Pilot transfer between stations with stored ships.

[Armyofducks]

I don't think it's a bad idea tbf. What would go well with it would be a send ship to destination feature. For someone like me with ltd playtime it would be a help. Ie my combat fitted Vulture is in Sol, I'm at Mia and the bounty hunting CG is the other side of the bubble. My Vulture with its 15Ly range could be transferred to the CG system before I leave Mia taking 2/3 hours for x credits. I could then leave Mia in my 50Ly asp and stroll all the way to meet it.

As it stands I have to get to the CG, taking anything up to a few hours, then transfer and wait for the Vulture to turn up. In the meantime works gone mental and I only get one evening actually doing the CG I wanted to take part I on.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

I wouldn't think it would be hard to implement, I mean it could work just like shipping our mods and ships now. What is the going rate for a vip to go from here to there one way as they do now; the cost of a pilot going from here to there should be equivalent.

 

[Silveressa]

I would love something like this to be implemented, given the length of time it otherwise takes to fly somewhere to go mining (or whatever) with friends, only to then have to fly all the way back to wherever my combat ship was docked to resume doing missions in my "usual area."

What would be especially nice is if they offered something similar to this that would allow a player to transfer between owned ships, but only if the two ships were at least 1000+ (or maybe 5000?) light years apart? Currently I very much want to take my fully kitted explorer ship out into the deep black and spend several weeks/month exploring the unknown and seeing what's out there, but doing so would mean I pretty much have to stop grouping up for missions with friends completely unless they decide to also head out into the far reaches to explore with me. (Which doesn't interest the majority of them.)

Or maybe just allowing players to have two pilots per account, so they don't have to choose between exploring the universe or playing with friends when they get further into the game where long range exploration is a viable activity.?

 

[John Guevara]

i like the idea of pilot transfer, but i suggest it would be done with time binding (NOT INSTANT!!!), just like a passenger. you set a stationname, pay money for the contract and wait for another pilot who will bring you to the destination. nice idea.

 

[Karmachi]

i like the idea of pilot transfer, but i suggest it would be done with time binding (NOT INSTANT!!!), just like a passenger. you set a stationname, pay money for the contract and wait for another pilot who will bring you to the destination. nice idea.

Thanks everyone for your responses. Fairly mixed which is a positive.

I believe what drives some comments is the fact that players play the game in different ways. You definitely have the stalwarts of immersion. The players who live the Elite Dangerous life so to speak. But then you have myself who as yet hasn't engaged as deep into the ED:H lifestyle. I have no HOTAS, no three screens etc.

Thus with my time would like to do what grabs me at the time. Maybe I have ADHD, who knows. Anyway I think the ability to chop and change activities and ships for me would be great.

I took some advice and I have a Asp-X kitted to 40LY and yes that helps. But still now I have just got bored of HazRes fights and now want to use my Python for mining. It's 375 LY away for some such distance.

So to clarify the idea:

1) A pilot can only travel between stations where they already have a ship parked.
2) The player would travel the same as a module. Same mechanics, cost and time. Travel is NOT instant.

So as mentioned I'm now in LTT377 and my Python is at ZEOS. I apply for travel, go make a sandwich, take a shower or whatever, come back and my CMDR will be at ZEOS. Is it actively playing the game end to end? Maybe not, but it is a great game and as such needs to accommodate a wider spectrum of player needs.

Thanks once again.

 

[Silveressa]

1) A pilot can only travel between stations where they already have a ship parked.
2) The player would travel the same as a module. Same mechanics, cost and time. Travel is NOT instant.

I do like this idea, but it doesn't really help players like myself, that are trying to do deep space exploration and still want to group up with their friends for regular game play. (which is pretty much impossible currently if you're near the other side of the galaxy unless you want to spend several hours flying back home and basically abandon your exploration run.)

Perhaps give a module on ships to allow for teleportation (with a lengthy charge up equivalent to the travel time transporting ships between stations takes) and some kind of "sector teleport fee" that would also be on part with the current fee for shipping starships between stations? (Or just give the min distance of 1000 LY or whatever before it can be used?)

