Ideas to make USS, NPC interdiction and Smuggling/Salvaging more immersive

[Corto Maltese]

Hi!

INTERDICTIONS:

Idea: Don't make them only for assaulting. System Authority Ships could do random check ups (interdiction and cargo scan, without fightning; if you run before scan is over you get a fine). You could get interdicted by a NPC that offers alternative mission end (similar like in USS). Also, you could get interdicted beacose of mission you accepted and mercenaries would want to kill you or take cargo like regular pirates but with the dialogue explaining it.

Critic: I read a post about ED starting to get to easy, with less and less interdicitons. I can agree that at the time of posting I got interdicted quite rarely. But now I get interdicted by pirates every few minutes or so and they always ask for cargo, but I'm almost always empty, so they start to shot without a reason. It's easy to run away from them, they never killed me, thats not the problem. The problem is that this sort of thing is unimmersive.


USS:

Idea: Make USS more diverse. What if you could get mission in USS (not an alternative to a mission you already accepted but whole new mission for one way delivery. Maybe a ship broke down and it asks you to deliver data to its fellow faction members to come and get them. You could also find a ship that ran out of fuel and you get the option to lend them yours (for reputation gain to a random near by faction or some money). Or finding a ship in USS that broke and they want you to get them 1t of superconductors to repair their ship, after which that USS would become semipersistent (for an hour or so) and would even change from USS to "that broken ship you found floating".


SALVAGING

Idea: Make this a thing. Create a contact or a option under Local Authority Office or Pilots Fededration Office to report and give cargo back. Your fine for having stolen cargo would get erased. After that you would have to wait for some time (few hours, a day or two?) after which there would be these possibilities:
1) Owner claimed the cargo;
a1) you get nothing
b1) you get small reward

2)No one claimed the cargo;
a2) you can come to pick it up (the sam station you left it)
b2) you can get credits for it in any station (it would have been as you sold them for galaxy middle price, or a part of it, 80% maybe)

Also you could return black box to authorities similar to other cargo, but would only get a smal reward and removal of fines for carrying it.


SMUGGLING

Critic: Current smuggling isn't immersive at all. Also, is it possible to buy something on Black Market?

Idea: Make stations able to scan ships inside of them, but with chance of not finding illegal and stolen goods depending on total illegal and/or stolen cargo and on ratio of illegal and/or stolen goods and regular goods. Also Authority Ships could have similar scanning mechanic. Also, inspections on stations: even though scans showed nothing they suspect you have something illegal on board (you have smuggling reputation or a fine). Then you could implement equipment that would jam coming cargo scans and secret cargo compartments that would take place of regular one that would be undetectable to station inspections but would have very small capacity.

Idea: Make smuggling missions which require you to deliver legal cargo but it would be considered illegal because the faction in power doesn't want you to deliver it to that other faction (those System Authority Ships interdiction could be useful here).

Idea: Running through the blockade, delivering food and weapons. Could this be possible in ED? I'd like to seee this very much But I don't know how the blockade would function.

 

[iain666]

System authority ships will scan you in super-cruise and interdict if you are wanted. Don't spend a lot of time with bounties (just the odd couple of hundred credits when one of the security vessels throws itself into my line of fire) and have been interdicted by federal security services.

 

[raok]

Idea to return stolen cargo is nice. My friend once left containers of slaves behind, those were stolen slaves anyway.


Smuggling, frozen ship and good amount of speed should do it just fine. With this amount of effort and risk, it should still pay far more than it is at the moment.


I do not like the station scanning your cargo and randomly succeeding. It would be luck based, not skill based.


Buying legal from one place and selling as prohibited on another. This should make way more income than normal trade. At least I have not been able to find any reason to smuggle. Takes too much time and effort, and income seems to be less than in normal trade.


Selling stolen goods could also have higher profit rates than what those are atm. Some reason to be a pirate.

 

[Corto Maltese]

I know current smuggling requires some skill, but it seems so unlikely and unimmersive (I tried to pick words other then and idiotic x). Also, it isnt that hard now, you don't even have to go silent every time... So you ask a station to allow you to dock and then try to crawl into the station without them noticing you? But once you dock they know you're in here, so why wouldnt they check you out because of your suspicious behaviour?

STATION CARGO SCAN IDEA
Those station scans arn't my idea, there were some talk about it in Design part of forum under Scanners or something. What I wrote would be basic concept, but not all stations would have scanners of the sam strenght or such strict protocol that they would scan every ship (some might not even bother scanning ships). The more suspicious you are the more likely you would get scanned or cargo inspected. The skill in this wouldn't come from maneuvering from a distance so you slither in the base but from knowlage of system and station protocoles (how often or do they even scan cargo). Also equiping your ship with cargo holds that mask cargo or count as secret compartment (that would for example hide 1t of cargo of your Cobra or Sidewinder from station inspection) or some other add-ons that would play a similar role.