Forced solo?

[CMDR Nick]

I'm not bad at combat, but I can't go up against 3 human players in a wing - last time I was destroyed within a minute. I've always been an individual player, but I liked the open play - however, I'm going to have to avoid it now for any conflict zones. I have noticed, btw, that when you switch to solo, the fighting against NPCs in conflict zones seems tougher. You are more likely to be attached by several NPCs at once in solo play. Perhaps it's to compensate for it being easier.

(To be fair - although it's a pain being trashed in seconds by player wings - at least there is the option to go solo. Be so good if we could have NPCs attached to us as wings.)

 

[Sandmann]

Yup... wolf packs and gank squads... and this surprises you? Try Mobius group... all the good bits of Open without the morons.

[edit] Oh, and in before all the "if you play in open you should expect <whatever I want you to accept>" and the "learn to fly" and the "find your own wing" etc. This game should be playable, it's it's default mode, by an individual player.

 

[cherbert]

IMHO Frontier desperately need to make it so real players and NPC's show on the scanner with the same icon while participating in a war zone (at least until the opposing player has done a scan).

The fun factor is lost when in a battle human players seek out other human players. This is fine in a balanced fight but when you have a wing or more of players fighting as the Federation and then a lone supporter of the Crimson State jumps in - no matter how many NPC's he or she has fighting the good fight at their side the Federation players will just jump all over them.

This is the biggest flaw in the conflict mechanic.

I do the Conflict Zones in Solo for this reason. The NPC's have no bias. They will fight everyone and not specifically pick on you because you are a player. There is still risk but at least it comes down to skill and not just an impossible fight. I have died quite a lot on Solo so to say its safe and easy is nonsense. Its a challenge but a fun challenge. In Open its just ridiculous, expensive and ceases to be fun quite quickly, especially when I can head over to a Nav Point and make much more money in a shorter space of time.

 

[CMDR Nick]

Brilliant idea to conceal human players. You could of course give the option - same icon as NPC or the current 'here I am, come and trash me' icon.

 

[Seonid]

That was suggested way back when, I don't think anything came of it.

 

[Sandmann]

Yup, back in beta it was suggested that we all look the same on scanner. The PvPers screamed it down. Then it was suggested we be given the option to look the same if we wanted, and again the PvPers screamed it down. Apparently there's no point in playing a game where the difference between bots and people isn't immediately obvious. So now the people who don't want to be ganked don't play in open.

 

[cherbert]

That was suggested way back when, I don't think anything came of it.

I like CMDR Nick's suggestion of it being optional is a good one. If Frontier are willing to allow people to drop into Solo I see no reason not to allow them to disguise themselves as an NPC. It actually seems to be a sensible way to encourage more people into Open.

The PvPers screaming has backfired on them because now everyone is going private or solo. Seems like the idea could have been a great compromise.

 

[Cody]

The Transponder idea had some problems, but I think it would've been a worthwhile addition.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Yup... wolf packs and gank squads... and this surprises you? Try Mobius group... all the good bits of Open without the morons.

[edit] Oh, and in before all the "if you play in open you should expect <whatever I want you to accept>" and the "learn to fly" and the "find your own wing" etc. This game should be playable, it's it's default mode, by an individual player.

People co-operating against the enemy in a warzone is moronic? By the way, maybe you should stop talking about things you don't have much experience with, or at least leave the insults out? It is cool that you like Mobius but you give that community a pretty bad rep with these posts of yours. Just saying. Anyway, I've played in Lugh since 1.2 both in wings and solo. Both are viable. As cmdrs tend to take on other cmdrs first (because they are by far the greater threat and it is very dangerous to ignore hostile enemy cmdrs) you don't have to be in a wing, just don't isolate yourself from the other cmdrs on your side. Even if they are not in your wing they'll still help you out if they spot hostile cmdrs attacking you.

 

[cherbert]

I've played in Lugh since 1.2 both in wings and solo. Both are viable.

Try fighting as Crimson State in a fully kitted out Cobra then tell me its viable.

 

[Sandmann]

People co-operating against the enemy in a warzone is moronic? By the way, maybe you should stop talking about things you don't have much experience with, or at least leave the insults out? It is cool that you like Mobius but you give that community a pretty bad rep with these posts of yours. Just saying. Anyway, I've played in Lugh since 1.2 both in wings and solo. Both are viable. As cmdrs tend to take on other cmdrs first (because they are by far the greater threat and it is very dangerous to ignore hostile enemy cmdrs) you don't have to be in a wing, just don't isolate yourself from the other cmdrs on your side. Even if they are not in your wing they'll still help you out if they spot hostile cmdrs attacking you.

