Pilot transfer

[bootsam]

I dont see how this is any different to a 'sleeper' type of travel such as a train. Say you wish to travel somewhere but you cant stay logged on as you have other duties in life, like going to work. It would be nice to be able to travel to a port as a passenger and have my ship shipped there. For a time and cost penalty of course. Then when I log back in, I can then go about my business. I'm not interested in travel to Sag A or Beagle, just bubble or places where theres a port large enough. If I log in whilst on route, all I get is the passenger interface, with crap films and duty free. Maybe even limit this type of travel to one per day, week or month to prevent abuse. As I cant think of any exploits but someone probably will. Sometimes I get hyper jump space madness and need a break. Currently having a break means not playing, but I'll still have to do that long journey when I do log back in and thats not helpful. If I could just set it all up before I go to bed, then work etc and when I reload back in that evening I can then pass through the baggage room and get back to my ship and then my business there. That would be nice.

Or let me pay a cmdr to take me as a passenger, like those dodgy ones you can pick up. The sensitive to scan types. Then I can ask for my ship to be sent there on arrival. I could even moan and cuss the CMDR for their or my entertainment on route. Anything just to occasionally not have to stare at that hyper screen thing for 30+ odd times, over and over. Im ok with it most times, but just occasionally I get fed up with it. So for now I use my Asp. I use my long range asp to travel then I call the needed ship there and transfer to it. Sometimes ive run out of time just on the journey. I envy those of you who have more time to spare on the game. But I have limited time. I appreciate people wont agree and no I dont want an easy button. We already have plenty of those in game anyway. Allegedly.

Or let me employ an expensive chauffeur.

 

[Stealthie]

I want to get an engineered Corvette to Colonia eventually but it would be almost impossible to get there by itself and the transfer fee would be extortionate.

By coincidence, I was out at Jaques a while back and I took the opportunity to check.

Spoiler

[where is it]

 

[the source 0179]

I dont see how this is any different to a 'sleeper' type of travel such as a train. Say you wish to travel somewhere but you cant stay logged on as you have other duties in life, like going to work. It would be nice to be able to travel to a port as a passenger and have my ship shipped there. For a time and cost penalty of course. Then when I log back in, I can then go about my business. I'm not interested in travel to Sag A or Beagle, just bubble or places where theres a port large enough. If I log in whilst on route, all I get is the passenger interface, with crap films and duty free. Maybe even limit this type of travel to one per day, week or month to prevent abuse. As I cant think of any exploits but someone probably will. Sometimes I get hyper jump space madness and need a break. Currently having a break means not playing, but I'll still have to do that long journey when I do log back in and thats not helpful. If I could just set it all up before I go to bed, then work etc and when I reload back in that evening I can then pass through the baggage room and get back to my ship and then my business there. That would be nice.

Or let me pay a cmdr to take me as a passenger, like those dodgy ones you can pick up. The sensitive to scan types. Then I can ask for my ship to be sent there on arrival. I could even moan and cuss the CMDR for their or my entertainment on route. Anything just to occasionally not have to stare at that hyper screen thing for 30+ odd times, over and over. Im ok with it most times, but just occasionally I get fed up with it. So for now I use my Asp. I use my long range asp to travel then I call the needed ship there and transfer to it. Sometimes ive run out of time just on the journey. I envy those of you who have more time to spare on the game. But I have limited time. I appreciate people wont agree and no I dont want an easy button. We already have plenty of those in game anyway. Allegedly.

Or let me employ an expensive chauffeur.

I totally agree with you. You seem to have a logical and sensible head on your shoulders and person that sees that most people have a life outside of our hobby of gaming. And due to having a life outside of gaming have restricted time to play. If implemented correctly would be a nice addition to the game to give more options for people that want it and need it.

 

[SMcA]

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Although on a serious note - how would that transfer work?? To get my AspX back from Colonia is going to take 61 hours. If pilot transfer was implemented, does that mean I couldn't play the game for 61 hours because I was "in transit"? I don't see that being workable to be honest - preventing people from actually playing always goes down like a lead balloon. The way around that is to speed up the transfer and make it instantaneous, but then that makes ship transfer irrelevant and insta-teleport is certainly not popular.

You've sort of got pilot transfer now with a Suicide-Taxi, but of course, it's only one way

Say that you are going on holiday for a fortnight and won't be playing anyway. You come home and logon and what do you know. An easy trip. *
Or on shorter trips, overnight.

*
Or you might be deaded by a careless pilot.

 

[the source 0179]

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Although on a serious note - how would that transfer work?? To get my AspX back from Colonia is going to take 61 hours. If pilot transfer was implemented, does that mean I couldn't play the game for 61 hours because I was "in transit"? I don't see that being workable to be honest - preventing people from actually playing always goes down like a lead balloon. The way around that is to speed up the transfer and make it instantaneous, but then that makes ship transfer irrelevant and insta-teleport is certainly not popular.

