I have a proposal, as one of the chief complaints often raised is one of a "lack of depth". On the surface, Elite looks incredible, and it does offer a great deal of potential. I would like to propose a mission type, something that should be fairly straightforward to implement, as it makes use of systems, methods and mechanics we already have, Passengers, Cargo, Mission Updates - literally everything necessary is already a part of the game - this proposal will simply make use of them in new ways that should add a great deal of depth to Elite and offer a fairly complex, hopefully enjoyable, and robust mission type to entertain everyone.
Without further adieu, I present the Adventure Mission:
These begin as seemingly routine Passenger Missions. You pick up an Adventure Mission just as you would any other passenger, but they have a few unique differences:
#1. These are always VIP missions.
#2. They seem to pay quite a bit more than your average VIP Mission, as much as 3 times what the average high-end VIP Mission pays (I'd give these a range of 7-50 million based on the mission)
#3. They have very long times to complete (1-4 weeks to complete).
#4. These have very high Reputation Gains (+++ - +++++).
#5. Optional: A unique Mission Icon.
How do these play out? Once you picked up your Adventure mission NPC, you begin by transporting them like you would any other NPC. These needn't be long-range missions, in fact, they may have surprisingly short ranges - 1-5 jumps, though they could be up to 5000 Lyr ranged.
Either en route, or just before leaving the first location, you receive a Mission Update message. Your passenger informs you that you require something from another station, this would use the same system mechanic as a Vacation Passenger requesting to visit another location. However this update is not optional and cannot be refused. They may ask for some cargo items or data to be retrieved. To complete this quest objective, it will appear in the mission board, as a Chained Mission, but it is already Completed, you merely "turn in" this mission to receive a Reward (Credits paid as a bonus, small Rep/Inf gain with the faction paying the reward), and the Adventure Mission is updated - your passenger is grateful you've completed this task (Increase Passenger Satisfaction level by 1 if not at max), and you then continue towards your destination. The next mission update triggers on H-jump. A Hyperspace Instability is triggered, forcing the player out of Hyperspace.
At this time Your passenger informs you that:
1. They are being pursued. Their enemy is ruthless and will stop at nothing to prevent them from reaching their destination.
At this point, when the message update is "Accepted", as there is no option to refuse this update, a "cut scene" is triggered, using the same sort of mechanics that were used in the Thargoid Hyperdiction sequence.
However, this time it is not a Thargoid ship that is stopping you - it's a Capital Ship - Federation or Imperial. It H-jumps in while you sit, shut down. You receive a mission update again. (Huge props if Voice Acted like the INRA bases or Generation Ship). This Enemy could be a Pirate Lord, Terrorist Leader, or Supreme Nutjob. They inform you via the update that your Passenger needs to be diverted to a new location of their choosing. If you do not comply, they engage, with as much force as necessary. They are awaiting your decision.
At this point the new mission can be Accepted or Rejected as usual. If accepted, the encounter ends, the Capital Ship jumps out, your ship's power is restored, and you can then choose to honor this new agreement and deliver your passenger to a new location. You will then receive payment from the faction you are rerouting your passenger to, gaining their Rep and Inf, an amount of credits or other rewards*, and the Adventure seems to be over... for now. The mission is not complete at this time however, and remains active for its Time Limit.
If you refuse the mission, the Capital Ship jumps out, your ship's power is restored, and a new mission update is generated - this time the Enemy NPC is informing you that you've made a poor choice, and the you were warned. At this point multiple NPC's will spawn and attempt interdiction. Your passenger informs you via mission update that they will pay you for each of these enemies you destroy - just as per the standard Enemy Ships mission update.
If you destroy all the enemy ships, your final update will not come from your Passenger, but from the Enemy NPC. Your Rep/Inf with their faction has decreased, they are quite irate with your having destroyed their ships, and are escalating their efforts to stop you. New Enemy Ships will then spawn and attempt interdiction - these are larger ships, with more skilled pilots, numbering between 3 and 12. Your Passenger then offers to pay you again for each of these ships you destroy - offering a bit more for the stronger enemies.
