Why is salvaging not a viable Elite career? Why is it illegal?

- You can have multiple Salvage Licenses with different minor factions.
- Anarchy systems are excluded from being licensed because anything goes there already.

What do you guys think?

+1, those are good ideas. There is a story in "Tales of the Frontier" about a salvage ship and crew who often did work for particular corporations without being murdering pirates. Without spoiling it, a particular wreck they were tasked by a corp to "salvage" led them to quite an adventure. Salvaging has long been a sci-fi trope as seen in Aliens in the beginning. Imagine spacelegs exploring a derelict with that swiping light scanning beam. Then of course in "the Force Awakens" where we saw Rey and her neighbors have to scavenge ISD wrecks just for food rations. I hope ED makes salvaging a quasi-legal gameplay role someday.
 
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Salvaging is legal as long as it's sanctioned by the licensed owner of the item. The problem is you're taking illegal salvage missions from competitors, industrial espionage, etc. Both legal and illegal missions types are in-game, though it seems like the illegal variety are prevalent.
 
It's all instanced in the bubble is the reason it isn't a viable option. Much like most of the game. The persistence is null. All you will ever have is the mission to do this and that. Nothing out of the ordinary. Like trying to do salvage operations in a battle area where many ships would need to be salvaged. It's all has to be in the bubble before the bubble is created otherwise it all resets. There seems to be a way around this but FD has not figured it out yet. They might be getting close.
 
+1

/5char

+1, those are good ideas. There is a story in "Tales of the Frontier" about a salvage ship and crew who often did work for particular corporations without being murdering pirates. Without spoiling it, a particular wreck they were tasked by a corp to "salvage" led them to quite an adventure. Salvaging has long been a sci-fi trope as seen in Aliens in the beginning. Imagine spacelegs exploring a derelict with that swiping light scanning beam. Then of course in "the Force Awakens" where we saw Rey and her neighbors have to scavenge ISD wrecks just for food rations. I hope ED makes salvaging a quasi-legal gameplay role someday.

Awesome, right I'm going to shove the idea into its own thread in the suggestions forum for maximum(?) exposure...
 
What do you guys think?
"I love you" would be a good start [heart]

Seriously.. career paths could add much to the game.
I know Frontier is worried players are going to do the same thing over and over and get bored quickly, but it could add a lot of possibilities and a real feel of progression.
As long as careers aren't mutually exclusive I welcome these ideas to the fullest.
 
...

Star Citizen is actually implementing ship salvage and processing of raw materials as an actual career, they actually have a large specialized salvage ship as well with an industrial claw and other specialized attachments to break apart and process ship wrecks:
No they haven't. It's all hot air they're talking. Hot air and bullshots is what they do.
 
salvage on planets is usually legal.I guess the idea is that nobody is/can be, coming for it. Some of it can still be illegal however. Or maybe it's just the skiffs are clean and give bounties. I don't recall.

Some systems have SS hand-made by Frontier from around 2015-2016, and some of them can contain special legal salvage.
 
I salvage a lot and make decent enough money from it.

I think that a lot of people assume that stuff lying around is free to take. It's not. As mentioned above, if a car is 'abandoned' by the road you don't have legal rights to take stuff of it and if caught you will be charged for theft etc. Same in the space lanes of Elite.

I actually find that getting it to a station etc that has a black market to get rid of the stuff some of the most fun I've had, avoiding scans etc and smuggling the stuff in and whatnot.

if a car is 'abandoned' by the road for a period of time and is not claimed, then you can legally claim it, but you do need to contact the police 1st then wait till the period elapses,
The car needs to be abandoned by the owner and not stolen.
If stolen the police would contact the insurance company then be towed away and probably be scrapped or sold at the auctions.

About cargo, I don`t think you need a permit if it`s out in international waters this apply`s to space, because no country has jurisdiction.
Example 8miles out from the coastal waters (not too sure about the distance)

Salvage washed up on the shoreline used to be claimed as salvage, shame they changed the law way back then.
I guess it was to stop the smugglers and their shenanigans (Madrax573) lol.🙀 j/k

Anyhoo I think the KickBack from the sale to the insurance company would be very grateful seeing they didn`t have to fund the operation and the cost of recovery to keep the shipping lane clear from the wreckage. Just imagine light speed, and hitting a 1-ton canister.
 
Legal salvage being a viable credit producing career (and also illegal 'salvage' in fact.. ) would be great IMO. I think Frontier would be cautious about creating unintended goldrushes though. and that is part of what hampers exciting new features being added to the game.
 
Legal salvage being a viable credit producing career (and also illegal 'salvage' in fact.. ) would be great IMO. I think Frontier would be cautious about creating unintended goldrushes though. and that is part of what hampers exciting new features being added to the game.

It already is.

You find stuff, you sell it, you make a profit.

Whats not viable about that?

Costs are potentially zero (fuel scoop and synthesis).

So, Is it actually just a speed issue for you? In that you can not make enough profit for your needs in a fast enough amount of time by salvaging.
 
Nope, I just don't find it very profitable when compared to other trade-type play styles. It's not that I don't do it, and everything I do doesn't have to be min/max profits. Perhaps I should've said "more viable".
 
New material isn't worth anything in the Elite setting, so it stands to reason beat up garbage isn't worth much either.

The game would need a radical economic overhaul to make anything that has any credit figure attached to it have any meaning. Actually having an economy, with real supply, demand, and scarcity, would be a good start.

Supply appears to be infinite, so the existence of prices and credits feels like a gamist affectation in current system, which is exactly what it is. They are only there for people who like to collect digits.
 
I don't mind it not being worth much, it just seems a bit odd that if I find a wanted pirate in a RES it's legal for me to blow them out of the sky, but it's illegal to clean up bits of their dead spaceship.
 
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