When i think about the wasteland,i imagine a bunch of oddly dressed and armed guys protecting a caravan through the desert,afraid of robbers that can attack from a minute to another...but not in fonline,sadly.
Caravan rides are the part i miss most from Fallout2..it can be only speculative maybe,but i wish to discuss with the community some idea to make it a reality once again.Here is my vision.
The caravan leader and his crew gathers the fuel needed for a long journey.Let s say,1 full water bag for 10 hexes travelling.They bring their carts to safe out of town locations,named marketplaces,putting the goods they wanted to sell in their cart-s,knowing that they will be payed in cash for 1\10 of what their base price is actually worth..(nice enough to make some cash,but not enough to be exploited..)...they travel from an hotspot,called,let s say,NCR marketplace,where they receive heavy boxes spawned in their cart.(The more carts,the more boxes,the more reward),To another one,that could be SANFRAN marketplace,where they get paid a reasonable sum for their efforts (1500?Not much more.)
Rules:
Marketplaces should be safe locations with 9999 hp snipers guards.
No weapons should stay in hand in marketplace,otherwise guards will shoot.
Encounter made while travelling must be in TB.This prevents fast victory and exploits..(too much time for too little money..)
Caravans that stops in the wasteland for an encounter should be visible to any player in the radious of 5 squares (more pvp,more forced interaction,more loot for caravan leaders,more fun for raiders).
Please,discuss pros and cons.
Pros:More interaction.
actually a way to make some caps out of exploting bos.
hard to abuse.
Cons
Marketplaces full of griefers.But that s the wastelands.Anyway,it s stupid to suicideburst a guy in the middle of his comrades.He won t lose anything.
At the end of the trip,the group is paid and can sell at the merchant their stuff,apart from boxes received from the previous marketplace,that would be payd VERY little 1-10,1-20 of it s actual worth,to prevent abuse.Then the circle might continue,towards new paths,with new pvp and pve encounters.
EDIT:the evil mind of RAVENOUS RAT would be welcome to find weak spots-exploits-and this sort of stuff in this idea...and how to possibly solve them.