The other night I was sitting in a station thinking about what to do, I was in a ~10 million pop system and I noticed how few ships were going in and out of the station, all but 2-3 pads empty. So tonight I went to one of the systems I spend a lot of time in and recorded a quick (and boring) 10 minutes of station traffic for a system population of ~4.5 million.
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Disclaimer: Boring video in spoiler.
I should say I couldn't even bring myself to count the ships coming and going....I got too bored, just from keeping an ear on it, I'd guess around a dozen in 10 minutes. That seems a bit low.
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Then I decided to check out supercruise, I have no missions or cargo so the game isn't trying to provide me with anything special, this is just 5 minutes of naked system traffic.
Again, maybe a half a dozen, a dozen ships? These are really typical spawn rates too, and that's in a system with almost every faction in boom, which would make me think that trade would be through the roof.
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I understand that we can't have 1000 ships flying around, it just won't work because of network and processing limitations, so my suggestion is simply to increase the turnover, dramatically. Fill those landing pads and keeps those shipping lanes moving! And populate that system, it was 90 seconds before the first ships turned up and then they were security vessels.
I'd wait an extra 30 seconds in hyperspace to come into a system with a dozen ships already flying all around.
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The pros I see of higher turnover rates:
At stations, smuggling becomes really interesting. The key now is just....go fast...but what if there is pretty much always someone going in and out of the station? The mail slot should always have someone in it, otherwise what's the point of building that big huge station?
What do you think? Is there enough traffic in systems and starports or do you think this would be a beneficial change to the galaxy?
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Disclaimer: Boring video in spoiler.
[video=youtube_share;eha4slDKZG0]https://youtu.be/eha4slDKZG0[/video]
I should say I couldn't even bring myself to count the ships coming and going....I got too bored, just from keeping an ear on it, I'd guess around a dozen in 10 minutes. That seems a bit low.
-
Then I decided to check out supercruise, I have no missions or cargo so the game isn't trying to provide me with anything special, this is just 5 minutes of naked system traffic.
[video=youtube_share;qaUO1AHXB9s]https://youtu.be/qaUO1AHXB9s[/video]
Again, maybe a half a dozen, a dozen ships? These are really typical spawn rates too, and that's in a system with almost every faction in boom, which would make me think that trade would be through the roof.
-
I understand that we can't have 1000 ships flying around, it just won't work because of network and processing limitations, so my suggestion is simply to increase the turnover, dramatically. Fill those landing pads and keeps those shipping lanes moving! And populate that system, it was 90 seconds before the first ships turned up and then they were security vessels.
I'd wait an extra 30 seconds in hyperspace to come into a system with a dozen ships already flying all around. -
The pros I see of higher turnover rates:
At stations, smuggling becomes really interesting. The key now is just....go fast...but what if there is pretty much always someone going in and out of the station? The mail slot should always have someone in it, otherwise what's the point of building that big huge station?
[*=1]Speed is dangerouser. With at least one ship always going through the mailslot the smaller ships really become the premier smugglers because it's much easier to slip a cobra between a python and a T7 than it is to slide an Asp between them. It won't be impossible to smuggle in bigger ships, but as of now, it's really quite easy, just go fast.
[*=1]Stealth is more viable, too many targets to scan, the police have to choose. Silent running is far more effective while gliding than while boosting. (you are visible to at least 2km while boosting, less than 500 while gliding in a DBX against A8 sensors) With lots of ships going in and out you can coast out of a station ice cold and float to safety, the way Han did when he detached from the star destroyer with the garbage.
[*=1]As a bounty hunter there would be a steady turnover of ships ranging in all sizes to check as potential targets.
[*=1]As a pirate there is a constant supply of potential targets.
[*=1]As a trader there is a reason to watch the scanner other than that one time in supercruise when a ship enters the system.
[*=1]As a BGS player I can actually find ships from the factions I'm trying to depress rather than wait endlessly for one of them to spawn.
[*=1]It also allows for a larger and more obvious gradient between larger and lower population systems because you can adjust the traffic flow accordingly, right now it feels like a tumbleweed should be rolling past my canopy regardless of the system.
What do you think? Is there enough traffic in systems and starports or do you think this would be a beneficial change to the galaxy?
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