. Any change to the game that increases how much time I do those things and decreases how much time I land in stations over and over and over and over and over just so I can access the missions website in my ship, the better.

do the trade runs or equivalent grind that are already there.

Why are you bringing up trade runs? Those aren't missions. This thread is about mission content, and how to make it better, so players will play a wider variety of mission types and do it more often.

Also, some people don't really enjoy that trade grind, or have just gotten tired of it, or sold off their trading ship and want to focus on getting to Elite in Combat now. I'm just proposing ways to make missions better for those people.

My suggestions would take nothing away from you and how you play the game. Want to take one mission at a time? Knock yourself out.

again, fine for me, but don't solve what isn't broken by making the mission board work like a piñata.

Huh? A piñata? That's how it already works. I'm suggesting to make it NOT be like that. It should NOT require players to hit it over and over until the good stuff finally comes out.

Rather, the missions board should be more like a candy store where you pick what you want and go do it. No need to hit it over and over, just go one time and pick from a plentiful, wide selection. What's not to like about that?

I get the impression some players want the game to hand out lumps of coal more often than it gives candy. They like the idea of a cold, unhelpful, gritty galaxy where you claw and struggle for scraps handed out by NPC overlords. Where you take 5 or 10 minutes to land and wait forever for the laggy missions screen to slowly flicker on, only to see that no NPC here will give you and your fully engineered Cutter the time of day beyond maybe a 12k-credits algae sourcing mission.

Well FDev can decide not to listen, and instead they can take your side if they want to, and force every player to play according to that miserly style you enjoy.

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

Suggestions to ameliorate the above problems:

(1) Dramatically increase the number and variety of missions of each type available at each station, allow a large quantity to be taken on at a time (20 was a fine limit), and guarantee that a decent amount of the best kinds of missions will always be available to players.

Sounds good.

(2) Allow the missions boards and contacts to also be accessed without landing at any stations.

Yup - makes sense.

(3) Allow non-delivery missions (like assassinations and scans) to be cashed in without landing at any stations.

Yup, also makes sense.

(4) Have mission timers stop running while players are offline.

Nope. Agree with your original premise Real Life gets in the way but... the in-game calendar runs forward in 'realistic' terms and so must missions otherwise it could cause all kinds of havoc with the BGS. I do completely understand, having a limited game window myself but... you just need to plan around that, and implementing the points above ought to help with that problem.

(5) Allow certain kinds of missions not to require high reputation with a faction itself.

Yes..and no. Some types of mission such as assassination could be considered as 'sensitive' and the faction would probably like it handled discreetly by someone they trust.

(6) Let factions have more respect for a player's resumé, references, and current equipment.

Agreed. As you note, some factions ought to have inherent cross reputation. In Freelancer of old, like minded factions wore woven together, so if you became very friendly with one, it automatically moved you up reputation with their 'sister' factions, but also cause you to drop down with others. Even just implementing this for the Major Powers would make a lot of sense.

(7) Add a mission journal to the game.

Yes - sounds good.

(8) Add a way to filter the galaxy map according to systems where your faction rep is highest, and filter galaxy map by specific factions.

Yup.

(9) Increase the variety and quantity of missions offered that can be completed in the same star system or planet.

Yup.

(10) Have an online website/wiki that explains all the different types of missions available, and how to find them.

Yup.


Gosh - wall of text - yes but glad I persevered - have a +1.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

You could still get missions by landing if you want, under my suggestion. I'm just proposing they add additional ways to get missions and turn them in, to speed up the game by making some of the time consuming steps unneccessary.

I mean, it is dumb that I have to land to access the missions. Especially since I never leave my ship. I suspect someone will say "you do leave your ship but they don't show it yet. Eventually they will show it."

But I really don't want what Star Citizen is doing, where after you land, you must run all over tarnation in first person on-foot mode to do anything. Please don't make Elite into a rat race like that. Or if you do, maybe just do it once per NPC faction to establish the relationship, but after that, everything can be done from remote.

...

