Nav Beacon Discussion - How to make Beacons relevant and engaging!

How about this for ease of use:

If you plot a multi-leg hyperspace route, then you only drop out at the nav beacon on your last stop. On the intermediate stops, you jump out in supercruise as normal, allowing you to fuel scoop or quickly resume your journey.

If you head in-system from one of your stop-offs, nothing stops you, but if you then dock at a station before dropping in at the nav beacon, you receive a fine - small for your ship itself, maybe 800 credits, but an additional 100 per ton of cargo for customs violation.

Thats a very good idea. You could say we drop out in a safe zone at the end of the journey.
 
Incorrect. Destination target obscured.

So in this case you have to engage super cruise and move to a position where the jump isn't obscured not really much of a delay. If supercruise allows you to jump through stellar objects and jumping from normal space doesn't this is another logical fail, it breaks Elites own internal science of how super cruise works. A jump should be obscured by stellar objects whether you are in normal drive or super cruise, super cruise allows you to move to a clear path quicker and then jump quicker.

The system being proposed would make the game more sim like with more realistic navigation.

The fact you can jump in super cruise and come out of hyperspace in super cruise is another logical fail, both systems use the same drive how exactly do you charge for a jump while using the engine to super cruise which is already putting massive strain on that engine. You have to charge up for super cruise which implies the engine is being used at a very high level but you can then charge it again to jump.

If the NAV beacon was at a lagrange point the amount of times the target is obscured would be few and far between.

We have lots of others resisting change to this game because it would make it too easy and unrealistic, yet in this instance people want things easy and unrealistic.

My memory may be faulty, can someone remind me in the original elite did you leave hyperspace next to the star ?
 
Last edited:
In the end, if you have to force people into something to get them there its not worth forcing people into it. Make whats there worthwhile so players want to go there and let people who don't like that ignore it. Because no matter how good your idea is, it will never be something for everybody.
 
In the end, if you have to force people into something to get them there its not worth forcing people into it. Make whats there worthwhile so players want to go there and let people who don't like that ignore it. Because no matter how good your idea is, it will never be something for everybody.

That does make sense to some extent. But let's get back to the core of this. There is a way to incorporate the nav beacon into gameplay that makes positive changes to the game. So far, one good way to increase the beacon's relevance is to make it a central hub. Landing at the beacon allows you to jump directly to a station and allows you to submit to security scans. Ignoring the beacon paints a target on you for the local police presence. Beacons would be indicative of the system's allegiances, culture, security level, economy, etc.

This sort of situation would allow people to enjoy supercruise, and/or take the time to submit to scans and jump right to their destination (offsetting the time spent to drop at the beacon at all.) Smugglers now have to supercruise and ignore the beacon, making it more difficult to smuggle into more secure systems. Traders now have to be extra wary in lower security systems. In both cases the payoff would ideally be greater to offset that difficulty. It's not just "have it your way", there are consequences. There should be consequences and interesting, meaningful choices. I do think we all agree on that point, we just need to work out the specifics.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
That does make sense to some extent. But let's get back to the core of this. There is a way to incorporate the nav beacon into gameplay that makes positive changes to the game. So far, one good way to increase the beacon's relevance is to make it a central hub. Landing at the beacon allows you to jump directly to a station and allows you to submit to security scans. Ignoring the beacon paints a target on you for the local police presence. Beacons would be indicative of the system's allegiances, culture, security level, economy, etc.

This sort of situation would allow people to enjoy supercruise, and/or take the time to submit to scans and jump right to their destination (offsetting the time spent to drop at the beacon at all.) Smugglers now have to supercruise and ignore the beacon, making it more difficult to smuggle into more secure systems. Traders now have to be extra wary in lower security systems. In both cases the payoff would ideally be greater to offset that difficulty. It's not just "have it your way", there are consequences. There should be consequences and interesting, meaningful choices. I do think we all agree on that point, we just need to work out the specifics.

Changing the Nav Beacon from a place where some ships congregate voluntarily into a necessary stopping point (unless the player wants to be fined) is coercion.

Given Sandro's comments on chokepoints, I doubt that this proposal will gain much traction
 
Last edited:
Changing the Nav Beacon from a place where some ships congregate voluntarily into a necessary stopping point (unless the player wants to be fined) is coercion.

