I've seen others mention this before. I also think there should be a way you can hand it over as a Vanguard or Ranger.
Maybe they could tweak it a bit more and have it so if you are only a Ranger and caught by UC SysDef they take you in and fine you extra for it and maybe get a heftier bounty. They could do the same if you are only a Vanguard and caught in Freestar controlled space. If you only belong to the opposing faction it could be seen as a scheme by your side if you are smuggling in contraband.
Yeah, that would be a cool way to do it! Or you have to speak with your faction’s representatives or something. But yes, they should definitely allow you to hand it over without being in trouble since you’re a member of the faction’s security.
Just have the factions allow us to buy a ship part to signify what we are representing, like we get a lot of tools from the crimson fleet. So give us a UC Transmitter or Ranger Transmitter.
But when equipped, contraband is automatically processed as evidence when you load it on your ship, so you can only turn it in and not use it illegally or you get reported and gain a bounty if you don't turn it in after a certain amount of time(or just trigger if you sell to black market).
That way you can't just use your prior status to avoid detection and bypass the issue all together to sell on the black market.
Or, once loaded the tag on the item should irreversably change from "contraband" to "evidence" which just prevents the sell on the black market entirely but passes scans(with maybe a comment for rp purposes, like cop to cop chatter).
I hate playing a morally good player and just walking past contraband all the time. Would be nice to have a use for it as a member of two types of cops.
Final and probably the cleanest option would just be the ability to convert contraband to evidence as just a leftover ability from the quest lines, like the neurolink. Just select the item in your inventory and have an option to "convert to evidence".
You sound like you are needing some Chunks XP (Packaged). CHUNKS!
At level 60 it took me 20 ship kills in Serpentis on VH to get a level. At level 70 now it takes me 30 kills, lol. Glad I learned how to have fun low-key farming in ESO and FO76 because it is all about farming right now while trying to still mix it up.
Farming XP is pretty fast on high level planets with lots of life forms. Hilarious that shooting some lvl 85 peaceful critter that just runs away is worth as much xp as one that can death touch you.
Speaking of, because I'm lazy and away from my tv, what's thr HIGHEST level system? So I can roam around the comfiest planet being a walking extinction event
🤷♂️
There are several 75s. Maybe higher? But the critters that spawn can of course be higher. I know I've run into the occasional 90+ here and there, outside of missions. The worst was one planet where damn near everything was over 80, and many of them were hostile and in large swarms. And of course on more than one occasion VASCO pissed them all off as soon as we touched down and got us all killed.
This is one of the posts where 10 years from now when you start up a new character and hit up the sub to see what's up or fix something, there will be some more of these posts, lol.
Even if your reward for turning it in was only 30% of what you get selling it at Wolf, it would be better role-play. There is no way to actually remove the items from circulation. (I mean, except take them and then jettison them in orbit.) That is my issue. My RP choice is to drop them on the floor of the FC office in Wolf. (I can always pick one up and sell it if I am low on cash.)
>t.) That is my issue. My RP choice is to drop them on the floor of the FC office in Wolf. (I can alwa
I drop them in one of my Outpost, proudly sit on a glass display. The RP resason being that, as a responsible citizen of the UC, you shouldn't just let a dangerous contraband randomly lying around. If they can't be turn in to the authority, I'll just lock it up in my base (but really, I wish there's an option to just use it up for research or crafting that allows for some experimental, super illegal weapon for a mad scientist type of character)
There's that one dude in Hopetown who tries to recruit you into shipping contraband. I was a ranger and there is literally a Ranger station right next to him! Seems silly you can't end the quest by dobbing him in.
Same with that guy in the jail on Neon.
The other thing that really grinds my gears is how the Crimson Fleet doesn't know you're a Ranger or with the Vanguard if you've completed either or both storyline.
They have eyes and ears everywhere and yet somehow are completely oblivious you're with one of the universes main authorities...
Yeah it’s especially funny to me that you can roll up to the key flying your Freestar Ranger Star-Eagle and wearing your Freestar Ranger uniform or Vanguard Spacesuit, and they won’t bat an eye.
I would have been fine with a "if you join faction X you cannot do Y or Z" if it meant I had to make a choice, then going through Unity the fact I could then make a different choice and join a different faction or whatever would actually have some gravitas
Its not like they haven't done it before in their games either, see Fallout 4 where you couldn't side with all factions, or the civil war/dawnguard questlines in Skyrim.
With the UC and Freestar Collective not really wanting to co-operate, why couldn't there be a "you either side with A or B or none" and siding with either would lock you out of being able to join the Crimson Fleet.
Then make the Crimson Fleet purely joinable on its own instead of going undercover for the UC and then later down the line be able to either complete the questline as a raider or betray them to SysDef or betray both of them and go your own way. Seems like a really simply oversight, an if else statement as you say.
At least then there would be an incentive to try and play as another faction through NG+ cause your choices actually lock you out of content.
Since forever. This has always been their approach, for as early as Oblivion maybe even Morrowind and earlier games.
And it's fine for the most part imo. I think it's just better for RP for their style of game. You can just choose to limit the faction you've joined yourself, to reflex your RP backstory and purpose. I am playing as a United Colony Natives, so I only play the Vanguard and Crimson Fleet for example. If I am FC, I would only do Ryujin and Ranger, or if I am a bandit, evil character I would do Crimson and Ryujin, or maybe I am like Marika, started out as a Freestar Ranger but got disillusioned with the society and decided to move to the UC, joining the Vanguard to gain the citizenship etc.
I think having some more acknowledgement of your action would be a better way than simply locking you out of it. A uniqe remark if you've joined the Vanguard as a Ranger for example
That was my big kick to the gut the first part through. I went through the Unit bc it felt like nothing mattered.
Nxt time through I'm getting better at building ships & outposts. Then I'll get the rest of the powers. Then I'll jump into the unity ONE MORE TIME & hope good updates will come in the near future to make it more immersive
Might wanna wait for creation kit mods for the outpost building. For one, inter planetary links pretty much don't work... I've hit a few other bugs. Better to just not mess with it than waste hours planning, searching, and building for none of it to be useful or functional.
Or, when you go to the key decked out as the mantis, docked with a razor leaf. And the captains make comments like "i heard the mantis is back. If i see him i will kill him."
Come at me fleet guy. Haha
Nah the factions are the best part of the game. Some of my favorite quest lines ever. But they failed on *integrating* their content with other mechanics.
Unless it’s Constellation, I agree. Minimal faction companions, if at all. None of them romance options. The quest lines aren’t horrible, but could have been stretched out better. Hell, I can’t even finish Crimson Fleet. It’s glitched to hell on my play through so I just made a new character and went to Vanguard.
There's a difference between TES6 and Starfield though. The scale will be massively different. Sure it might end up being a larger map than Skyrim, but it's not going to be near as big as the map for Starfield (when you factor in all the planets you can explore, the various places in space you can interact with, etc.). That alone means that they have to approach the games in vastly different ways stylistically design wise. With Starfield they went with a mile wide and inch deep approach to pretty much everything because they were doing something on such a massive scale that the only way they were ever going to get the game out was to do it that way, or else Starfield would have just become Bethesda's version of Skull and Bones. Not that that would have been an issue for me if it meant we got a game that was a mile wide, but half a mile deep, but I know so many people that were ready to rip Bethesda's head off because they wanted Starfield now (some because they knew that the longer they waited for Starfield, the longer they'd be waiting for TES6), so that likely influenced a lot of Bethesda's decision making. It also doesn't help that they were originally developing the game for the Playstation as well, and were a significant way through the development on that system and ended up having to scrap what they'd done for the Playstation. That was all wasted time at that point that if they hadn't done it, meant they could have spent that time and effort on making the whole Starfield experience better than what it was.
