Recurring Contracts

I have completed all the new contracts in the VS2.2 update, and I can say that the introduction of the economy systems as well as the new contracts feel like a step in the right direction. Even though NPCs aren't in the game yet, the contracts/economy really do give the player a sense that they acting as a part of a greater whole, rather than just being alone in space with no real reason to do anything.

As of right now though, the contracts are way too easy - they do encourage some small amount of engineering, but really only mining ships to make resource acquisition easier and maybe a welding ship so you can build up your home base quicker. As of right now, there is literally no aspect of the game that incentivizes you to build a large ship since or engage with any large-ship related content as there is nothing to do with a large ship that results in any meaningful payoff.

So my proposed solution: Large Scale Recurring Contracts

In order to encourage the player to engage with the large-ship content available in the game as well as build upon the feeling of a living economy in space, I would suggest adding contracts that refresh after a certain cooldown and require the player to use a large ship to complete the contract in a realistic amount of time. One example of a contract like this would be a Cargo Haul contract, where the player has to transport upwards of 5kt (~3 large cargo containers) of materials from one location to another. This will allow a large ship to provide continuous value over a long period of time, resulting in a meaningful return after the massive investment of resources. Also, these contracts will help give the feeling that sectors and economies are truly alive, and depend on the work of many engineers to keep things running.