You've sort of got pilot transfer now with a Suicide-Taxi, but of course, it's only one way

Suicide taxi is a cheat and no bad side of it apart from the ship costs

 

[bootsam]

I totally agree with you. You seem to have a logical and sensible head on your shoulders and person that sees that most people have a life outside of our hobby of gaming. And due to having a life outside of gaming have restricted time to play. If implemented correctly would be a nice addition to the game to give more options for people that want it and need it.

Precisely. I mean whats the point of having an NPC crew who just sits there scratching his nuts whilst I do all the flying? The lazy get.

 

[w3bbo]

If only it was like this....

[video=youtube;bosSsgzgenA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bosSsgzgenA[/video]

 

[Dagwit]

The bubble's what, 400 LY across? That's ten minutes in my engineered AspX, fifteen or twenty in a lesser ship. I don't see úpilot transfer within the bubble as being a great advantage.

Colonia's a different matter. It might take sixty-odd hours in a regular ship the old-fashioned way, but I've read that players using the neutron superhighway can do it in an afternoon.

So an overnight service transferring pilots from the bubble to Colonia would be plausible; it would greatly increase the amount of gameplay taking place there; and by restricting access to players who already have ships out there, it wouldn't eliminate the need to make the long trek at least once.

 

[the source 0179]

I've done Sag A. And i like exploring. Haven't done it in awhile due to ranking and making more cr to buy stuff I want. But I will definitely go out into the black again. But exploring is different than making a trip to colonia for a visit or do some stuff just to have to jump all the way back. Specially when play time is restricted due to life. A trip to colonia that would take another cmdr a day or 3 if they have time it would take me weeks. But it would be nice and break things up a bit of you could go. You know what I'd like to go to colonia next week and spend some time there. So you book yourself a ticket. Pricey but worth it and not be able to play for say 4 or so days. Then log back in buy or hop into one of your ships there and sight see, do missions. Etc etc. And then either fly back or buy another ticket home. Its up to you. But if the option was there i think alot of cmdrs would use it. I remember when ship transfers were going to come out and there was lots of cmdrs saying its cheating , lessen the experience, i would never use it etc etc. But I bet most of those ney sayers use it now.
Its just another option for people to play the way they want when they can or want.

 

[ebbrell]

Not sure of purpose.
So I transfer myself 500lys to a station. I have nothing there, so I then transfer a ship to fly to same station.
A cmdr transfer to nothing has no purpose unless you could walk around station. Even then that would be it unless you bought a new ship there.

What's the purpose

 

[Dagwit]

OK, having given the matter a bit more thought, this is how I'd set up a pilot transfer passenger run between the bubble and Colonia:

Pick an empty system in the bubble and permit-lock it. Install a new station.

Do the same at Colonia.

Permits for both stations can be obtained from missions at nearby stations, in the same manner as the Sirius permit. You'd have to have travelled at least once the old-fashioned way to Colonia to get the access permit there.

Run a passenger service for pilots between these two stations. It's a scheduled service running four times a day each way. Ignore the neutron superhighway or jumponium - my FSD-only engineered but fully equipped Exploraconda did 2500LY/hr on her shakedown cruise, so that would be roughly a nine-hour trip to Colonia for a passenger liner of equivalent performance.

So you could end a play session in the bubble at the passenger terminal station, book a trip, log off, and start next day at the Colonia terminal in the ship you'd have parked there.

Simples.

PS Neither station should have a shipyard. So if you travel to the Colonia station without an access permit for it, you won't be able to buy a ship, so you won't be able to leave the station.

 

[Arthur Shappey]

If only it was like this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bosSsgzgenA

I'm not sure I agree. But this clip does make a very valid point: those passenger missions that wish to "avoid being scanned" (no imperial involvement) should really pay much, much more for the hassle.

 

[the source 0179]

OK, having given the matter a bit more thought, this is how I'd set up a pilot transfer passenger run between the bubble and Colonia:

Pick an empty system in the bubble and permit-lock it. Install a new station.

Do the same at Colonia.

Permits for both stations can be obtained from missions at nearby stations, in the same manner as the Sirius permit. You'd have to have travelled at least once the old-fashioned way to Colonia to get the access permit there.

Run a passenger service for pilots between these two stations. It's a scheduled service running four times a day each way. Ignore the neutron superhighway or jumponium - my FSD-only engineered but fully equipped Exploraconda did 2500LY/hr on her shakedown cruise, so that would be roughly a nine-hour trip to Colonia for a passenger liner of equivalent performance.

So you could end a play session in the bubble at the passenger terminal station, book a trip, log off, and start next day at the Colonia terminal in the ship you'd have parked there.

Simples.

PS Neither station should have a shipyard. So if you travel to the Colonia station without an access permit for it, you won't be able to buy a ship, so you won't be able to leave the station.

There are many ways this could be implemented with certain restrictions or and permits. But I think not having shipyard wouldn't be ideal. Lets say for instance you got there and needed a different ship for reasons lol. You couldn't buy that ship that you need.

The purpose of this idea is to have options. All options have money or time or money and time consequences/ negatives.
For instance. You fly there. Its time. And either leave a ship there or buy a ship and fly back.
You get shipped there money and time locked from being able to play till the allotted time runs out. Then either get in your ship or buy a new ship.

