Forums » Role Playing

The Christmas Truce

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Nov 29, 2009 Shadoen link
And thus the VO playerbase developed drinking problems.
Nov 29, 2009 skelbley08 link
It would be nice to see civility once again. I just hope that we can at least "Be Nice" for just a day or two.
Nov 29, 2009 Nihm link
heh, the VO community is falling apart... people can only take so much verbal abuse and harasment before they start wondering why they are paying money to play a game that ends up angering them rather than giving them some kind of enjoyment. The worst part, that wasn't what the game was intended for, but it is how the player base is making it.
Nov 29, 2009 Whistler link
We've seen worse and have recovered. I think we'll see an easier week ahead. Or else.
Nov 29, 2009 ladron link
The door's that way, Nihm.
Nov 29, 2009 Nihm link
I've been playing this game a very long time... I don't think I'm going anywhere ladron. It would just be nice to see the verbal abuse in-game and on these forums ease up a bit. Noone likes a hostile environment (except for those that create it anyway).
Nov 30, 2009 ladron link
Noone likes a doom-and-gloom environment (except for those that create it anyway) is equally accurate.
Nov 30, 2009 Impavid link
nihm I hate you.
Nov 30, 2009 look... no hands link
now that you mention it shadoen, this game was alot more fun when i drank more while playing.
Nov 30, 2009 Dr. Lecter link
Why is this a surprise to anyone? What isn't more fun while drinking??
Nov 30, 2009 Shadoen link
Cirrhosis
Nov 30, 2009 Dr. Lecter link
That's surely more fun while drinking, as is just about any other form of slow demise.
Nov 30, 2009 yodaofborg link
Yes, dying while drunk has to be more fun, but I digress.

On Topic.

WTF are you talking about? You seriously asking me not to call it like I see it just for xmas? You must have had some nice smokey smoke (wheres mine?) when you thought this thread up.

Yes, things have changed with us *long term players* because we got bored, I miss bounty hunting Lecter for instance (and that wasn't that long ago really, in my time frame in this game) lots of fun was had by both parties, and yes I was guilty of *selling* a few bounties, but so what??

I miss the time when Verasi was a fun place to be, pirates would set up blockades there, and VPR would come to the rescue. Hell, even after they killed that (and Azek) there was always Latos H-2 and Edras B-11, but no! They killed that dead too.

IMHO most pirates are fucked off because they don't really have any choke points left. Most VPR are fucked off because they have no pirates in choke points to blast. Yeah sure, it's still fun when we get together and have a *furball* but it's forced, it's not like it used to be.

And this will not change as long as the devs keep trying to make this into care bears online. Some of the worst and best players (long term) were blasted by me as newbs, they wanted revenge. The new newbs want more interaction, do the math Guild! (rant over)
Nov 30, 2009 Dr. Lecter link
I miss the time when Verasi was a fun place to be, pirates would set up blockades there

Metana P-6: Never Forget, Never Forgive.
Nov 30, 2009 Impavid link
So now we use the access and techniques we have available to hunt in "safer" places, hence putting n00bs more at risk. Ironic, changes justified as making the game safer for new players has done exactly the opposite. I spend more time in Dau and Arta now than I ever did when H2 Latos and Edras B-11 were available.
Nov 30, 2009 Dr. Lecter link
It's actually sort of nice, because you catch people doing really, really stupid shit -- like trying to trade XCs full of ADV rails, and moths full of flares, in Dau -- and they're somewhat more extortable because they have well over a million credits tied up in their cargo.

For those of us who keep our UIT faction high, and stockpiles of proc goods in Ukari L-2 ready to go, we can even boom those tasty treats and swipe the cargo itself. Even a POS trader kill won't make me -600, and the faction is quick and easy to repair for most people. My bank account balance loves this newfound sense amongst traders that "it's totally safe in Nation Space Capitals!"
Nov 30, 2009 blood.thirsty link
a Christmas truce?

hmmm what will happen to the turkey?

: )
Nov 30, 2009 LeberMac link
Lecter said: Metana P-6: Never Forget, Never Forgive.

