I wonder why it's always possible to replenish one's ammo (like some exotic rockets) at station, which refuses to sell more than a stock bus, simple gun and some cargo...

Good point, Grzywacz, I often find myself wondering the same thing...

However, limiting ammo to stations which offer that particular weapon would be a headache, unless one were allowed to stockpile ammo beyond weapon capacity and haul it to a more convenient station. Imagine making a trip to Corvus M-14 every time you ran out of iceflare rockets as a low level newb. Troublesome, but perhaps an exotic weapon is worth the effort.

Still, perhaps it would make things a little easier if one were able to buy extra ammo as cargo (perhaps one full load of ammo per cargo space for small weapons, half a load for large weapons) and bring it to a more convenient station. Then, provided you had the ammo in your inventory at that station, you could re-arm there.

Yes, being able to carry ammo as cargo would be essential and as far as exotic weapons are concerned, I think that having a little more trouble getting ammunition for them would actually make sense.
In terms of gameplay, having someone to deliver you supplies to the battlefield might be necessary, creating "natural", not mission-related, convoys.

All I can offer is that it is easier to make ammo...? But ya, it would certainly limit rocket and missile spamming. Whether that's good or not would be open to debate. Weapons with ammo are already limited by the fact that you can run out of them in battle. Having to run to a distant station to replenish would certainly be a drawback.

Though I agree it doesn't make much sense I think it's better for game play if you can buy the ammo. Otherwise it would really nerf all such weapons. Maybe if they could be transported as cargo (in large amounts, like a full set of ammo would take up 1 cargo space). Otherwise I would suggest coming up with some sort of explanation... like generic ammo components that are used differently by the weapons (they could still hold different amounts and cost more or less).

yes. We should make a story explaining the fact that you can buy ammo everywhere. Here's mine:

For players in the United States, ammo is similar to the common newspaper USA Today. The paper is sold all over the country, and they all have exactly the same stuff in them. How, you may ask, can they do this? The simple explanation is this: the USA Today headquarters sends the stories to "franchises" all around the US. The "franchises" then print the stories and hand them out, with the help of a huge work-force. This is how stations have ammo everywhere. The one main station where the ammo was created has lower prices since you're buying it first-hand. "Franchise" stations have a higher price because they have to pay the hq station for the plans to make the ammo, as well as the raw materials. Therefore, ammo can be bought for any gun anywhere.

Devs, can you possibly do that? We could have ammo cheaper at the station where you bought the weapon, but everywhere else it's 50c more maybe? That wouldn't be too hard, would it?

hmmm, thats actually not a bad idea danielky. If a station doesnt sell the weapon the ammo goes to, the ammo probably should cost more there. I doubt it would be hard to do, When buying ammo a simple check to see if that weapon is on the stations list of availible items would do it.

Yes, gameplay might suffer if you had to go back and forth to buy some ammo... Being able to carry a large load of ammo as cargo might be a solution providing a good balance between realism and enjoyable game experience.

danielky: that's how it is now (apart from prices) and it's really strange that you can buy ammunition in a station that, for some reasons, refuses to sell you anything more than a bus.

I like it the way iy is...

and if you want an explanation for it, then lets just state that its only a hull with a decent amount of explosives, while a bus has an engine, a propulsionsystem, a hull and a weaponport, so I cant really see why it wouldnt be possible to just take pieces from the hull, welld them together in a big circle, and slap some detonationdevice on them in the tip. And then filll them up with explosives. Its really not that hard or scientific to do, even a kid can do this...

cheers

In my humble opinion, I think it makes more sense for ammo to be purchaseable only in stations that sell the weapon, or at least to limit the stations where that ammo can be bought.

There are several reasons for this: first of all, some stations (like corvus) allow you to buy weapons that you do not technically have the required license levels for. This varies from station to station, but if you were carting around a weapon that most stations would not sell to you, why would they willingly refill your ammo for that weapon?

Second, there is the technology issue. Let's say I buy a special Serco sunflare launcher, why would Itani or Neutral stations have the technology to produce ammo for that Serco weapon? Modern day munitions are a lot more advanced than taking a piece of the hull and welding it in a circle and packing it with explosives; I seriously doubt a kid could build a AIM-9X sidewinder missile. How much more advanced would these 42nd century munitions be? It just doesn't make sense that all stations would sell all ammo types.

In terms of gameplay, it would actually add an extra dimension of strategy to what weapons you choose to carry. Sure you can buy an iceflare launcher at corvus before you have the license levels, but is it worth the trip back to corvus space to refill it every time? And if you own that special Serco sunflare launcher, better be sure you maintain good standing with serco stations, otherwise you will run out of ammo pretty quick.

I think the best solution is to A) limit stations at which ammo can be bought and B) allow players to transport ammo as cargo.

You have to have A and B though. Otherwise there would be no point in ever buying a weapon with ammuntion unless you had good standing with everyone. Back in the days of spacequake, even a perfect sunflare user would only get two or three kills before he ran out and had to reload. Traveling for a half hour to reload for every minute of fighting time would be very bad.

sigh, it is actually not needed...

And easy to solve...

lower level rockets(newbie - midvet) --> ammo available everywhere.

high level rockets(very hard to get, exotic types) --> ammo only gettable in the station where you bought it, or you need to haul them to the station you are planning to use as a base.

Now if you have equipment from corvus for which you need a higher licencelevel and you dock in another station that isnt allied to corvus in any way, then you can expect a drop in status with that faction/nation and have to pay twice the price of the normal price "people are ripping you off, you needed to do some shady deals to get access to the reload."

So both problems are solved. And im pretty sure this will be in the end the scheme that the devs are aiming towards.

cheers

I think that Phaserlight is on the right track in terms of realism and gameplay. I like his take on it.