 

[dxm55]

I support the idea.

Ship transfers now take time. I know as I've transferred an Anaconda from Jameson''s Memorial to somewhere near Khun, and it took what? 45mins and several mil creds.
I've several ships scattered throughout the bubble, but quite a number of them are back at Jameson's.

Sometimes I just want to play out some stuff at the edge of the bubble, then hop back to the center for some other action. The endless jumps are boring though.
I wouldn't mind paying for a pilot transfer, then logging out for 45 mins, or shorter/longer depending on distance, to take a RL snack or breather then back in again later to pick up where I left off.

And if a player doesn't wanna log off, maybe he can be confined to a new menu screen where he can do his personal administrative in-game crap while in-transit?
Like see the galaxy map? Read the news? Look at all his ships/assets info, etc?

I consider myself a casual ED gamer. Don't bother with PP, imp/Fed ranking. I just core mine for cash, bounty hunt for kicks, and am engineering my ships now for the heck of it (hate the grind of running mats and stuff all around though). Being able to leave my ship behind near an engineer living at the edge of the bubble, and then getting back to civilization for other fun stuff would make the game more enjoyable.


"Serious" players might oppose this though. I mean, yeah, those types will always disagree on features that ruin their idea of ''immersion''.
But it isn't unrealistic to say that pilots can and do use ferry services when they don't want to fly stick themselves, right?

 

[Nadreck]

I think the cost should be equivalent to the module transfer cost for a size 2 economy passenger cabin (which can hold 2 people, if there was a business class equivalent it would hold 1). You are effectively paying someone to move a small passenger cabin, with you inside it.

 

[Ethaidan]

I took some advice and I have a Asp-X kitted to 40LY and yes that helps. But still now I have just got bored of HazRes fights and now want to use my Python for mining. It's 375 LY away for some such distance.

Here's a simpler solution... don't park your ships so far apart until you've engineered better jump ranges?

 

[Kaocraft]

Hot take, I guess:

What if when you log into the game you can choose to start inside the cockpit of any ship you own?

How would this in any way damage the game? The only thing I can think of is you'd have to disallow the option while holding cargo or while missions are active. Otherwise, though, why not have this?

 

[Robert Maynard]

Hot take, I guess:

What if when you log into the game you can choose to start inside the cockpit of any ship you own?

How would this in any way damage the game? The only thing I can think of is you'd have to disallow the option while holding cargo or while missions are active. Otherwise, though, why not have this?

It would introduce fast travel anywhere in the galaxy (where the player had previously stored a ship).

Travel to a location once, summon ship of choice, move on to next location (and repeat)....

 

[Nadreck]

I'd suggest putting in a distance/time limit: you can't log in to another ship unless it's one you could have travelled to while you were logged off, at ship/module transfer speed.

 

[Florenus]

I'm wondering if there is, or could be introduced a transport method, at cost for a pilot (me) to move between stations where I have ships stored.

For example I have a Python as a passenger transport at Sol. I do a few missions and then want a change of play. As i understand it I now have to return 450LY to where I have my Krait to enable me to go mining. Then when I want to go passenger again I have to travel 450LY again. Rinse and repeat.

Is it possible to have a pilot transfer similar to module transfer to target stations only where you have ships stored?

Thank you.

This idea will not fly,

Make yourself a taxi with good jump range.
My engineered DBX can do 450Ly in about 7 jumps = not much of a problem.
I know, because I use it for that exact purpose - when I want to change scenery and run some cargo missions for serious money I have a Type9 parked about that far from the center of the bubble

 

[Vandaahl]

Well, come to think of it... You can transfer a ship, why not transfer the ship you are in. You still have to wait 60 hours before you're in Colonia, and it will cost you some more, by yeah, why not?

 

[Kaocraft]

It would introduce fast travel anywhere in the galaxy (where the player had previously stored a ship).

Travel to a location once, summon ship of choice, move on to next location (and repeat)....

