Dear Frontier (@Stephen Benedetti), this message is for you. Please consider the following as a springboard for discussion of the possible inclusion of bank loans in Elite Dangerous.
The Problem - many people don't want to "grind" to get a certain ship (or fleet carrier), especially more casual players who don't have a lot of time to play the game on a daily basis. In the past, either the cost of a ship has been lowered or the ability to earn a ridiculous amount of credits in a short period of time (void opals) has been introduced, both of which makes credits relatively meaningless. This introduces a new problem - players can get the ship they want in weeks or even days, but since earning credits is the primary game-loop, these players then say, "Now what?", quickly grow bored, and quit the game. It also upsets more dedicated players like myself who want a more realistic, internally-consistent game where credits actually mean something.
The Solution - introduce the Pilot Federation Bank with a Loan Officer located in larger stations. For the sake of gameplay, keep this new system very simple. To obtain a loan, one needs a down-payment, say 10% of the loan. So for a 5 billion credit loan, I would need a down-payment of 500 million credits. This prevents players from going straight from starter Sidewinder to Fleet Carrier in a day. Payments would then be automatically deducted from all credit earnings, just like NPC crew, except that payments should be a huge percentage (say 80%) of a player's income until the loan is paid off. This makes getting a loan "cost something" to the player without making it overly complicated. As for interest, that should just be a fixed percentage on the top of the loan, perhaps based on the pilot's trade rank (it is a PF loan, after all). So for example, a Penniless trader might be faced with a 20% interest loan (so a 5 billion credit loan costs 6 billion to pay off), whereas an Elite trader gets an interest-free loan. And to keep things simple, only one loan can be active at any given time.
The Result - this solution kills two birds with one stone while making the game more immersive and realistic, making everyone* happy. It allows players to more quickly obtain the ships they want, and then it gives those players purpose for owning that ship - paying off the loan by earning credits using the ship of their dreams. This also applies to things like the upcoming fleet carrier. It's the best of both worlds, because it keeps credits relevant while allowing players to experience more of the game without grinding hundreds of hours to get there. It makes "realism" nuts like myself happy, because banks and loans are a core part of any society. It even adds an element of gameplay for the economy players, since it changes how one might approach buying ships in order to earn credits for their dream fleet. And finally, it should be relatively easy to add to the game from a developer's perspective, assuming you keep it simple (no need to mimic and actual IRL mortgage).
* I realize it is impossible to make everyone happy, as I'm sure this thread will prove in quick order, but I do think this suggestion has great potential and merit and is worthy of discussion at Frontier.
The Problem - many people don't want to "grind" to get a certain ship (or fleet carrier), especially more casual players who don't have a lot of time to play the game on a daily basis. In the past, either the cost of a ship has been lowered or the ability to earn a ridiculous amount of credits in a short period of time (void opals) has been introduced, both of which makes credits relatively meaningless. This introduces a new problem - players can get the ship they want in weeks or even days, but since earning credits is the primary game-loop, these players then say, "Now what?", quickly grow bored, and quit the game. It also upsets more dedicated players like myself who want a more realistic, internally-consistent game where credits actually mean something.
The Solution - introduce the Pilot Federation Bank with a Loan Officer located in larger stations. For the sake of gameplay, keep this new system very simple. To obtain a loan, one needs a down-payment, say 10% of the loan. So for a 5 billion credit loan, I would need a down-payment of 500 million credits. This prevents players from going straight from starter Sidewinder to Fleet Carrier in a day. Payments would then be automatically deducted from all credit earnings, just like NPC crew, except that payments should be a huge percentage (say 80%) of a player's income until the loan is paid off. This makes getting a loan "cost something" to the player without making it overly complicated. As for interest, that should just be a fixed percentage on the top of the loan, perhaps based on the pilot's trade rank (it is a PF loan, after all). So for example, a Penniless trader might be faced with a 20% interest loan (so a 5 billion credit loan costs 6 billion to pay off), whereas an Elite trader gets an interest-free loan. And to keep things simple, only one loan can be active at any given time.
The Result - this solution kills two birds with one stone while making the game more immersive and realistic, making everyone* happy. It allows players to more quickly obtain the ships they want, and then it gives those players purpose for owning that ship - paying off the loan by earning credits using the ship of their dreams. This also applies to things like the upcoming fleet carrier. It's the best of both worlds, because it keeps credits relevant while allowing players to experience more of the game without grinding hundreds of hours to get there. It makes "realism" nuts like myself happy, because banks and loans are a core part of any society. It even adds an element of gameplay for the economy players, since it changes how one might approach buying ships in order to earn credits for their dream fleet. And finally, it should be relatively easy to add to the game from a developer's perspective, assuming you keep it simple (no need to mimic and actual IRL mortgage).
* I realize it is impossible to make everyone happy, as I'm sure this thread will prove in quick order, but I do think this suggestion has great potential and merit and is worthy of discussion at Frontier.
