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What's actually the use of these missions? They are extremely easy that even newbies can complete them, there are no end to them and the rewards are enormous O.o
Have you done any to gray space and encountered opposition? That is what makes them hard...
Hard? You don't even have to stay with the bloody things.
Take the mission. Hog 2, fast charge power cell, no weapons. head to the destination sector, avoiding common ion storm locations. Unless the voy hits an ion storm on the way, you will still get full payment when it docks. Minimal risk so long as you can fly a hog at full turbo. If you lose a few, you lose a few. No big deal.
The real money is in opening them up and finding out whats inside.
Take the mission. Hog 2, fast charge power cell, no weapons. head to the destination sector, avoiding common ion storm locations. Unless the voy hits an ion storm on the way, you will still get full payment when it docks. Minimal risk so long as you can fly a hog at full turbo. If you lose a few, you lose a few. No big deal.
The real money is in opening them up and finding out whats inside.
We haven't messed with escort missions yet, because we're still rebalancing the other economic areas (trading, etc). I don't want to yank and/or screw-up all the moneymaking areas of the game at the same time.
We know escort missions have issues.. we're even graphing average payout per player, for various types, and so on.
We know escort missions have issues.. we're even graphing average payout per player, for various types, and so on.
They're also the only way to get trade xp without acquiring the dreaded "trader" tag.
Gah! If only I'd know that sooner. Now I feel all dirty.
You heard Inc. Enjoy em while you can! 'Soon' you will be forced into trade. And I will be there waiting. :D
You heard Inc. Enjoy em while you can! 'Soon' you will be forced into trade. And I will be there waiting. :D
Please provide an income source for pirate and warrior tracks before dumping the escorts. Grinding for cash would seriously detract from gameplay.
It'd be more fun if we had to go through dangerous zone like gray space and bot zones and REALLY escort and protect the cargo ships, this will be really worth the rewards. But I guess that's for later :-)
I have always wondered why those who don’t want to trade don’t just do hive missions. Aside from the money that can be made for busting bots one can make a fair amount picking up dropped weapons and selling them in Gray Space.
Maybe some "special" dropped items of high value or combat power could be salted in among the rest of the debris to make the hunt more interesting and profitable.
Also, how about a Gray Space “black market” in some of the more popular fighters sold at bargain prices to those with a sufficiently high kill record?
Maybe some "special" dropped items of high value or combat power could be salted in among the rest of the debris to make the hunt more interesting and profitable.
Also, how about a Gray Space “black market” in some of the more popular fighters sold at bargain prices to those with a sufficiently high kill record?
Im quite new but the few escourt missions iv done were pretty fun, into grey space through storms I had to defend a lot and got killed by a player near the end.
That's what I'd like be forced to do when doing escort missions. Because now, I can easily do escort missions from Jallik to Divina and vice versa so why bother and do dangerous ones, no, I was to be forced! :-P
lens, that sounds like a separate suggestion. though I think its been mentioned before.
and yah, right now escorts are easy money. once things start settling down, would be nice if a guy actually had to stay with the convoy for 80% or so of the time (just compare time-in-same-sector or some easily trivial variable).
and yah, right now escorts are easy money. once things start settling down, would be nice if a guy actually had to stay with the convoy for 80% or so of the time (just compare time-in-same-sector or some easily trivial variable).
Or better still, someone mentioned on 100 (my apologies for forgetting who) that you used to have to pay for lost cargo. BRING THAT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or at least a percentage of lost cargo. Before that is brought back, it would be nice for the convoys to have slightly better AI... aka it would be cool if they would stick together a little better (instead of sometimes leaving the heavies in the dust... would be hard to protect a convoy that is in two systems). Maybe increase the user interaction on an escort mission by having the user have the option of telling the convoy when to jump (or more importantly, when to hold?).
I don't think convoys are a one-stop-fix. Of course, I also think they are a decently low-priority fix (in the realm of economy fixes vs FF and other fixes)
I don't think convoys are a one-stop-fix. Of course, I also think they are a decently low-priority fix (in the realm of economy fixes vs FF and other fixes)
The only part of split voys that I see Atice, are that the hogs tend to outrun the rest of the group. I am perfectly fine with that :P
What I'd like to see fixed are the voys that jump in and out of a wh sector without even approaching the wh.
