[Suggestion] Improvements to passenger system

[Murrdox]

Hello,

Let me start off by saying I love passenger missions. I like the flavor that they add to the game. Whether you're just ferrying tourists, or VIPs, whether you're doing Exploration, Sightseeing, or whatnot. They're great. I've seen some gorgeous sites in this game just going places that passengers wanted me to go. I also love how passengers can increase either your Exploration or Trading status with the Pilots Federation. Scientific Expedition trips got me to Elite in Exploration, and I've recently reached Tycoon in Trading thanks to passenger missions!

That being said, I think there is a lot more that could be done with passengers. This all comes down to a single flaw with the passenger system as has been implemented in the game. That flaw is that PASSENGER MISSIONS ARE THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BE DONE WITH PASSENGERS.

Here are some ideas I have which I think would greatly enrich the game, both for players who like passenger missions... and for players who'd like to ruin their day.

1. Passengers eject in escape pods.​

• This is the lynchpin of my other suggestions. Passengers need to "abandon ship" when a passenger liner starts taking excessive damage. This could take the form of individual escape pods for individual passengers, or specialized ejection pods that can carry multiple people. Ejection pods that can carry multiple people would be helpful in keeping groups of passengers for the same passenger mission grouped together. (i.e. if you were hauling 20 tourists, either you'd have one pod with 20 of them, or 20 individual pods. Individual pods for all the tourists could complicate passenger missions where you'd have "partial" completion.)

2. Passengers should be able to be rescued.
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• 
  [*=1]This opens up a host of new possibilities for passengers.
  [*=1]Escape Pods should be able to be picked up with collector limpets, and scooped with the cargo scoop.
  [*=1]I would argue that one would need a crew cabin on board the ship in order to rescue a passenger, just like one needs a cargo bay to scoop cargo. Passengers aren't going to hang around your cargo bay. However we can currently haul escape pods, so this isn't necessarily a deal-breaker.
  [*=1]Since passengers are not a commodity and are tied to the mission system, when rescued passengers can issue the Commander a mission to drop them off at a friendly station for a large reward.

3. Passengers should be able to be... sold.
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• 
  [*=1]For the less-scrupulous Commander out there, passengers should be able to be sold on the black market for a large payout. What happens after that, oh who can tell. Medical experiments, forced labor, organ harvesting, ransom demands... there are endless possibilities.

4. Passengers should be able to be... assassinated.
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• 
  [*=1]Sure, maybe you get a WANTED status from blowing that Beluga out of the stars, but you get a nice, hefty reward from destroying that VIP's escape pod.

5. Passengers should be able to be.. stolen.
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• 
  [*=1]This would involve, as I see it, a new form of Limpet similar to the Hatch Breaker. Maybe we call it the Escape Pod Limpet. Instead of engaging the Cargo Hatch, it engages a Passenger Cabin, and forces that cabin to eject its escape pod.
  [*=1]Well, in addition to using a Limpet, we could do it the old-fashioned way by targeting a Passenger Cabin with weapons and doing damage to it! Damaging/Destroying the Passenger Cabin should cause it to eject all its passengers.

6. Commanders should be able to identify if there are WANTED passengers on board a ship​

• 
  [*=1]This could be done via Kill Warrant Scanner or Cargo Scanner.
  [*=1]These passengers would be suitable for turning in for a reward, or simply valuable as a bounty to kill and turn into a fine red mist in space.

These changes get us LOTS of gameplay options. Here are just a few examples.

1. Mission - Rescue Passengers lost in space
2. Mission - Hijack Passenger liner and ransom passengers / Hijack pirate ship and rescue passengers.
3. Emergent Gameplay - Commander can Interdict passenger liners to steal passengers / rescue passengers.
4. Emergent Gameplay - Commander can Interdict ships with WANTED VIP passengers on board for bounty payouts.
5. Emergent Gameplay - Commander can go to travel beacons, and pirate the passenger ships that go there. Certain VIP passengers could be worth huge bounties / ransoms. Of course these Belugas would have fighter escorts...
6. Emergent Gameplay - Spawning passenger liners at Navigation Beacons, resulting in more opportunities for pirating / rescuing of passengers.
7. PvP - Dueling Belugas.
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Thoughts?