Instant Transfer: Practical Effects

[DocLooshkin]

Hello, everyone.

There are innumerable threads and posts on the topic of instant ship transfer. With a few exceptions, such as Ziljian, who had a sensible objection, they're mostly full of people complaining, often without giving any particularly coherent reason as to why.

This thread frames much simpler questions:
• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?
• how will this affect your own, personal gameplay?
• how frequently does this seem likely to have an impact on your game, if any?

Please note that this is not a thread for approval or disapproval: there are other threads for that.
This is not a thread about realism or immersion: again, the other threads deal with such issues.

What practical impact is this actually going to have for most of us?

 

[mossfoot]

The way I see it, the worst case scenario for me is this. If somehow the mechanics create an Open situation that I find untenable, I'll simply switch to Solo or Group when I am in situations where it would bug me.

Gameplay wise, I will always assume I'm transferring my ships the long way and just skipping the middleman. Chances are I'll do all transfers at the end of a session instead of the start.

but because I also write Elite fiction and hope to get published, I also have to reconcile whatever lore mechanics they state with the fiction verse. I've already thought of some ways instant printing could "work" in my head here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...opers/page65?p=4412296&viewfull=1#post4412296

In the end, given the degree of interaction I have with CMDRs playing in BC, it's probably not going to affect me very much at all.

 

[Kastor]

Nice. I'm glad someone is willing to take the time to breakdown the madness.

What I foresee in answer to your questions
Consequences?
-Total end of manually transferring ship trips. I will find this greatly beneficial and will make my time spent playing the game better on average. I expect to see this benefit maybe, once a week.
-Large drop in Adder usage... because lets face it, want to get from A to B without investing much? Use an Adder. It'll be sad to see our lil ugly duckling less but I'll still find use of it now and then.
-Fast moving combat fleets: When CGs move around the various pro and counter CG faction will get their faster with the help of ship transfer. As a player that enjoys player interaction in all it's forms (even as I get vented into space) I see this as a benefit. However I expect there may be some people in long range traders that use a strategy of getting their first and only engaging in the first day of a CG so it'll be bad for them I guess.
-Warships in Jaqu. Probably the biggest issue is combat vessels getting to the second bubble easily and engage the more innocent explorers there. I feel a limitation of range on the system would solve this particular issue.

 

[number2301]

Two key impacts.

1. Top end pvp will require you to fit the very smallest possible

2. At its worst we'll see nothing but 50ly ships while travelling. This will harm the feel of the game, the realism of the world, and the variety.

 

[JYD75]

1) Presuming that FD have thought of or implemented a block of some kind for blocking instant ship transfers of ships with full cargo holds, very little actually. If not then I see a new cash cow coming
2) Personally for me I would find it great, especially if I make a new station my home (or want to set up a second homebase). I could have my small fleet wherever I am based - and I like that idea
3) Should we ever get the chance to have our own true bases/stations Point 2 would be extremely practical to move your stuff to your new home
4) That said I personally do not care if the transfer is instant or would take hours/days/weeks as I generally fly the ship I plan on using anyway and not the one with the greatest range or whatever.

 

[Ian Phillips]

1) Presuming that FD have thought of or implemented a block of some kind for blocking instant ship transfers of ships with full cargo holds, very little actually. If not then I see a new cash cow coming

You cannot store a ship if it has cargo.
you can only transfer stored ships.

 

[rav archer]

It will change the game. You will see only player asp explorers, and all other ships will have basic FSDs. FD please thinkn about it one more time, you will brake that game without time delay ship transfers.

 

[zimms]

Hello, everyone.

There are innumerable threads and posts on the topic of instant ship transfer.

You mean like yours?

With a few exceptions, such as Ziljian, who had a sensible objection, they're mostly full of people complaining, often without giving any particularly coherent reason as to why.

Very valid points have been mentioned. But they either get ignored, made fun of or simply called "complaining".

This thread frames much simpler questions:
• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?
• how will this affect your own, personal gameplay?
• how frequently does this seem likely to have an impact on your game, if any?

All of these have been answered countless times. I don't see the use of doing it one more time.

 

[CMDR ColD_ZA]

This thread frames much simpler questions:
• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?

