@Egosoft. A list of "must be done asap" things.

[GCU Grey Area]

I appreciate your feedback guys, but the question is always: "Is it fair to fail the mission for "collateral" damage?". That's the point.

To be honest I quite like it that these mission do require a bit of care to complete successfully. Find it quite satisfying to complete these missions with a minimum of collateral damage. Not sure I'd enjoy them as much if I simply had to destroy the station to complete them (though I also do those missions too). Actually looking for one right now - want to try out Admiral Sausage's approach with the Burst Rays.

[jakotheshadows]

I appreciate your feedback guys, but the question is always: "Is it fair to fail the mission for "collateral" damage?". That's the point.

I'm sure you're all very skilled pilots, but 2 hours for a single step of a single "normal" mission is more tedious than funny imo. Many players (myself included) choose to ignore that missions regardless the needed skill to complete it, but just because too much time is needed for the rewards offered.

To put it simply: for the current implementation of the xenon turret missions, no it isn't. As you said, the rewards vs effort is a joke and sometimes module placement makes the mission literally impossible (with a semi-possible exception where one poster mentioned torpedoes) without destroying the module. I think the only points I disagree with you on are what makes the mission impossible and which techniques are viable for completing the mission. The incentives for doing these missions are just not there. There are far more efficient ways to get argon / terran rep, there are far faster ways to get 3M credits, and I can get at least 50 times the modification parts from just killing enemies nowhere near a Xenon station for the same amount of time it takes to complete one of these Xenon turret missions.

[jakotheshadows]

2) Repeated orders.
- We desperately need basically 2 things in repeated orders: "Dump all your cargo/inventory in this ship/station" command and ability to skip current order to proceed on the next one queued.

This is kind of there for inventory, but what I've found is the deposit inventory command will completely clobber your repeat orders queue if the pilot for whatever reason in that step has no inventory to deposit. Buy / Sell commands work AFAIK on repeat orders just fine even if the full trade amount can't be fulfilled without shutting the loop down, so it is really unclear to me why this wouldn't just work for inventory as well. I do know that the deposit inventory command is somewhat annoying to discover because normally with this sort of command you'd expect the option to appear when selecting a ship, and bringing up the context menu from that ship to a target station to include this option. Apparently however since station inventory storage is only available on the PHQ the context menu to "deposit inventory at PHQ" is just kinda there on the ship itself without a target.

[Pares]

- Killing xenon stations turrets are impossible 99% of the times. Rockets can't do the job either because are not sufficent or because they destroy the section. Capitals ends up destroyng the platforms. Smaller ships got swarmed by 100 drones per try. Sniper ray guns are not an option because they can't be aimed on a turret from 10 kilometers. And spending literally hours on surgical strikes risk being voided by a passing odysseus destroyng a station section out of nowhere. A very easy fix should be NOT failing the mission if a section filled with turrets is destroyed in the process. Maybe failing it if you wipe out completely the station.

Doing the Terran vs Xenon turret destroying missions is how I got my first few millions after getting the Syn, so they are absolutely doable. Most of the missions I done requested destroying 30-50 turrets. Short bursts from the Syn main guns do the job pretty well. I only failed on such mission after destroying a station module, but that was like the first such mission I ever done, I underestimated the power of Syn Since then I did not fail any. Also the only ships I encountered during doing these missions were Ks coming to the defence of the stations, but it was early game and stations deep in Xenon territory.

[Pitagora]

2) Repeated orders.
- We desperately need basically 2 things in repeated orders: "Dump all your cargo/inventory in this ship/station" command and ability to skip current order to proceed on the next one queued.

This is kind of there for inventory, but what I've found is the deposit inventory command will completely clobber your repeat orders queue if the pilot for whatever reason in that step has no inventory to deposit.

Well that's a dev problem, if any. Anyway a cargo unload command can be really welcome. Think about a swarm of couriers ready to pickup hacked stations loot and quickly dump it in a nearby incarcatura, all automatic until no more loot is available. Or program some of them around your best complex to void all marauders efforts.

[Sassbarman]

100% agree with addressing the flee mechanic. Right now it is beyond frustrating watching my 7 million credit Buffalo fly straight at the enemy it’s trying to flee from. C’mon ES!

[apricotslice]

Just adding a few things for Cradle of, err, whatever.

When you're in the station overview screen, and you have a lot of modules, I'm finding some of them used to build ships with are not connecting to the build modules. Mainly Terran modules.

In Station Information, the expected operating budget is a joke, and completely ignores closed loops. That figure should reflect only what needs to be bought, and ignore everything produced to be consumed.

