New Feature: Share/Borrow Ships from other CMDRs

Sneake Llama

Sneake Llama
Idea on sharing your ships with other players. Not sure if this topic has ever been discussed in the vast open space of the forums, but here is my idea. Obviously this only an idea, so I haven't really fleshed out all the details of it.

You may invite another player(s) in your friends list to borrow any of your ships you have docked somewhere in the galaxy that you are not currently piloting. Here are some stipulations I was thinking of when coming to that:

1) The borrowing player only takes 50% (or so) credits earned in borrowed ship, and the ship owner takes the other 50%.

2) If ship is destroyed while borrower is the pilot, the owner pays 50% (or so) of the insurance, the borrower pays the other 50%. In the case where borrower cannot pay the amount (or makes it an option?), the borrower will accrue a debt, in which 25% (or so) of all credits earned are automatically paid toward the debt.​

This is only something that popped into my head just a few moments ago, so I'd thought I'd write it down before i forgot. I just thought it would be cool to let your friends try out ships that you own.

Idk, let me know what you guys think. If it's a stupid idea, or if this has been hashed out in the forums already, I apologize. Don't judge me too harshly.

Peace :)
 

RasputinX

R
R34per said:
Mmm yet again what's the point? I mean it sounds cool but... Why?
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Not gonna say its a good idea or a bad one, but if you can't come up with at least a few situations where some people might find this idea useful you have a failure of the imagination.
 

AkimuMC

AkimuMC
Guywired said:
Increasing player participation rates is a good thing.

People participate and play more when they have friends to play with. Pretty simple really.
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How does that correlate with "ship share"? You can currently play with friends... this feature is not a requirement to do that.
 

RasputinX

R
AkimuMC said:
How does that correlate with "ship share"? You can currently play with friends... this feature is not a requirement to do that.
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Oh, I thought it was lazy, however I see where he could be going there, but then, I've also given this a bit of thought already. Note: Not saying I endorse this idea, but I see the thinking.

"Sharing" could encourage new players by allowing them to "hang" with their more advanced friends easier. It could allow players do experience new playstyles or builds without necessary investment, like a "Trader" might be able to borrow a spare FerDeLance so he can hang at the CZ with his buddy in the 'Vette. (I suppose a dedicated Combat player could schlepp around some Commodities to a CG in an Anaconda his more mercantile-oriented friend has put aside in favor of a Cutter.)

"Come Bounty Hunting with us!"
"In my Type-7? I'm good."
"Nah, I got a spare Vulture you can roll in."
"For reals? w0rd. I'm there."

OR

"Hey man, can you give me any tips on mining for Painite? I gotta find some to give to Whasserface and I've never been mining before."
"Well, I could just GIVE you some, but if you'd prefer to actually try and do some mining yourself, I've got an Asp already set up for mining. I can take you to the spot and give you some cover while I amuse myself bounty hunting around the REZ while covering you in my Python. Who knows you might enjoy it."
"Screw that, just give me some...joking...hook me up with an invite and we'll get this going, I've got a few hours to play."

OR

"*incoherent birdlike squawking"
"You seem cool, want to borrow my spare Corvette and gank people? Just try not to get killed more than...40 times...I feel naked when I have less than 5 Billion credits in the bank."
"We're the best! #1!"
 
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ThatRubberDuck

ThatRubberDuck
RasputinX said:
"Come Bounty Hunting with us!"
"In my Type-7? I'm good."
"Nah, I got a spare Vulture you can roll in."
"For reals? w0rd. I'm there."

OR

"Hey man, can you give me any tips on mining for Painite? I gotta find some to give to Whasserface and I've never been mining before."
"Well, I could just GIVE you some, but if you'd prefer to actually try and do some mining yourself, I've got an Asp already set up for mining. I can take you to the spot and give you some cover while I amuse myself bounty hunting around the REZ while covering you in my Python. Who knows you might enjoy it."
"Screw that, just give me some...joking...hook me up with an invite and we'll get this going, I've got a few hours to play."
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these are decent examples of why it would be a good idea but the massive bad point would be:

"come play this game you don't even have to do any work, I'll buy you a (corvette/fdl/conda/cutter, delete as applicable) with the endless amounts of cash I have from doing massacre missions killing skimmers and relogging, sorted now lets go pew pew"

obviously I get there would be something to try and stop it just being a shortcut for people but seems like it would be whole lot of work IMO
 

MattySoho

MattySoho
I know of a few friends who's gameplay would be vastly improved with this feature. I don't mind the grind involved in acquiring/upgrading/engineering my ships, but some of my buddies just want to jump on and go shoot stuff in a well outfitted ship, of which I have a few. I can only fly one at a time, after all.
 

