We should have other methods of transferring goods other than boring moth hauls.

I propose we add a "Hire a Convoy" option wherein you can select the goods you want shipped from your in-station inventory and the location to which they should be delivered. Then one would select a tiered level of NPC security accompanying it. Prices should not be cheap, (say 300k for 120cu at the base level).

This would add a bit of entertainment to the otherwise "I want to kill myself" lull of moving goods around. There is still risk, but it's a different type of risk, and you can act as your own escort.

This option should only be available to accomplished traders. Such as intermediate trader IV or Trade Master I, and trade XP level 16.

Also this would subject the cargo to pirating by other players, as it would fly through space just like the other voys.

Lastly, if there is a capship involved in the convoy, only a certain percentage of the total amount of goods can be hauled in the trident *or connie* (which specific percentage should be decided by the game, and not the player).

+1....

This is actually quite possible with the PCC. I think someone was working on a version and then quit. I'll see what I can do.

This isn't actually possible with the PCC tools. Since the cargo would be dynamic, there is no way to create the function. +1 OP.

+1

+1

I don't know if the license req's need be quite so high, nor the trade badge, but that could be sorted out. I'd add a very high standing requirement with the station of origin. Wether or not capital ships are involved should not be player controlled at all. You specify the cargo and destination, and the mission generates the fleet randomly, unless the game internally tracks what NPC's are available at any given station at any given time. Fees would be some equation of cu's x WH's, maybe with a modifier for mass per cu.

Question: would you be the leader of the voy, able to define the route it takes (i.e. storm/pirate avoidance), tell it to hold or continue (to let stragglers catch up), or would it take off completely independent of the player, headlong into any WH-WH storms as normal voys do, using the existing voy AI? Another question: what happens when you send more cu than you have paid storage at the destination? what happens when the voy's arrival puts you over max storage?

You would have to have a limit on how many cu's could be moved in one mission (1000? 2000?) and limit how often the mission is available (once a day? once a week?), otherwise you could tank every trade good in every market: imagine sending 50,000 corvus holodisks from Odia to Itan (those Itani research scientists are pervs). Lastly, destinations can't be in the same system as the point of origin.

Yeah the level requirements are up for debate, but should be something people have to work for. We certainly wouldn't want to make it so hard to access that nobody uses it.

I think controlling the voy in any way should be left for later, considering it's something we've wanted in Deneb for a LONG time and still haven't gotten.

If you need more paid storage it should up your storage level. If you don't have money to pay for said storage level it should not allow you to even commence the convoy. And likewise if you somehow trick it into delivering and then go ahead and fill up your station inventory (but still don't have the money to pay for extra space) it should just evaporate your cargo upon reaching the destination with the text "You nub, you don't have space or money to pay for it!"

I think delivering via convoy should be expensive enough to make it only worthwhile for items you REALLY need (i.e. weapons or manufacturing ingredients). This shouldn't be for trading purposes, and the cost of delivery should reflect that (i.e. making it so expensive that it's still worthwhile carting trade goods by your lonesome self).

Tell me, what's the difference between this and allowing in-station transfers between players?

I'll tell you: This suggestion avoids player interaction beyond the incidental run-ins you have through normal space travel.

Do I think it's necessarily a bad idea, no. But I do think that creating a system whereby players can ask others to haul goods for them, possibly during conflicting hours, and still have them be delivered to the intended person is a much better thing to implement.

lol.

Aside from transferring of goods, how is the OP anything like "allowing in-station transfers between players"? The entire point of this is to both allow means of transferring larger amounts of goods between point A and B than is currently possible by one's lonesome whilst adding something new and INTERESTING to this game.

There are, and never will be, enough players to make a system such as you suggest worthwhile. And moreover, your suggestion just would perpetuate the problem that I seek to address: the mind-numbing boredom involved in hauling stuff. Paying someone else to haul your stuff is just transferring the boredom.

Blabbing on 100 asking for help hauling about as effective as it's gonna get -- even if you could transfer stuff in station.

The point is, some people like hauling things. Some people like providing those services. They just aren't always on when you are. Which means they can't do what they enjoy. The same thing goes for manufacturing. Some people love it. Some people hate it. But it's very difficult to make or sell goods to those that want/need them because, once again, not everyone is on at the same time.

Aside from transferring of goods, how is the OP anything like "allowing in-station transfers between players"?