When you're in Map mode/Station Build mode, or Station Overview mode, of which I spend about 95% of my time in one of those going back and forth, you don't get any announcements of any kind. Ship in danger? Tough, it gets killed without you knowing anything. There is room next to the character name up top left for a 3 line announcement area.

I keep hearing pilots telling me they want orders, or want permission to leave, and have no idea which ship it is or where it is. How about some information? Especially when you're in map or station modes.

[spankahontis]

- Yes, any mission for that matter that requires "A transfer" I had to learn to use the Hotkeys (1) & (2) cause sometimes i'm on the UI Map and pressing escape was like taking the "Not now" option. Mousing over the Back Button or learning the hotkeys (Which is next to the dialogue choices to answer) are the only ways to navigate this part without botching the mission.
A definite rethink is needed.

- I always assumed that the Deliver Wares Missions had their own ware storage, similar to X:Rebirth's version of this mission?
Guess only option is to SETA and wait for these wares to be available? Or order your ships to 'Distribute Wares' in behaviour tab, check box the wares you want that's in your ships hold and wait for your NPC ship to finish the task?

- I Used a Terran Bomber to lock onto and fire missiles at Xenon Station Turrets from a safe distance. Problem for me is it's time consuming, 40 Turrets is just TOO MUCH.
And yeah, I think destroying the module the turrets are on should count as taking all the turrets on that module down.
Unless the reward is REALLY TEMPTING? then I avoid these missions.

- I agree with prospecting, they need to rebalance the needs of these missions by half it's yield. I am draining Antigone Republic, the Void and other Antigone Sectors dry so finding the yield they want, even when each Sector I've dropped 50 Resource Probes all over the sector I can't find what they are looking for.
My strategy was to always find the largest yield they're asking for, drop a probe there and keep it there for future Prospecting Mission, deactivate probe, collect, drop it again and it was an easy mission win as the Faction you're doing the mission for doesn't claim the probe like they do in satellite drop missions.

- I agree that Mission rewards need a rethink, missions that offer you Nvidium Oxide/Crystallite, Tuning Software etc. something that is abundant to collect from scavenging ship wrecks and most ships drop them in fights, my hold has hundreds of them.
I don't think it makes a worthwhile reward when compared to a Magnetar, 5000 Nvidium, a 3 Star Captain and 30+ Able Crewman as a reward.
I agree 100% that there needs to be a rethink on rewards by tier of relations. Magnetar's for Rewards should be high relation +20 level rewards unlocked to reflect their trust in your ability.
Get stupid rewards like Nvidium Crystalites out of the guild missions, replace them with something better, a Basic Modification with a cash reward, New Skin + Cash, Spacefly Caviar.
Heck i'd take Argnu Steaks and Mixed Fruits those items are rare to find at Traders.
Delivering Food and Medical Supplies should get you some Fine Meals and Medikits alongside your cash reward, free samples from the food/medical company!
Or maybe they offer you a choice of rewards? You get a list of 3 possible rewards you get to choose from? That would be interesting.

- Yes, Ship Magnets should be stronger by size of ship.

For delivery missions, i just hack station storage. I hate having to complete them like that, but that is a quick amd dirty way to force a completion.

That's a pretty good idea, that!
But you are sacrificing a System Decryption module, they're not cheap and are semi-rare to find on Pirate Ships/Xenon.

[grapedog]

For delivery missions, i just hack station storage. I hate having to complete them like that, but that is a quick amd dirty way to force a completion.

That's a pretty good idea, that!
But you are sacrificing a System Decryption module, they're not cheap and are semi-rare to find on Pirate Ships/Xenon.

Yes, but i typically get lots of those. Ans if i need to use one to complete a wares mission that gives a good reward, i don't mind too much.

Though i feel delivering wares should have some kind of storage allocation set aside... unless the point is for it to be a long drawn out mission.

[Pitagora]

When you're in Map mode/Station Build mode, or Station Overview mode, of which I spend about 95% of my time in one of those going back and forth, you don't get any announcements of any kind. Ship in danger? Tough, it gets killed without you knowing anything. There is room next to the character name up top left for a 3 line announcement area.
I keep hearing pilots telling me they want orders, or want permission to leave, and have no idea which ship it is or where it is. How about some information? Especially when you're in map or station modes.

Well, a pile of notifies, like any good strategic game use to give, could be a dream come true in a X game. You get falling bubbles on the right part of the screen, you click some to give your orders, rightclick to dismiss and you never forget a ship floating in space for 1 day...

