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Trader's Stuff/Flying for Fun

Aug 07, 2008 mpescador link
Here's quite a few things I can think of for traders, industrialists, and we who like to just get out there and fly:

While I like the four manufacturing missions that currently exist, my favorite part of many MMO's is the ability to create your own stuff for your own use or for sale. I have a character on Vendetta that's dedicated to learning those four missions and selling what he can. That's how much I love it. There could be a choice a trader can make whereas they work as a contractor for one of the factions and therefore get access to manufacturing all kinds of things not otherwise seen, or even things that are seen. For example ammo packs for rail guns and launchers. Small fighters (which, by the way, should be sellable and should be able to fit inside the hold of a Behemoth or at least a Behemoth XC). Assorted guns and launchers. And they should be manufacturable at a lower cost, say half, than what the normal average price is, BUT after the trader makes that choice they can't go and change corporations/factions.

There should not only be the current tracks out there for racing, there should be a mission or three you can get regarding them. Speed missions. Agility missions (how close can you stay to the center). Even "Mario Kart" like missions where bots will get in your way. In other words, like the Border Skirmish, there should be a race available every so often where NPC's and PC's race for credit prizes. Tying into the manufacturing idea, one corporation could be constantly trying to create better and better racing craft, but they aren't made for combat or trade. So a person would have to be really into racing or really into selling to racers to take up that corporation.

If you ever do get around to capital ships for players, one type should be a trading vessel that has a large hold size and defensive weapons capabilities but, obviously, not nearly as much offensive punch as the cruisers and frigates we already know. Barges and/or tankers. Perhaps they could even have tractor beams to take on cargo in a debris field. And talk about your bulk shipping. Take that from point A to point B, get cargo loaded using a Behemoth or even smaller, faster cargo ships, back to point A, and unload. I'm not suggesting it for mining, though. That's just overkill plus there's the whole thing of navigating a field in a large ship. But you could have mining ships on board that would collect, store in the tanker, and go back for more.

Final idea: Eventually, I'd hope, there would be access to planets. This not only means planet attacks, it also means planetary commerce and flying. Highly recommend that capital ships can't land, for one thing, and that since you'd be putting in gravity as one of the factors of the game that, again, there be races available for air flying as well (EDIT: Which if you've ever played X-plane's Mars as opposed to Earth flying you'd know how fun a difference in gravity can be from planet to planet). Also recommend assorted variations on mining for planets. After all, they also have assorted gasses, mineral pockets, volcanic activity, etc. Also there should be fuel collection added in for all those rockets and missiles if nothing else. Some of that fuel could come from mining. NASA even suggests that a form of fuel could be collected from pockets of solar wind, which in this game would be dangerous flying near the center of a system where the solar wind is thickest. Again, gravity and trick flying.