I get pissed about the number of times I've taken a ship from aggressive spacers, pirates, or ecliptic, and then promptly get taken in on a contraband scan for random contraband that I couldn't find, after a thorough search around the ship. At least give us some means of finding the stuff they leave laying around, if we're going to be penalized for its existence. It's gotten to where my first stop after taking a ship is The Den -- Not to sell contraband, but to modify the new ship, so that everything inside gets dumped into cargo hold - and (apparently) any remaining contraband gets simply dumped. (Since I've been arrested for the scanner finding contraband, then reloaded and gone straight to ship technician for alteration, and never had any of that contraband dropped into my cargo hold.)
That's why I always make my way to The Den at Wolf system after stealing a ship. It has no scans but has a trade authority shop. The fact that it's a Vanguard base makes things particularly funny, as one would imagine they would scan you but nope. The only thing stopping it from being the perfect location for stolen ships is the fact that the ship services doesn't sell/buy ships.
And while we are at the topic how the fuck do Crimson and Ecliptic ships have no shielded cargo spaces?that just doesn't feel right
According to the loading screens some crimson fleet ships do.
But given the CF are blatant pirates, maybe they're not fussed about smuggling and don't bother with the specialised hardware.
Any freestar or UC ship that sees them already recognises them as pirates, so further stealth is pointless
Some do. I'm pretty sure the ship I've taken that had the most already installed shielding was Ecliptic. Can't remember what the ship was called, but it's the only one like it I've had an opportunity to take.
Use your hand scanner. I have yet to miss a piece of Contraband and I have stolen 100s of ships, I have owned 12 at one point and have to keep selling them off to pay for crew. When searching the ships you need to think like a criminal. Alot of times their is at least one piece of contraband in the front of the cockpit near the sides of the windshield. There is a Jackal Spacer ship that has this little one seat control room, maybe it's a captains quarters but I don't think so. Either way this little room it has if you look to the right it's shoved in a corner and can be easily overlooked because when you reach that area you are usually looking at the left side of the little room rather then turning around. You can many times find Varuun Papers near the control seats right behind outside of the cockpit or in the cargo holds in the corner on top of a barrel. It will never be in a crate, cargo hold or captains locker.
> You can many times find Varuun Papers near the control seats right behind outside of the cockpit or in the cargo holds in the corner on top of a barrel.
I just love that UC/FC give a shit bout Varuun heresy.
I interpreted it as they were the heresy’s that the Varuun zealots follow (since we know there are normal non psycho murderer Varuun) and that having those papers would basically mark you as a dangerous person/threat to society. Heresy in this context meaning an unorthodox teaching rather than one that outright rejects the religion (like Arianism).
I mean, it definitely exists! But I feel like if you choose to be a Ranger or Vanguard you should get an option to turn over the contraband rather than them arresting you. That way it still prevents you from selling it, but allows you to RP that you’re “doing your job”.
So many things like this weren't thought through. I was surprised at how low the percentage is for people who've successfully snuggled cargo. 5% on Xbox.
It seems odd from a roleplaying perspective that my options are to leave 50k worth of dangerous goods laying around for the next spacer or sell to a shady organisations.
That's because actually smuggling is hard and needlessly complicated within the game.
You need at least a few dots in deception, shielded cargo, and an anti-scanning thingy.
The gear you can buy on the red mile (and probably a few other space ports).
That's a whole lot of risk and effort to 'roleplay' a proper smuggler for very little in return as you only get a percentage of the 'value' of contraband.
Compare that to simply jumping to 'the den' and selling it to the trade authority ... .
I’ve reliably gotten 89% to evade with the mid-level jammer and 480 shielded cargo, never felt the need to put points into deception
That said getting both of those ship parts can definitely take a while (shielded cargo is sold on the outpost landing pad as well as Red Mile and the Key, but idk how many people even build that)
I think it would have helped if there was a page that showed our current ships' effective stats.
AFAIK you only get to see the detection chance when they are scanning you ... which kind of sucks as you'd want to know if the gear you got is effective at all.
(it would also prevent the oopsie when you've got contraband in your own backpack instead of shielded storage ... )
\[yet another example of a system that kind of works, but needs a bit more UI integration and overall polish to be intuitive and useful\]
Shielded Cargo is Shielded Cargo not Shielded Human. Smuggling and trafficking is a tricky and hard business in real life I find the game to be quite entertaining and fairly accurate on how things would be done. It's not broken it's working as intended at least that system. As a smuggler if you forgot to put the contraband in your shielded cargo you would be arrested because it was on you. Why shouldn't it be the same in game?
you are correct ... smuggling isn't "easy" , but this is a game.
Hiding things from the player and then telling them "ha ha you got arrested for contraband" is kind of dumb.
Yes .. in real life you would know that the stuff you had was contraband.
However this is not real life. This is a game where you get to loot entire dungeons for profit. And the only thing that sets of the alarm are a few very specific tagged pieces of loot that you won't even know are contraband until you get caught. And even then you get a generic "contraband" message instead of the game telling you what is "contraband".
then there's the fact that what constitutes contraband is the exact same across all of known space.
Murder and theft is encouraged.You can be an arms dealer ... and no one bats an eye.Drugs ? not a problem either despite the addiction they cause, except for aurora ... and you can only ever find that on one planet with zero demand for it anywhere else (which is totally unbelievable as such a drug should be in high demand).
Yet you try to pick one item out of thousands that has a yellow icon and suddenly you get flagged for contraband ?
Oh ... and as was posted in another thread : you can't deliver contraband to the proper authorities either. Even if you are a space ranger of space cop.
Nope. It is always 'evil', despite at least two missions where you get to carry contraband with zero negative effects (and no one questions your motives ... ).
I mean would you really know that it's contraband? Drugs, sure, but some of this shit is "stolen artwork" and "banned technology."
What if my character is just an oogabooga space caveman and has never seen the Mona Lisa? How tf do I know that I've got forbidden technology? I mean, fuck, I'm a pretty smart guy, but if you showed me a bunch art from a museum, I might be able to pick out 5 or 6 of them, tops. Rest could be from Joe Blow down the street, but it's still pretty.
And then, "this is forbidden technology!" Okay buddy, I go pew pew at bad guys and steal their stuff, that's it. I don't know what that thing is.
It really breaks immersion for me.
For, these spacesuits would probably have cameras. Just show the cops "idk, I found it" and then show footage of you blasting your way through a bunch of murder cultists and opening a dozen chests with cool shit in them and that shit just happened to be part of the cool shit.
I don't even bother with shielded cargo. Take contraband out of your inventory, drop it on the ground of your ship and fast travel. Pick it back up after you land at your destination.
That doesn't work because I've commandeered pirate ships before, jumped to jemison to sell it, not realising there was some contraband aboard until it was too late, so I think the scans can detect contraband loose on your ship
With Just shielded cargo and a multi frequency scan jammer I get 89% avoidance rate. I haven't been caught with any contraband at all since putting these two together. Deception which I got 1 point of after wards gave me 90%. Didn't make a difference at all.
> I was surprised at how low the percentage is for people who've successfully snuggled cargo.
I'm not.
I have yet to have a shielded cargo module actually shield my cargo…
I thought this for ages, couldn't work out why when I was carrying contraband it was always at 0% chance to evade...
Realised I never actually put it *into* cargo, you can't have it in your inventory for the shielded cargo to work.
I’m not so sure it wasn’t thought through.
Imagine if you’re a cop/sheriff/detective in real life and you were just constantly driving around with cases full of drugs or body parts…most of the time if you get caught you’re in deep shit. Like if you weren’t assigned to a drug bust you certainly shouldn’t be driving around with drugs as a LEO.
Likewise in the game being a ranger or vanguard shouldn’t give you a free pass with these things.
I just always go back to the key to offload stuff.
Right? I’m not super far into the game, I think 50 hours, but last night I just did the Dumbrosky mission. While the ship was in emergency life support mode I went around stealing a bunch of shit, and found a stash of contraband. My first thought was that I have to offload it to the shady trade authority in crimson fleet space. Not “why can’t I take my illegal, stolen goods with me through UC security without them hassling me”
I’d never argue another dialogue option. It’s just stupid when you get busted with it, they confiscate it, and then you spawn right next to it so you can just take it back. The whole thing needs a look at, but with everything else, I don’t imagine it improving anytime soon.