Given Sandro's comments on chokepoints, I doubt that this proposal will gain much traction

Forget the fine then. We already determined fines are useless and either irritating or inconsequential, so no need for that. Voluntary congregation? Who would voluntarily hang out at a beacon when there's literally no reason to?

You are right - it should not be a necessity. But it should be relevant and engaging. It should be a choice to avoid the beacon, and the consequences would be that you have to travel via supercruise and that you may be interdicted and scanned by security, or interdicted by a pirate. You may be fine with that. There's a lot to be missed in supercruise if you skip from the nav beacon to the station. A mission may require you to scour supercruise for things.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Forget the fine then. We already determined fines are useless and either irritating or inconsequential, so no need for that. Voluntary congregation? Who would voluntarily hang out at a beacon when there's literally no reason to?

You are right - it should not be a necessity. But it should be relevant and engaging. It should be a choice to avoid the beacon, and the consequences would be that you have to travel via supercruise and that you may be interdicted and scanned by security, or interdicted by a pirate. You may be fine with that. There's a lot to be missed in supercruise if you skip from the nav beacon to the station. A mission may require you to scour supercruise for things.

Travelling via super-cruise from the main star to the destination, risking interdiction on the way *is* the way we play the game. The fast-travel from beacon to station is a wishlist item that I don't expect Frontier to implement any time soon - it would have fundamentally changed the Hutton Orbital CG as one example.
 
Travelling via super-cruise from the main star to the destination, risking interdiction on the way *is* the way we play the game. The fast-travel from beacon to station is a wishlist item that I don't expect Frontier to implement any time soon - it would have fundamentally changed the Hutton Orbital CG as one example.

Not every nav beacon has to have that feature - it could be directly linked to economical growth, ethics, allegiance...it could be hand crafted if you never wanted Hutton to have that option.

That's another thing - suppose that only large or huge populations even have this option. We suddenly have an even more compelling reason to foster a station or system for the purpose of building them up. Wouldn't that be a really cool thing?
 
I think it would make sense if you dropped in to nav beacon in systems that have them and only by the star if there is no nav beacon present. Otherwise, what difference do they make to navigation? And it would certainly make compromised nav beacons more relevant.
 
Last edited:
But what about when you come from other side of star? Should you pass through star to land in nav beacon?

Honestly, I have no idea how relevant this is because nav beacons in my mind have just been wherever due to them not being important. But honestly, yea, you can travel around a sun to get to the nav beacon. The drop parameter could be more beacon-centric to avoid that inconvenience, perhaps. Honestly, you could make the choice when hyperjumping to land directly at a beacon on jump, or land at the core star in supercruise. These are all options to consider.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Not every nav beacon has to have that feature - it could be directly linked to economical growth, ethics, allegiance...it could be hand crafted if you never wanted Hutton to have that option.

That's another thing - suppose that only large or huge populations even have this option. We suddenly have an even more compelling reason to foster a station or system for the purpose of building them up. Wouldn't that be a really cool thing?

I'm not a fan of artificial chokepoints - especially if they are enabled as a form of territorial control for a player group sponsoring a minor faction....
 
Last edited:
And how would you make nav beacons interesting?

For example, I would turn them into a remote data transfer service. Buy map and market data right there from the beacon (beacon owned by system owners). Hand in exploration data, or even some types of missions (e.g. "hunt x pirates"), cash in bounties, pay fines. All only possible within a certain distance from the beacon (let's say 2km). Basically, give us a reason why we might sometimes want to go there, and why other ships would want to visit there, too.
 
Last edited:
I'm not a fan of artificial chokepoints - especially if they are enabled as a form of territorial control for a player group sponsoring a minor faction....

Then that player has the option to recruit some friends to overthrow the territorial control if it becomes irksome, or he can move to solo/mobius if he can't be bothered.

Still doesn't have to be a choke point - you can skip it altogether and take your hand avoiding interdiction, or go to another system if you can't handle it.
 
For example, I would turn them into a remote data transfer service. Buy map and market data right there from the beacon (beacon owned by system owners). Hand in exploration data, or even some types of missions (e.g. "hunt x pirates"), cash in bounties, pay fines. All only possible within a certain distance from the beacon (let's say 2km). Basically, give us a reason why we might sometimes want to go there, and why other ships would want to visit there, too.

