Forums » Suggestions

Rats have the Advantage

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Nov 07, 2013 Dr. Lecter link
Right now, they're a joke to avoid and some players have abused this kill other players while avoiding faction loss.

Huh? If a SF is being dispatched, then the attack is happening in a sector where faction standing penalties will be applied.

he WTD's even need buffing, perhaps giving them a top speed of 240m/s, close to the Aernas, but they can fire flares at the offender.

The SF should not have magic guns, engines, or armor. They should be no different from what players can fly.
Nov 08, 2013 Faille Corvelle link
Without getting into who "runs" the game (traders/pirates) I agree Station Guards and Strike Forces are too easy to avoid or deal with.

Instead of giving them "magic" equipment, could they not have an AI buff, combined with faster response time, and numbers deployed?

Faille.
Nov 08, 2013 TheRedSpy link
The SF should not have magic guns, engines, or armor. They should be no different from what players can fly.

This, this, 100x this.

Why don't you people get it. Criminality is intended gameplay as much as any other form of gameplay in Vendetta Online. It's a sandbox which means that developers are not going to come in and tell people how they should or shouldn't be playing yet the Carebear Alliance continues to arrogantly insist that only they are playing the correct way by getting POS with every faction possible and then try and use this to justify ridiculous changes to the strikeforce.

They are just fine the way they are. Sure, they're a little bit dopey like every other NPC in VO at the moment and I can agree that overall we could probably use a little elbow grease applied to the AI system. But as far as effectiveness goes they are perfectly fine at providing a disadvantage to the aggressors in a no-fire zone. To suggest they're supposed to be doing anything else is plainly stupid.
Nov 08, 2013 greenwall link
"But as far as effectiveness goes they are perfectly fine at providing a disadvantage to the aggressors in a no-fire zone. To suggest they're supposed to be doing anything else is plainly stupid."

For all reading who might not be aware, that is trolling. ^

You're welcome.
Nov 08, 2013 draugath link
Dr. Lecter said:
The SF should not have magic guns, engines, or armor. They should be no different from what players can fly.


You may notice that I never said they should have magic equipment that is necessarily better than what players can get. Faille hit it on the nose with a much needed AI update. However, if even a more proficient Strike Force doesn't offer an appropriate deterrent, then maybe they should have better equipment too, especially considering they're flying one of the least armored ships in the game, potentially against much more heavily armored criminals.

The Strike Force is supposed to be a deterrent to crime, but right now they're just a yellow jacket buzzing around your head that will hurt if you let it sting you.
Nov 08, 2013 Dr. Lecter link
"But as far as effectiveness goes they are perfectly fine at providing a disadvantage to the aggressors in a no-fire zone. To suggest they're supposed to be doing anything else is plainly stupid."

Trolling it is not. I've station-killed more than my fair share of pilots, from howdodock?! noobs to vets, and the SF makes it a very different thing than simply attacking someone and fighting them to the death.

You have to keep moving or the seekers will turn you to scrap. You have to dodge multiple LENB streams from vults that are programmed to take complementary angles of fire on you. Or you have to ignore your intended victim long enough to pop the seekers and at least one of the vults...which should be long enough for them to either flee, dock, or kill you themselves. And you're doing this in the fastest infiniboost ship you could find, in all probability, because getting much else past the turrets is harder unless you have a trident to ride in -- not exactly a SCP or X1.

The SF should not be the same thing as the turrets of doom guarding the WHs, much less the instakill beams guarding the training sectors. They're an assistance to certain pilots, not their goddamn guardian angels.
Nov 08, 2013 vskye link
They broke hitching a ride in a trident for now Doc. (when you try to dock it doesn't allow you to, since it's Full)

As far as faction repair, it's a royal pita to do, unless you plan ahead and have stock available, and then that's only if you don't get carried away and get hate or kos. I pretty much gave up repairing faction for now, to much of a grind.

Be seeing you in Itani space NC. ;)
Nov 08, 2013 greenwall link
Yes it is trolling Lecter. TRS of all people knows how easy it is to avoid the SF. I'm surprised you find it so difficult.

The fact remains the largest majority of SF victims are newbs who either a) don't know any better, or b) are griefed into death by SF by someone. Thus it follows that the SF exists as a newb killing entity until we make it more proficient.
Nov 08, 2013 Kierky link
"The SF should not have magic guns, engines, or armor. They should be no different from what players can fly."

What in the hell is an Aerna seeker then? Because they're totally not magic that when they get even remotely close to you, you die. durr Lecter.
Nov 08, 2013 TheRedSpy link
Aerna seekers only make the case that the strikeforce is powerful enough. They may have stats within the limits of a normal ship, but their explosion damage is very high.