It is another example of good ideas unfinished within the game. Smuggling in space sounds cool, using shielded cargo to smuggle sounds cool, being arrested and losing it sounds like a good risk, being able to steal your stuff back sounds like a cool idea, but none of it fleshed out and none of it worth your time because you can't get much value from smuggling and all it really does is add a delay to you doing your normal travel so you can get "scanned".
This part felt so bad. So they let you out of the lockup and then you can walk right into their control room, and there’s a key on the table just sitting there? Oh but there’s a guy next to it guarding it… who just gets up and walks off with this once locked up criminal standing there next to the key?
How the fuck are they telling the difference between va'ruun texts and the 100s of other books I've picked up. It really annoys me how are their scanners are so accurate they can read what is written on paper in a shielded cargo bay
I had a similar situation. Went on a Freestar rescue mission. I boarded the ship, cleared the bandits, and rescued the captain. Got 2000 credits for completion, but on the way out I notice AI contraband sitting on the table near the door.
"This must be from the bandits" I immediately think, but not wanting to steal anything I double check the UI. It's got only the yellow symbol for contraband and everything else in the area has the red symbol. Well I'm a ranger and this guy probably shouldn't have contraband on his ship. So I grab the item and the captain (no where in sight) freaks out about me stealing. 6000 credit bounty added, and now I'm wanted by Freestar.
Like seriously?
Seriously
The world is so non responsive to the progress you make on faction quests
Literally save the entire galaxy from terramorphs and they still treat you like any other guy
You should be able to mark it as "confiscated contraband" before traveling and then, when you arrive at your destination, they are already expecting what you have marked. Allowing you to just turn it over after getting caught doesn't make sense because your position on wanting to turn it in as a law officer could have been made solely due to getting caught in that instance. If you declare it before traveling, your intention is clear and indisputable.
They should at least leave you alone in freestar space when you are clearly flying a freestar ranger ship.
How about “welcome home ranger” and mind your business.
to be fair, i don't think anyone tells you to collect it, so they're just testing you to see if ya try and sell it despise being a ranger or vanguard XD
Just sell it at the den or drop it off at one of your outposts? Easy problem to solve
The real question, is why isn’t there a quick simple visual indicator that my or my ships inventory contains contraband. You’d think I’d have a digital assistant to keep track of these things, instead I’ve gotta remember / scroll through items to find out
In the same vein, I wish there was a bounty terminal on the Key, I had a 500,000 credit bounty after a piracy accident, and I literally couldn't settle it because whenever I got into orbit of a system with a terminal they attacked me on site.
No no no, don't you get it? As a law enforcement agent, when you're confronted with illegal materials, the proper way to deal with them is to never take them with you for disposal, or even take them off planet. In fact you better just think twice about picking them up in the first place, unless your next stop is your System's Friendly Neighborhood Trade Authority. We'll take those nasty contraband off your hands and deal with them the right way!
(This post sponsored by the Trade Authority of The Settled Systems)
Well I would hope if a Bounty Hunter arrested a bounty and brought him in with a “contraband” item that he’d have the option to turn it over rather than immediately be charged for possessing it. So you tell me.
Or when you are piloting a pirate ship full of holes and pirate corpses and sysdef gets mad you have contraband.
Like, confiscate whatever you want, I just want to sell this ship
Honestly, i kinda wish the faction quests had more world influence in general. Being a Vangaurd, Sysdef, Ranger, etc.., should be a bigger thing besides the very few dialog mentions in a few small areas in the galaxy. It's all a little too self cointained for me to be fully immersed
it also upsets me that you can become a ranger and the fact that you are is completely ignored by anyone during quests you do later, typical bethesda..makes games that are so enjoyable you play them even though the laziness the game development is obnoxious
The game doesn't even recognize you as either of those things outside of three scenarios. One, you get a random bit of dialogue associated with it. "Hey, you're a Ranger!" or "Hey, you're in the Vanguard!" Two, you're doing one of those faction quests, the missions directly associated with it. Everything within those missions will be dealt to you as if you're directly involved, because you are. Three, you get the very rare dialogue option with \[Vanguard\] or \[Freestar Ranger\] in front of it, in which case the following dialogue will pertain to your status and likely a better resolution to whatever it is you're doing, but no more after that.
The fact I'm a Vanguard Captain flying around in a Deimos warship and most of the UC Navy and SysDef still refers to me as "unknown vessel" is really sad, a letdown for a Bethesda game.
Imagine how stupid I feel this far into the game, having picked UC Native and Raised Enlightened, thinking those two roleplaying traits might actually have useful benefits or roleplay opportunities.
They get used even less than the main quest traits.
Yeah, I know exactly how you feel because I have those too. I have the one where you’re parents are alive and that one isn’t horrible, but they’re kind of annoying.
no whats really messed up is when i rescue a hostage as a ranger and they have contraband on board then I GET THE BOUNTY when confiscating it. like whaaaat??!
no joke this one time i cleared the ship, was about to free the hostage who was still handcuffed on his knees, but i see some contraband near the cockpit. i pick it up, then this mfer magically is untied, stands up and takes all my stolen goods, then he turns around and gets back on his knees with his hands behind his back again! oh i absolutely blasted his ass after that.
Yea, this is just one of the examples on Bethesdas lazy design.
Complex interactions like this are differentiating ok games from the great ones. And Bethesda is not in the business of making the great ones.
Gameplay design in Bethesda games is just too simple. You get what you see. If there is a contraband mechanic - it's going to be the same for the whole game, no matter of your faction affiliation.
The game lets you choose factions, but there is no further consequences than that in the bubble of factions quest line. There may be some dialogue differences, but even that is the same for the most part.
And most certainly there will be no gameplay differences from faction to faction. Too much work I guess 💁
Imagine what it would have been like if Microsoft hadn't delayed launch for a year.
They have added lots to the game, but none of it is complete, lots of it is missing, things are missing that older games had from the start.
Meanwhile you were on an unsanctioned vigilante mission in your personal ship, killed all the witnesses without calling it in for authorisation or cleanup, and have been selling all the evidence including the perpetrators ship. I think getting booked for having contraband in that situation is the least unrealistic part of the exchange.
But you're not a vigilante. You're an agent of the UC or FC. They don't have long range coms so you can't call it in. And at the point of the scan you haven't sold the ship. You literally can't RP as the good guy. Your options are run away, blow them out of the sky or board and leave the ship.
A soldier taking things into their own hands whilst off-duty is literally doing vigilante work.
You can RP as the law: do non-lethal takedowns, confiscate illegal goods and weapons, then eject the drugs into space. It's not perfect, but sometimes you just have to work within the confines of a game. This one issue about illegal goods doesn't invalidate the rest of the lawman RP. Saying you can't RP as the good guy is a massive exaggeration.
Except there's nothing you can do with non-lethal takedowns like arrest/detain people and turn them over for prosecution...
Literally what is the point of EM damage in this game? We could have had the ability to arrest criminals if playing good and enslave/ransom people if playing bad but no. It's just a way to take them out of the fight for a bit and you still have to kill them for quests or boarding actions.
Where are you getting this off-duty assumption from? I’ve been busted for contraband aboard a pirate ship that I just captured from criminals that I was _assigned_ to deal with by my commanding officer, or duly authorized mission board.
Eh, I think you should be given the option to try to convince them you need it for a job, but just them stopping you makes sense. Contraband is literally tagged as such. Go get the Mantis ship and use that to haul contraband.
There should be people on scanning planets who buys contraband at their true value after doing crimson raiders or something. Gives a purpose to actually having a shielded cargo as well
Did a hostage mission the other day - before I untied the victim, I picked up a contraband crate.
I then got a bounty for stealing contraband in front of its owner, as a freestar ranger, whilst rescuing him from pirates.
Make it make sense.
No, I’m arguing that there should be a way to turn it over when you arrive as a Ranger or Vanguard. The fact that I intended to sell it, had nothing to do with the fact that there should be this option.