But that's stuff for anoter topic I fear... My goal here is to point out the shortest possible list of quick fixes on certain important matters... Yes, the proposed loot mechanic modifications is not a quick fix, but just giving different range per ship size should be a great step forward with a minimum effort.... I think.

[spankahontis]

For delivery missions, i just hack station storage. I hate having to complete them like that, but that is a quick amd dirty way to force a completion.

That's a pretty good idea, that!
But you are sacrificing a System Decryption module, they're not cheap and are semi-rare to find on Pirate Ships/Xenon.

Yes, but i typically get lots of those. Ans if i need to use one to complete a wares mission that gives a good reward, i don't mind too much.

Though i feel delivering wares should have some kind of storage allocation set aside... unless the point is for it to be a long drawn out mission.

Hacking Stations is quite profitable at the early stages of the game, but it's balanced out with accessibility as you either have find Black Marketers to sell you the parts, or you wait for Xenon and Teladi to rip each other apart and help yourself to any you find laying around in space.

[Jeraal]

That's a pretty good idea, that!
But you are sacrificing a System Decryption module, they're not cheap and are semi-rare to find on Pirate Ships/Xenon.

Yes, but i typically get lots of those. Ans if i need to use one to complete a wares mission that gives a good reward, i don't mind too much.

Though i feel delivering wares should have some kind of storage allocation set aside... unless the point is for it to be a long drawn out mission.

Hacking Stations is quite profitable at the early stages of the game, but it's balanced out with accessibility as you either have find Black Marketers to sell you the parts, or you wait for Xenon and Teladi to rip each other apart and help yourself to any you find laying around in space.

Lockboxes can be good sources too.

[GCU Grey Area]

Have been doing a few of the delivery mission recently. Found that in 4.0 I rarely need to hack station storage (whereas pre-4.0 it was pretty much essential to do them in any sort of sensible time frame). This has been typical of many recent missions:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nswoj0zgq028u ... 1.jpg?dl=0
Best guess I've got for why they've become so much quicker to complete is that the 4.0 changes to workforce also affected NPC stations & now there's significantly greater demand for food & meds.

[grapedog]

I know i built an additional 3 universal(not including TER, **** those douches) food/med supply complexes, and they do pretty good business. Food and meds were just hard to come by.

I did some delivery post 4.0 and had issues often enough to be annoying, for non food/med.

[Ezarkal]

I'd like to get feedback on this list from other players. I'd like to understand if the point listed are just seen as my personal opinions or can be widely shared by the player base.

I'm actually very curious to see if there are players who think the exact opposite on these 4 points and like it how the game works right now.

-I fully agree with point 1 and 3 (mission goal/rewards and override system). What we have right now is much better than what we used to have, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.

-I disagree with point 4, (Looting system) but mostly on the aspect of immersion. Having a low-maneuverability capital-ship being able to collect all the tiny crates in an instant does not make sense to me. Yes, collecting them all by yourself is a hassle, but you can (and should) use some NPC-piloted small fighters to do the job for you. It works extremely well, to the point where I keep fighters dedicated to this task in every "hot" zones I find. Then said fighters can be sent to drop the loot to the HQ, or asked to drop the loot in a crate for another dedicated fighter to bring the stuff to the HQ (or for you to pick up), to your preference.
But if you choose to fly in a capital ship, I say it's your choice and you have to deal with the limitations.

-I strongly disagree with point 2. To my sense, the reason why "transfer" is not an option on repeat queue order is because "transfer" ignores the ware's storage limitations. So if you start setting supply runs with the "transfer" option and then forget about them, you'll end up with a station storage completely clogged with a ware you normally only need in small amounts, and then you'll have to start micro-managing freeing up storage space.
As far as station production chain / build storage supply goes, there's nothing you can't do with the proper "buy/sell" repeat queue and proper storage setup.
I will admit I have no clue about how it works with ship-to-ship transfer. I had no time to test since the feature was implemented, and I'm not there yet in my current playthrough.

[dyingcrow]

Longer range loot magnets, or tractor beams, should be by ship. This would make build storage looting or station hacking piracy more attractive for those who want to play that way. I have mine set to 20km, but i'm lazy, 10km would be just fine.

For the sake of gameplay, cargo drones should be used only for ship to ship or ship to station transfers, not containers floating in space.

Transferring drones should not require ships to be docked, makes no sense. They can fly on their own.

Looting build storages carry no penalty, which is lame and should be corrected. One only has to look out for a build storage that has been fully stocked and still no builder, there could be a station's worth of build stuffs in there. We loot, no one cares. Any station built after game start will have a build storage, and they should be pissed if we just happen to shoot and steal the loot.

