Does anyone here actually take missions from settlement terminals or NPCs?

[St0rmFury]

Just a simple thread discussing if FDev added another widely unused feature and how they can make it more attractive to players.

I've checked out the mission board at settlements before and talked to a couple of missions givers too, but honestly it's no different from missions found in space or planetary ports.

Reason why I don't take those missions is because I'm usually there to complete missions not take them, less npc mission givers (who might not even be around when you return), constantly being scanned while walking around, and it takes longer to land & exit a planet compared to space ports.

What about you?

 

[Factabulous]

Yeah, I don't see the point really

• If they're much better than regular missions then people will rage about having to go find them
• If they're not better than regular missions then people will ignore them

They're like those missions you get offered when flying around - most people ignore them, and those that take them find they're often bugged (because no-one takes them and they get broken without being noticed).

tl; dr : They're for the 'immersionistas'. They like that kind of stuff

Edit: Ideally all the NPC mission-givers (including the ones in concourses) would have better interaction, something like the ability to ask for specific rewards, so they would be useful but not OP. Maybe one day ...
Edit2: And bonus points if they would maybe dress them differently so you could have a clue what types of mission they give. At the moment it's all "wander up to generic mission giver to check for generic mission"

 

[varonica]

Yeah, I don't see the point really

The only reason we have them is because people asked for them. I don't see the point either, settlements are location to do missions, not take them.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I don't - but with a small [1] change and I probably would, at least some of the time: add non-returning Odyssey missions.

The "take this package to a person at X" could already be non-returning. There's already an interface (on the concourse) for an on-foot person to offer you a reward, so they could do that rather than making you return.

Then, you're already at the base, there's a mission giver and a terminal just over there, take another mission to go to the next base.

Restore/reactivate missions could also be set up like this - you power the base back up, put out the fires, maybe clear out some scavengers ... and then you call it in at a base terminal, which completes the mission and summons a dropship with an initial crew of base guards (hide your loot first...)

Some of the "collect package" ones could be extended to "collect package at A, then take it to B for payment".

"Rescue" missions could be added - essentially salvage in reverse where you take a component to a POI. The NPC there takes the item, gives payment ... and might offer another one-way mission too to complete whatever it was they were originally up to.


[1] Not necessarily easy to implement, of course.

 

[St0rmFury]

Edit: Ideally all the NPC mission-givers (including the ones in concourses) would have better interaction, something like the ability to ask for specific rewards, so they would be useful but not OP. Maybe one day ...

I was musing the idea that settlement npcs can offer higher class material rewards based on the settlement economy like graphene or carbon fiber plating for industrial, weapon components for military, etc.

 

[Frop]

They said these NPCs would give out different missions (I believe one of the examples they used was repairing a stranded ship), but it seems they only implemented the NPC bit for now. I'll reserve my judgment for when they tell us that the newer missions will be added in update 11 12 13.

 

[GroG79]

They can be a great source for power regulators with a little hit on REP tho...

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Yup, I take missions from settlement NPCs and the terminals.

 

[Lord Vicious]

Settlement mission givers have an annoying quality: when doing fetch/delivery missions, I've constantly encountered "quest-giver" NPCs in settlements marked as mission targets on my radar, whereas the real mission target (the NPC I was supposed to deliver to) went unmarked. This looks like a bug, and if it's a "feature", then it's useless and confusing.

So yeah, another half-arsed job from Frontier.

 

[avow555]

Not using this feature, no point tbh.

 

[Florenus]

Having to return to some settlement can be annoying. I've made a suggestion earlier to not force players to return for payment if mission doesn't really require it (like when you really need to bring back something). I would take some delivery missions if I'm going somewhere anyway, but having to go back is making me reconsider. Mission hopping (taking mission to another settlement, looking for mission there and moving on) could be more fun than being forced to bounce back.

 

[Lord Vicious]

Having to return to some settlement can be annoying. I've made a suggestion earlier to not force players to return for payment if mission doesn't really require it (like when you really need to bring back something).

Are you serious? Next you'll be suggesting we can review all missions available in a system from our ship without having to dock anywhere... or even (gasp!) all missions everywhere in the galaxy, delivered to our ship like the goddamn Galnet news! You know, there was this thing called "Internet" that ancient humans had about a 1,000 years ago... that worked miles better than our 34th century "future tech" communications?

But hey, that would mean players spending less time doing pointless busywork and more time actually having fun playing the game, and we cannot have that, right Frontier?

 

[Klaxxgor]

It seems potentially probable (although with FDev, who knows) that they'll add in other kinds of missions available from the settlement missiongivers, something similar to what St0rmFury suggested. What if, for example, Mining settlements had missions where you searched for a missing survey team? What if some settlement missiongivers were secretly aligned with another faction, and offered you stuff like covert missions against the current owners (or even optional side objectives)?

Either way, we've got dialogue options! That could (and maybe should!) be expanded upon, what if a heist mission comes with a pre-bribed guard that you can interact with for a rank 3 authorization (in exchange for some credits because he's greedier than usual today)? Looking into how to implement more dialogue-enabled NPCs into current missions could be a fruitful endeavour.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

If i bother recalling it, im wounded there are no space mission terminals in stations. Just how?

... So i dont and another one somewhere in the /frontiered folder. Its not even my game... you're supposed to care if you own it.

 

[Alec Turner]

Like a few similar features that FD have added - kinda. Pretty much the first thing I did when that release dropped was to go and find an NPC at a settlement to take a mission from because I really like the idea and was pleased Frontier added it. The problem (and it's the same problem as getting missions from NPC's at star port concourses, or indeed picking up those "tip-off" and other missions that randomly spawn in space occasionally) is that the missions aren't particularly special. They need to either pay significantly more, or else be a little bit special in some way. Without that, despite wanting to encourage this kind of feature, the fact that it's so much easier and more convenient to take missions from the station services mission board means that cool features like this will go largely unused.

 

[Gennar]

I do occasionally take missions from a settlement on-ship board or on-foot terminal, related to BGS faction-specific activities when the settlement is owned by a faction I want to boost. In order of use:

- If I am likely to be visiting that settlement several times in a session for other delivery/collection missions, so it allows me to complete more missions per hour - I usually only do this when many same-system missions are confined to the same planet or a small number of nearby planets.
- If I am trading exclusively with the settlement in that system, then it gives the extra option for taking missions while on my trade loop without visiting a station.
- I don't want the hassle of avoiding being shot at if the station owner doesn't like me (for some strange reason )
- Mission choices at a station seem particularly poor

 

[JoeyTheMooch]

Occasionally, for instance, I found one that paid a few power cores and 300k, and all I had to do was shoot somebody at a settlement I was already at for a delivery. Said what the hell. I have also had a few that have been on the way, and were usually assassination missions. Pop in, blast target, and pop out, usually about five minutes of work for 250k to 300k and some mats if it is something I need. Otherwise? No.

 

[metatheurgist]

Yup, I take missions from settlement NPCs and the terminals.

So you're the guy....

 

[lefty1117]

I've been thinking about this in general. I know it doesn't necessarily fit from a lore perspective in all cases but I think some missions should be able to be remotely turned in. Like if you have an assassination or massacre mission, why do you have to return to the mission giver? Surely you can send proof of completion remotely. This would make me more inclined to pick up missions from planetary givers or even from stations that I'm just passing through. Because too often the thought of having to return to hand in a mission makes me skip doing it.

 

[HRDiagram]

I plead guilty: I did one of those missions, once.
Now I've ticked that box, however, so I don't see myself doing it again unless they differentiate from what we can get at stations, or until they can be completed without returning to the terminal.