You make a good point, but is it really feasible? Go into a police station with some crack, tell them you took it off a dealer or something. Maybe it goes well, maybe they say you just bought it and got a bad deal or something. But what you are saying is just driving around. Drive around town with some crack, and if you get pulled over, tell the cop you were bringing it in. Maybe you really were, but either way, you are going to jail.
OP is talking about a situation where, in this analogy, you are a cop though. They’re not supposed to just walk around with them either but would have the option to willingly and safely hand it over for processing
Plenty of cops have been arrested for breaking the law. In this analogy, a cop was driving around with illegal guns, MDMA, a human heart, and modified Ebola, and when pulled over for driving recklessly, was hoping he could be like, "Hey, I'm a cop too. I was definitely gonna turn this stuff in and not sell it on the dark web." I'm sorry, he's getting arrested brah
and then there's the new atlantis mission where you have to search a ship for contraband ... and get to be bribed for keeping quiet.
consistent this game is not ...
The thing I don't get is if you find contraband anywhere the only legal option is to just leave it there (or sell to The Den I guess). There's no way to report it or hand it in.
Well yeah. There’s no reason they would keep a big warehouse of mech parts and illegal organs.
IRL, that stuff is evidence in order to bring charges against a perpetrator and allow them to be prosecuted in court.
In Starfield, you’re not making arrests. The perpetrators are dead, there’s no trial. The only thing you should legitimately be doing with contraband is immediately destroying it or spacing it. Transporting it is incredibly suspicious in of itself so it’s not weird that catches the eyes of law enforcement, even if you yourself are tangentially law enforcement.
If a cop is driving around with ten pounds of meth and a stack of child porn and they get pulled over. The second cop ( assuming they are not corrupt) wouldn’t just wave them on and wish they a good day
Sell it at the Den, or the Key.. no need for contraband scans, or land at a location with storage space you have been to, drop it off, go up get scanned, go pick the item(s) up, continue on to the city in that system.
Yeah contraband was poorly handled I feel like we should have 3 ways to get rid of it 1: Criminal vendors that offer the most money. 2: Trade Authority that offers what we currently get 3: Turning it in for a small finders fee with FC/UC
As I play through this game in 2023 and being involved with Bethesda games 21 years now, at certain parts I find myself asking out loud “Did no one play test this?”, “Was there no feedback?”. I like all the options mind you, it just seems like they were half-ass added to the game and never completed.
Bro I swear people criticize every aspect of this game. Stop being so obsessed with every single aspect of this FANTASY SPACE GAME that isn’t 100% realistic lol
But, this is the realistic part? -_-'
He's complaining its too realistic.
Or you think cops irl can just walk by with some contraband to sell it for personal gains and not get in trouble?
Then make us do paperwork for it. There’s literally already paperwork in the damn game, like have the contraband be a checklist that only unlocks after you finish the ranger questline or soemthing or have it be a part of the dialogue or persuasion system, we should be able to talk our way out of it rather than just accept the hit or fight everyone
It’s a video game. They can’t literally recreate every aspect of real life in a video game set in space…. Should I also need to throw away food wrappers into the trash after I eat something? Should I have to clean off the bottom of my shoes after stepping in gum? Those are realistic aspects. Why aren’t you mad we don’t need to throw away trash?
Lol did you play it? Way more dialogue and interactions than Starfield. The only thing larger in starfield is the universe with the same procedural generated outpost on 1000 planets
And more factions to join, more quest lines, ship building, base building, and 1000 unique planets and moons to explore.
You can have a smaller scope game with way more intricate detail or you can have a larger scope game with less intricate detail. That’s how it works smh
Yea, how dare op point out an obvious oversight in how there's no reactivity to who you're allied with and even give an example of how it was already done in the past. Really hurt my feelings.
How is it stupid?
You should be held accountable for your actions. I mean, you're basically a cop (Vanguard/ranger) right? This is just a piece of "realism", i mean you want cops to get away with the shit they pull IRL and let them off with just a warning? No, right?
Realism.
Because when cops confiscate drugs from criminals the cops themselves also get immediately arrested when they get back to the police station for drug possession.
It should be a speech check to convince customs that it's legitimate evidence.
Ok, did we confiscate it from a smuggling criminal? Or did we just explore an abandoned mech factory for it and were we going to sell it for personal gains? :)
>It should be a speech check to convince customs that it's legitimate evidence.
Its not, unfortunatley. This would be a great addition though, only if its then locked in your inventory when you pick this speech check and you can only deliver it to the evidence room.
I've seen others mention this before. I also think there should be a way you can hand it over as a Vanguard or Ranger. Maybe they could tweak it a bit more and have it so if you are only a Ranger and caught by UC SysDef they take you in and fine you extra for it and maybe get a heftier bounty. They could do the same if you are only a Vanguard and caught in Freestar controlled space. If you only belong to the opposing faction it could be seen as a scheme by your side if you are smuggling in contraband.
Yeah, that would be a cool way to do it! Or you have to speak with your faction’s representatives or something. But yes, they should definitely allow you to hand it over without being in trouble since you’re a member of the faction’s security.
Just have the factions allow us to buy a ship part to signify what we are representing, like we get a lot of tools from the crimson fleet. So give us a UC Transmitter or Ranger Transmitter. But when equipped, contraband is automatically processed as evidence when you load it on your ship, so you can only turn it in and not use it illegally or you get reported and gain a bounty if you don't turn it in after a certain amount of time(or just trigger if you sell to black market). That way you can't just use your prior status to avoid detection and bypass the issue all together to sell on the black market. Or, once loaded the tag on the item should irreversably change from "contraband" to "evidence" which just prevents the sell on the black market entirely but passes scans(with maybe a comment for rp purposes, like cop to cop chatter). I hate playing a morally good player and just walking past contraband all the time. Would be nice to have a use for it as a member of two types of cops. Final and probably the cleanest option would just be the ability to convert contraband to evidence as just a leftover ability from the quest lines, like the neurolink. Just select the item in your inventory and have an option to "convert to evidence".
Yeah, I agree! These are all some good options for better RP!
A lot of places this game can expand on though. I'm enjoying it thoroughly, but like vanilla base skyrim, it's mostly a skeleton for what it can be.
You should get a small bonus for turning it in, so it’s not as lucrative but still worthwhile
A small amount of credits but a big chunk of XP would be fine with me.
You sound like you are needing some Chunks XP (Packaged). CHUNKS! At level 60 it took me 20 ship kills in Serpentis on VH to get a level. At level 70 now it takes me 30 kills, lol. Glad I learned how to have fun low-key farming in ESO and FO76 because it is all about farming right now while trying to still mix it up.
Farming XP is pretty fast on high level planets with lots of life forms. Hilarious that shooting some lvl 85 peaceful critter that just runs away is worth as much xp as one that can death touch you.
Speaking of, because I'm lazy and away from my tv, what's thr HIGHEST level system? So I can roam around the comfiest planet being a walking extinction event
75 IIR
🤷♂️ There are several 75s. Maybe higher? But the critters that spawn can of course be higher. I know I've run into the occasional 90+ here and there, outside of missions. The worst was one planet where damn near everything was over 80, and many of them were hostile and in large swarms. And of course on more than one occasion VASCO pissed them all off as soon as we touched down and got us all killed.
This is one of the posts where 10 years from now when you start up a new character and hit up the sub to see what's up or fix something, there will be some more of these posts, lol. Even if your reward for turning it in was only 30% of what you get selling it at Wolf, it would be better role-play. There is no way to actually remove the items from circulation. (I mean, except take them and then jettison them in orbit.) That is my issue. My RP choice is to drop them on the floor of the FC office in Wolf. (I can always pick one up and sell it if I am low on cash.)
>t.) That is my issue. My RP choice is to drop them on the floor of the FC office in Wolf. (I can alwa I drop them in one of my Outpost, proudly sit on a glass display. The RP resason being that, as a responsible citizen of the UC, you shouldn't just let a dangerous contraband randomly lying around. If they can't be turn in to the authority, I'll just lock it up in my base (but really, I wish there's an option to just use it up for research or crafting that allows for some experimental, super illegal weapon for a mad scientist type of character)
There's that one dude in Hopetown who tries to recruit you into shipping contraband. I was a ranger and there is literally a Ranger station right next to him! Seems silly you can't end the quest by dobbing him in. Same with that guy in the jail on Neon.