At any point during any encounter with any of these Enemies, the Enemy Capital Ship could enter the fight. If you manage to drive off this ship, per standard capital ship encounter mechanics, your Passenger will send a mission update. They are thrilled you were able to defeat this Enemy, and offer a bonus of 50% of the mission value for your efforts, along with a Large Rep and Inf gain for the Passenger's faction, and a Passenger Satisfaction gain to Maximum. This will end the Enemy Encounters and the mission continues until your passenger disembarks at their destination.
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2. Your passenger informs you they have a change in destination. This mission update can be refused, and will generate a chain mission at the original destination, to pick up this same passenger and take them to the alternate destination given in the mission update. The affords the player an opportunity to suspend the mission should they desire to continue this at a later time, or to change ships if they feel they might want to take a different ship to continue.
If the mission is accepted, or the Chain Mission above is started, a new destination is given. On completion, a new Chained Mission is generated. This could be any manner of chain mission - Data Scan, Delivery, Data Courier, Massacre. This chain mission can be taken at any time, and chained missions of this sort will continue to generate for the duration of the Adventure Mission, each with their own potential to trigger their own mission Wrinkles.
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3. Your passenger requests you stop at the system's Nav Beacon for a period of time. This would use the same mechanics as the "Stop in CZ" mission wrinkle - you simply sit and wait. At one point, a new Mission NPC is spawned in a ship, and requests you follow their wake. If you follow this NPC:
A. The NPC invites you to follow their wake once more, informing you they could not talk at that location. Following this wake:
1. Will trigger that NPC to request you divert your passenger once more to a new location, that the previous location is unsafe, and offers additional compensation.
2. The NPC reveals themselves to be an Agent of an Enemy NPC, and initiate Combat. Destroying this NPC will trigger an Update from your Passenger, paying a bonus for the defeat of this Enemy, and triggering an Enemy Response sequence as given in #1 above, where additional Enemy NPC's will spawn and attempt interdiction. This will continue until your passenger is delivered to their final location.
3. The NPC will inform you of an urgent need for some quantity of commodities required at some other location, and invite your passenger to see how much these commodities are needed. Your destination will be updated and an additional cargo transport mission request generated, much in the same manner NPC's request you pick up items for them.
Upon reaching your new final destination, a new chain mission will generate. As per #2 above, these can be any standard chain mission, and will continue to generate for the duration of the Adventure Mission.
Finally when the Adventure Mission reaches it's final 30 minutes to complete, a mission Wrinkle is generated. This Winkle comes from your original passenger. They inform you they have one, final task for you. You are to proceed to a system and meet with an Agent - using the same mechanics as per Meet the Agent in Assassination Missions. Enter the system, wait for the NPC to spawn, follow their wake and they will give you a Data to Deliver to your mission's final destination. This will complete the Adventure Mission and trigger its final payoff.
* This also includes the new mission rewards as per the current beta, where you can choose differing levels of payment.
Aside from generating a procedural narrative, I believe this sort of mission would not only get and keep people involved, but the payments made during the course of the mission for completing the various wrinkles and the variety of wrinkles as well as the option to suspend the mission and resume it at a later time, would not only appeal to a large number of players, but also give reason to continue these missions and seek out others of this kind. By affording the player an opportunity to engage in various aspects of game play and in different manners, as well as the option to change ships mid-mission, nearly everyone should be able to find missions of this sort they enjoy. The higher payouts ensure there is an appeal to these missions, beyond just the procedural narrative, and the involvement with a specific faction allows opportunity for rank gain and BGS contribution through the course of the mission. The long timeframe to complete the Adventure Mission ensures this is not just a "one and done" type mission, but also lets the players know that this will be a lengthy mission. By making use of Chained Missions this keeps the players from overwhelming their mission boards, should they opt to take on additional missions along the way.
