Request: Repeatable NCC Bulk Redemption

[last osprey]

I like the NCC Bulk a lot but I wish we could obtain more than 2 per character. You get 1 for a Pirate Maboule kill, 1 for a follow-up 5 Trader Badge mission. Its scarcity is only justified by this limit, as you need to make another character to obtain more. What's weird is that you can AC trade for more of the Trader gear, but not the NCC-Bulk.

Don't consider this change as catering to my larger scale purposes, but instead from the perspective of a single acc player. Why should he be stuck at only 10 NCC? What if a player wants a full fleet of 10 but hasn't developed 5 characters yet? Also, I personally like that the procurement is from a mission, since it gives the ship in item form and fits my current use case of distributing them to other MFM characters. AC-Trade in works too as extra player choice, but right now ships get bought as ship form and that is inconvenient for some use cases (I wish we had an option to buy ships as an item or immediately unpack but that's a whole different conversation).

Attached are images of East Vindia after exhausting all missions regarding the NCC-Bulk.

[coral thistle]

Thanks for the report. Will investigate.

[last osprey]

Thanks for the promptness 😄

[coral thistle]

Fun fact: it actually drops 😮

[last osprey]

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

That's crazy. I never even looked at that while I was contrib lol

[coral thistle]

Very low rate from Ismail.

So I compromised. Once you complete the NCC-Bulk mission (which gives item form) you can get more via AC. I like you can't directly market some of these but you can still trade folks via bot transfers.

[last osprey]

That's fine. Bot transfer are doable.

[coral thistle]

Won't be next uni but uni after.

[last osprey]

But why is marketing NCC Bulks bad?

Makes no sense

Unless you mean possibly trampling on ftp market?

Also what does "liking that you can't directly market some of 'these'" mean? Particular items that just for the charm of it are off-market?

[coral thistle]

Ships aren't like other gear. They are the avatar and flavor and I personally prefer instead of turning their value into raw credit value you have to go through the steps to obtain them or use social ability to talk to others vs just checking market. Especially when it clearly is at the end of a mission chain.

It also makes the exchange item value much more clear to others.

[last osprey]

I can see how seeing a larger amount of a ship you worked hard for via a mission appearing on /mc might feel, but that doesn't mean people won't think the ship is special just because it comes in item form and is already on the market. That's the nature of an MMO game with a player economy. I think you as a dev should respect that the player would acknowledge and understand as he levels and progresses more, "Oh, that ship I worked for is a low-tech ship that interfaces with the remote control system, so end gamers have a market around a lot more of them than I currently own." But that doesn't mean it isn't special (anymore, or as much). You don't see it on the main market because people usually build ships to immediately unpack, and the usual use case of ship procurement is: you target one as a tough goal. But in the end game (e.g. in EF), we treat ships both ways: as a shiny achievement and sentiment, but also as a product, because they are. Kuhani's get sold around, and you may have seen the Chelonia (aka turtle) fleets. But despite that, we give care to each ship (as much as gear inventory allows). In a purist perspective for preserving the avatar and flavor of a ship, then the person that starts a ship build should just get it automatically unpacked at the prod. We don't do that, do we? Did we not put in effort to build it, just like the effort to finish the mission chain? Just because those can get obtained en masse doesn't mean they aren't special, and procuring a lot of a ship is really something only heavy grinders and large stockpilers can afford. If someone obtains lots of NCCs and thinks they are useless and just good sale value to suckers like me, does that diminish the special sentiment I or a noob that worked towards it would have? Absolutely not, let the player craft his own stories and memories.

Honestly not being able to obtain ships in item form 100% of the time is just an inconvenience, especially in the end game with ships that are unpacked for you in Celestial Encampment and Paxian Foothold. We should be allowed to obtain them in item form. Going back to NCCs, what you'd do is just open up more player interaction and market space between those that want more NCCs and those that do Trader missions. By nature of being T5, the NCC is a memory of early game, and isn't diminished by there being more.

In reality, a player would understand a situation like the NCC-Bulk being on the market. A ship like the NCC-Bulk is low tech. If a noob is working towards the NCC and thinks it is special in his experience working up to it, then it is special, regardless of the market availability. Also it is not an optimal ship, so the value is even more subjective. Being more easily obtainable and not arbitrarily restricted per character isn't going to diminish any of the sentimentality.

[last osprey]

@coral thistle Sorry for necro, but I just thought of something. I think you will need to convert the NCC-Special BP to produce an upgrade as well and change its requirements. I'm not planning on making Specials, but if someone wanted to make Specials... how the heck are you going to get Bulks in item form if you can only get them in ship form with my request to AC trade for more? Also, how would a player know Specials require an item form NCC-Bulk before unpacking the received NCC-Bulks? Seems like this area of the game just needs a little TLC.

[coral thistle]

Yeah this is good. Probably remove the bulk and make it an upgrade item. I think in all scenarios that makes more sense.

[last osprey]

👍

[coral thistle]

Also if you didn't see we are implementing transferring bots to alts on same accounts

Including NB gear.

[last osprey]

Late reply, but yeah I did see that. It's very useful, thank you

No more dock ship > TSL > xfer ship > maybe dock something to clear slots > re-equip!