Instant Pilot transfer vs. instant ship transfer

[Quiquag]

OK, most of the community want ship transfers. But it also seems most of the community is at odds with instant.
At the core of the debate is honestly time spent in game to accomplish a task, especially for those that
a: don't have much time to play (but their opinions and time need to be respected!)
b: are more casual, want to enjoy the beautiful world of elite, but don't wish to invest as much time doing mundane tasks such as traveling hundreds of light years to switch ships, because their are in their mining vessel but want to do combat for that session.


Now, assuming development time is a concern and is part of the factor in instant ship transfer, and that the ultimate goal is so people can do what they want to do, when they want to do it, what would peoples reaction be to instant pilot transfer, as opposed to instant ship transfer? It's still a very gamey feature, but it doesn't break any of the in universe laws per se, or break the need to properly outfit ships. If I have a favorite combat zone, I can leave my combat ship there, and instantly transport to the station that has my trade ship, close to my favorite trade route. I get instant gameplay variety if I am limited in time, all without breaking large portions of the game.

Thoughts?

 

[RhymeRhyme]

It's still a very gamey feature, but it doesn't break any of the in universe laws per se, or break the need to properly outfit ships. If I have a favorite combat zone, I can leave my combat ship there, and instantly transport to the station that has my trade ship, close to my favorite trade route.
Thoughts?

Teleportation does not break the universe law? It's the same like ship "teleportation" (=instant).

Me personally like the instant ship transfer or at least somethink that does not take ages for the ship to arrive. I really hate it to waste hours of sparetime to go and get this ship for that and that for this. I sometimes simply prevents me from playing the game as I think. Oh, no, 40 minutes of Friendship Drive Screen before I actually can play. It's a good idea and it gives the gameplay more flow. I hope they go for it. First time that I see FDev understanding that player time is valuable.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Teleportation does not break the universe law? It's the same like ship "teleportation" (=instant).

It's really not though. I agree with OP. When you die the lore say that your personal emergency FSD transports you back to the last station you were at even if it's 50kLYs away.

I've heard of a CMDR selling is Conda around jack and sacrifice a sidewinder to get back to the bubble...

 

[LuciusEsox]

OK, most of the community want ship transfers. But it also seems most of the community is at odds with instant.
At the core of the debate is honestly time spent in game to accomplish a task, especially for those that
a: don't have much time to play (but their opinions and time need to be respected!)
b: are more casual, want to enjoy the beautiful world of elite, but don't wish to invest as much time doing mundane tasks such as traveling hundreds of light years to switch ships, because their are in their mining vessel but want to do combat for that session.


Now, assuming development time is a concern and is part of the factor in instant ship transfer, and that the ultimate goal is so people can do what they want to do, when they want to do it, what would peoples reaction be to instant pilot transfer, as opposed to instant ship transfer? It's still a very gamey feature, but it doesn't break any of the in universe laws per se, or break the need to properly outfit ships. If I have a favorite combat zone, I can leave my combat ship there, and instantly transport to the station that has my trade ship, close to my favorite trade route. I get instant gameplay variety if I am limited in time, all without breaking large portions of the game.

Thoughts?

I just read this and the line "but their opinions need to be respected" about sums it up for me. I know it has been said many times before and will be said many times again but the fact that the game is trying to appeal to every one is the MAJOR cause of discord.

Yeah I know I'm a genius huh ! But although I have heard the argument loads of times I have never seen an issue polarise the community (and my viewpoint) as such as insta travel.

I am one who think when you get wacked it would be nice if there was some type of clone mechanic in place aka Eve so obviously I am probably not gonna go for any of this.

I wish the gameplay as such was so grognard that it really only appealed to players like me,, yes me lol. And no doubt the players who want the opposite will say they want it just for them.

I do suspect though that a lot of people wanting to take the moral high ground would say.. No we can accommodate everyone....

Can Elite really do that ?

I just wish Elite Dangerous would be SOMETHING.

Whether that be total arcade and I go play something else or grognard and I stay. My views and interests and yours truly only interest me as much as they effect me and my gameplaying.

I mean in all honesty this is funtime and I come here to get away from the daily pc grind of my daily life.

No offence intended to anyone but if the cap fits.......

 

[Quiquag]

I'd say it's very different, as ship loadout still matters greatly. Want to get your combat ship to the other end of the bubble? Better fit it accordingly. No D rated FSD allowed. It means you still have to fly around the bubble in a ship other than an asp or an anaconda.

It's still gamey, like I said, but it doesn't break the game.

 

[Bomba Luigi]

Based on the reason given for Ship teleport and why its important and necessary - so people can instanly do what they want without any wait time - Player teleport would be a better additon as only ship but not player teleport will still result in time barriers between the player and what he wants to do.

 

[Arkadi]

With multicrew in mind I'd give it a thought.

It would be easyer to teleport the commander to another commander then to fly to that commander to join his crew and then upon exiting having to recall my ship.

The difference:

ship-teleporting: you need to fly to meet other commanders and you can get your ship to wherever you drop off.

commander-teleporting: you can get to each spaceport you have a ship in or to each commander who invites you to fly in his ship instantly and you can get back to your ship instatntly.


both options are not very real but very gamy and can be made more real by adding transition times.. but why would anyone want to wait some minutes or even hours until he can continue playing the game?

I know, it all can be abused and thats bad.

Ship calling: I get attacked by a player in my trading vessle. I go to closest harbor and instacall my pvp fighter to attack this player. Abuse!

