[Suggestion] Mega-ship Colonia Ferry

[Jason Lightning]

Now that Mega-Ships are in the game and Colonia is expanding ever so quickly, why not have a new Mega-Ship ferry service? Every week during the server reset the Mega-ship in question will make a large Witchspace jump to Colonia, and anyone docked onboard will be taken with it. This will provide an alternative to the otherwise extensive route that one must take to visit Colonia, making it more accessible to the playerbase. FDev could even make it a CG that decides how often it travels, a full completion perhaps will make the Megaship travel even more frequently per week.

Add this in with more Colonia expansions and we can really get a proper second bubble start to grow.

 

[DenisHorror]

Good idea

 

[YinYin]

Once per week is too fast and missing opportunities.

Better would be something like going Amundsen>Sacagewea>Polo in one direction and Gagarin>Eagle>Hillary in the other.

That way it takes 4 weeks both ways, the Colonia Connection would gain some more meaning and travelling directly would still be faster (but you could plan to hitch a ride for one stop if it's coming your way).

 

[Titus Balls]

I like this idea. You could have Mega-ship routes across the galaxy, now we have little expanding bubbles. I would still be against something like a Mega-ship to Sag A* or Beagle Point.

But to Colonia, along the Colonia supply network or out to the California Nebula - yes! This would make sense to me (since even here on Earth, our Arctic explorers get occasional supply drops).

The fact that players could tag along for the ride is just something that make sense if there is docking space available (how you determine this I have no idea - or just don't and ignore it?). Cost wise, maybe when the ship leaves any players on it get the charge for the jump deducted?

It would also create an event around the departure systems in the lead up to the leaving day just like we have back when Jacques first appeared in the game (edit: Oh you could even have more regular smaller CGs around requested commodities, including rares)

- - - Updated - - -

Once per week is too fast and missing opportunities.

Better would be something like going Amundsen>Sacagewea>Polo in one direction and Gagarin>Eagle>Hillary in the other.

That way it takes 4 weeks both ways, the Colonia Connection would gain some more meaning and travelling directly would still be faster (but you could plan to hitch a ride for one stop if it's coming your way).

I like this, I'd hope that if this happened they wouldn't just be truck stops on the way but we see expansion around a few systems that make it worth the stay.

 

[EidLeWeise]

For me it would all depend on how long it would take me out of actually playing the game?

If the jump time is (essentially) instantaneous then we have excellent USE potential but it would ruin "muh immershun"
If the jump takes more than a few minutes, then it would be taking me away from playing ED whilst I was in transit...
* Could I do Multicrew whilst I was on route?
* Could I play CQC whilst I was on route?
* Maybe if we got this in "Elite Feet" we could walk around the megaship and "do stuff on it"
* However I think I would rather play on my REAL space ship...

I LOVE the idea of opening up the galaxy, but I actually think I would rather 'do it myself' rather than taking a mega ship? Something say akin to the old Galaxy Jump Drives from the original game maybe? Although I think personally I'd not make them single use so we don't wind up being stranded! How about if we made the hyperspace jump something more like Andromeda's Slipstream drive and if we failed the jump we'd have a significant failure rate with them... (potentially making the cmdr using them liable to run into over powering ships with 8 sides )

Eid

 

[YinYin]

Cost wise, maybe when the ship leaves any players on it get the charge for the jump deducted?

It would also create an event around the departure systems in the lead up to the leaving day just like we have back when Jacques first appeared in the game (edit: Oh you could even have more regular smaller CGs around requested commodities, including rares)

I don't think just deducting credits would be the right way if some cost is necessary. A simple weekly CG that just requires contribution to be taken along while docked rather than left in system might be better. Let's say it always requires players to deliver rare FSD injection materials (we don't have reasonable means to deliver hydrogen yet). Would also be an easy way to see how many players are planning to ride along each week (CG contributor count).

For me it would all depend on how long it would take me out of actually playing the game?

It would take as long as the weekly server maintenance. Didn't Jaques operate that way initially (or at least similar)?

 

[EidLeWeise]

I don't think just deducting credits would be the right way if some cost is necessary. A simple weekly CG that just requires contribution to be taken along while docked rather than left in system might be better. Let's say it always requires players to deliver rare FSD injection materials (we don't have reasonable means to deliver hydrogen yet). Would also be an easy way to see how many players are planning to ride along each week (CG contributor count).