Right. I understand that. But my question was how this would in any way damage the game?

 

[MadDogMurdock]

The correct answer is yes to instant pilot transfer.
The price is to scrap ship transfer altogether.

This would transform the game, making switching gameplay styles, joining friends, etc., far more flexible.

However, taking advantage requires that you have put your ships where they need to be yourself - no shortcuts.

There are some obvious exploits that would need to be closed. However, some represent flaws in the game logic anyway. e.g. Exploration data and materials storage would need to be tied to ships, not pilots.

 

[Chaparral]

As you can tell, I am a fan of the Altered Carbon series. In the text and netflix series, your biologic neural patterns that encode your memories, skills, etc. are monitored and stored in a physical cybernetic implant or "stack". The body you wear or "sleeve" can be traded in at any time. My avatar is an image of one of these stacks. I believe this technology is very consistent with the Elite universe, and meshes nicely with the Holo-me and restoration after destruction.

Within the context of the series, your stack can be backed up through "needlecast" at regular intervals to storage facilities. In Elite, I envision a commander being backed up at the last docked station. In this way, if you are destroyed, you are downloaded to a new stack, resleeved in a clone, and sent back out into the black. Part of the insurance cost reflects this process in my perspective.

Here's the application to transferring a commander. In the context of the Altered Carbon universe, it is possible to be needlcast to a distant waiting sleeve, do whatever, and then needlecast back. These services are extremely expensive, or are reserved for elite military units.

I do think this service should be offered, but it should be extremely expensive. What's the harm?

 

[Bloodsign]

Well this is a great question. I'm not sure of the answer, but wasn't thinking of zero time teleporting. Maybe a shuttle that takes the same time one of your ships or modules would take to be transferred to you.

Maybe because I'm new is why I think this is a good feature. I only have stock ships and FSD so doing 30 hops just to change activities which keep me interested in playing the game at that time.

Anyway I take it from the other comments CMDRs treat this more as a sim than a 'game'.

As a low level CMDR, I just play in the solo mode. Maybe this feature could be included in only that mode?

Thanks for your reply.

Problem is that your location in Solo is the same as your location in Open, making this a game-breaking exploit. Now if we had a 100% offline mode, completely separate from Solo/Open, this could work.

 

[Bloodsign]

As you can tell, I am a fan of the Altered Carbon series. In the text and netflix series, your biologic neural patterns that encode your memories, skills, etc. are monitored and stored in a physical cybernetic implant or "stack". The body you wear or "sleeve" can be traded in at any time. My avatar is an image of one of these stacks. I believe this technology is very consistent with the Elite universe, and meshes nicely with the Holo-me and restoration after destruction.

Within the context of the series, your stack can be backed up through "needlecast" at regular intervals to storage facilities. In Elite, I envision a commander being backed up at the last docked station. In this way, if you are destroyed, you are downloaded to a new stack, resleeved in a clone, and sent back out into the black. Part of the insurance cost reflects this process in my perspective.

Here's the application to transferring a commander. In the context of the Altered Carbon universe, it is possible to be needlcast to a distant waiting sleeve, do whatever, and then needlecast back. These services are extremely expensive, or are reserved for elite military units.

I do think this service should be offered, but it should be extremely expensive. What's the harm?

I like the concept, I'm just not sure it can work in ED.

 

[V'larr]

I do think this service should be offered, but it should be extremely expensive. What's the harm?

There's a lot of harm. Think the implications through. The community beat this topic to death back when Frontier made the foolish choice to even entertain the idea of 'instant ship transfer' during a live event.

It cannot work in a game that has a realtime shared background universe simulation, with travel as one of its primary axis. Any kind of 'instant teleport' that ignores that breaks the core of the game itself and has a domino effect on all kinds of stuff.

Not to mention that ship transfers has been prohibitively expensive from its introduction - a fact that slipped under the radar because of the hubballoo over instant/non-instant - and that is most certainly not a mistake that should be encouraged or repeated again for what is meant as a QOL enhancement.