Commander travel: Same stiutation. I need to teleport to my PvP ship and fly to the location where I was attacked.


Commander travel sounds bettter in this sitiuation.

I am aware there are lots of other situations. Maybe some of you can think of those to regard all possible possiblitys. IMO Commander travel would be superior to ship recall.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

If Pilot transfer was to work, you could only transfer to a station where you have a ship >>>> A station where you have already been >>>> Classical Fast Travel mechanic like any RPG out there.

 

[CMDR IAN NORTON]

I really hate it to waste hours of sparetime to go and get this ship for that and that for this

Ah well, you hit the nail on the head there, transferring the ship yourself is a bit of a waste of time, what I think we want is "transfer my ship to this station", it starts a 5 minute timer at the end of which your ship arrives and you can get in and use, in the meantime you can fly your current ship, do a mission, do another trade run, buy another ship or just fly to another station. A delay for ship transfer won't burn any time, it will give more folks reason to enjoy different bits of the game and more reason to stick around new systems they visit.

 

[Quiquag]

If Pilot transfer was to work, you could only transfer to a station where you have a ship >>>> A station where you have already been >>>> Classical Fast Travel mechanic like any RPG out there.

This is exactly what I was thinking. You can only transport to a station where you have a ship.

 

[Weps]

You know what would be a better addition?

Multiple commander slots.

That's right, want to get into a fight real quick? Switch to your mercenary commander in his souped up Vulture in orbit of a combat zone. Want to chill out and haul some freight? Login as your trucker commander and play some country music! Want to get greasy and dirty? Login as your miner commander in his perfectly tuned refinery ship deep inside that asteroid field.

Oh but wait that would cut into FDEVs income from players who purchase secondary accounts just for that. Funny how dis works, huh?

 

[Quiquag]

Pilot transfer would essentially be that, with the exception that explorers would still be out of luck.

 

[Paineframe]

I've never seen anyone complain about the instant teleport to LHS 3447 - not even after people used it as a way to circumvent the long flight from Jaques back to the bubble - so why not? Clearly there don't seem to be any objections to player transfer, only ship transfer.

 

[Arkadi]

I'd prefer Commander transfer over ship trasfer any time.

Commander transfer: be at the right place at the right time = gives gameplay value.

Ship transfer: gives the commander the power of his whole fleet at his finger tips, giving him any ship he has anywhere at any time = inbalance of game.

 

[K M Butler]

It's more palatable than instashiptransfer at any rate. I would consider this as simply a variant of a second CMDR slot, which I prefer, but for probable monetary reasons, FD would rather people purchase 2nd accounts. Wish I could purchase (real $ or CRs) a second slot, without the account folderol, or the ship transfer absurdity. But pilot transport is better than than ship transport.

 

[FlameDragon]

I'm new to the forum, so I hope i do not tread on any toes or rack up old discussions. Instant ship transfer, for me, feels like a serious break in Elite's attempt to be realistic. I@m perfectly happy for a ship AI to fly to where you are so that you can change ship. That really would be a great idea. You could carry on with your existing missions while awaiting your other ship to arrive. But instantaneous transfer does not make sense. If teleportation was an option, why would we spend any time flying around? I'd also prefer the transfer to be correctly timed, determined by the flight characteristics (FSD range) of your chosen ship. 'Instant' for me, breaks the feel of the game/simulation. If a 'rapid transit' service existed, whereby Commanders cold be transferred to a station where they had a ship stored, then that could be a nice touch. It could be written as the equivalent to getting a transport shuttle to another station, so that when you next logged in, (presumably after a few hours) then you would be at your chosen station. But within sensible and realistic limits. You should not be able to jump between Jaques Station and Lave (for example) in a few minutes, as it would take even the fastest ship many hours of gameplay to travel that distance 'Instant ship transfer' seems unbalanced and unrealistic, as others have commented above.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Mazelinho]

FDev is running a poll and separate thread about this issue.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/286967-IMPORTANT-OFFICIAL-SHIP-TRANSFER-POLL

 

[Ydiss]

It's an interesting idea (and has been suggested before). But it's not ship transfer.

I've waited for ship transfer since beta. And I'm not alone. I've never felt the need for pilot teleportation. I'm happy to fly everywhere I need to go. But I've long waited the ability to take my fleet with me (usually, it won't be a fleet, just one other ship).

I've wanted this because it was in the DDA, it made sense to have it and, frankly, the hauler taxi mini game is tedious.

Now, when I read about it in the DDA, I assumed there would be a delay. And I was fine with that. But Michael goes and tells me it'll be instant for x, y and z reasons. And I'm delighted with that. It would allow me to actually play again, despite not having as much time as I did back in 1.0.

Teleportation would help me somewhat but not as much as ship transportation. And if we can accept death teleportation, thus can accept pilot teleportation, then we can blooming well accept ship teleportation.

 

[CmdrKull]

I have a hard time explaining why this would feel so wrong to me, but it does feel very wrong. To say "it would destroy the game" is hyperbole, clearly the game will still be here, but the achievement of reaching Joques and exploring the far flung corners of the galaxy would lose thier .... Not their meaning, but their spirit.

People would park a sidewinder in every port of importance, and combined with ship transfer there's no where that you couldn't reach instantly, or almost instantly. I like the idea of taking a fast ship somewhere and then summoning my T9 (soon Cutter) but to take out that first step feels to ME like a disembowlment of Elite Dangerous.

Just my opinion, and not clearly stated at that, but I hope it doesn't happen.