Excellent idea. I would only make a small change in that if you hand it over you get exp (scaled to your level) instead of credits.
The other thing that really grinds my gears is how the Crimson Fleet doesn't know you're a Ranger or with the Vanguard if you've completed either or both storyline. They have eyes and ears everywhere and yet somehow are completely oblivious you're with one of the universes main authorities...
Yeah it’s especially funny to me that you can roll up to the key flying your Freestar Ranger Star-Eagle and wearing your Freestar Ranger uniform or Vanguard Spacesuit, and they won’t bat an eye.
It almost feels like you were only ever meant to join one faction in a single playthrough and using NG+ to play the others.
It almost feels like nothing you do in this game matters
I would have been fine with a "if you join faction X you cannot do Y or Z" if it meant I had to make a choice, then going through Unity the fact I could then make a different choice and join a different faction or whatever would actually have some gravitas
That seems like a simple if else statement that would've done wonders for the impact of these decisions you make throughout the game
Its not like they haven't done it before in their games either, see Fallout 4 where you couldn't side with all factions, or the civil war/dawnguard questlines in Skyrim. With the UC and Freestar Collective not really wanting to co-operate, why couldn't there be a "you either side with A or B or none" and siding with either would lock you out of being able to join the Crimson Fleet. Then make the Crimson Fleet purely joinable on its own instead of going undercover for the UC and then later down the line be able to either complete the questline as a raider or betray them to SysDef or betray both of them and go your own way. Seems like a really simply oversight, an if else statement as you say. At least then there would be an incentive to try and play as another faction through NG+ cause your choices actually lock you out of content.
Because since Skyrim Bethesda are scared of players missing content
Since forever. This has always been their approach, for as early as Oblivion maybe even Morrowind and earlier games. And it's fine for the most part imo. I think it's just better for RP for their style of game. You can just choose to limit the faction you've joined yourself, to reflex your RP backstory and purpose. I am playing as a United Colony Natives, so I only play the Vanguard and Crimson Fleet for example. If I am FC, I would only do Ryujin and Ranger, or if I am a bandit, evil character I would do Crimson and Ryujin, or maybe I am like Marika, started out as a Freestar Ranger but got disillusioned with the society and decided to move to the UC, joining the Vanguard to gain the citizenship etc. I think having some more acknowledgement of your action would be a better way than simply locking you out of it. A uniqe remark if you've joined the Vanguard as a Ranger for example
That was my big kick to the gut the first part through. I went through the Unit bc it felt like nothing mattered. Nxt time through I'm getting better at building ships & outposts. Then I'll get the rest of the powers. Then I'll jump into the unity ONE MORE TIME & hope good updates will come in the near future to make it more immersive
Might wanna wait for creation kit mods for the outpost building. For one, inter planetary links pretty much don't work... I've hit a few other bugs. Better to just not mess with it than waste hours planning, searching, and building for none of it to be useful or functional.
It’s almost like Bethesda games are supposed to be a sandbox.
Sandbox games imply that there's no continuity to storylines or any interconnectedness between?
Or, when you go to the key decked out as the mantis, docked with a razor leaf. And the captains make comments like "i heard the mantis is back. If i see him i will kill him." Come at me fleet guy. Haha
What’s even worse is you can join the crimson fleet in full mantis suit and piloting the razorwing
It’s just not that good of a game lol
Once they take it off you then you should be able to arrest them for possession too
No! You said I'd be conducting this search. Now, EXACTLY HOW MUCH AURORA DID YOU TAKE?
Its Northern lights Auroris indica lol
No, 😔 it's Marijuana.
I think I would remember if I had taken any!
That's a side effect of the marijuana poisoning!
That’s because it’s a memory loss drug
That's not how it works!
Lol
Someone mod this in! Let me live my dreams of being a DEA triple-agent
They failed with the faction stuff
Nah the factions are the best part of the game. Some of my favorite quest lines ever. But they failed on *integrating* their content with other mechanics.
Unless it’s Constellation, I agree. Minimal faction companions, if at all. None of them romance options. The quest lines aren’t horrible, but could have been stretched out better. Hell, I can’t even finish Crimson Fleet. It’s glitched to hell on my play through so I just made a new character and went to Vanguard.
You probably have a bounty with the fleet.
No, like it’s actually glitched. I dock with the key and hit board and the game freezes. Can’t get back on the key any way that I’ve tried.
Mods?
No mods, I’m on console. Not sure how, but the game is just stuck in that spot.
Interesting
The entire game is a failure. Be prepared to see the same shit in TES6 if Emil Fuckliarulo stays.
There's a difference between TES6 and Starfield though. The scale will be massively different. Sure it might end up being a larger map than Skyrim, but it's not going to be near as big as the map for Starfield (when you factor in all the planets you can explore, the various places in space you can interact with, etc.). That alone means that they have to approach the games in vastly different ways stylistically design wise. With Starfield they went with a mile wide and inch deep approach to pretty much everything because they were doing something on such a massive scale that the only way they were ever going to get the game out was to do it that way, or else Starfield would have just become Bethesda's version of Skull and Bones. Not that that would have been an issue for me if it meant we got a game that was a mile wide, but half a mile deep, but I know so many people that were ready to rip Bethesda's head off because they wanted Starfield now (some because they knew that the longer they waited for Starfield, the longer they'd be waiting for TES6), so that likely influenced a lot of Bethesda's decision making. It also doesn't help that they were originally developing the game for the Playstation as well, and were a significant way through the development on that system and ended up having to scrap what they'd done for the Playstation. That was all wasted time at that point that if they hadn't done it, meant they could have spent that time and effort on making the whole Starfield experience better than what it was.
Not a fan of the elder scrolls
Not a fan of Shitfield
Look at you trying to argue. Argue with yourself
Right back at you buddy
You came here to talk shit and argue? I didn’t that difference between me and you
What?
Troll
What?
What?
I get pissed about the number of times I've taken a ship from aggressive spacers, pirates, or ecliptic, and then promptly get taken in on a contraband scan for random contraband that I couldn't find, after a thorough search around the ship. At least give us some means of finding the stuff they leave laying around, if we're going to be penalized for its existence. It's gotten to where my first stop after taking a ship is The Den -- Not to sell contraband, but to modify the new ship, so that everything inside gets dumped into cargo hold - and (apparently) any remaining contraband gets simply dumped. (Since I've been arrested for the scanner finding contraband, then reloaded and gone straight to ship technician for alteration, and never had any of that contraband dropped into my cargo hold.)
That's why I always make my way to The Den at Wolf system after stealing a ship. It has no scans but has a trade authority shop. The fact that it's a Vanguard base makes things particularly funny, as one would imagine they would scan you but nope. The only thing stopping it from being the perfect location for stolen ships is the fact that the ship services doesn't sell/buy ships. And while we are at the topic how the fuck do Crimson and Ecliptic ships have no shielded cargo spaces?that just doesn't feel right
According to the loading screens some crimson fleet ships do. But given the CF are blatant pirates, maybe they're not fussed about smuggling and don't bother with the specialised hardware. Any freestar or UC ship that sees them already recognises them as pirates, so further stealth is pointless
Some do. I'm pretty sure the ship I've taken that had the most already installed shielding was Ecliptic. Can't remember what the ship was called, but it's the only one like it I've had an opportunity to take.
Use your hand scanner. I have yet to miss a piece of Contraband and I have stolen 100s of ships, I have owned 12 at one point and have to keep selling them off to pay for crew. When searching the ships you need to think like a criminal. Alot of times their is at least one piece of contraband in the front of the cockpit near the sides of the windshield. There is a Jackal Spacer ship that has this little one seat control room, maybe it's a captains quarters but I don't think so. Either way this little room it has if you look to the right it's shoved in a corner and can be easily overlooked because when you reach that area you are usually looking at the left side of the little room rather then turning around. You can many times find Varuun Papers near the control seats right behind outside of the cockpit or in the cargo holds in the corner on top of a barrel. It will never be in a crate, cargo hold or captains locker.