That's an interesting thought. Would certainly make it easier for traders to find systems with good buy/sell prices.

Maybe move the black market there too, with 'shady dealers' lurking on the periphery.
 
The more I think about this idea the more I see exciting possibilities to truly enhance the game

For example combining this system gate keeper mechanics with permit system, wow so much untaped potential; let me expand this a bit

1. You can have/obtain kind of freelancer pass or faction contract pass (if you are doing contracts/missions for certain faction)or bounty hunting pass throughtout eravate and it's surounding systems

2. So if you have those pass you can roam through that region for free without having to check into the system gate as long as you stick to what kind of pass/permit you have; details can be fine tuned but I think you can get my idea here

3. Now here it's getting more interesting, real life smugglers usually smuggling things mixed in with legal stuffs, right? So the same can be applied to this game! If you have the permit to system A you can smuggle those slaves without having to submit into the system gate security, because legally you are a registered trader on that area; of course again details can be fine tuned, but I trust the idea is sound.

So much potential there :(
 
The more I think about this idea the more I see exciting possibilities to truly enhance the game

For example combining this system gate keeper mechanics with permit system, wow so much untaped potential; let me expand this a bit

1. You can have/obtain kind of freelancer pass or faction contract pass (if you are doing contracts/missions for certain faction)or bounty hunting pass throughtout eravate and it's surounding systems

2. So if you have those pass you can roam through that region for free without having to check into the system gate as long as you stick to what kind of pass/permit you have; details can be fine tuned but I think you can get my idea here

3. Now here it's getting more interesting, real life smugglers usually smuggling things mixed in with legal stuffs, right? So the same can be applied to this game! If you have the permit to system A you can smuggle those slaves without having to submit into the system gate security, because legally you are a registered trader on that area; of course again details can be fine tuned, but I trust the idea is sound.

So much potential there :(

That and you have the added impact of rep....if you're allied police are less likely to interdict you, for instance. Same thing if you decide to get allied with a pirate faction.
 
Then that player has the option to recruit some friends to overthrow the territorial control if it becomes irksome, or he can move to solo/mobius if he can't be bothered.

Still doesn't have to be a choke point - you can skip it altogether and take your hand avoiding interdiction, or go to another system if you can't handle it.

Territorial control at a player level is something that is not going to happen in this game - you have the wrong game :)

To elaborate: system control happens by way of the Background Simulation in the form of the system factions - players can influence who controls a system by supporting one of these BGS factions.

Same happens with the major Powers.

Because of the way this game is designed, at the moment you can try to blockade a system at a player level - and some 'groups' do try - but ultimately they are foiled by "Han Solomode", Private Group mode, and/or instancing (e.g. I could easily slip past a blockade because I'm not placed in the same game instance as the blockaders). It's just not that kind of game where this kind of player-territorial stuff can easily or effectively happen.



The more I think about this idea the more I see exciting possibilities to truly enhance the game

For example combining this system gate keeper mechanics with permit system, wow so much untaped potential; let me expand this a bit

1. You can have/obtain kind of freelancer pass or faction contract pass (if you are doing contracts/missions for certain faction)or bounty hunting pass throughtout eravate and it's surounding systems

2. So if you have those pass you can roam through that region for free without having to check into the system gate as long as you stick to what kind of pass/permit you have; details can be fine tuned but I think you can get my idea here

3. Now here it's getting more interesting, real life smugglers usually smuggling things mixed in with legal stuffs, right? So the same can be applied to this game! If you have the permit to system A you can smuggle those slaves without having to submit into the system gate security, because legally you are a registered trader on that area; of course again details can be fine tuned, but I trust the idea is sound.

So much potential there :(

That and you have the added impact of rep....if you're allied police are less likely to interdict you, for instance. Same thing if you decide to get allied with a pirate faction.

You both appear to be ignoring the fact that FDEV do not want there to be chokepoints/bottlenecks for ships jumping into systems. Whether you disagree or think they're wrong or not is irrelevant (I happen to agree with that particular design choice) - these bottlenecks will not happen.

Regards o7
 
Back
Top Bottom