Assembly Hall

http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Contracts#Courier

There is already a system in place where one player can hire another player to basically do what you want an NPC to do.

So cut out an entire profession because of your laziness and impatience? Nah. Logistics is supposed to be a painful, yet critical, ordeal.

Red Frog Freight + some foresight and planning ahead does wonders bro. Eve is driven by players, not automated systems.

If Eve was truly driven by players than the game would be controlled by the players. We would be able to have control of the jump gates. The players would be the law enforcement not the AI. No, unfortunately the players are just allowed to take residence in the world of Eve. Nothing more.

The limit would be decided by our peers. Someone with the logistical background can formulate the plan and have the CSM vote upon it. Numbers are not my strong suit. Formulating ideas are. Looking at pictures from different angles to see what other secrets it might hold.

What this guy said. The feature you are looking for already exists.

Imnot going to flame you, though i should, Im not going to tell you that you are wrong, though i should, and im not going to cry about game breaking ideas, though i should.

I will say that this idea has been suggested before, Is already in game through courier contracts, is done a lot by alts, and is generally a pain in the ass to do by yourself in bulk.

There is a logistical challenge implicit in making a game truly driven by players, How far do you let players, who by nature are complete assholes, be complete assholes to each other? it is well known and documented that normal people + internet anonymity = massive asshattery (anal haberdashery). Letting people have completely free reign means that you have people like goons griefing people out of game, encouraging suicide, or shutting down market systems, just to shut down market systems. Now imagine this happening all the time everywhere.

As to the gate control, and other more realistic player driven controls for ingame mechanics,
at what point does sovereignty control mean total immutable empires? Nullsec would never shift, (much like hisec never shifts) because enemies wouldnt ever be allowed in to the systems. allowances must be made for the game to actually function.

~As to npc cargo running, Id be for it, as long as a few rules are set for it.

1. Cargo must be below Iteron 4 size (or around 10k m/3)
2. Minimum transit time is one week.
3. Haulers are targetable, explodeable and concord protected.
4. Cargo is scannable.
5. Haulers stop at every station along the path, and operate like autopilot ships
6. NPC haulers have a base cost of 50k isk per jump. establishing a baseline wage for other haulers. you pay players for bulk and time.
7. ....
and im not sure how collateral should be structured.

Basically its a slower, more annoying and much riskier way of moving assets. while its npc cargo moving it doesnt cut any player professions, but allows for the collection of small amounts of goods without all the annoying fetching. It costs just enough that its cheaper and faster to do it yourself. but not so expensive that it is completely pricing out using for small goods.

Oh i wanted to put somewhere that blowing them up works just like the current npc hauler blowing up, other random consumer products things drop and you lose standings with the company that is shipping it. i forget the shipping companies in eve.

Actually it was part of the point to be worse then player hauling, not everything you have is worth getting a player to pick up. regional buy orders for something, or simple hanger space clearing, the cost is always optional.
I didn't want it to break the hauling profession, but for low volume stuff it can be worth it to get npc's to collect it for you.

No. That is all.

Ok i'm going to flame you, Why, Cause this is not WOW. You want NPC to deliver you goods, like drop **** into a mail box and waiting an Hour like WOW.. Umm no Why?

This game evolves around Players DOING the work in the game. This means Either YOU go do it yourself, or Pay another Player To go do it for you.

Logistics is a huge Time consuming job in eve. Its not easy and a pain in the ass half the time. Pirates are always looking for a quick buck. Haulers are their targets. Doing it via NPC takes reduces the risk in this game and would cause Alot of people to loose their way of Eve life. So Not only NO But Hell NO.

IF you are to lazy to go 8 damn jumps to pick up Ammo, then Eve is not the place for you. Go play a Fluffy easy game like wow or guild wars.

Fly safe, i hope someone in a battle badger finds you and pops you for suggesting this.