Please discuss this proposal and see if it can't be integrated into Elite.
The rest of the community, please discuss - I'd like to hear what you think.
Without further adieu, I present the Adventure Mission:
These begin as seemingly routine Passenger Missions. You pick up an Adventure Mission just as you would any other passenger, but they have a few unique differences:
#1. These are always VIP missions.
#2. They seem to pay quite a bit more than your average VIP Mission, as much as 3 times what the average high-end VIP Mission pays (I'd give these a range of 7-50 million based on the mission)
#3. They have very long times to complete (1-4 weeks to complete).
#4. These have very high Reputation Gains (+++ - +++++).
#5. Optional: A unique Mission Icon.
How do these play out? Once you picked up your Adventure mission NPC, you begin by transporting them like you would any other NPC. These needn't be long-range missions, in fact, they may have surprisingly short ranges - 1-5 jumps, though they could be up to 5000 Lyr ranged.
Either en route, or just before leaving the first location, you receive a Mission Update message. Your passenger informs you that you require something from another station, this would use the same system mechanic as a Vacation Passenger requesting to visit another location. However this update is not optional and cannot be refused. They may ask for some cargo items or data to be retrieved. To complete this quest objective, it will appear in the mission board, as a Chained Mission, but it is already Completed, you merely "turn in" this mission to receive a Reward (Credits paid as a bonus, small Rep/Inf gain with the faction paying the reward), and the Adventure Mission is updated - your passenger is grateful you've completed this task (Increase Passenger Satisfaction level by 1 if not at max), and you then continue towards your destination. The next mission update triggers on H-jump. A Hyperspace Instability is triggered, forcing the player out of Hyperspace.
At this time Your passenger informs you that:
1. They are being pursued. Their enemy is ruthless and will stop at nothing to prevent them from reaching their destination.
At this point, when the message update is "Accepted", as there is no option to refuse this update, a "cut scene" is triggered, using the same sort of mechanics that were used in the Thargoid Hyperdiction sequence.
However, this time it is not a Thargoid ship that is stopping you - it's a Capital Ship - Federation or Imperial. It H-jumps in while you sit, shut down. You receive a mission update again. (Huge props if Voice Acted like the INRA bases or Generation Ship). This Enemy could be a Pirate Lord, Terrorist Leader, or Supreme Nutjob. They inform you via the update that your Passenger needs to be diverted to a new location of their choosing. If you do not comply, they engage, with as much force as necessary. They are awaiting your decision.
At this point the new mission can be Accepted or Rejected as usual. If accepted, the encounter ends, the Capital Ship jumps out, your ship's power is restored, and you can then choose to honor this new agreement and deliver your passenger to a new location. You will then receive payment from the faction you are rerouting your passenger to, gaining their Rep and Inf, an amount of credits or other rewards*, and the Adventure seems to be over... for now. The mission is not complete at this time however, and remains active for its Time Limit.
If you refuse the mission, the Capital Ship jumps out, your ship's power is restored, and a new mission update is generated - this time the Enemy NPC is informing you that you've made a poor choice, and the you were warned. At this point multiple NPC's will spawn and attempt interdiction. Your passenger informs you via mission update that they will pay you for each of these enemies you destroy - just as per the standard Enemy Ships mission update.
If you destroy all the enemy ships, your final update will not come from your Passenger, but from the Enemy NPC. Your Rep/Inf with their faction has decreased, they are quite irate with your having destroyed their ships, and are escalating their efforts to stop you. New Enemy Ships will then spawn and attempt interdiction - these are larger ships, with more skilled pilots, numbering between 3 and 12. Your Passenger then offers to pay you again for each of these ships you destroy - offering a bit more for the stronger enemies.
