(I apologize if this has been discussed already)
Questions to the community:
Would you get into the idea of being able to take the role of an engineer and specialize mods to offer for sale? Maybe have a special system of leveling your ability and also be able to sell pre-engineered modules for people who have the credits but not the time or mats for engineering on their own? Perhaps starting out the players must play that part of "Errand-lackey" for a specific engineer before they get you set up to engineer on your own. I ask this because I was reminiscing about Star Wars: Galaxies last night. My FAVORITE thing about that game was that I lived my entire experience in that game simply designing, building and selling ships and equipment and I LOVED IT!
I know what you're thinking: eventually people get what they want and then don't need player engineers. That's why player engineered mods would NOT be insurable(maybe even just all engineered mods). This does two awesome things:
1. Ensures a consistent need for player engineers
2. Makes players less brash if they have particular mods/ships that are difficult to come by and highly expensive. It would also create a MUCH stronger connection to a ship for a commander knowing that if it were ever destroyed, it possibly may never be the same.
Now, there are logistical concerns about how to receive money and materials for the work and deliver the finished products. I thought maybe payment could use a similar system to commanders picking up missions, then delivering the mats and/or money, and delivery of the finished products could be handled similarly to having modules transferred from station to station. But there are other options as well. This could also create a tangible, in-game need for trade commodities aside from simple hauling missions. For example, in order for a player to put together a specific engineered mod, they would need to acquire X units of semiconductors and X units of Polymers. This, in turn would allow for commanders to run resourcing missions for themselves instead of some nameless contractor purely for money or other in-game currencies, giving those commodity runs a much more personal and real reason. Again, if a player simply wants to pay credits for an end product, they can pay a high-premium credit cost to have all the needed materials delivered to the engineer.
There are many other considerations as well, but I think this would not only expand the depth of the game a thousand fold, it would bring an even deeper level of customization as well as a great economy-boosting mechanic. I know for a fact that I'd commit my commander 100% to this if I could.
So you all know my thoughts, what about yours? Let's make some noise, shall we?
Questions to the community:
Would you get into the idea of being able to take the role of an engineer and specialize mods to offer for sale? Maybe have a special system of leveling your ability and also be able to sell pre-engineered modules for people who have the credits but not the time or mats for engineering on their own? Perhaps starting out the players must play that part of "Errand-lackey" for a specific engineer before they get you set up to engineer on your own. I ask this because I was reminiscing about Star Wars: Galaxies last night. My FAVORITE thing about that game was that I lived my entire experience in that game simply designing, building and selling ships and equipment and I LOVED IT!
I know what you're thinking: eventually people get what they want and then don't need player engineers. That's why player engineered mods would NOT be insurable(maybe even just all engineered mods). This does two awesome things:
1. Ensures a consistent need for player engineers
2. Makes players less brash if they have particular mods/ships that are difficult to come by and highly expensive. It would also create a MUCH stronger connection to a ship for a commander knowing that if it were ever destroyed, it possibly may never be the same.
Now, there are logistical concerns about how to receive money and materials for the work and deliver the finished products. I thought maybe payment could use a similar system to commanders picking up missions, then delivering the mats and/or money, and delivery of the finished products could be handled similarly to having modules transferred from station to station. But there are other options as well. This could also create a tangible, in-game need for trade commodities aside from simple hauling missions. For example, in order for a player to put together a specific engineered mod, they would need to acquire X units of semiconductors and X units of Polymers. This, in turn would allow for commanders to run resourcing missions for themselves instead of some nameless contractor purely for money or other in-game currencies, giving those commodity runs a much more personal and real reason. Again, if a player simply wants to pay credits for an end product, they can pay a high-premium credit cost to have all the needed materials delivered to the engineer.
There are many other considerations as well, but I think this would not only expand the depth of the game a thousand fold, it would bring an even deeper level of customization as well as a great economy-boosting mechanic. I know for a fact that I'd commit my commander 100% to this if I could.
So you all know my thoughts, what about yours? Let's make some noise, shall we?