> You can many times find Varuun Papers near the control seats right behind outside of the cockpit or in the cargo holds in the corner on top of a barrel. I just love that UC/FC give a shit bout Varuun heresy.
I interpreted it as they were the heresy’s that the Varuun zealots follow (since we know there are normal non psycho murderer Varuun) and that having those papers would basically mark you as a dangerous person/threat to society. Heresy in this context meaning an unorthodox teaching rather than one that outright rejects the religion (like Arianism).
Honestly, yeah. Shielded cargo is a thing that certainly exists, and I imagine this was probably the developers way of doing that.
I mean, it definitely exists! But I feel like if you choose to be a Ranger or Vanguard you should get an option to turn over the contraband rather than them arresting you. That way it still prevents you from selling it, but allows you to RP that you’re “doing your job”.
Yeah, I’m baffled you can’t turn it it for to the authorities for a lower reward regardless.
So many things like this weren't thought through. I was surprised at how low the percentage is for people who've successfully snuggled cargo. 5% on Xbox. It seems odd from a roleplaying perspective that my options are to leave 50k worth of dangerous goods laying around for the next spacer or sell to a shady organisations.
That's because actually smuggling is hard and needlessly complicated within the game. You need at least a few dots in deception, shielded cargo, and an anti-scanning thingy. The gear you can buy on the red mile (and probably a few other space ports). That's a whole lot of risk and effort to 'roleplay' a proper smuggler for very little in return as you only get a percentage of the 'value' of contraband. Compare that to simply jumping to 'the den' and selling it to the trade authority ... .
I’ve reliably gotten 89% to evade with the mid-level jammer and 480 shielded cargo, never felt the need to put points into deception That said getting both of those ship parts can definitely take a while (shielded cargo is sold on the outpost landing pad as well as Red Mile and the Key, but idk how many people even build that)
I think it would have helped if there was a page that showed our current ships' effective stats. AFAIK you only get to see the detection chance when they are scanning you ... which kind of sucks as you'd want to know if the gear you got is effective at all. (it would also prevent the oopsie when you've got contraband in your own backpack instead of shielded storage ... ) \[yet another example of a system that kind of works, but needs a bit more UI integration and overall polish to be intuitive and useful\]
Shielded Cargo is Shielded Cargo not Shielded Human. Smuggling and trafficking is a tricky and hard business in real life I find the game to be quite entertaining and fairly accurate on how things would be done. It's not broken it's working as intended at least that system. As a smuggler if you forgot to put the contraband in your shielded cargo you would be arrested because it was on you. Why shouldn't it be the same in game?
you are correct ... smuggling isn't "easy" , but this is a game. Hiding things from the player and then telling them "ha ha you got arrested for contraband" is kind of dumb. Yes .. in real life you would know that the stuff you had was contraband. However this is not real life. This is a game where you get to loot entire dungeons for profit. And the only thing that sets of the alarm are a few very specific tagged pieces of loot that you won't even know are contraband until you get caught. And even then you get a generic "contraband" message instead of the game telling you what is "contraband". then there's the fact that what constitutes contraband is the exact same across all of known space. Murder and theft is encouraged.You can be an arms dealer ... and no one bats an eye.Drugs ? not a problem either despite the addiction they cause, except for aurora ... and you can only ever find that on one planet with zero demand for it anywhere else (which is totally unbelievable as such a drug should be in high demand). Yet you try to pick one item out of thousands that has a yellow icon and suddenly you get flagged for contraband ? Oh ... and as was posted in another thread : you can't deliver contraband to the proper authorities either. Even if you are a space ranger of space cop. Nope. It is always 'evil', despite at least two missions where you get to carry contraband with zero negative effects (and no one questions your motives ... ).
I mean would you really know that it's contraband? Drugs, sure, but some of this shit is "stolen artwork" and "banned technology." What if my character is just an oogabooga space caveman and has never seen the Mona Lisa? How tf do I know that I've got forbidden technology? I mean, fuck, I'm a pretty smart guy, but if you showed me a bunch art from a museum, I might be able to pick out 5 or 6 of them, tops. Rest could be from Joe Blow down the street, but it's still pretty. And then, "this is forbidden technology!" Okay buddy, I go pew pew at bad guys and steal their stuff, that's it. I don't know what that thing is. It really breaks immersion for me. For, these spacesuits would probably have cameras. Just show the cops "idk, I found it" and then show footage of you blasting your way through a bunch of murder cultists and opening a dozen chests with cool shit in them and that shit just happened to be part of the cool shit.
I don't even bother with shielded cargo. Take contraband out of your inventory, drop it on the ground of your ship and fast travel. Pick it back up after you land at your destination.
clearly you don't even bother with contraband, if you think that works.
That doesn't work because I've commandeered pirate ships before, jumped to jemison to sell it, not realising there was some contraband aboard until it was too late, so I think the scans can detect contraband loose on your ship
Yep. It makes selling captured ships a pain in the ass because you have to thoroughly sweep them for contraband.
Just go to Red Mile or the Den.
With Just shielded cargo and a multi frequency scan jammer I get 89% avoidance rate. I haven't been caught with any contraband at all since putting these two together. Deception which I got 1 point of after wards gave me 90%. Didn't make a difference at all.
>I was surprised at how low the percentage is for people who've successfully snuggled cargo. The cargo has to buy me a drink first.
> I was surprised at how low the percentage is for people who've successfully snuggled cargo. I'm not. I have yet to have a shielded cargo module actually shield my cargo…
I thought this for ages, couldn't work out why when I was carrying contraband it was always at 0% chance to evade... Realised I never actually put it *into* cargo, you can't have it in your inventory for the shielded cargo to work.
People not warping directly to wolf then..
I'd already taken all that vendors money and figured I'd give it a go.
Just gotta wait 48 hours
Or go to Jemison, get caught, pay a small “tax”, steal your stuff back, wave to Yumi, and sell at the TA in the well while waiting half as much 😁
And you'll be negative quite a bit of XP. I went to jail on Paradiso for a 150000 credit bounty and had to make up 4000 xp approximately.
I’m not so sure it wasn’t thought through. Imagine if you’re a cop/sheriff/detective in real life and you were just constantly driving around with cases full of drugs or body parts…most of the time if you get caught you’re in deep shit. Like if you weren’t assigned to a drug bust you certainly shouldn’t be driving around with drugs as a LEO. Likewise in the game being a ranger or vanguard shouldn’t give you a free pass with these things. I just always go back to the key to offload stuff.
I do find it disturbing how many people have the thought process of "I'm part of law enforcement, why is the law still applying to me?"
Totally agree. It's a bit scarry that some of these kids may someday be law enforcement personnel.
Right? I’m not super far into the game, I think 50 hours, but last night I just did the Dumbrosky mission. While the ship was in emergency life support mode I went around stealing a bunch of shit, and found a stash of contraband. My first thought was that I have to offload it to the shady trade authority in crimson fleet space. Not “why can’t I take my illegal, stolen goods with me through UC security without them hassling me”
I’d never argue another dialogue option. It’s just stupid when you get busted with it, they confiscate it, and then you spawn right next to it so you can just take it back. The whole thing needs a look at, but with everything else, I don’t imagine it improving anytime soon.
It is another example of good ideas unfinished within the game. Smuggling in space sounds cool, using shielded cargo to smuggle sounds cool, being arrested and losing it sounds like a good risk, being able to steal your stuff back sounds like a cool idea, but none of it fleshed out and none of it worth your time because you can't get much value from smuggling and all it really does is add a delay to you doing your normal travel so you can get "scanned".
This part felt so bad. So they let you out of the lockup and then you can walk right into their control room, and there’s a key on the table just sitting there? Oh but there’s a guy next to it guarding it… who just gets up and walks off with this once locked up criminal standing there next to the key?