At any point during any encounter with any of these Enemies, the Enemy Capital Ship could enter the fight. If you manage to drive off this ship, per standard capital ship encounter mechanics, your Passenger will send a mission update. They are thrilled you were able to defeat this Enemy, and offer a bonus of 50% of the mission value for your efforts, along with a Large Rep and Inf gain for the Passenger's faction, and a Passenger Satisfaction gain to Maximum. This will end the Enemy Encounters and the mission continues until your passenger disembarks at their destination.
---
2. Your passenger informs you they have a change in destination. This mission update can be refused, and will generate a chain mission at the original destination, to pick up this same passenger and take them to the alternate destination given in the mission update. The affords the player an opportunity to suspend the mission should they desire to continue this at a later time, or to change ships if they feel they might want to take a different ship to continue.
If the mission is accepted, or the Chain Mission above is started, a new destination is given. On completion, a new Chained Mission is generated. This could be any manner of chain mission - Data Scan, Delivery, Data Courier, Massacre. This chain mission can be taken at any time, and chained missions of this sort will continue to generate for the duration of the Adventure Mission, each with their own potential to trigger their own mission Wrinkles.
---
3. Your passenger requests you stop at the system's Nav Beacon for a period of time. This would use the same mechanics as the "Stop in CZ" mission wrinkle - you simply sit and wait. At one point, a new Mission NPC is spawned in a ship, and requests you follow their wake. If you follow this NPC:
A. The NPC invites you to follow their wake once more, informing you they could not talk at that location. Following this wake:
1. Will trigger that NPC to request you divert your passenger once more to a new location, that the previous location is unsafe, and offers additional compensation.
2. The NPC reveals themselves to be an Agent of an Enemy NPC, and initiate Combat. Destroying this NPC will trigger an Update from your Passenger, paying a bonus for the defeat of this Enemy, and triggering an Enemy Response sequence as given in #1 above, where additional Enemy NPC's will spawn and attempt interdiction. This will continue until your passenger is delivered to their final location.
3. The NPC will inform you of an urgent need for some quantity of commodities required at some other location, and invite your passenger to see how much these commodities are needed. Your destination will be updated and an additional cargo transport mission request generated, much in the same manner NPC's request you pick up items for them.
Upon reaching your new final destination, a new chain mission will generate. As per #2 above, these can be any standard chain mission, and will continue to generate for the duration of the Adventure Mission.
Finally when the Adventure Mission reaches it's final 30 minutes to complete, a mission Wrinkle is generated. This Winkle comes from your original passenger. They inform you they have one, final task for you. You are to proceed to a system and meet with an Agent - using the same mechanics as per Meet the Agent in Assassination Missions. Enter the system, wait for the NPC to spawn, follow their wake and they will give you a Data to Deliver to your mission's final destination. This will complete the Adventure Mission and trigger its final payoff.
* This also includes the new mission rewards as per the current beta, where you can choose differing levels of payment.
Aside from generating a procedural narrative, I believe this sort of mission would not only get and keep people involved, but the payments made during the course of the mission for completing the various wrinkles and the variety of wrinkles as well as the option to suspend the mission and resume it at a later time, would not only appeal to a large number of players, but also give reason to continue these missions and seek out others of this kind. By affording the player an opportunity to engage in various aspects of game play and in different manners, as well as the option to change ships mid-mission, nearly everyone should be able to find missions of this sort they enjoy. The higher payouts ensure there is an appeal to these missions, beyond just the procedural narrative, and the involvement with a specific faction allows opportunity for rank gain and BGS contribution through the course of the mission. The long timeframe to complete the Adventure Mission ensures this is not just a "one and done" type mission, but also lets the players know that this will be a lengthy mission. By making use of Chained Missions this keeps the players from overwhelming their mission boards, should they opt to take on additional missions along the way.
Please discuss this proposal and see if it can't be integrated into Elite.
The rest of the community, please discuss - I'd like to hear what you think.
