The massive list of mission reform feedback

[Cmdr Travers]

I want to start by saying that the entire missions system in Elite Dangerous is a mess. It's overly simplistic, repetitive, and it's obvious to most people how easily it could be radically overhauled. Yet Frontier Developments don't seem very keen to overhaul it.

Below is my big list of what needs to happen with missions, and it's worth pointing out that the mechanisms to implement most of these already exist within the game. Please feel free to add your own ideas to this list, and to comment on mine.

EXPLORATION AND SCOUTING MISSIONS

• Frontier need to make exploration meaningful again, and this means we need long-range exploration missions. These are missions where you're sent to scan or discover systems suitable for mining or colonisation. In these missions you'd need to scan all the bodies in a system, perhaps bring back samples from planetary surfaces, scan comets and other astronomical phenomena, and discover new materials and the beginnings of life.

ALLIEGIANCE AND GALACTIC POWER MISSIONS

• These would be where you undertake a series of chained missions for a power or faction. These can include destroying the power systems on a series of opposition bases, or scanning a series of bases to gain intelligence. These missions could take anything from a day to a week of gameplay to complete, and would really help relieve the monotony for a lot of players.

PASSENGER + CARGO MISSIONS

• We're routinely transporting people around the galaxy, but what about their cargo and possessions? It's reasonable to assume that people, especially if they're moving somewhere like Colonia, would have a great deal of cargo to take with them. We need passenger missions where you need to also have cargo space available.

RESCUE MISSIONS

• We need a new Rescuer role within the game. The Fuel Rats do a brilliant job, but why aren't there USS' and missions for pilots who need fuel or repair. AFMU limpets can be added to the game, so that we can assist in repairs to damaged ships. This would add a whole new role to the game, and give people a reason to wing-up as well, so the rescuer ship can be protected while it does its job.
  
• An additional type of rescue mission could see Commanders sent to find a ship that's can't be repaired, and that has perhaps crashed or been destroyed, and retrieve its passengers' escape pods.

COLONIA

• I'm not sure where to start with Colonia. Why do all the passenger missions to Colonia only pay up "when you return"? We badly need one-way missions to encourage people to transfer there.
  
• Additionally, all the passenger missions currently at Colonia are heading back to the bubble, again with payment "when you return". I've seen almost no missions that head out into the galactic core. We desperately need more missions to the core and elsewhere in the galaxy from Colonia.

SHIP MEETUP MISSIONS

• This mission type would mean Commanders would transfer passengers or cargo (or both) and meet up somewhere in the middle of the black with another ship, to make the transfer. There's a good opportunity here for black market and criminal transfers too.

COMMUNITY GOAL TYPE PERSONAL MISSIONS

• When you look at a mission board, you'll see missions that you can't take because, you can't transfer that many people, or you can't carry that much cargo. Why should we be forced to do all this in a single trip? Surely it makes sense to allow a Commander to make the transfer in stages by, for example, transferring 28 tonnes of cargo over three trips instead of just one.

SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS

• These would be similar to the exploration missions in some ways, but shorter range, and involve Commanders being sent to study things like alien ruins, planetary rings, or perhaps a particular type of planetary surface structure. These missions could also include scanning and following comets (we need comets in the game), or other new types of astronomical phenomena. Additionally, they could be chained and take anything from a few hours to a week of gameplay to complete.

COMMUNITY GOAL OFFSHOOT MISSIONS

• There are many community goals where people work to obtain materials required to build a megaship, capital ship or base. All of these would also need lesser quantities of more specialist materials and commodities. In the way missions pop up in the comms panel, who not have additional missions appear when you're undertaking a community goal, where you're asked to obtain an additional, specialist commodity or material.

INTELLIGENCE MISSIONS

• Great play was made a couple of years ago about missions that would suddenly pop up in a player's comms panel. I don't know how many people undertake these, but there's room to expand them to include secret intelligence and spying missions for factions and powers to which you are aligned.

ALIEN ENCOUNTER MISSIONS

• With the coming of the Thargoids, how about introducing scientific missions where Commanders are sent to investigate signs of alien life. This could involve scanning alien transmissions, or signs a ship has traversed through a system. Who knows, some might even involve you running into a Thargoid, or another alien directly, which could bring many more players into alien contact than might otherwise happen.