You know, back when I had itani standing and could travel freely through Itani space without strike forces and inerrant insta-kill turret missiles popping me willy-nilly, I always liked the fact that Metana was kind of an "iffy" no-mans'-land within Itani space.

Nobody else besides Lecter ever really hung out there. Occasionally I'd see yoda or Cunjo or someone who had barely squeaked through the defenses and was heavily damaged, there mainly for preying on n00bs. I can remember, whilst ferrying crap to Deneb, that I would pause and at least plot an emergency jump sequence before jumping through Metana if Lecter was ingame, you know... just in case. Because he had a stockpile of valks in Metana before he lowered his itani standing, and energy valks made quick work of behemoths...

This added a very real sense of fun to the game, because there was that chance that you'd poke your head into Metana and have to make a run for it. It was kind of like that one level in Halo where you can't quite remember WHERE the invisible sword-wielding elites are, but when they jump out and kill you you remember, for sure. It's fun. (YES, I spent a lot of Thanksgiving break replaying Halo 1, 2 and 3 and the original Halo was much more fun than I remembered.)

This kind of uncertainty is excellent. Player pirates make this game interesting. Otherwise it's an exercise in piloting a heavy ship through space without much else to do besides count your easily-gained credits.

The problem is not with the pirates, it it with this new generation of players who expect to trade and move about the VO galaxy without having to work for it. They defy the pirates, usually die because of utter lack of sense and/or combat skill, and then complain loudly that the pirates are killing them. Then, in the purest definition of insanity, they try the exact same thing only to be killed and lose their cargo again. They claim this is griefing, the pirates shrug and say "what did you expect? "These pirates are ruining my gaming experience!" The n00bs cry - "Make them stop!" Well, wake up fools, because the pirates ARE the gaming experience.

Vendetta quickly becomes boring if you're doing nothing but missions for the AI, or mining, or trading. There's no danger, nothing to look out for, no sense of accomplishment, really. All of the things that you hoard and accumulate are useless if you don't USE THEM. In combat, that is.

Why else do you think that most of the "rewards" in this game are things like better fighting ships, better weapons, etc? Forget about your dumbass medals and your contemptible POS status with all 13 factions. Vendetta, at its core, is still SPACE-QUAKE, and if you don't like fighting then this game will have limited appeal to you in the long run.

So: enjoy the pirates, have fun with them. If you lack the skills to avoid them, then get used to paying them. Once you accumulate enough credits, learn to fight and then deliver some payback when they least expect it. Set a trap for them, lure them with a behemoth into an unmonitored sector where your friends await, and blow the pirate to smithereens when he's warping in and helpless.

Remember, all ye n00blets, that most of these pirates are players who have played for 4, 5, 6 or even 7 years and know all the ins and outs of this game. They have custom plugins that tell them who you are, what you're piloting, and what your standings are as soon as you enter their sector/system. They know which sectors put you closest to the wormhole, they know that it's best to kill you on the OTHER side of the wormhole when you're helplessly warping in. These new players know nothing of these tricks, and to them, I'm sure things appear hopelessly unfair. Hence the whining.

As a warning to the pirates: Soon, however, they will learn the tricks. They will become less prone to dying stupidly. Their shared misery will create a bond between them, and they may form ad-hoc groups, or even guilds that work together to defeat lone pirates, and then groups of pirates. The pendulum will eventually swing back the other way and we may begin to hear the whining from a certain group of pirates who find themselves being outgunned and outfought by a new generation of players.

It's happened before with [IA] and [VPR] who basically arose from n00blets to combat [SAF] and [BLAK]. Both of those "old-vet" aggressor guilds are now gone, and [IA] (now [ITAN]) and [VPR] are still here, years later.

Perhaps The Christmas Truce will be a good idea for everyone.
Nov 30, 2009 Impavid link
ITAN is dead. VPR is run by a Zealot (my fault I admit, he never got over me). The problem with your message leebs is that the most skilled combat pilots become pirates 9 out of 10 times. We'll never be defeated! YARRRR
Dec 01, 2009 yodaofborg link
Hell, even unskilled pilots sometimes try become pirates, eh leebs? :D