I know there have been a plethora of solutions to the proposed instant ship transfer mechanism, some detailing complex changes that could require significant coding changes. Other suggestions have considered new gameplay additions that would not be feasible until after the 2.2 release date. All references to ship transfers in my proposal imply module transfer as well.
I have an alternative that could be added to 2.2, be lore friendly and still satisfy the QoL requirements implicit in ship transfers. The proposal could be start out as a minor change in 2.2 and subsequent changes, while proposed here, would be left at Frontier's discretion to implement if the community and FD agree they can or should add them.
I'd like to formally propose that "instant ship transfers" be referred to in-game as a ship lease. In this implementation, I believe, at a minimum level, the only changes required would be the wording and text of certain UI elements. For now we ignore gameplay additions like lease fees and term conditions. We also ignore that the lease is also a "functionally equivalent" duplicate of the owned ship. If the player is presented with a ship lease menu vs. a ship transfer menu, the effect is essentially the same with one minor caveat. That caveat is that the remote ship is not removed from the database, the player still owns the remote ship while the current ship is on loan.
Further from this, in a later release, it would be up to FD to decide the best way to implement but I would have two possible solutions. Once the loaned ship is "returned" to any shipyard and swaps to another ship, loaned or owned, the current loaned ship is returned, completing the initial lease. In this case FD could choose to take one of the following actions:
1. The original owned ship is transferred from it's remote location to the current shipyard replacing the rental. This would not need to be instant although from a technical standpoint it might be advantageous. It could be explained, possibly in the future through a facility contact, that the facility where you are returning the lease had your matching ship transported to their facility for the Commander's convenience.
2. The original owned ship is not transferred from it's remote location but stays remote and the player can initiate further leases in the future. The owned ship stays at its remote location and no database changes are required. In the future the player could request a permanent transfer of the owned ship with a normal delay, obviously this would require additional programming.
Any future changes that would naturally lead from my proposal would have to be decided by FD for implementation and may or may not be implemented. I would consider two such natural leads a full ship and module lease facility as well as a full fleet management facility, this would depend on need but it would be desirable for players to ship from anywhere to anywhere rather than simply lease a ship at their current location.
Finally, the concept of a ship and module lease facility leads to possible future gameplay elements later on. For instance players could take contracts with the facility to procure, ship and/or deliver certain spec ships to the facility. A tie-in to the Engineers could include custom mods of a range of levels and or base requirements. A fleet management facility could lead to players transporting ships for NPCs or factions and possibly bulk haulage missions of commercial or military ships.
I hope that Frontier Developments seriously considers my proposal as I believe the implementation of a lease system would be more lore and gameplay friendly while also meeting the immediate needs of other players.
I have an alternative that could be added to 2.2, be lore friendly and still satisfy the QoL requirements implicit in ship transfers. The proposal could be start out as a minor change in 2.2 and subsequent changes, while proposed here, would be left at Frontier's discretion to implement if the community and FD agree they can or should add them.
I'd like to formally propose that "instant ship transfers" be referred to in-game as a ship lease. In this implementation, I believe, at a minimum level, the only changes required would be the wording and text of certain UI elements. For now we ignore gameplay additions like lease fees and term conditions. We also ignore that the lease is also a "functionally equivalent" duplicate of the owned ship. If the player is presented with a ship lease menu vs. a ship transfer menu, the effect is essentially the same with one minor caveat. That caveat is that the remote ship is not removed from the database, the player still owns the remote ship while the current ship is on loan.
Further from this, in a later release, it would be up to FD to decide the best way to implement but I would have two possible solutions. Once the loaned ship is "returned" to any shipyard and swaps to another ship, loaned or owned, the current loaned ship is returned, completing the initial lease. In this case FD could choose to take one of the following actions:
1. The original owned ship is transferred from it's remote location to the current shipyard replacing the rental. This would not need to be instant although from a technical standpoint it might be advantageous. It could be explained, possibly in the future through a facility contact, that the facility where you are returning the lease had your matching ship transported to their facility for the Commander's convenience.
2. The original owned ship is not transferred from it's remote location but stays remote and the player can initiate further leases in the future. The owned ship stays at its remote location and no database changes are required. In the future the player could request a permanent transfer of the owned ship with a normal delay, obviously this would require additional programming.
Any future changes that would naturally lead from my proposal would have to be decided by FD for implementation and may or may not be implemented. I would consider two such natural leads a full ship and module lease facility as well as a full fleet management facility, this would depend on need but it would be desirable for players to ship from anywhere to anywhere rather than simply lease a ship at their current location.
Finally, the concept of a ship and module lease facility leads to possible future gameplay elements later on. For instance players could take contracts with the facility to procure, ship and/or deliver certain spec ships to the facility. A tie-in to the Engineers could include custom mods of a range of levels and or base requirements. A fleet management facility could lead to players transporting ships for NPCs or factions and possibly bulk haulage missions of commercial or military ships.
I hope that Frontier Developments seriously considers my proposal as I believe the implementation of a lease system would be more lore and gameplay friendly while also meeting the immediate needs of other players.