And I agree with what someone else said, the Major Faction relationship should not decay. If I am out exploring in the name of the Emperor why should I lose my standing?

Why your hurry? Are you more concerned about making credits than about enjoying the game? If so, then that is very sad.

 

[fus roh potato]

Nope. Agree with your original premise Real Life gets in the way but... the in-game calendar runs forward in 'realistic' terms and so must missions otherwise it could cause all kinds of havoc with the BGS. I do completely understand, having a limited game window myself but... you just need to plan around that, and implementing the points above ought to help with that problem.

You're saying that a player who's limited to 1 hour of play each day should be displaced or denied access to the majority of single-player mission content. Alright, but I don't think it takes a lot of brain cells to say that without justifying it. I don't recall 'realistic terms' ever being inherently better than game terms. It's not supposed to be a job, it's supposed to be a game, simulator, and source of entertainment.

In fact, stopping the clock on disconnect would allow frontier to make mission times an actual part of the challenge. They could make the time limit based on how long it takes to actually complete and adjust payouts to match the added challenge. This is not possible with real-time limits being around 20 hours for something that can be done in an hour. It's also not reasonable to cause mission failures due to work calling in or a family emergency. Normally, you can pause games or save them to pick up on later. ED being an ongoing universe doesn't justify that.

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

You're saying that a player who's limited to 1 hour of play each day should be displaced or denied access to the majority of single-player mission content.

Nope i am just saying you need to plan ahead.

Alright, but I don't think it takes a lot of brain cells to say that without justifying it.

Nope not saying that either - i did justify it - just read the post.

I don't recall 'realistic terms' ever being inherently better than game terms. It's not supposed to be a job, it's supposed to be a game, simulator, and source of entertainment.

and yet the game calendar and the BGS carry on to a time frame that must be adhered to - Galnet etc, all work to a calendar - in game events happen to a calendar. To broadly assume your actions do not matter may not be accurate.

In fact, stopping the clock on disconnect would allow frontier to make mission times an actual part of the challenge. They could make the time limit based on how long it takes to actually complete and adjust payouts to match the added challenge. This is not possible with real-time limits being around 20 hours for something that can be done in an hour.

Eh? Mission times are part of the challenge - you just don't agree with the time limit. If you take a passenger mission and it takes 4 weeks to do - you better plan for 4 weeks of gameplay or NOT take the mission. That's the challenge!

It's also not reasonable to cause mission failures due to work calling in or a family emergency.

Seriously? FDev aren't responsible for everything that happens in RL they can only work to the game mechanic.

ED being an ongoing universe doesn't justify that.

yes it does. If you want a pick-up and put down game go play Mass Effect then.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

(11) Add long range missions for rare goods.
Rare goods should really be the only commodities that have long range missions. Certainly not poo, nothing rare about that.


edit - I like the idea of seeing the missions on offer before you land at a station. You may still need to dock to accept the missions . Except fetch missions, why not accept these from the Nav Beacon?

 

[znôrt]

especially when the player is trying to "grind up" their rep with a single faction in a single system which they must now return to in order to get more missions.

Why are you bringing up trade runs? Those aren't missions. This thread is about mission content, and how to make it better

imo you're talking about making missions more grind friendly, more than about the mission system itself. i don't think they need to be, that's all. but that's just, like, my opinion, man!

missions are one way to engage people to do diverse stuff in the game. of course they can be used to grind but that's not their purpose. if you get a long range mission you get to know a new area of space, where you might find more missions or other factions to deal with. nobody forces you to go there, though.

my point is there are other forms to 'grind' without compromising the mission system. do trade runs. bored? go hazres. bored again? go exploring. bored again? you start to realize that's the thing with grinding: it gets boring. it's inherent to the activity, so do it or don't but leave the missions alone

there are no pubs in this game, and I hope there never are, because seriously, who goes to pubs to find jobs, other than bouncers and bartenders?

i assume all missions to be shady, dangerous or a potential ripoff. why else would any company or institution hire me? i'm a single freebooter, they have corporate services, logistics and military forces enough. i get to do the stuff no one else bothers to do. if i'm not cannon fodder.

