Do we really need the spaceport?

[euphm1]

So this is probably the only really confusing QoL thing about the game to me.

I think that it would be possible to make the whole thing less confusing in one of two ways:
1) Make the spaceport button blink or highlight, such as having an LED corner go berserk when a mission is there.
2) Place the mission on the job board and highlight/color/bold/italicise/draw attention to it.

Maybe there's more ways. But seriously, rote actions without a consistent dedicated purpose are so last century, especially if slight absentmindedness means I just missed content. "Ask about the apple, it says. Who, where?" Damn that monkey with the meat grinder.

It would be pretty rockin' if the spaceport could be used as a function to steer players towards possible story or side missions instead of a straight RNG function, or an otherwise hidden step. Significant quantities of extra dialogue, perhaps, but more entertaining and less frustrating.

[Amazinite]

There are plans to give the spaceport more uses in the future, therefore increasing a player's desire to go to it on each landing for reasons other than "there /might/ be a mission here," but as of right now, doing things to highlight to the player that a mission is currently available at the spaceport has been noed.

[Sinsling]

As I recall, evn had gambling and news at the spaceports. As well as hiring temp escorts.

[Coriolis]

I'd love to see some mini-games incorporated into the Spaceport, especially if the mini-games changed with each spaceport.

I'd also like to see more "under the table" or "unofficial" missions being commonly offered in spaceports by clicking on options within the spaceport. For example, "visiting the captains' club" which could provide helpful tips for players and have a default chance to provide some informal, but reputable missions. Alternately, a "seedy bars" option might offer the player some tips that might interest a pirate or smuggler type of character.

Missions I'd like to see from a "seedy bar" place in a spaceport:
Smuggling contraband (don't get scanned!)
Smuggling fugitives/dissidents/debutantes escaping arranged marriages (don't get boarded!)
Stealing corporate secrets (I saw a Syndicate mission for this once; it didn't work)
Scanning a specific ship for its cargo/outfits
Recover "hot" goods from a disabled smuggling/pirate ship in hostile territory
Illegal salvage operations
Piracy missions
*Pirate planets could be a great place to take on missions like this from the spaceport, especially since the jobs bank is useless there

Missions I'd like to see from a "Captains Club" option in a spaceport:
Exploration/mapping missions of an alien faction's territory
Defend the planet/station from a large pirate raid
Defend the planet/station from a Korath raid
Deliver emergency supplies to a planet/station in response to a disaster

Additionally, if we're adding wear/tear mechanics in 0.95, the spaceport would be a logical place to manage maintenance/repair.

[Amazinite]

Defend the planet/station from a large pirate raid

Already in the game as rare spaceport events.

Scanning a specific ship for its cargo/outfits

Corporate espionage job found around Syndicate space.

Pirate planets could be a great place to take on missions like this from the spaceport, especially since the jobs bank is useless there

Speaking of which, I've written up a bunch of pirate jobs to be added into the game (about 70 in total that can be offered at the jobs board), and right now they're sitting in a PR waiting for MZ's go to add them into the game. They include stuff like the don't get scanned while transporting illegal goods and/or passengers thing, and there's even a rare, high paying job where you steal "secret cargo" from protected merchant fleets.

Additionally, if we're adding wear/tear mechanics in 0.95, the spaceport would be a logical place to manage maintenance/repair.

"Wear/tear" isn't being added in v0.9.5, just loss in value over time (depreciation), so there's no need for repairing/maintenance.