Changes To Hauling

Now, to some of you, this post will not come as a surprise. Over the last few weeks Elkhorn has been posting ISN news reports of the issues that the Senior partners and management over at Ashar, Wesbec and even Valoren have been having. As it stands, atm, they are all operating under the control of the Federal United Bureau of Accounting and Receivership (FUBAR) whilst they await their fate.

Now, this post is not about the story line, it’s about the game and its upcoming change. Why change hauling Coops? Well, the issue is that hauling was added as the Very first thing in the game, coming on nearly 15 years ago. Its precepts of distance, amounts and credits were laid out and to be frank has not really changed much over the decade and a half since.

The Game however has. It’s expanded, adding Galaxy after Galaxy. Along with devices to move though the Universe at an ever speedier pace. Fifteen years ago when the largest cargo expander was 100 who would have envisaged a ship with the carrying capacity of over 6,000!

So it’s time to make some changes. Time to bring Hauling back in line earning and XP wise with passengers, and combat, to name a few of the more ‘work for your credit’ income professions.

We (the staff and I) have spent about two weeks working and testing a reworked Ashar, Wesbec and Voloren haulage system. I’m letting you know in advance of its release that it’s coming and for you to absorb the major difference. I’ve been known to change things with little to no notice, and that’s not always a good thing. So you’ve been getting some Story warning and now a Dev – It’s coming heads up.

Major Changes
Haulage offices will no longer support the Refresh, regenerate new list.

Each unique office will generate a set list of Client Missions which need delivering.

These lists will be Server wide, so everyone will see the same lists in each office.

Missions will rotate SLOWLY over time or by the simple mechanics of players taking a mission and in due course a replacement one will be generated.

Missions will all be for specific Clients (in game Companies) ~IE though working for Ashar, etc you will be delivering the cargo for a ‘client’.

Clients will record and note how much you deliver for them and offer bonuses based on this. Bonus Payment on delivery.

Ashar, Wesbec and Valoren distances, cargo sizes and primary rewards have ALL been re-engineered.

Quality of Life Change
A new Table view has been created for the offices. This ensures we have all the data you need, not only where, but the System and the Galaxy. How far it is and the client for whom the mission relates to. These new views are FULLY sortable. By Columns, multiple columns and even using <= => type statements.

This is a typical view.

Filtering for Cargo <100

Same filter but for missions going to Aurelia System. You could have of course just opted to order by systems or Galaxy etc. Or simply order by Credits is profit is your only concern. This view may start making its way though the game as it’s far more flexible than our old outdated table view.

Blind /VI
We had two blind players check the view for usability, and they reported that with some ‘figuring’ out the layout it was more than usable. One of them has written us a short guide, which we will publish in the Blind section of the forums when it’s released. I will also add the url of that post to my final release notes.

Clients and Bonuses
We are tracking 58 out of 133 initial companies that you can move cargo for. The more cargo you deliver for a client, the more of a bonus they will give you over time. Their bonus is worked out once you’ve taken the mission and recorded into the Trade missions for when you deliver. Over time, we will add more companies, but initially we are limiting those. Valoren obviously only uses Alien clients

More Haulage Companies
Once this change is deployed, and we have irons out any kinks or you guys have located something we have missed, I will work on creating a new Haulage system aimed at Starbases. They will be able to create their own Haulage companies and generate special long haul missions. Still not to today’s heady heights, but exceeding the new Wesbec and Valoren deliveries. More on that when we get there!

Again, this was a long time coming this change and I will admit it sidetracked me from the latest addition I was working on which many of you will have been waiting for. I will return to those topics once this is deployed. It’s a necessary change and whilst some will hate it, you have to understand it’s for the good of the economy and long term game viability.

From a hot office in the UK this is me Coops Signing off.

Coops