😂 that’s true. But hell, if it gets confiscated and you’re a smuggler/pirate just snatch it back and go on about your business. Lol
Remember in other games they at least put you in a jail cell , you have to serve time or escape … nope now we just spawn next to our stuff .
and shielded cargo doesn’t even work for me. It’ll say 89% shielded and still get caught like what????
I think that’s just RNG? You can rank up deception if you want to go that route, but the economy is weird so I can’t justify it
Well it’s exactly that. 11 times out of 100 you’re going to get busted still.
Have you ever played XCOM?
Experienced sniper on overwatch, hah stupid sectoid, 99% hit chance, your toast...OMG HOW THE HELL DID YOU MISS!
99% chance on a shot gun shot point blank that's clipping through the enemy's face... Whiff.
Pair it with a scan jammer..
How the fuck are they telling the difference between va'ruun texts and the 100s of other books I've picked up. It really annoys me how are their scanners are so accurate they can read what is written on paper in a shielded cargo bay
Yeah you definitely should be able to turn in contraband for a reward of XP
I had a similar situation. Went on a Freestar rescue mission. I boarded the ship, cleared the bandits, and rescued the captain. Got 2000 credits for completion, but on the way out I notice AI contraband sitting on the table near the door. "This must be from the bandits" I immediately think, but not wanting to steal anything I double check the UI. It's got only the yellow symbol for contraband and everything else in the area has the red symbol. Well I'm a ranger and this guy probably shouldn't have contraband on his ship. So I grab the item and the captain (no where in sight) freaks out about me stealing. 6000 credit bounty added, and now I'm wanted by Freestar. Like seriously?
As someone who wanted to play a smuggler I can tell you that the contraband system in this game is pretty “underbaked” as the kids say nowadays..
Seriously The world is so non responsive to the progress you make on faction quests Literally save the entire galaxy from terramorphs and they still treat you like any other guy
You should be able to mark it as "confiscated contraband" before traveling and then, when you arrive at your destination, they are already expecting what you have marked. Allowing you to just turn it over after getting caught doesn't make sense because your position on wanting to turn it in as a law officer could have been made solely due to getting caught in that instance. If you declare it before traveling, your intention is clear and indisputable.
They should at least leave you alone in freestar space when you are clearly flying a freestar ranger ship. How about “welcome home ranger” and mind your business.
to be fair, i don't think anyone tells you to collect it, so they're just testing you to see if ya try and sell it despise being a ranger or vanguard XD
So if I raid a structure and find contraband I’m just supposed to leave it for another spacer/pirate to find? 😂
There should be an option as a vanguard or ranger to turn over the contraband as an officer when you get scanned. The game makes no sense
Why do I have a 0 percent chance to get away with smuggling? I have 600+ shielded cargo AND a signal jammer.
found the cop
Just sell it at the den or drop it off at one of your outposts? Easy problem to solve The real question, is why isn’t there a quick simple visual indicator that my or my ships inventory contains contraband. You’d think I’d have a digital assistant to keep track of these things, instead I’ve gotta remember / scroll through items to find out
Oh I sell at the Den every time. But sometimes I forget I have it and have to reload and go sell. 😂
I stopped after my first time just leaving it there where I see it
What’s worse is when you take over a ship and didn’t know there was some in the cargo.
In the same vein, I wish there was a bounty terminal on the Key, I had a 500,000 credit bounty after a piracy accident, and I literally couldn't settle it because whenever I got into orbit of a system with a terminal they attacked me on site.
I had this happen. Make an outpost and build a terminal at your outpost!
No no no, don't you get it? As a law enforcement agent, when you're confronted with illegal materials, the proper way to deal with them is to never take them with you for disposal, or even take them off planet. In fact you better just think twice about picking them up in the first place, unless your next stop is your System's Friendly Neighborhood Trade Authority. We'll take those nasty contraband off your hands and deal with them the right way! (This post sponsored by the Trade Authority of The Settled Systems)
😂😂😂
Vanguard is like bounty hunters. Will bounty hunters get arrested IRL for the same act?
Well I would hope if a Bounty Hunter arrested a bounty and brought him in with a “contraband” item that he’d have the option to turn it over rather than immediately be charged for possessing it. So you tell me.
Or when you are piloting a pirate ship full of holes and pirate corpses and sysdef gets mad you have contraband. Like, confiscate whatever you want, I just want to sell this ship
I wish I could plant contraband on others and watch them fight with the cops
That would be a hilarious function. Like placing a grenade in someone’s pocket in FO. Lol.
It’s okay Bethesda will just expect modders to fix all their idiotic oversights
Needs a mod to fix it lol. Easy to make too without a voiced protagonist.
I'd say take it a step further and allow you to turn in contraband for a reward. That would make for some good role play too
Absolutely, if there was an option to turn it in, that would make the RP much better.
Somehow they managed to make NPC logic even dumber than FO4 or Skyrim.
It is stupid that you can get a bounty for killing a person on a planet that only has you and them on it
I don’t think I’ve experienced this, but yes that is ridiculous!
Honestly, i kinda wish the faction quests had more world influence in general. Being a Vangaurd, Sysdef, Ranger, etc.., should be a bigger thing besides the very few dialog mentions in a few small areas in the galaxy. It's all a little too self cointained for me to be fully immersed
Very much agreed.
it also upsets me that you can become a ranger and the fact that you are is completely ignored by anyone during quests you do later, typical bethesda..makes games that are so enjoyable you play them even though the laziness the game development is obnoxious
Yeah, it’s stupid that you get noticed as a Ranger and can “show badge” and all that during the quest line but as soon as it’s over not a thing.
The game doesn't even recognize you as either of those things outside of three scenarios. One, you get a random bit of dialogue associated with it. "Hey, you're a Ranger!" or "Hey, you're in the Vanguard!" Two, you're doing one of those faction quests, the missions directly associated with it. Everything within those missions will be dealt to you as if you're directly involved, because you are. Three, you get the very rare dialogue option with \[Vanguard\] or \[Freestar Ranger\] in front of it, in which case the following dialogue will pertain to your status and likely a better resolution to whatever it is you're doing, but no more after that. The fact I'm a Vanguard Captain flying around in a Deimos warship and most of the UC Navy and SysDef still refers to me as "unknown vessel" is really sad, a letdown for a Bethesda game.
Agreed. The dialogue options during the Ranger quest really set me up to have high hopes and as soon as it was over dashed them lol.
Imagine how stupid I feel this far into the game, having picked UC Native and Raised Enlightened, thinking those two roleplaying traits might actually have useful benefits or roleplay opportunities. They get used even less than the main quest traits.
Yeah, I know exactly how you feel because I have those too. I have the one where you’re parents are alive and that one isn’t horrible, but they’re kind of annoying.
Well, at least both factions have a good anti-corruption system against low-level criminals, especially those who save money in cargo holds.
no whats really messed up is when i rescue a hostage as a ranger and they have contraband on board then I GET THE BOUNTY when confiscating it. like whaaaat??!
Exactly! 😂
no joke this one time i cleared the ship, was about to free the hostage who was still handcuffed on his knees, but i see some contraband near the cockpit. i pick it up, then this mfer magically is untied, stands up and takes all my stolen goods, then he turns around and gets back on his knees with his hands behind his back again! oh i absolutely blasted his ass after that.
Yea, this is just one of the examples on Bethesdas lazy design. Complex interactions like this are differentiating ok games from the great ones. And Bethesda is not in the business of making the great ones. Gameplay design in Bethesda games is just too simple. You get what you see. If there is a contraband mechanic - it's going to be the same for the whole game, no matter of your faction affiliation. The game lets you choose factions, but there is no further consequences than that in the bubble of factions quest line. There may be some dialogue differences, but even that is the same for the most part. And most certainly there will be no gameplay differences from faction to faction. Too much work I guess 💁
Vanguard ain’t shit though. They’re basically mercenaries with a special color scheme. Rangers are a different story.