Depending on its implementation, if the cost is low enough to facilitate you being able to summon your ships to you with prior time investment (low credit cost meaning little time spent to earn the credits for the transfer, or no time delay hindrance) we may sit with the situation where the most effective method of transport will be using a FSD modded asp to run around the bubble in and calling your ships to your location

Thus removing the need to consider your FSD in your combat ships loadouts, and removing the existing balancing that has been implemented in combat focused ships,

That will then lessen the depth of thought in ship choice as 2 most effective choices when traversing the bubble is your asp or conda


• how will this affect your own, personal gameplay?

If what I have mentioned above does become the new travel meta, being a multiplayer game I will feel compelled to alter my gameplay habit to keep up with the trend, and will remove a lot of the forethought and choice consequence that currently goes into my gameplay

one example is I have the rank for both a Corvette and Cutter, I have a Cutter because I wanted the jump range and firepower balance allowing me to deploy out to where I am needed for combat faster, at the cost of not being as effective as the Vette when I am there.

This will then make me not consider what ships I use on a scale of "convenience vs effectiveness"... I will simply choose the most overpowered ship for each scenario, and keep them in my back pocket like pokemon while traversing the bubble in my 50ly Asp

instead of creating a bond with the ship I have carefully chosen to fit my personality for its pros and cons, I will have a bunch on impersonal tools used to hammer whatever nail is up at a given time.

This also reduces the scale of the galaxy somewhat as each area will be a "stone's throw" away for all my ships thus removing the incentive to make the best of where you are at the time, exploring the systems nearby for gameplay opportunities,

I understand the whole "if I'm in my type 9 and there is a conflict zone nearby" argument, but if you are in your type 9 you will be engaging trading etc... if you planned to engage in conflict, you would already be in your Vulture, what will happen now is players in there 50 ly asp's will be hopping around looking for conflict zones and when one is found, then summon their ship, (9/10 it won't be "oh look there is a conflict zone" and I'm in my type 9) many of our players are very deliberate in their actions, and this feature will be used in those deliberate fashions to circumvent the current scale of the bubble

I am not opposed to this feature, and would like the convenience, albeit in a different permutation.


• how frequently does this seem likely to have an impact on your game, if any?

Very frequent as travel is one of the largest aspects of the game.... look at any large map scale game, they facilitate faster travel via waypoints, jumpgates etc, skyrim lets you insta travel to locations, but even then, time passes on the ingame clock because it takes time... they can facilitate that time passing as it is a single player game, Elite is a multiplayer game where everyone runs on the same clock, we need to find a way of carefully slotting this feature into the game instead of bolting it on like some backyard mechanic modification to a car... in its current implementation it's is an unsightly wart... and that is what is causing conflict and rejection I believe. Even in Gta V which is at heart an arcade game, when you call one of your garage cars to you, you phone up a mechanic, and ask him for your car... then after a short delay, the car appears around the corner out of sight.. it involves handwavium, but it fits in smoothly with the game, not just popped up in your face when the button is pushed

I believe this feature needs to be better explained and thought out, in its current state it feels a lot like a bolted on afterthought than a carefully integrated feature


Thank you for taking the time to read my post, remember this is my opinion and mine alone, I am not trying to invalidate anyone elses views or beliefs and respect all constructive input in this discussion, and I expect the same in return


Edit: after feedback given, and time spent thinking about an alternative.. I have suggested a solution

 

[Wasp0]

It will change the game. You will see only player asp explorers, and all other ships will have basic FSDs. FD please thinkn about it one more time, you will brake that game without time delay ship transfers.

this is my take on this update. In fact it is not an 'UP'date it is more a 'DOWN'date!!

 

[Flavourless]

Thus thread is only different in that it tries to structure answers in a way that exclude views not held by the OP. It is pretty useless.

But for the record:

• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?
The proposed mechanic is a fundamental change to how ships move in what was promoted as a 1:1 representation of the galaxy.
All gameplay involving moving ships (which is pretty much all gameplay in ED) is thus affected. The practical consequence is the altered gameplay.
• how will this affect your own, personal gameplay?
Since all of my ED gameplay involves moving ships from system to sytem (boring to stay in one place), then all of my personal gameplay is changed. IMO not for the better.
• how frequently does this seem likely to have an impact on your game, if any?
As I move ships from system to system all the time and the mechanics of how this may be done is altered, then it affects me 100% of the time.