Both options have something you have to think about and give up. There could be more options. Everyone has ideas and this is a good place to put them.

There could even be possible other money makers for cmdrs. For example.
You could rent your ship out to other cmdrs for a limited time. If they wreck it or damage it they have to pay for the rebuy or damages or if they dont return it by the allotted time it selfdestructs and they still have to rebuy. But the owner of the ship gets the profits of renting it and or a % of what the renter made during the time rented. Just another idea. Lol.

 

[the source 0179]

Not sure of purpose.
So I transfer myself 500lys to a station. I have nothing there, so I then transfer a ship to fly to same station.
A cmdr transfer to nothing has no purpose unless you could walk around station. Even then that would be it unless you bought a new ship there.

What's the purpose

Well 2 options either you have a ship there already. Or you buy a ship once you get there. Or the other far reaching option lol. Is in post above.

 

[Dagwit]

There are many ways this could be implemented with certain restrictions or and permits. But I think not having shipyard wouldn't be ideal. Lets say for instance you got there and needed a different ship for reasons lol. You couldn't buy that ship that you need.

Colonia's not that big and there's a shipyard at Jaques. You could always get into the ship my system obliges you to have parked at the passenger terminal and fly there.

Actually, how you could screw up my system is by getting an access permit for the bubble terminal, flying that ship out to Colonia, getting the access permit there, then taking a passenger ride back to the bubble. There'd then be no ship waiting for you at the bubble terminal. Your only way off the terminal station would be to hitch a ride back to Colonia.

My fix for that would be to say: don't do that.

 

[Dagwit]

Blast and ... well, blast! You're going to need some mechanism for leaving a ship at the bubble end of the passenger link while you take another ship out to Colonia.

I was hoping this could be set up using entirely existing game mechanisms so that only the passenger trip itself would need new programming. (I didn't want shipyards because I didn't want a player to take a trip without both permits and simply fly out of the station at the other end, thereby avoiding the first slog out to Colonia.)

But to achieve that you're going to need a shipyard with at least a Sidewinder in it at the bubble end, so the player has a ship to return to on his first trip.

Not as simples as I first thought.

Edit: So shipyards both ends, but no ships for sale. But if it's your first Passenger trip, you get a complementary Sidewinder placed in storage for your return.

 

[Van R Flyheight]

OK, having given the matter a bit more thought, this is how I'd set up a pilot transfer passenger run between the bubble and Colonia:

Pick an empty system in the bubble and permit-lock it. Install a new station.

Do the same at Colonia.

Permits for both stations can be obtained from missions at nearby stations, in the same manner as the Sirius permit. You'd have to have travelled at least once the old-fashioned way to Colonia to get the access permit there.

Run a passenger service for pilots between these two stations. It's a scheduled service running four times a day each way. Ignore the neutron superhighway or jumponium - my FSD-only engineered but fully equipped Exploraconda did 2500LY/hr on her shakedown cruise, so that would be roughly a nine-hour trip to Colonia for a passenger liner of equivalent performance.

So you could end a play session in the bubble at the passenger terminal station, book a trip, log off, and start next day at the Colonia terminal in the ship you'd have parked there.

Simples.

PS Neither station should have a shipyard. So if you travel to the Colonia station without an access permit for it, you won't be able to buy a ship, so you won't be able to leave the station.

I had the permit idea in mind too but considered Sol/Achenar as the options because then it's not available to a newcomer. It'll require at least a bit of game play before jumping on a megaship and exploring hard to reach areas of the game. Also then it sits lore wise because these are Capital systems and its open to Federal/Imperial players equally.

 

[PiggyPiggyPig]

The journeys we undertake are supposed to be hard. That's what makes it rewarding. What people are proposing here is akin to having a ski lift to the summit of Everest.

 

[Dagwit]

The journeys we undertake are supposed to be hard. That's what makes it rewarding. What people are proposing here is akin to having a ski lift to the summit of Everest.

I agree with this. That's why I'm proposing a mechanism which doesn't allow the player to take the ski lift until after he's done the climb.

Incidentally, I'm a bit skeptical about the chances of FDev agreeing to any pilot transfer system on principle. But even if they were willing to consider the idea I'm absolutely certain that it would never happen unless:

it reuses existing code as much as possible;
it requires no changes to that code;
it requires next to no additional programming.

Hence my involving permit locking etc. rather than entirely new mechanisms.

Van R Flyheight, using Sol and Achenar is a cool idea. But aren't there experienced players out there who want nothing to do with the Federation/Imperial rank grid? Would we want to lock them out of this mechanism?

 

[S3B4ST13N]

The journeys we undertake are supposed to be hard. That's what makes it rewarding. What people are proposing here is akin to having a ski lift to the summit of Everest.

And I'm in favour of that as well.

Spoiler

Of course, please remember these words of yours and if you ever visit Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa - you can't use the cable-car to get to the top, okay? Let your friends take the car, then they can take in the gorgeous sights whilst having a light lunch and a coffee, whilst you slog your way up the mountain because it's supposed to be hard and rewarding.
I'm only being half serious here.