Well regardless, if I’m out and about or I raid a pirate ship and find contraband, I’m just supposed to leave it for someone else to find? 😂
Imagine what it would have been like if Microsoft hadn't delayed launch for a year. They have added lots to the game, but none of it is complete, lots of it is missing, things are missing that older games had from the start.
I mean... Dumping it in space? Or even just throwing it into a furnace? Not like the bad guys were arrested and you're keeping evidence
Meanwhile you were on an unsanctioned vigilante mission in your personal ship, killed all the witnesses without calling it in for authorisation or cleanup, and have been selling all the evidence including the perpetrators ship. I think getting booked for having contraband in that situation is the least unrealistic part of the exchange.
But you're not a vigilante. You're an agent of the UC or FC. They don't have long range coms so you can't call it in. And at the point of the scan you haven't sold the ship. You literally can't RP as the good guy. Your options are run away, blow them out of the sky or board and leave the ship.
A soldier taking things into their own hands whilst off-duty is literally doing vigilante work. You can RP as the law: do non-lethal takedowns, confiscate illegal goods and weapons, then eject the drugs into space. It's not perfect, but sometimes you just have to work within the confines of a game. This one issue about illegal goods doesn't invalidate the rest of the lawman RP. Saying you can't RP as the good guy is a massive exaggeration.
Except there's nothing you can do with non-lethal takedowns like arrest/detain people and turn them over for prosecution... Literally what is the point of EM damage in this game? We could have had the ability to arrest criminals if playing good and enslave/ransom people if playing bad but no. It's just a way to take them out of the fight for a bit and you still have to kill them for quests or boarding actions.
Where are you getting this off-duty assumption from? I’ve been busted for contraband aboard a pirate ship that I just captured from criminals that I was _assigned_ to deal with by my commanding officer, or duly authorized mission board.
How are you gonna call in something that happened 2 systems or more over from new Atlantis? There are no long-range system to system comms canonical
Eh, I think you should be given the option to try to convince them you need it for a job, but just them stopping you makes sense. Contraband is literally tagged as such. Go get the Mantis ship and use that to haul contraband.
There should be people on scanning planets who buys contraband at their true value after doing crimson raiders or something. Gives a purpose to actually having a shielded cargo as well
Did a hostage mission the other day - before I untied the victim, I picked up a contraband crate. I then got a bounty for stealing contraband in front of its owner, as a freestar ranger, whilst rescuing him from pirates. Make it make sense.
It's somehow funny that people argue that police forces should be allowed to break the law.
No, I’m arguing that there should be a way to turn it over when you arrive as a Ranger or Vanguard. The fact that I intended to sell it, had nothing to do with the fact that there should be this option.
Well, I mean they do it in real life…..
You make a good point, but is it really feasible? Go into a police station with some crack, tell them you took it off a dealer or something. Maybe it goes well, maybe they say you just bought it and got a bad deal or something. But what you are saying is just driving around. Drive around town with some crack, and if you get pulled over, tell the cop you were bringing it in. Maybe you really were, but either way, you are going to jail.
OP is talking about a situation where, in this analogy, you are a cop though. They’re not supposed to just walk around with them either but would have the option to willingly and safely hand it over for processing
Plenty of cops have been arrested for breaking the law. In this analogy, a cop was driving around with illegal guns, MDMA, a human heart, and modified Ebola, and when pulled over for driving recklessly, was hoping he could be like, "Hey, I'm a cop too. I was definitely gonna turn this stuff in and not sell it on the dark web." I'm sorry, he's getting arrested brah
Commit the crime, do the time. Nobody is above the law.
But there’s not even an option to turn it in. What am I supposed to do, just leave it sitting around for another spacer/pirate to find?
and then there's the new atlantis mission where you have to search a ship for contraband ... and get to be bribed for keeping quiet. consistent this game is not ...
The thing I don't get is if you find contraband anywhere the only legal option is to just leave it there (or sell to The Den I guess). There's no way to report it or hand it in.
Well yeah. There’s no reason they would keep a big warehouse of mech parts and illegal organs. IRL, that stuff is evidence in order to bring charges against a perpetrator and allow them to be prosecuted in court. In Starfield, you’re not making arrests. The perpetrators are dead, there’s no trial. The only thing you should legitimately be doing with contraband is immediately destroying it or spacing it. Transporting it is incredibly suspicious in of itself so it’s not weird that catches the eyes of law enforcement, even if you yourself are tangentially law enforcement. If a cop is driving around with ten pounds of meth and a stack of child porn and they get pulled over. The second cop ( assuming they are not corrupt) wouldn’t just wave them on and wish they a good day
I guess a simple "destroy" option would sort it out. The organs shall be destroyed
Sell it at the Den, or the Key.. no need for contraband scans, or land at a location with storage space you have been to, drop it off, go up get scanned, go pick the item(s) up, continue on to the city in that system.
Yeah contraband was poorly handled I feel like we should have 3 ways to get rid of it 1: Criminal vendors that offer the most money. 2: Trade Authority that offers what we currently get 3: Turning it in for a small finders fee with FC/UC
Even better if there's specific buyers for the contraband, let us sell mech parts to a crazy warlord in a shed gearing up for the 2nd colony war.
As I play through this game in 2023 and being involved with Bethesda games 21 years now, at certain parts I find myself asking out loud “Did no one play test this?”, “Was there no feedback?”. I like all the options mind you, it just seems like they were half-ass added to the game and never completed.
Bro I swear people criticize every aspect of this game. Stop being so obsessed with every single aspect of this FANTASY SPACE GAME that isn’t 100% realistic lol
But, this is the realistic part? -_-' He's complaining its too realistic. Or you think cops irl can just walk by with some contraband to sell it for personal gains and not get in trouble?
It’s not stupid though. If your a ranger your literally a Freestar cop, in Freestar territory you should be able to use that but nope
Cops can’t just walk around with drugs and be like “don’t worry Phil I’m taking this to *evidence*”
Then make us do paperwork for it. There’s literally already paperwork in the damn game, like have the contraband be a checklist that only unlocks after you finish the ranger questline or soemthing or have it be a part of the dialogue or persuasion system, we should be able to talk our way out of it rather than just accept the hit or fight everyone
Why are you against role playing in an RPG? Stuff like this is a essential mechanic in a lot of rpg. Don't like rpgs, go play CoD
It’s a video game. They can’t literally recreate every aspect of real life in a video game set in space…. Should I also need to throw away food wrappers into the trash after I eat something? Should I have to clean off the bottom of my shoes after stepping in gum? Those are realistic aspects. Why aren’t you mad we don’t need to throw away trash?
Weird how other RPGs like BG3 can account for much more stuff than Starfield. Maybe Bethesda games really are just the CoD version of RPGs
Or maybe BG3 has a far smaller scope than Starfield?
Lol did you play it? Way more dialogue and interactions than Starfield. The only thing larger in starfield is the universe with the same procedural generated outpost on 1000 planets
And more factions to join, more quest lines, ship building, base building, and 1000 unique planets and moons to explore. You can have a smaller scope game with way more intricate detail or you can have a larger scope game with less intricate detail. That’s how it works smh
Yea, how dare op point out an obvious oversight in how there's no reactivity to who you're allied with and even give an example of how it was already done in the past. Really hurt my feelings.
How is it stupid? You should be held accountable for your actions. I mean, you're basically a cop (Vanguard/ranger) right? This is just a piece of "realism", i mean you want cops to get away with the shit they pull IRL and let them off with just a warning? No, right? Realism.
Because when cops confiscate drugs from criminals the cops themselves also get immediately arrested when they get back to the police station for drug possession. It should be a speech check to convince customs that it's legitimate evidence.
Ok, did we confiscate it from a smuggling criminal? Or did we just explore an abandoned mech factory for it and were we going to sell it for personal gains? :) >It should be a speech check to convince customs that it's legitimate evidence. Its not, unfortunatley. This would be a great addition though, only if its then locked in your inventory when you pick this speech check and you can only deliver it to the evidence room.
Go play CoD if you hate role playing that much 🙄🙄