Also, why should I have to land in a station just to see a photo of my contact (if, y'know, it eventually loads) and accept a mission via a holographic interface projected inside my ship? If I'm just going to visit a glorified website anyway, why can't I do it from somewhere within comms range, at least?

for the same reason you can't use your cell phone while driving, man!

 

[fus roh potato]

and yet the game calendar and the BGS carry on to a time frame that must be adhered to - Galnet etc, all work to a calendar - in game events happen to a calendar. To broadly assume your actions do not matter may not be accurate.

This is a false claim. There's no relation to Galnet nor the internal calendar with respect to when a mission is turned in. In game events also have no relationship with mission completion. It's a completely separate system. The BGS will meet the same outcome regardless. It's neither a relative nor valid point of argument. All missions have the same effect in favor of their factions. Completing something late by a week is no different than waiting a week to do a mission in 30 minutes.

Eh? Mission times are part of the challenge - you just don't agree with the time limit.

This is a misrepresentation of my claim. This usually happens when someone's wrong and is desperately trying to cheat their way through an argument by unfairly distorting the original claim in order to dismiss it. People call that a straw man.

If you take a passenger mission and it takes 4 weeks to do - you better plan for 4 weeks of gameplay or NOT take the mission. That's the challenge!

This is an intrusion of personal life. Like I said, ED is not supposed to be a job, it's supposed to be a game. A trip to the center of the galaxy and back may take 20 hours of game time. It does not need to be related to actual time because time outside of the game is not spent playing the game. There's no challenge in picking a time that a player can do it unless it involves sacrificing other more important life matters - the crux of the problem.

Seriously? FDev aren't responsible for everything that happens in RL they can only work to the game mechanic.

No, they can stop the timer when a player logs out. srsly

yes it does. If you want a pick-up and put down game go play Mass Effect then.

I don't know where you got the idea that acting like a y princess was going to be an effective approach but it's not. If your position lacks thought and consideration then it would be better if you did not say anything.

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

You really need to go and watch the livestream with Dav Stott by FDev which explains why all of your ideas are meaningless and unworkable. The BGS is a LIVE element and all player actions have potential knock on effects - including missions so no they cannot pause a mission because its convenient because it can cause issues with the BGS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGqndJFKOfA

What you want is a game that Elite is not.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

You really need to go and watch the livestream with Dav Stott by FDev which explains why all of your ideas are meaningless and unworkable. The BGS is a LIVE element and all player actions have potential knock on effects - including missions so no they cannot pause a mission because its convenient because it can cause issues with the BGS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGqndJFKOfA

What you want is a game that Elite is not.

I think you have misunderstood. Missions do indeed have knock on effects, but the effect of a mission is solely on the day it is completed. Sometimes this means that your mission is going to be completely ignored by the BGS because the faction state has changed, sometimes you'll have extra effect. Missions often already span days, so extending one makes no difference to the BGS.

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

I think you have misunderstood. Missions do indeed have knock on effects, but the effect of a mission is solely on the day it is completed. Sometimes this means that your mission is going to be completely ignored by the BGS because the faction state has changed, sometimes you'll have extra effect. Missions often already span days, so extending one makes no difference to the BGS.

I do not believe i have erred - but without a developer stepping in i suppose its a moot argument. Many items in the BGS could have changed over time in the duration between you picking up a mission and ending it. if everyone could pick-up missions for factions in systems all over the galaxy and 'hold them' for months while they play their next favorite game, or indeed deal with RL emergencies (and i am not intending to sound insensitive to any players real world plights - i do sympathize), and then start dropping off missions for factions that have changed during the interim period it may have unintended or uncontrolled knock on effects to the BGS when buckets that shouldn't be filling up with data start filling up with data from mission that should have been reset ages ago. Such is my point. in any case - i think Fdev have bigger issues right now and i am convinced they aren't stupid. if they could make this happen initially, i think it would have been deployed and it is hasn't. But put it in suggestions as a separate thread and i may well have to eat my words...