Is there anything more boring than trying to hammer out a bunch of distribution missions to raise your standings? That is pretty much all they are good for, that and using them as a last resort to gain a bit of LP for a few mods/ammo when you’re out in the boonies. Does anyone actually use these things for primary income? And yet there are so, so, so many distribution agents. I think they need to be put to better use, and actually give them a bit of a purpose.
Plan #1 - Have distribution agents sometimes help migrate real items. This would mean that items that are up in the local market will be bought by the agent, transported by the player to a different station, and then some or all would be put up on the market in the new station.
-This would also mean that the shipper has the option of stealing a possibly valuable item, if they choose to be penalized.
Plan #2 - Random rewards. After completing a mission the agent may tell you that they received too many of something and so gives the extra to you. Anything from blueprint copies, ammunition, materials or even faction modules
Plan #3 - Reallocate some of the distribution agents to instead be exploration agents, where pilots will fly to a site, figure out how to solve a puzzle, scan down a wormhole, or hack containers.
Feel free to elaborate on your opinions on distribution agents.
Cargo hauling is boring. But it’s predictable. And that’s the upside. All you need is a hauler of decent size or a frig, and you don’t need to have a care about fittings and such. Do I need to train up guns/missiles/drones and tanking skills like in security missions or mining vessels and mining like in mining missions? Nope, it’s just getting to manage the hauler, nothing more.
People will do what they intend to do, if they want to do hauling missions for quick standing improvements, so be it. For thrills, they can switch to do something else.
I’d rather suggest introducing exploration missions as a separate type, next to distribution/security/mining – or maybe tie that one to R&D agents, so if someone wishes to accelerate research, he may get the option to do some industrial espionage, for example.
Plan 1 - NPC’s will buy items on the market (at player prices), then sell them on the market (at player++ prices)? That would be awesome profit for the traders who can predict these events (and believe me, we will). Request the mission, open the mission journal, read the details of what item it’ll be, flip all of that on the market to a higher price, ACCEPT the mission so the agent does his buy thing, transport the stuff, complete the mission, and you’ve just made billions with a guaranteed manipulation of the market.
Plan 2 - sure, extra rewards for no extra work is awesome, by all means CCP do give us lots of extra rewards. Faction modules, we love them. Hey, go Officer modules too!
Plan 3 - No. People who talk to a distribution agent want to do logistics mission, not bait-and-switch ■■■■. And, in addition to the annoyance of the bait-and-switch, high-sec is so full of explorers that you talk to the agent, he spawns the exploration site, and someone else gets it probed out and finished BEFORE you do, thereby forcing a fail on the mission.
Distribution missions need to be removed from the game as well as Research Agents. the PVE missions need to be more Lore-Centric and have meaning, there simply isn’t enough meaning in delivering a stockpile of eggs to a station.
I disagree. There are millions of trucks on the road every day, and hundreds of freight ships, airplanes, and trains. Comparatively, there are very few mercenary / military missions where defense contractors get to participate in rescuing damsels, killing pirates, or other such things.
By extension, the EVE galaxy should function on transportation and logistics.
In addition, there isn’t a lot of meaning in doing Angel Extravaganza for the hundredth time. The combat missions have no meaning, the NPC’s don’t learn anything and don’t adjust their actions based on what happened at the last mission. There’s a lot more meaning and realism in having to repeat a cargo transfer 1000 times (because it’s needed) than there is in rescuing the Damsel 1000 times (doesn’t she ever learn for fucks sake!).
So, before they touch the distribution missions, I demand that CCP first put in true general AI so that the NPC’s are sentient and learn from past missions, so that they can give us MEANINGFUL combat missions.
Distribution missions don’t really give enough standings for that to work, trust me, I’ve grinded enough standings over the years to know this. Even my trade alts have some combat ability, which I used to grind security missions, because that went a lot faster then using distribution missions.
Distribution missions are a sad thing, their rewards are so low it makes them look like some kind of trolling attempt by CCP.
Exploration agents however, are an awesome idea. How about we replace all distribution agents with them?
Then distribution missions in Low and null sec must be super profitable right? lol
Try grinding standings in pirate space with distribution. Predictably flying through hostile systems over and over again is a good way to get you’re throat slit as everyone will be watching local to see some idiot continuously buzzing around.
The main thing I see as missing from distribution missions is purpose, and the same can be said for mining missions.
In security missions, while most are just there for the isk bounties and LP, there is also the loot and salvage, which helps supply the markets with many of the things we need.
Distribution and mining missions, however, mostly deal with fake unusable products. I think making these missions be able to contribute to the eve economy in a more purposeful and directed way would allow people to value them more.