/thread

 

[Patrick_68000]

The instant transfer reminds me of the TGV. And on this map, the TGV is not instantaneous

 

[Cynaqq]

It will change the game. You will see only player asp explorers, and all other ships will have basic FSDs. FD please thinkn about it one more time, you will brake that game without time delay ship transfers.

While traveling, yes. Probably lots of aspxs. However, do you think people will stop trading, mining, running missions just because they can instantly call their stored ships to other systems?

The chances that you can encounter traders or other, non combat ships will not change. The only thing changing is the frequency of long range fit combat ships trying to get to places.

 

[Goose4291]

How something effects your 'personal' gameplay is a tricky one.

At face value you can argue "it's optional so you don't have to use it."

However not using it puts you at a disadvantage when others do.

A slightly silly example would be if FIFA suddenly ruled that any player could run while carrying the ball in your hands in a game of football.

Now I don't have to do that, however if the chap I'm playing against does it puts me at a disadvantage.

 

[rav archer]

While traveling, yes. Probably lots of aspxs. However, do you think people will stop trading, mining, running missions just because they can instantly call their stored ships to other systems?

The chances that you can encounter traders or other, non combat ships will not change. The only thing changing is the frequency of long range fit combat ships trying to get to places.

For my that is a game braking effect, that players warships dont travel.
I know that you like EVERYTHING what FD will add or have added to the game . . .

 

[JYD75]

You cannot store a ship if it has cargo.you can only transfer stored ships.

Thanks Ian, missed that part. Well then I am satisfied with it

 

[Ian Skippy]

You cant move ships with cargo. Missions are typically within 20LY, so transfer won't help there. In my normal sessions, it will change nothing. It will make my life easier when changing home system and meeting up with friends. It's a simple qol change that has been completely blown out of proportion. As usual.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Thus thread is only different in that it tries to structure answers in a way that exclude views not held by the OP. It is pretty useless.

But for the record:

• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?
The proposed mechanic is a fundamental change to how ships move in what was promoted as a 1:1 representation of the galaxy.
All gameplay involving moving ships (which is pretty much all gameplay in ED) is thus affected. The practical consequence is the altered gameplay.

He asked for actual gameplay arguments. It only seems 'structured to exclude opposing views' in that you don't seem to have a structured gameplay argument. "It changes my gameplay with altered gameplay" isn't an argument, it's just a collection of words.

 

[Karlos Ploryman]

Hello, everyone.

There are innumerable threads and posts on the topic of instant ship transfer. With a few exceptions, such as Ziljian, who had a sensible objection, they're mostly full of people complaining, often without giving any particularly coherent reason as to why.

This thread frames much simpler questions:
• what are the likely actual, gameplay consequences of instant ship transfer?
• how will this affect your own, personal gameplay?
• how frequently does this seem likely to have an impact on your game, if any?

Please note that this is not a thread for approval or disapproval: there are other threads for that.
This is not a thread about realism or immersion: again, the other threads deal with such issues.

What practical impact is this actually going to have for most of us?

1) 50+ LY ASPs everywhere, Heavy combat builds with class 2 D rated FSD roaming distant places (which is now very unlikely)
2) If it gets implemented with INSTANT transfer, probably I will have a 50+LY ASP for distance traversing and summon my heavy combat built ship with class 2 D rated FSD
3) any and all the time

4) practical impact will be evident - getting combat ship to distant systems very quickly

o7 Karlos

 

[Ian Skippy]

1) 50+ LY ASPs everywhere, Heavy combat builds with class 2 D rated FSD roaming distant places (which is now very unlikely)
2) If it gets implemented with INSTANT transfer, probably I will have a 50+LY ASP for distance traversing and summon my heavy combat built ship with class 2 D rated FSD
3) any and all the time

4) practical impact will be evident - getting combat ship to distant systems very quickly

o7 Karlos

Considering we will have module storage and transfer temporarily downgrading FSD will happen regardless of ship transfer. It's nonsense argument...

 

[GaryII]

1) In general, will save some time for people - no need to buy space taxi = no boring gameplay...

2) Since I am located in Refinery system, where is limited ship and module selection = no need to fly Type 7 with E rated FSD with jumprange 10ly to get other/new ship...
Why Type 7 you may ask...because there are no Eng commodity storage

3) Not often since I am not planning to move to new home system anytime soon, maybe only if interesting CG starts somewhere...