[Idea Discussion] Cargo Gameplay

[Ikea]

Give cargo some kind of money sink, It sucks having 2 million credits with nothing to buy. Also every cargo bay should have the same fabricators.

(Again my personal opinion) I agree, every cargo should have the same fabricators, and by that I mean NONE. Make cargo go to the relevant departments rather than just printing everything and not leaving their department or talking to anyone.

I like cargo not needing to order a crate if someone just goes to them to request a welder and I like them being requested for that. Additionally I don't consider them having to spend 3 minutes just to get a minor item a good interaction and if said item has too high of a reward for its current effort I'd rather replace that item so it has the appropriate level of effort.

[JORJ949]

I like cargo not needing to order a crate if someone just goes to them to request a welder and I like them being requested for that. Additionally I don't consider them having to spend 3 minutes just to get a minor item a good interaction and if said item has too high of a reward for its current effort I'd rather replace that item so it has the appropriate level of effort.

I mainly mean the special department fabricators, specifically the Medical and Robotics ones, because requests for those items should be placed with the relevant departments. I have no issue with them having a general fabricator and the refinery nanofabs.

[GARGATHUGANOKSREVENG]

More logistical concerns

Shipping and receiving is very streamlined, just shove things in a crate and launch them into space. You don't have to worry about things like packaging breakage and insurance, weight and shipping fees, tariffs duties and customs, item class restrictions, etc.

I'd start with having QM have to pay fees for ordering and sending things, but with different cost options depending on expediency

In ye olden days, you used to have a ship that would come in with purchased goods and then you'd load up what you were selling. I think bring that back as a lower cost option, with the ability to save on goods by bulk ordering them while keeping the current system as a higher cost priority shipping.

Ideally you'd give QM a dock, which might require remapping, though maybe you tie in visiting merchants into this and use that space?

I didn't know QM used to have a ship but that sounds way cooler than what we currently have and if there's any way to improve the game it'd be to have more stuff like that I think

[Skotcher]

Give cargo some kind of money sink, It sucks having 2 million credits with nothing to buy. Also every cargo bay should have the same fabricators.

(Again my personal opinion) I agree, every cargo should have the same fabricators, and by that I mean NONE. Make cargo go to the relevant departments rather than just printing everything and not leaving their department or talking to anyone.

I agree with the idea in its theory, but not its practice. Items that can be obtained by fabricators will just lead to busy work in a way that I think detract from interaction rather than add to it. There's not much meaningful interaction to: "print me these items". Assuming the path of least resistance, what I see happening is a QM will knock on the door of a department and get a scan with a device analyzer (or have a borg do it for them), then have the fabricators printed back at Cargo. I do it for clothing fabs on the maps where that's missing from cargo.

I think it's better to have requisitions require the skills of the specific department in question. For example, Botany requisitions require machinery and know-how to pull off. Yes, QMs can get everything they need to fulfill the req, but it requires a much greater amount of knowledge of game mechanics to do. I personally think it would be better if requisitions pulled from the knowledge of each department. As a botanist, I enjoy completing botany requisitions because the larger satchel and strange seeds are worth it to me. They're tangible upgrades that reward me for my effort.

I've thought about some changes that could be done for Cargo, but I'll write them in a separate reply.

[Kotlol]

Here's an easier idea.
Cargo has an "ALL FABRICATOR" like Engineering does but has to load in blueprints, it starts with some basics, but can be added more over time.
They also have to buy the blueprints from the correct fabricator to be added as a speed up.

[Lord_earthfire]

Here's an easier idea.
Cargo has an "ALL FABRICATOR" like Engineering does but has to load in blueprints, it starts with some basics, but can be added more over time.
They also have to buy the blueprints from the correct fabricator to be added as a speed up.

Every fabricator can accept blueprints. Csrgo doesn't need an empty one for that.

[Kotlol]

Then it just needs 1 fab. Done.

[Red Dog Dragon]

Figuring a Quartermaster is literally the department that supplies others, I find it kind of backwards how easy it is to supply departments (when they actually order something important), but more engaging it is to try to fill off station requisitions.

Seems to me like other departments should have less supplies and be more dependent on QM's to get them more, while the departments that could bring money to the station, be the source of cash to fund cargo.

It's fun building TTV's and making shiny pressure crystals, but deep down, I know the money cargo can make selling it doesn't really mean a whole lot.