Anyways, I agree. Low priority. Finish FF and Economy first!
Apart from that, having to pay for lost cargo or lose mega standing would make the current payouts acceptable to me. And would also encourage people to stay with them.
What I'd like to see fixed are the voys that jump in and out of a wh sector without even approaching the wh.
Anyways, I agree. Low priority. Finish FF and Economy first!
Apart from that, having to pay for lost cargo or lose mega standing would make the current payouts acceptable to me. And would also encourage people to stay with them.
Pay for lost cargo? I'm against that!
extremely well thought out argument there lolin.
paying for lost cargo would make the missions a lot more intense, and make them far less "easy", which was one of your original complaints...
paying for lost cargo would make the missions a lot more intense, and make them far less "easy", which was one of your original complaints...
Lolin, announce on 100 that you are on an escort misson and the worm holes on your route?
A few other ways of handling Escort missions/convoys (not mutually exclusive):
1. Hired guard: flat rate of say 35k credits upon completion of mission with small bonuses for distance (jumps) and combat added. Percentage of profit from convoy also possible but at a much reduced rate from the current one. I recommend these for Escorts within Nation space where the risk for convoys is minimal but non-zero. Nature of cargo is largely irrelevant for these types of Escort missions as the payout is essentially fixed.
2. Partner: For Escorts through Grey space, you buy into the convoy and your profit reflects how much you invest: pay for 25 percent of the goods being hauled and you get back 25 percent of the profit. Could be taken to full investment of 100 percent for a fully funded convoy. Note that any profit for the player will be adjusted to reflect the cost of hiring the ships for the convoy (either a flat rate or a percentage of the profit for NPC cargo ships).
To balance the risk, you can also hire up to five NPC escorts (50k credits per guard) to protect the convoy or hire PC escorts or do these as guild runs with guild members protecting the convoy. Of course, you can also fly escort yourself to protect your investment or choose to haul cargo for added profit. Newer/poorer players can pool resources and invest in these convoys if necessary.
Amount needed to buy into convoy would vary with goods being hauled (small investments need for common goods, large investments for rare commodities) which is a good thing as it will allow a range of missions to accommodate all levels of players.
1. Hired guard: flat rate of say 35k credits upon completion of mission with small bonuses for distance (jumps) and combat added. Percentage of profit from convoy also possible but at a much reduced rate from the current one. I recommend these for Escorts within Nation space where the risk for convoys is minimal but non-zero. Nature of cargo is largely irrelevant for these types of Escort missions as the payout is essentially fixed.
2. Partner: For Escorts through Grey space, you buy into the convoy and your profit reflects how much you invest: pay for 25 percent of the goods being hauled and you get back 25 percent of the profit. Could be taken to full investment of 100 percent for a fully funded convoy. Note that any profit for the player will be adjusted to reflect the cost of hiring the ships for the convoy (either a flat rate or a percentage of the profit for NPC cargo ships).
To balance the risk, you can also hire up to five NPC escorts (50k credits per guard) to protect the convoy or hire PC escorts or do these as guild runs with guild members protecting the convoy. Of course, you can also fly escort yourself to protect your investment or choose to haul cargo for added profit. Newer/poorer players can pool resources and invest in these convoys if necessary.
Amount needed to buy into convoy would vary with goods being hauled (small investments need for common goods, large investments for rare commodities) which is a good thing as it will allow a range of missions to accommodate all levels of players.
Perhaps it would make the mission a lot intense but in a negative way, it's no fun to pay hundreds of thousands of credits if you lose the whole crew. Sometimes the trader ships of the escort missions carry cargo worth 400,000c or more, there is no way a newbie like me can afford losing that.
What I want is to change the escort missions so that we really have to stick with the group and protect them while going through unmonitored bot sectors and for the really rewarding escort missions: through gray space.
What I want is to change the escort missions so that we really have to stick with the group and protect them while going through unmonitored bot sectors and for the really rewarding escort missions: through gray space.