You're giving the goods to a 3rd-party who then must hold onto them until you arrive to retrieve them. Only this 3rd-party is an NPC, which only serves to make solo play more viable.

If a basic system to allow in-station transfers between parties that are not both present is implemented, then we can start using the forums as an additional means of coordination, assuming such an ingame mechanic for placing and accepting requests isn't also put in place at the same time.

There are, and never will be, enough players to make a system such as you suggest worthwhile.

Of course there won't be, because you want to see solo-play mechanics added into the game. People need a reason to want to stay. Not everyone likes fighting. If you want to see more people, they have to have a purpose beyond what excites you.

Allowing NPCs to transfer goods increases the chances that NPCs carrying goods will be carrying goods that are desirable. The only things that will be worth the shipping cost would be procurement items, and crafted/rare goods like capship parts, hive drops, UCs, and the like. This would both enhance "solo play" and "group play" equally -- solo by giving a player a more interesting way of hauling goods, and group by either attracting defensive coordination or offensive coordination.

I don't want to see specifically solo-play mechanics added to this game, I want to see more content/interesting shit added to this game. Your suggestion that adding a spreadsheet of boring requests for hauling would make VO more interesting completely misses the mark. That has been done on numerous boards within guilds to no avail. Even TGFT, the fucking TRADING guild had a public board for this purpose that nobody really took advantage of. So to suggest that adding something like this in game would make more sense and/or be more beneficial to the game and community than adding a bit of excitement to an otherwise soporific activity shows you are out of touch with what most people look for in this game. This would be supported by your playing style, or lack thereof.

Moreover, this should have no effect on those that enjoy doing the hauls themselves. They can continue to do so. If anything it would encourage the minuscule % of VO population that "enjoy" moving goods to be more aggressive and competitive in their offers to haul goods over public channels.

"That has been done on numerous boards within guilds to no avail. Even TGFT, the fucking TRADING guild had a public board for this purpose that nobody really took advantage of. "

Most of the people playing the game never look at a single guild website. Most of them don't even visit these forums. Trying to use something from a guild forum like that as an indicator of what people actually do is absurd.

If I could post jobs on an in-game job-board, people really would complete the jobs. I can often snag a temporary minion if I hawk a job on 100 for a while, so clearly there are people who find my terms agreeable. The main issue is letting those people know the job even exists, and whether those people are available at the same time that I am available.

even so i don't see how this compares on any level with what i propose

The purpose of NPCs is to fill the gaps that players are not filling, and they generally should not be permitted to do anything a player can't do. Taking these two ideas in mind, the goal should not be to create NPCs that complete jobs for players, but rather a method for players to post jobs for each other, with a mechanism for NPCs to also attempt those jobs if the number of players completing jobs is too far out of sync with the number posting jobs. That should be a dynamic process, automatically scaling back NPC involvement if players start filling more of the jobs.

So in other words, the first step should be for players to post jobs to other players. Only afterward should NPC completion of jobs be considered.

+1

Allow me to suggest a nice twist: the convoy should be scheduled, e.g. to run one day from now. This allows preparations to be made, the dent to be flown in, etc. Meanwhile, information about the voy can be leaked to other players hanging around the usual pirate hangouts and paying the right bribes. You can't really expect to hire 10+ pilots in the VO-verse and have them all keep their mouth, now can you? The existence, amount, and accuracy of information can depend on chance, price, and system/nation of origin. Also, player convoys should be clearly marked as such, and the dent (if any) should hang around the system of origin for at least 30 minutes before scheduled take off.

So the voy adds safety and convenience, but also allows for an extra layer of intrigue. And a guild war furball to take a convoy at least has an actual goal...

FYI that this has been planned for a long time. This is part of why we re-did the mission system to make it dynamic (and then it was slow, and we had to optimize it, and fix 92384923 other things). It's a meaningful part of my "endgame" plan, particularly when factoring in player-owned stations.

Anyway, the general concept is for a player to post a "mission" for someone to do.. something. Move deliver goods from A to B, or whatever. Another player could answer it, or perhaps after some maximum period of time, an NPC might answer it instead.

Yes, propagation of this data to (PC|NPC) pirates is also an intended goal. Similarly, captains and escorts might have ratings based on their success of delivery.

Hey Inc! That sounds really cool. Please feel all our inspiration and support backing you to implement this feature the sooner. Don't feel pressure, we can wait.