HBK

HBK
Ship sharing should have been a given, even before the incoming Multi-Crew patch. I understand there are game design issues to tackle on top of technical issues but if I want to lend my fully upgraded FdL to someone to wants a taste of this ship, I should be able to do so, obviously with the usual rebuy costs and all that.

Another thing that is not coming anytime soon but would tremendously improve the game for many players is the ability to hire NPC to fly your own ships, and not just SLF. Of course it needs some kind of limit like only one NPC wingman at a time (like with SLF heh) but that would gives a ton of purpose to owning multiple ships. Again with rebuys and upkeep and all that.
 
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Wildthing

Wildthing
First off...Nobody would ever be allowed to touch my Baby's.

Dont think this would ever be a good idea.
Maybe if you had a NPC Rental Station. But even that seems bad.
Just does not fit in to the Games Design Structure.


o7
 

Armholeeio

Armholeeio
I can't think of any game where your allowed to borrow another players stuff I maybe wrong and enlighten me with what game on the market that allows borrowing of stuff between players. If guys want to try a ship then there should be a sandbox feature like war thunder where you can try a tank on a test server for the lack of a better label. If Fdev put that in with say a training academy tag you can wing up and try out what ever ships against waves of npc's then at least it's a compromise
 

HBK

HBK
Armholeeio said:
I can't think of any game where your allowed to borrow another players stuff I maybe wrong and enlighten me with what game on the market that allows borrowing of stuff between players. If guys want to try a ship then there should be a sandbox feature like war thunder where you can try a tank on a test server for the lack of a better label. If Fdev put that in with say a training academy tag you can wing up and try out what ever ships against waves of npc's then at least it's a compromise
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It'd be a mess in your cookie-cutter MMO to check out specific gear (helmet, torso, arms, etc) while it would only change the stats (and the looks), therefore would not change the core gameplay.

While in something like ED it'd just be "hand over the keys" with simple constraints like "can't sell nor outfit". And you get the benefit of trying another ship/setup and/or be competitive in helping a friend who's way further than you in the food chain.

Oh and car games like recent Forzas do allow "borrowing" (in its own way) in MP games (basically you can use yourself a "copy" of any car that another player is using for that race, with drawbacks like no money gains in return).
 
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mung0

mung0
We'd just discussed the same thing couple of days ago in the thread rasputin linked :)

First off, why would this be a nice feature? As a loaner, you could gain a few extra credits from spare ships that are just sat around while you're not using them. As a loanee, you get to try out a ship / build for a modest fee without having to go the whole mile of obtaining your own. Good for try-before-you-buy type scenarios.

It could totally work as a concept, with a few key provisos:

1. The ship being loaned is under no risk of loss for the player that loans it out
2. The player receiving the loaned ship can't tinker with the ship's config in any way (the loaner gets back the same ship they gave out)
3. Aside from the above restrictions, for the duration of the loan the player receiving the loaned ship has the right to otherwise enjoy use of the ship without interference from the loaner

Beyond that it's really just dealing with a few edge cases to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Example scenarios & possible handling..

Q. What if I loan out a ship and the loanee destroys it?
A. Loanee either pays off any rebuys themselves or else lose access to the ship, in which case ship gets transferred back to the original owner ahead of schedule.

Q. What if someone borrows my ship and doesn't give it back?
A. Loans should always be for a fixed period of time, say a week. If you don't turn it back in before your time is up, you get kicked out of it, rather like a rebuy scenario. Obviously the player should be given reminder notices ahead of the final kick, especially if it's going to happen during an active play session.

Q. What if I loaned out a ship but changed my mind and want it back?
A. Tough. Just wait until the week or whatever is up and you'll get it back then.

* * *

Tbh I'm doubtful this feature will ever be implemented. At a high level it's reasonably simple but technically it's likely to be pretty darn awkward. Would be kinda nice though. I'd like the thought of someone enjoying flying my cobra or whatever around while I'm not using it.
 
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