It would take as long as the weekly server maintenance. Didn't Jaques operate that way initially (or at least similar)?

I like the idea of having to pay our way in "stuff"

So we all jump aboard Cannon's ship before the server maintenance tick. Server's go offline. Servers come back and we're "elsewhere"? Would it be a direct jump to Colonia and back, or would you see it as taking a few weekly hops? If so, what would I do for the weeks it would take before I actually get where I want to go to?

I still think I prefer my idea of Andromeda's slipstream drive since I remain in control of my ship though

 

[KG_Jedi]

Last time to make Jaques jump that far, it required a whole CG with players bringing thousands of tons of fuel. Im afraid even for a smaller megaships jumping across galaxy every week would be too damn often

 

[YinYin]

So we all jump aboard Cannon's ship before the server maintenance tick. Server's go offline. Servers come back and we're "elsewhere"? Would it be a direct jump to Colonia and back, or would you see it as taking a few weekly hops? If so, what would I do for the weeks it would take before I actually get where I want to go to?

See my first post. I think spending a week at one of the Colonia Connection systems (3 each direction = 4 jumps total) and delivering a minimum of FSD injection materials to ride along would do fine. But I don't think the Gnosis should serve this purpose.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Now that Mega-Ships are in the game and Colonia is expanding ever so quickly, why not have a new Mega-Ship ferry service? Every week during the server reset the Mega-ship in question will make a large Witchspace jump to Colonia, and anyone docked onboard will be taken with it. This will provide an alternative to the otherwise extensive route that one must take to visit Colonia, making it more accessible to the playerbase. FDev could even make it a CG that decides how often it travels, a full completion perhaps will make the Megaship travel even more frequently per week.

Add this in with more Colonia expansions and we can really get a proper second bubble start to grow.

It's a good idea, but there are some issues I can see.

Either you need to not do any gaming during the time it'll take to transport your ship, or you need to park your ship there, and then transport in another ship so you can then leave.

Also, you need to be signed into the game when it arrives at Colonia so you can depart. If you miss it, for whatever reason, then you'll be taken all the way back again.

 

[TopCat160]

I think this is a really good idea, but it'll have to be implemented very carefully. Colonia is a hell of a long way away and the features shouldn't be dumbed down into something where a mega ship can get there in one jump. Sure, it should have a jump range of 100, maybe even 200 LY, but not 10,000 LY. Cost would have to be believable, and believability is key to quite a lot in the game.

There's enough mumbling and rumbling about the artificiality/lack of realism of telepresence already, without recreating a similar issue by being able to hop a lift across the galaxy in a crazy short time.

I know it's a big galaxy, and I know there's a lot of space for expansion, but if we're here for the long term, as I hope we are, I'd be disappointed to see too many bubbles in a short time, just because transport becomes trivial.

 

[CitizenKai]

It is the idea which we think is already quite a long time.

We need a ferry between the Bubble and the Colonia.

I think it needs to go slowly, making a jump every BGS tick, around 700 ly. So it will make the way between bubble and colonia for about 1 month.
This ship should only have S and M landpands, and vehicles have to be inside it when it jumps.

So, we will be able to study in detail the space between the Colonia and the Bubble, while the ferry will be stopping every day, and more people will come here because this will be more interesting.

 

[Jason Lightning]

There seems to be some misinterpretation on what I'm proposing, I'm not suggesting a 'dock for week as it slowly travels' or 'multiple pit stops along the way', I'm suggesting a two way Point A to B and back Ferry. Lore wise explain it as a standard cargo/passenger liner, the newer FSD drives that justify our multi-hour trip across the Galaxy already exist in lore, just leave the tedium of constant jumping to a mega-ship that follows a shedule akin to a train. It's on the player to be onboard at or before the set time, but otherwise it should be convienent and not a hassle to set up/ride.

At a certain point practicality must be considered, lore has super-fast Intra-Galactic travel so lets implement it with mega-ships into the age old tradition of mass transit.

 

[YinYin]

No worries, you were very specific about it.

And instant jump from and to colonia every week during the server maintenance.

That is too fast. And why not use the actual stops we do have along the way?
Also all the mega ships that attempted ridiculously large jumps didn't really make it in good shape.