Years ago the products hauled by distro missions were the same items that could be bought off market. People figured out that you could buy the items, stage them in the predictable locations for piddles and instantly complete missions for massive LP gains. It is why the items transported now are unique and not sellable.
Distro missions are even easier than mining skill and brains wise. Its reward and boredom is compensatory with this fact and really doesnt need a change.
The Lore or ideology or purpose as one poster asked for was explained quite well by Memphis Bass frankly. It is much more likely and normal to transport the same goods over again than fight the same fights.
And then DANG you guys are either hilariously stupid trolls or you have NO idea even about something so simple. LOL SMH
Easily solved by using contract packets. You don’t need to deliver the items, you need to deliver the packet. (Unless you choose to steal the contents).
And not every mission needs to use real items, but by using some it would allow distribution missions to affect the real item distribution within space.
Also any real-item mission would likely have a security deposit associated to accepting the mission.
Why? Youre taking away regional traders income and jobs doing it effectively nerfing an entire profession that is already being done by others and then adding LP gains to a traders income.
The other aspect of stealing the product for profit is silly as if it were even remotely realistic that agent would never give you any more work after a single theft. Nevermind that what you are asking about really is already there in suicide ganking haulers and industrials. Creating a sure fire payout system of stealing from an agent would entirely mess with the economy of the game as people learn what to steal and when in short order. Itd be gamed the hell out of.
The missions themselves are just as boring as being a trucker in real life without having to hit the scales. They are low income and low risk. If you dont want to do them then dont and find something much more exciting and lucrative for you to “grind”.
The current Distribution IV missions are the best to grind fast storyline missions just to increase the faction standings. They aren’t option for ISK-making, evolving skills etc. Not so bad option for new players to learn EVE-navigation or for players which have 20mins only to log in, take few missions, check the orders in warp and log off.
I like the ideas to:
transform a part of Distribution agents to Exploration agents for both Hacking and Combat criteria. Obviously new types of DED space should be implemented;
improve rewards a bit, plus some random rewards;
link some of the Distribution agent missions to real players market. The agent should send you to buy some players basic goods, which is in the huge quantity on market, from Sell Orders in limited quantity. The goods must be the basic materials in EVE like: ore, minerals, PI (P0 and P1 materials). This mechanic should have good anti exploit AI aka only generate missions if the sell price in 3 jumps or Region area is +/-20% from Jita AVG price (excluding the cases when players will put 1Tritanium for 100M/ISK Sell Orders near those agents). This will give to other traders a bit of ISK profit and will clear all those micro Sell Orders (10 Tritanium, 150 Veldspar, 5 Workers, 20 Water) scattered across Regions.
It will be great to improve the value of faction standings which not only give reduced taxes, but grants access to addition faction goods and benefits. Every agent type should have his own Bonus LP Store: Security (Agent weapons, Agent Gyrostabilizers), Mining (Agent Mining Upgrade, Agent Harvesters), Distribution (Agent Core Stabilizers, Agent Hull Upgrades) under concept Faction = DED > Agent > T2 > T1.
A better future for this game is less and less money and resources pumped into missions by CCP. They should focus on increasing player population count and retention and New Player Experience. The last thing we need is more advanced “Content” from Non Player NPCs PvE. We need to increase the Sandbox and Player Interaction and Content, instead of interaction with AI bots.
I agree with a lot of what you said here, but I’d like to see these real-item missions to be a mechanism or incentive for seeding the market with basic modules and ammunition rather than materials. Or even have chain mission for acquire the materials and build/acquire the goods. Once these goods are submitted, they should be posted on the market
You couldn’t be more wrong budd, creating PvE and PvP content at all tiers of gameplay is exactly how this game should be developed in order to attract and keep new players. Use your head man,
As for the thread, Distribution missions have a simple purpose and I think everyone here can agree it’s an extremely relaxed way of grinding standings and little else.
Replace “CODE.” with “any (suicide) ganker”, because it wouldn’t make any difference. So what if I lose a hauler for less than 2m, get a good bit of it back with the insurance - I’ve seen very few distribution missions requiring a collateral, and as said, I do them for standing, not for money.
Alphas simply won’t ever have the skills to get a hauler sufficiently tanked against a suicide ganker in hisec, and trying to do so for simply doing distribution missions is overkill.
Note the thread title - we’re talking about distribution missions, nothing else. When it comes to hauling contracts, that might be something different.
They are low income and low risk. If you dont want to do them then dont and find something much more exciting and lucrative for you to “grind”.