Since day 1, I've thought it'd be very neat to be able to hold a job with a minor faction, and successfully preforming the objective of the job would increase your reputation with the faction that 'hired' you.
I propose a few different types of 'jobs', each catering to a different style of play.
1. System Authority - Become a part of the System Authority. Maybe a special item would be required for this, such as a police scanner that would spawn a "CRIME IN PROGRESS" beacon in empty space (similarly to how USS's spawn). Working as a System Authority would lift the no-fire restriction on stations, and patrolling a station's airspace would spawn more wanted ships or ships with illegal cargo than typically found. Perhaps NPC wings could be used as well, and you could become of an Authority wing patrolling a distress zone. Other smaller features might be having compromised/HazRes's disappear off the radar with a police scanner equipped. High risk = High reward.
2. Rescue One - Work as a Rescue One ship. These jobs would appeal to explorers, and they would be assigned missions similar to the "retrieve black boxes" missions or a newer, special mission type: survey system. Survey System missions might involve traveling a small distance outside the bubble or to an uninhabited system within the bubble, scanning all the objects in system and then selling the data to the faction you work for. Slow paced, Universal Cartographics reward + rep gain + "job completed" bonus
3. Supply Man - Run retrieval missions for this faction, helping to cut down on economic busts for that faction in particular. The BGS could find good trade routes and order to player to run those missions, resulting in a profit or surplus in goods for the faction's station. Most "grindy" job, but very fast rep gain for high-paying missions.
4. Operative - Run clandestine operations such as assasinations, smuggling runs, discreet retrieval of black boxes, data caches, run planetary base attacks etc for a faction. High payout balanced by high risk.
5. Miner - Pretty simple. A faction would employ you to gather materials consistently for it and return them to the factions home station. Payout for minerals + job completed bonus.
For jobs 1,2 and 4, jobs would work similarly to the bulletin board. Perhaps as an extension to the bulletin board would be a "Job Roster" with different missions, i.e "We lost an operative carrying a sensitive data cache, get it and return and get X reward", "We're cracking down on illegal goods, get out there and succesfully stop and least 3 smugglers outside of our station for X reward + X% of illegal cargo's avg. worth", things along that like. Supply runners and miners would be more independent workers, but have a higher bonus. This could help buff the profit for mining, something I often hear complained about.
Obviously, this needs to fleshed out more and I think FDev should bring the BGS closer to the foreground of the gameplay mechanics, and increasing the amount of things a player/players can do to influence the BGS or just a single faction.
I'm always open to critiques, and if there's already a thread like this that's done a better job please reference me to it!
I propose a few different types of 'jobs', each catering to a different style of play.
1. System Authority - Become a part of the System Authority. Maybe a special item would be required for this, such as a police scanner that would spawn a "CRIME IN PROGRESS" beacon in empty space (similarly to how USS's spawn). Working as a System Authority would lift the no-fire restriction on stations, and patrolling a station's airspace would spawn more wanted ships or ships with illegal cargo than typically found. Perhaps NPC wings could be used as well, and you could become of an Authority wing patrolling a distress zone. Other smaller features might be having compromised/HazRes's disappear off the radar with a police scanner equipped. High risk = High reward.
2. Rescue One - Work as a Rescue One ship. These jobs would appeal to explorers, and they would be assigned missions similar to the "retrieve black boxes" missions or a newer, special mission type: survey system. Survey System missions might involve traveling a small distance outside the bubble or to an uninhabited system within the bubble, scanning all the objects in system and then selling the data to the faction you work for. Slow paced, Universal Cartographics reward + rep gain + "job completed" bonus
3. Supply Man - Run retrieval missions for this faction, helping to cut down on economic busts for that faction in particular. The BGS could find good trade routes and order to player to run those missions, resulting in a profit or surplus in goods for the faction's station. Most "grindy" job, but very fast rep gain for high-paying missions.
4. Operative - Run clandestine operations such as assasinations, smuggling runs, discreet retrieval of black boxes, data caches, run planetary base attacks etc for a faction. High payout balanced by high risk.
5. Miner - Pretty simple. A faction would employ you to gather materials consistently for it and return them to the factions home station. Payout for minerals + job completed bonus.
For jobs 1,2 and 4, jobs would work similarly to the bulletin board. Perhaps as an extension to the bulletin board would be a "Job Roster" with different missions, i.e "We lost an operative carrying a sensitive data cache, get it and return and get X reward", "We're cracking down on illegal goods, get out there and succesfully stop and least 3 smugglers outside of our station for X reward + X% of illegal cargo's avg. worth", things along that like. Supply runners and miners would be more independent workers, but have a higher bonus. This could help buff the profit for mining, something I often hear complained about.
Obviously, this needs to fleshed out more and I think FDev should bring the BGS closer to the foreground of the gameplay mechanics, and increasing the amount of things a player/players can do to influence the BGS or just a single faction.
I'm always open to critiques, and if there's already a thread like this that's done a better job please reference me to it!
