This could involve another icon being added to the System map, potentially a lightning bolt or something similar. Basically, what would happen is you'd inevitably encounter an Ion Storm, and then, if you choose to (you'd be given the option, at least) to "map" this sector as being under an Ion Storm (hazardous). These map warnings would disappear after an hour or so (or something like that).

Then, when you plot a course and it happens to go through an area marked with a Storm, it will notify you and you can jump to empty sectors to get around it :-D

how bout whenever you hit a storm, like you said, you get the option to 'report bad weather' and it shows up as a warning symbol on everyone's maps?

Maybe the info would automatically go onto the news section when you dock, and other people could click 'download weather report' when they dock - that way its not instant (though you'd get your own reports instantly of course) but provides another function for the news tab beyond random items of interest, and allows traders to cooperate better.

how bout that?

i think the weather report is nice ... but there has to be a "weather-report-check" i think. since the system knows where it put bad weather every weather report should be checked before applied. so no one can fake reports.
imagine someone submits maps with bad weather in every "field". Or someone cleans out every bad weather from the map. And all just for fun.

Need the system be based on players reporting storms? I think it would be easier and more efficient for the system to automatically update player maps where ion storms are occuring and show up as a lightning bolt or something (or perhaps the ion storm warning shows up in the sector description?).

I'd like this, especially like Soulless1 describes, and especially if it required a recurring "subscription" cost, like ctishman suggested a while ago. And, the more storms you reported to the service, the larger a discount off the subscription cost they'd give you.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/9402

[edit]
Also, there could be an additional mission tree for "employees" of the service, to scout certain 'roid sectors for storms.
[/edit]

Agreed! I posted this a while go: http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/9090#104613, but I really like the idea of using the station, and even a subscription service to facilitate sharing of information, rather than my idea of a straight toggle.

Yeah, but also I think that there should be a training mission devoted to teaching you how to get out of an Ion storm. The first time I encountered one I ended up in a very bad position, then I got killed. Also, telling you that a bunch of little blue dots all around you means your in an Ion storm would really help the newbies.

A training mission for a dynamic situation... no training mission would more efficient at teaching pilots how to escape the Ion storm than actually experiencing one first hand.

In fact, I think the training mission for such a concept would go as follows.

"Do you accept the Ion storm training mission?"
"Yes"
"Jump to B-3, and avoid dying. Good luck."

They'd probably send you to a location that was enemy free, but you do have a point about the lack of instruction on what to do. They would squeese in a little something about the green plus sign, and then tell you where to jump. Maybe it should even be part of the tutorial...

What I've suggested previously as a less challenging introduction for storms to new players is to have Station and WH sectors have storms just as often as 'roid sectors. Then a new player is just as or more likely to have their first encouter with a storm in a "safe" station or WH sector, rather than having to learn how to get out of the storm while having an Aputech Guardian breathing down their neck.

Honestly, if a player is in a system that has ApuTek Guardians, they're asking for it.

How about just expanding "You've landed in a storm, fly to the exit" to "You've landed in a stor, fly to the exit marked with a green plus on you radar and HUD"?

Also, I'd think it's just as easy to spawn a storm as it is to spawn things like BP bots, or bots for the spy/recon mission.
I'd say the tutorial should spawn a storm in an empty sector (or one with easy collectors) right after it teaches the player how to kill.
Ofcourse, I haven't seen the code, so I have no actual idea of how "easy" it is for the backend to spawn storms at will.

What I was trying to say was that maybe there could be an empty sector for a training mission for the Ion storm. In the sector there would be a perpetual Ion storm, and that way they wouldn't have to add that much into the code than putting a storm there every single time a newbie is on their tutorial. Also, someone who didn't know what to do would still get into trouble against any bot, it's that simple.

I meant ApuTech-5s, not ApuTech-17s. ApuTech-5 Guardians are pretty common even deep in Nation space - there's plenty in Itan & Sol II - and ApuTech-5s can threaten a new player in a freebus easily.

The message it currently gives is "You've been caught in an ion storm. To proceed to your destination, you'll need to fly to the storm exit point, marked on your HUD.", which IMO is all the info the player really needs, IF they see it, and can read and comprehend it fast enough.

I'd be fine with having the tutorial mission include a storm encouter, or at least mentioning ion storms and how to get out of them, but I still think station & WH sectors should have storms. Along with allowing for a safer introduction to storms for new players, it would also make more sense IMO. Why don't storms happen in WH and station sectors? They happen in every other sector with 'roids, what's the explanation for them not happening in WH and station sectors?

I've had an idea:

Every time a player enters a Hive-controlled sector, be it in a storm or not, he/she is assigned one or more "buddies" that'll follow the player around trying to kill him/her.

Why not have that "buddy assignment" suspend the first time a player enters a storm? Unless that player opens fire on a bot he/she can safely pass to the exit.

"Since this is your first storm you will not be engaged by bots. Next time the game will not be so nice..."

Oh, and about the Ion Storm Warning Message, it seems it allready has my suggestion for improvement implemented.
Impressive! Vendetta does retro-active player suggestion implementation now!
... *cough*

First time freebie...

That's actually intriguing. It would act as a realtime training mission. It is more random than being told to go to a sector, so the encounter would not be so easily forgotten. The only question is whether or not one ion storm encounter would suffice.

I think there should be an Weather Report Guild in which the people in it could report ion storms they find on the Guild channel. Other people could even pay (credits, not real money) to know the channel, that way the guild would get money.

I'm Itani and my name is Panis Onar. Anyone interested in opening a Weather Report Guild can contact me in-game.

A guild might not be necessary for this venture; in fact, it might be easier to implement with a plugin that works with a webserver to store storm data. If the player enters a sector with a storm (yes, you can detect this), it sends a report to the server that there is a storm in that sector. The sector is listed as "stormy" either for three-four hours or until someone using the plugin enters the sector and it does not have a storm, whichever happens first. Upon entering a system, players would be shown a message that listed storms (that had been reported to the server) in that system.

Very useful.

But it would make Deneb Runs incredibly boring.

They are already boring as of late. I mean, without me.

There's a plugin which was going to do all this (mapping storms). Info to be found at http://vokb.org. No idea whether it actually does the storm mapping yet or not (though according to that page, it doesn't work with the current version of VO at all).

Once you've done your first one or two, storms are really only a problem when on escort missions, because there's no way to tell your convoy to avoid storms you know about (assuming you're after the cash rather than the combat xp).

dude, ion storms are part of the random fun of the game!