No, not the FTL stuff, that's par for the course for the genre.
What I take issue with are things like I have to physically dock to pay fines and bounties. If I accidentally graze the shields of a fed cruiser during a firefight (Where we're all attacking a wanted NPC.) he instantly goes berserk, even though he was getting nailed by 6 different ships because the police in this game are some of the worst pilots I've ever seen and will drift happily into crossfire or sit right next to targets, often not even firing. It's actually impressive how ineffectual they can be. Anyway, instead of realizing they got hit because they were stupid, they instantly go insane, I can't apologize and pay the fine immediately, I have to waste time actually docking.
It makes no sense. Are communications just awful for personal ships or something? If I get a fine right now in real life I can pay it on my phone, but in the year 3300 we've reverted to this archaic nonsense? Same for collecting bounties. I already have plenty of incentive to go and dock; I do it to restock ammo, to refuel, to repair, to sell cargo, to upgrade my ship, to follow the news stories, to get missions... Do I really need it for something that should by all rights be automated?
"But you can't really use credits outside of stations anyway, so it doesn't really matter!" Maybe, maybe... But maybe you should be able to use credits in more ways!
That brings me to my second and much larger problem: Where are the space tow trucks?! The galaxy is apparently populated by quadrillions of humans, yet no one has opened up a mobile refueling agency to extort poor explorers who unwisely jumped too far? The premium you could charge on that fuel (exponentially more per jump) could be a gold mine! It could also make for a little more variety with missions, where you go refuel NPC explorers (Ohh, a refuel mini-game like the cargo scoop. Same concept.) as practice. That way players could also act as refuel agents. Run out of fuel? Instead of sitting there waiting to suffocate, call a space trucker!
I understand that at some point previously, you had an emergency beacon that was pretty much exactly this, but it was removed for some reason. I think bringing it back in a new way like this would be a lot of fun. You're not guaranteed that someone will show up, but maybe! And if they do, you're gonna be paying big for it, perhaps even going into debt. Possibly with the option to work it off (maybe they're not entirely on the up-and-up.) via missions.
A system like this would make things like your life support system that much more enticing to upgrade. Every minute you're able to stay alive without fuel is one step closer to rescue. Just some food for thought. People here talk a lot about immersion, and part of immersion for me is not going "This makes no sense. This is dumb. This is arbitrary." every time I dock to pay a fine or collect a bounty. I expect people in the future to make things more efficient, not drastically less so.
As a final point, keep in mind none of this necessarily has to make the game easier (That word makes people clench their rear-ends around here in disgust.) it simply means less busywork and more time for getting into the meat of the game. One final, desperate shot at not asphyxiating in space creates tension and excitement, and crippling debt due to being rescued seems to fit in line with exactly what Elite is all about: Everyone taking advantage of everyone!
What I take issue with are things like I have to physically dock to pay fines and bounties. If I accidentally graze the shields of a fed cruiser during a firefight (Where we're all attacking a wanted NPC.) he instantly goes berserk, even though he was getting nailed by 6 different ships because the police in this game are some of the worst pilots I've ever seen and will drift happily into crossfire or sit right next to targets, often not even firing. It's actually impressive how ineffectual they can be. Anyway, instead of realizing they got hit because they were stupid, they instantly go insane, I can't apologize and pay the fine immediately, I have to waste time actually docking.
It makes no sense. Are communications just awful for personal ships or something? If I get a fine right now in real life I can pay it on my phone, but in the year 3300 we've reverted to this archaic nonsense? Same for collecting bounties. I already have plenty of incentive to go and dock; I do it to restock ammo, to refuel, to repair, to sell cargo, to upgrade my ship, to follow the news stories, to get missions... Do I really need it for something that should by all rights be automated?
"But you can't really use credits outside of stations anyway, so it doesn't really matter!" Maybe, maybe... But maybe you should be able to use credits in more ways!
That brings me to my second and much larger problem: Where are the space tow trucks?! The galaxy is apparently populated by quadrillions of humans, yet no one has opened up a mobile refueling agency to extort poor explorers who unwisely jumped too far? The premium you could charge on that fuel (exponentially more per jump) could be a gold mine! It could also make for a little more variety with missions, where you go refuel NPC explorers (Ohh, a refuel mini-game like the cargo scoop. Same concept.) as practice. That way players could also act as refuel agents. Run out of fuel? Instead of sitting there waiting to suffocate, call a space trucker!
I understand that at some point previously, you had an emergency beacon that was pretty much exactly this, but it was removed for some reason. I think bringing it back in a new way like this would be a lot of fun. You're not guaranteed that someone will show up, but maybe! And if they do, you're gonna be paying big for it, perhaps even going into debt. Possibly with the option to work it off (maybe they're not entirely on the up-and-up.) via missions.
A system like this would make things like your life support system that much more enticing to upgrade. Every minute you're able to stay alive without fuel is one step closer to rescue. Just some food for thought. People here talk a lot about immersion, and part of immersion for me is not going "This makes no sense. This is dumb. This is arbitrary." every time I dock to pay a fine or collect a bounty. I expect people in the future to make things more efficient, not drastically less so.
As a final point, keep in mind none of this necessarily has to make the game easier (That word makes people clench their rear-ends around here in disgust.) it simply means less busywork and more time for getting into the meat of the game. One final, desperate shot at not asphyxiating in space creates tension and excitement, and crippling debt due to being rescued seems to fit in line with exactly what Elite is all about: Everyone taking advantage of everyone!