Anyone who says the strikeforce is too easy has to make the case as to why they are supposed to be hard to defeat in the first place. What it comes down to is that they are not there to protect players like a magic shield. If you were meant to be invincible in faction admired space then the devs would simply make you invincible. So as long as it is possible carebears like the OP will cry and people who want to assassinate you in enemy faction space will continue to do so.

That is VO.
Nov 08, 2013 abortretryfail link
Magic guns like Capgauss and Station Defense Missile Launchers? Or how about those infiniturbo-capable Vulture MkI's they fly? Yeah. They're already there.
Nov 08, 2013 Pizzasgood link
Aernas aren't magic. They're just nerfed versions of Nikki.
Nov 08, 2013 TheRedSpy link
So it's decided then, Niki will defend all carebears around stations.
Nov 09, 2013 Dr. Lecter link
What in the hell is an Aerna seeker then?

Seekers are a unique creature, to be sure, but they're also balanced in a way that souped-up Vultures would not be. They die from one shot or a slight splash, and will explode once triggered whether you'll be damaged or not.

If you want to cut the armor and number of weapon ports on a SF ship in exchange for them being faster, propose away. Otherwise, get stuffed.

As for capgauss and missile turrets, I've been bitching about them being non-skill based since they were implemented. From what I've seen in reply, the Devs don't disagree in theory but they simply cannot get the AI to a point where the turrets are at all effective without making them stupidly overpowered. The SF serves a different, less binary purpose than border defenses and need not be all that powerful at once to be effective.
Nov 09, 2013 NC-Crusader link
This was not started because vets are getting slammed in monitored space, it was meant to point out that too many of the new players are getting slammed and quitting before they ever get good at the game. This makes fewer targets for the RATS later and LESS MONEY coming in for the Development of the things VO has been hinting at for so long.

It we don't do something to protect those new players, then eventually the game will die.

Grey space has plenty of places for the Rats to do their thing without the necessity of going into Monitored space. Eventually all will venture into Grey and get slammed like the rest of us, but let them choose when they feel they are ready and play safe in monitored space till then. The turrets and Strike Force are supposed to be doing that now, but they are very very very ineffective at it.

Bottom line, do we protect new players till they get good, or beef up the turrets and strike force and make the game what it was intended to be. A Verse with 3 Nation protected space and a Grey "no mans land" where the Pirates roam and all kinds of battles take place.
Nov 09, 2013 abortretryfail link
If the problem with SF is their slow response time, why not change the station guards patrol patterns so that they're more likely to be within weapons range if an incident happens?

Oh right, because the guards and strike force are part of the problem. Why kill someone and take a standing hit when you can just put them between you and the cops trying to kill you?
Nov 09, 2013 TheRedSpy link
"new players are getting slammed and quitting before they ever get good at the game"

Speculation. Where are the facts? The fact is TGFT has 267 guild members more than any other guild has ever had, so how did you get that big if all the traders are leaving to pirates?

"If we don't do something to protect those new players, then eventually the game will die."

More speculation. Game is going to die from lack of updates and marketing long before it dies from nation space piracy. Conversion rates for games are typically a small percentage anyway and people leave for all sorts of reasons.

"make the game what it was intended to be. "

The game is intended to be a 'conflict can happen anywhere' kind of game where NPC's do not behave in ways that players can't possibly or get special equipment that players cannot get. How are you not getting this? If people want to go murder noobs that's their prerogative. If it becomes endemic then groups like VPR pop up to balance the equation.
Nov 09, 2013 peytros link
Friday I ran into no fewer then 4 moths mining outside of greyspace stations. I don't think there is anything to worry about if people still feel comfortable doing that outside of nation space.
Nov 09, 2013 TheRedSpy link
Well peytros pirates are one of the most under-represented roles in Vo at the moment. Even Savet the so-called "last pirate lord" is nowhere to be found.
Nov 09, 2013 Roda Slane link
The OP is too general.

Pirates are pirates, traders are traders, and noobs are noobs. traders are not necessarily noob, and noob are not necessarily traders. I am not currently aware of any great imbalance between traders and pirates, at least not to the detriment of traders. So sort out your argument. putting traders and noobs in the same category is a disservice to both.

And then we have multiple complaints about protection in nation space. First, who are we trying to protect, traders or noobs? and second, what are we trying to protect them from, pirates or griefers.

The original post is overly general, convoluted, and basically just a rant with no real suggestions or even request for suggestions. It is not even a concise definition of a problem.

This thread will die, or it will wander across an array of topics, and then die.

If you see a problem, be specific about what problem, and try to limit it to one problem or at least a related set of problems. If you have a suggestion, suggest it.

This thread is dead, and just doesn't know it yet.