Some of the recent IC things players have done to increase motivation for topside couriers are interesting but don't seem particularly themely to me. I really don't buy that 99% of corpies would be caught dead doing basically any of them. I don't want to push discussion any deeper than that because I don't want to specify IC events.
I think it's reasonable and themely that topside runs should net more pay, and should require a higher standard of presentation of the courier of course (I think this is already the case) considering the higher scrutiny they receive. It also encourages more mixer/topside interaction which feels like almost always a good way to produce conflict / RP.
In my opinion, Crates are the lowest rung of SD. The stock shops and give immi's a meager amount of chyen. It bums me out to see established characters still running them instead of pursuing more lucrative, rp-oriented opportunities frankly. Of course the opportunity for conflict and profit rewarded by stealing said crates is ultimately the gateway into some more CP action.
I think it's also important to note that if stores topside are understocked that corpies need to work through a fixer. In some capacities these are proper corporate jobs fulfilled by people along with the smattering of less "professional" requisition services which give back far more to the game than someone running crates.
Let's not reward people for using a crutch of the game.
I think it would be great to see more topside players incentivizing the crate running with their disposable income rather than hoarding said income. That is very themely.
But I get the point about not leaning on the crate jobs as a crutch, and definitely understand that larger aim. I just like the idea of encouraging more class mixture / conflict and hate seeing half empty stores. If we're going to rely on those crates to stock stores we need to make sure the crate influx is relatively healthy too, is all.
I disagree wholeheartedly that "Doing nothing" is a solution because it "Might" generate RP. "Might."
There are also numerous threads about crate running and folks should use the search at the top of the site to find and utilize existing topics as opposed to creating new ones where ever possible.
Ex:
https://www.sindome.org/bgbb/game-discussion/ideas/courier-work-890/
http://www.sindome.org/bgbb/game-discussion/new-game-features/hazard-pay-118/
-- S
As for the suggestions earlier in the thread: I would agree for the most part, with one major exception. I don't mind contacting a corp req. agent, or a fixer for some things, but contacting them to buy consumables and other high-use, high-demand low-value seems rather unthemely on both fronts. Going to a back-alley shady arms dealer to buy mascara is silly, and so is ordering it through your corporate sourcing agent. At least in my opinion. And I'd agree that it's nice that we have some people driving RP to try and resolve these issues ICly, but those solutions can seem a little forced as well.
Personally I think if the commuter pass was extended to be around an hour to a few hours, that would make it pretty worth it. And if it didn't bug out randomly too. I've had a couple times where minutes after picking up a crate it already expired. I don't think that was intentional either.
Maybe increasing the number of crates that can be run a day to five to match ACME's crate running would help, then at least for people who do find crate running to be worth their time, they can run more crates and restock the shops better. Otherwise maybe a weekly Lev pass for sale at the WJF would work too? Sort of like a real life bus pass or subway pass.
I say small world solutions because we have to pretend like we don't only have 1-2 stores on Green selling certain products that aren't getting stocked, so people are kinda meta-ing around the problem because they don't know what else to do, not necessarily because it's what they think their chars would IC'ly be doing.
Some would, some wouldn't, I can't speak for everyone of course. But I have a hard time believing most corpies are happy throwing their chyen at mixer scum they probably (by and large) already feel are overpaid for what they perceive as dumb grunt work that already makes most corpies uncomfortable, because most corpies don't want mixer scum anywhere near their Green sector stores to begin with. What, now they're paying money out of their own pockets to bring MORE scum up MORE often? Yeah, okay.
On the other hand, however, I am fascinated by the idea of Mr. Bruce having tiers of employees maybe. Low level employees would be just like today. No different. However, if you meet Mr. Bruce's standards when you ask for a crate, you might qualify for a higher pay. Maybe a flat fee from him that get's added to your tab upon success full delivery. Then, when you are ready, you can go to him and 'collect' your pay from him.
Possible Criteria:
- Not dirty - not even a little dusty.
- Must have a scent (From the sanitation booths or a purchased scent)
- Must not be wearing any immy clothing
- Clothing must not be damaged, patched or stained.
- Minimum Charisma level
- Not have been in Red recently
To be honest I would really prefer it if, after a characters first two weeks, Mr. Bruce would only hire characters that met said standards. It makes sense for him to run a classier operation than his red sector counterpart. But that would reduce the number of potential couriers even further.
It's free market at it's finest. People are not going to do something if it ain't worth doing. And I doubt staff are going to go for a complex solution to an issue if they can do it in a simpler way. My idea? Extend the time that Crate deliveries get free Lev fare. That might help. In addition, I've heard time and again that Topside crate deliveries pay more. That has rarely been my experience. All together? Each crate might be "Worth" more, but if your only delivering three, it seems to end up balancing out to being the same amount t you get delivering five on Red.
This of course has just been my experience.
Corpies don't do this because they're above it. We're not going to do anything to lessen the impact of the social divide without very careful consideration.
All I know is, in all likelihood, doing nothing about an issue will result in...well, nothing changing. If mixers don't wanna run crates, Corpies gotta figure out how to adapt, one way or the other.
