I'm looking for safe passage...

Vim Fuego · Mar 8, 2015

I have a few ships now, and it frustrates me that they all live in different places around the galaxy. What I'd like to be able to do is have them all in one shipyard for easy access, but the only way i see to do that is to buy a sidewinder to ferry myself to each different shipyard so i can fly the ship that is there back to home base. i've yet to try this - does anyone know how much money you lose buying and selling sidewinders?.

I did see a suggestion for a ship delivery service, which i think is a good idea, but it was also suggested that it be expensive. I propose something more affordable...

Getting to the point: My idea is a passenger system, where you could put your name and required destination on a waiting list in the spaceport services, and pilots looking to earn money as commercial passenger pilots, or pick up a few extra bucks for that matter, could take them and drop them off wherever they need to be. It'd be really nice if this could happen whilst you were offline too, as at times it may take longer to be picked up than you might be willing to wait.

I'm aware that there are starliners and passenger ships on the way, and a large amount of infrastructure will be necessary to make them more than just NPC ferries. A small scale implementation for the occasional hitchhiker paying for half your fuel could be a good way to test the parameters of a future larger-scale interstellar travel agency, perhaps?

It could open up a whole new class of space explorer - Elite: Vagrancy! "Hey, you can't log out here! Move along!"

edit: testing sig

gamingvirtue · Mar 8, 2015

This is a really good idea, and I like the potential for you to use ships designed for that, like the Saud Kruger line of passenger ships, for this purpose. It'd tie in well with the first-person plan they have for later, too! I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be available for a paid fare, if the pilots announced their willingness and expected payment per LY travelled and offered seats that way.

This could be fun, and something I've actually been thinking about since those SK ships were announced.

Kosmetas · Mar 8, 2015

Best option is a hauler... Strip poff weapons and cargo, then upgrade to "A" frame drive and "D" up the rest. Cost is just over 208k, longest unladen jump of any ship out there!

Han Solo: She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.

Once you arrive sell it for 188k, or keep it for the return trip. 30k Taxi.... priceless

gamingvirtue · Mar 8, 2015

Kosmetas, I don't deny that it's an efficient idea. It just doesn't really open new avenues of gameplay, which is specifically what the suggestions board is about.

Thanks for the advice, though!

Kosmetas · Mar 8, 2015

Guess you will be buying tickets for passage on a few Orcas to get your ships.

gamingvirtue · Mar 8, 2015

Eh, not really. Got a Cobra fitted for bounty and piracy runs. Jumps around 24LY unladen. Make decent profits per day.

I guess I'm just looking forward to being able to hang out with people on my ship while en route to a destination, or just out in space. Even be able to give free rides to personal friends and stuff, or group up and fly out and do space tours or...you know, fun stuff. Not even just specifically point-to-point travel. Space tourism and transport seems like such a fun and interesting mechanic.

Vim Fuego · Mar 9, 2015

Kosmetas said:
Guess you will be buying tickets for passage on a few Orcas to get your ships.

Ideally, yes, if it all works as I hope it will

It's not like I need to get a ship with a massive range either - all of my ships are within a few systems of each other... I'm going to try the sidewinder mission tonight, to see what the outcome is...

Archimbaust · Mar 9, 2015

Nice idea, really like it! But what would happen in case the transport gets destroyed?
Everybody goes back to the station of origin? What about the passanger's insurance?
They're not in their own ship, how does insurance work for them? (room for some nice bugs here)

NewYears1978 · Mar 9, 2015

I think it is a good idea. There are already some similar clans or groups that do stuff like this..but I think something in game would be brilliant.

gamingvirtue · Mar 9, 2015

Archimbaust said:
Nice idea, really like it! But what would happen in case the transport gets destroyed?
Everybody goes back to the station of origin? What about the passanger's insurance?
They're not in their own ship, how does insurance work for them? (room for some nice bugs here)

I don't think it'd be too hard. Have a percentage of the ticket as the refundable portion in case of unforeseen circumstances being paid from the transporter's wallet and prevent the game from offering a ship insurance re-buy for passengers. And, yeah...it'd make the most sense for everyone to return to the origin station, or the last visited station in case of long-range multi-stop travel.

Vim Fuego · Mar 10, 2015

I bought a sidewinder - 32,000c - did the journey on a tank of fuel, sold it for 28,800c and flew my ship back to its new homebase. 3,200c total expenses - didn't even need to pay for fuel.

But I'd still like to see this passenger idea go forward. I see it being useful in the future for people who crew on other players' ships or freighters, frigates, capital ships and the like, and may not have a ship waiting at the destination. or something... until then, i'm happy to splash out 3,200c for a renta-winder.

RallyPoint · Mar 10, 2015

Sounds good in theory but doubt it will be very engaging in practice. Vin has established you can get to where you want to go, on one tank of fuel, for 3,200c. Would you ferry someone for that amount? Some would; most wouldn't because you could make far more doing practically anything else. There would likely be no players for the return trip or at your destination needing transportation. It would be more like a galactic city bus sim than a ferry in that you'd be picking up one or two here and there as you went along and dropping one or two off. It's not like there's going to be many people lined up needing a ride to one destination.

At best you'd need lots of NPCs at every station looking to go somewhere to fill the seats. There just won't be a huge demand for players needing rides.

Vim Fuego · Mar 12, 2015

You might be right, but there are passenger ships planned for release, and I'm guessing that there will be missions involving them at some point. They'll most probably involve ferrying NPCs about, but there's no reason that a player shouldn't be able to be one of those passengers too, if needs be.