 

[EidLeWeise]

No worries, you were very specific about it.

And instant jump from and to colonia every week during the server maintenance.

That is too fast. And why not use the actual stops we do have along the way?
Also all the mega ships that attempted ridiculously large jumps didn't really make it in good shape.

This is where a disconnect lies. If I want to get to Colonia I want to get there "now" not go on some multi week tour, collecting jumponium. I want to be in Colonia because I want to help friends out doing BGS stuff, or take part in a CG and so on (same with being in the bubble). If it's going to take me say a month (or even a week) to get to my destination, I may as well fly there myself.

 

[CitizenKai]

There seems to be some misinterpretation on what I'm proposing, I'm not suggesting a 'dock for week as it slowly travels' or 'multiple pit stops along the way', I'm suggesting a two way Point A to B and back Ferry. Lore wise explain it as a standard cargo/passenger liner, the newer FSD drives that justify our multi-hour trip across the Galaxy already exist in lore, just leave the tedium of constant jumping to a mega-ship that follows a shedule akin to a train. It's on the player to be onboard at or before the set time, but otherwise it should be convienent and not a hassle to set up/ride.

At a certain point practicality must be considered, lore has super-fast Intra-Galactic travel so lets implement it with mega-ships into the age old tradition of mass transit.

It must be slow moving. Otherwise it loses its meaning. The Colonia will cease to be a unique place if it is instantly, just one more bubble.

 

[YinYin]

This is where a disconnect lies. If I want to get to Colonia I want to get there "now" not go on some multi week tour, collecting jumponium. I want to be in Colonia because I want to help friends out doing BGS stuff, or take part in a CG and so on (same with being in the bubble). If it's going to take me say a month (or even a week) to get to my destination, I may as well fly there myself.

That's the point. You retain a reason to fly there yourself. You gain a method to eventually get there even if you do not have the required time to spend (and can have non jump-honk activities at the intermediate stops). And you gain a method to significantly reduce your normal travel time, should the mega ship currently be going your way. Sacagewea>Polo for example is a huge leap. Why would you not take it and do the rest yourself?

Also this would create a weekly hot spot at each of the colonia connection systems (as well as colonia and where it starts in the bubble), wherever the mega ship is currently stopped. Because all players using the ship will be starting out there. Some players using the ship all the way will be staying out there. And others intending to hop on will gather there.

 

[Titus Balls]

This is where a disconnect lies. If I want to get to Colonia I want to get there "now" not go on some multi week tour, collecting jumponium. I want to be in Colonia because I want to help friends out doing BGS stuff, or take part in a CG and so on (same with being in the bubble). If it's going to take me say a month (or even a week) to get to my destination, I may as well fly there myself.

Yep, I did it in 12 hours over 3 days. Could have done it a lot faster if I stripped my DBX back further and didn't bother with stopping half-way at Sacagewea then scanning on the rest of the way.

From a technical PoV it would mean Frontier would have to implement something to let players join that ride. Much simpler that they just handle it during downtime.

 

[Esvandiary]

I very much like YinYin's "do it in multiple hops" idea, and especially like doing a low-key CG to get materials for the next jump.

Having a week at each location allows people a low-investment introduction to deep space exploring - "You have a week to go exploring around the area near this system, be back here this time next week, pick up some Yttrium to help if you happen to find some. Have fun!"
Not only that, but doing multiple hops means that if you do miss the megaship jump for some reason, it's not even that far to catch up within a week, if you wish to.

I don't think this should replace flying yourself to Colonia for experienced pilots, because they can do that anyway now. I certainly don't think a weekly insta-jump the whole way is a good idea, personally.
But a multi-hop trip as YinYin suggested would be a different way of getting there, which could appeal to newer pilots. You might even make friends along the way, since presumably it'd be a group of people going each time. It'd be an adventure.

 

[Raile]

How about a Vacation Tour megaship that circles the galaxy at regular intervals making stops at interesting locations (Colonia, Maia, Sag A, Beagle's Point, etc), and you can tag along for a small docking fee. It has a specific schedule and sticks around in a system for 24 hours, giving you time to undock and explore before making another long jump. Don't get left behind or you'll have to wait a month or more or plan the long trek back home yourself.
A great future feature when space legs comes around would be a central bar where ride along players could discuss their trip with each other. Have a real mobile community.