Wow, did you actually read what I wrote, or just see one word and get offended? Most of the morons are in open... but not all people in open are morons in fact I would say that most of the people in open are NOT morons. It's just that open is where the morons tend to live.

 

[CMDR i Tetsuo]

:S
I've played exclusively in Open since Beta, I make reasonable money (but mostly have fun!), and I'm currently in a sheildless T-6..
I've never been attacked by a player let alone killed, where are all you guys going that's so dangerous and why are you staying there after the fact?
-
I see other CMDRs all the time, the most threatening message I've ever received is "Hello!", in fact so far the Elite player base seems to be the friendliest I've ever come across (But then again, I am an old DayZ player...)

 

[SlickReed]

IMHO Frontier desperately need to make it so real players and NPC's show on the scanner with the same icon while participating in a war zone (at least until the opposing player has done a scan).

This ^^ is badly needed. I have made this argument before in the threadnought about open vs solo. The hollow icon is gank squad tool and needs to go away imo.

 

[cherbert]

I'm currently in a sheildless T-6..
I've never been attacked by a player let alone killed, where are all you guys going that's so dangerous and why are you staying there after the fact?

Try taking your shieldless T6 into a Conflict Zone.

 

[Bortas]

Yup, back in beta it was suggested that we all look the same on scanner. The PvPers screamed it down. Then it was suggested we be given the option to look the same if we wanted, and again the PvPers screamed it down. Apparently there's no point in playing a game where the difference between bots and people isn't immediately obvious. So now the people who don't want to be ganked don't play in open.

The problem is, you would never find a player if they looked the same as NPCs. Even with the current mechanics, how many players do you see compared to AIs... maybe a ratio of 1:1000? It wouldn't just kill PvP, it would kill all player interaction. I'd rather all players who are not interested in player interaction go to solo, than basically turning open into solo.

 

[atak2]

:S
I've played exclusively in Open since Beta, I make reasonable money (but mostly have fun!), and I'm currently in a sheildless T-6..
I've never been attacked by a player let alone killed, where are all you guys going that's so dangerous and why are you staying there after the fact?
-
I see other CMDRs all the time, the most threatening message I've ever received is "Hello!", in fact so far the Elite player base seems to be the friendliest I've ever come across (But then again, I am an old DayZ player...)

They are in conflict zones. Instances in systems that are at war. In those conflict zones you can choose a side in the conflict and shoot at the opposition. There is a lot of players in the Eravate conflict zone for example.

 

[cherbert]

The problem is, you would never find a player if they looked the same as NPCs. Even with the current mechanics, how many players do you see compared to AIs... maybe a ratio of 1:1000? It wouldn't just kill PvP, it would kill all player interaction. I'd rather all players who are not interested in player interaction go to solo, than basically turning open into solo.

It could easily be a mechanic that only happens in Conflict Zones. And even then you could allow a player to scan a target to reveal its true identity. At least then in the chaos of a full scale battle everyone has a chance.

 

[CMDR Nick]

Agreed, most open play is fine. I was really referring to conflict zones, and the current convoy zone in the community Lugh mission, where playing out of a wing in open there at the moment doesn't seem viable.

 

[Sandmann]

The problem is, you would never find a player if they looked the same as NPCs. Even with the current mechanics, how many players do you see compared to AIs... maybe a ratio of 1:1000? It wouldn't just kill PvP, it would kill all player interaction. I'd rather all players who are not interested in player interaction go to solo, than basically turning open into solo.

... which is pretty much what's happened, with only 34% of players using solo exclusively according to a recent poll. Whereas if we'd been given the option to look like bots if we didn't want PvP but still remain in open, people may have become more willing to "unflag" themselves if they saw something worthwhile happening. Oh well. If we'd had the option to choose, we may not even have needed solo mode. At the worst, if we'd been able to look like bots there certainly wouldn't have been any less players visible in open than there are now.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Try fighting as Crimson State in a fully kitted out Cobra then tell me its viable.

Jumping into a 'lost' zone (note, one zone near Lugh 5 was clearly dominated by CSG) is essentially suicide, but that has nothing to do with wings. The exact same result (ie. everyone going after poor lonesome you) would have happened prior to 1.2. The real problem is that the majority of zones are dominated by one of the sides, making it impossible to jump in if you play for the other side. Not sure what the solution would be, maybe have the AI spanws depend on the cmdr ratio? Hiding human status would work as well, interesting idea.

Wow, did you actually read what I wrote, or just see one word and get offended? Most of the morons are in open... but not all people in open are morons in fact I would say that most of the people in open are NOT morons. It's just that open is where the morons tend to live.

Yes, I read it. The OP is talking about the impact of 1.2 Wings on conflict zones. Your response ("what do you expect, ganksquads, come to mobius" etc etc) has absolutely nothing to do with that.