Abandoned build storages should be destructible. The whole map is littered with them, bloating saves.

Drones docking, overall, should be dropped. It's a waste of CPU and player patience. Better if they just got scooped by some magic force, aka tractor beam. Remember when we were able to tractor big asteroids across sectors and gates to a station with modules connected by flimsy, crooked tubes?

I'd really, really welcome being able to build mining stations on big asteroids. No need to tow them somewhere else. And they already exist, far, far out.

Repair drones should always stick to the ship, independent of drag mods and ship speed. We should be able to decide when to launch them. I've been in way too many situations where repair drones get destroyed by my own turrets and getting me in a way worse predicament, because they become infinite mass and stick to the hull, tossing the ship into an uncontrollable spin and aborting travel mode.

Wrecks should not be affected by drag, and should have no mass. They don't have any, and that makes them black holes able to stop anything.

S/M docking in high attention was a good idea, very immersive, but let's be realistic, it's clunky, and fun for the whole of 5 minutes, then it becomes a waste of time. We all just teleport out and let it happen in low attention, or teleport to the ship and dock it ourselves. Instead, please, have them stage somewhere and be tractored into the pad. They already bump and clip all over the place, so, if they clip to dock by tractor, why would we care? We just want it to be done efficiently.

Get rid of the RNG % value for mods. It's the most obtuse and OCD inducing mechanic in the game. Keep the RNG for outcomes, but not % values. Just make them % flat. And give them another pass, some do exactly the same just in a different order. For guns, i'ts hard enough getting the reagents. No one wants similar guns doing different things. Just please. I DON'T LIKE GAMBLING % WITH HOURS OF MY REAL LIFE ON A VIDEOGAME to get a 1% damage gun.

[dyingcrow]

... I'm afraid it will make it all but impossible for pirates to intercept anything. As a player, I'm already way out of range by the time the pirate decides to deliver their ultimatum - giving the NPCs the same ability will make pirating impossible, at least in open space. Maybe pirates could be given a "harpoon"? Give them a long range beam weapon that will knock them out of travel drive long enough to do their scan and give their threat. But then, that's going to be seriously annoying to the player when trying to explore the outer reaches of a sector. Arg. Well, whatever the case, I don't think it's going to be an "ASAP" fix - maybe more of an X5 thing.

I think the answer to the 'loot magnet on huge ship' issue is to just make the drones work faster.

*hint hint* there is a mod out there which has interdiction probes. Any ship passing through it's small radius snaps out of travel and have it's engines damaged by a certain %. This is a great tool for route piracy.

This could be implemented in vanilla as a piracy tool, available for purchase in Pirate ports given enough rep. NPC Pirates use it to create ambushes in trade routes, and player getting rep hits with everyone else but Pirates, Hatikva and Alliance, by using it. It would be kind of logical if using those generated +rep with Pirate factions. If +rep with Pirates, player ships would be immune to the effect.

[Pitagora]

-I strongly disagree with point 2. To my sense, the reason why "transfer" is not an option on repeat queue order is because "transfer" ignores the ware's storage limitations. So if you start setting supply runs with the "transfer" option and then forget about them, you'll end up with a station storage completely clogged with a ware you normally only need in small amounts, and then you'll have to start micro-managing freeing up storage space.
As far as station production chain / build storage supply goes, there's nothing you can't do with the proper "buy/sell" repeat queue and proper storage setup.
I will admit I have no clue about how it works with ship-to-ship transfer. I had no time to test since the feature was implemented, and I'm not there yet in my current playthrough.

Basically you disagree on something that should be just added without consequences for what is in the game already? Curious.
I don't want to use such feature for supply chains, the current behaviour works well indeed. But there are scenarios where you indeed need automatic dumb transfers.
Did you ever experienced a marauder hacking your station storage? You end up with tons of stuff floating in space around your station until all the containers timeout. Maybe without you notice at all. Setting up a couple of fast couriers to constantly loot the surrounding can void such problem.
Or even build a marauder fleet yourself. A big cargo ship, some couriers in automatic loot&dump and you're ready to hack any station storage with profit!

Really, there are many scenarios where that feature can be really welcome. Learning the game means use the right tool to do something, opposing to the introducion of another tool to do other things is... Curious, as I said before.

[Drumma]

My suggestion has nothing to do with game play but here goes:

Please add NoStardust to the game's graphics options. That's the only mod I use (most of the time) because of visual issues I have. Since NoStardust is a mod, all my files are labelled as modified. I got a few comments when I asked about this in the past that the stardust actually indicates the presence of things but I've never noticed any-things.

GL HF Commanders