For those who want to play Iron-Man

[Aewarin Jameson]

No my issue is ironman mode should not have a safety net - or by definition it isn't an ironman mode at all. If I'm an ironman bounty hunter whose cornered a player at a station, that "ironman" can drop into solo mode, disappear out of my reality, undock and pop back up light years away - continue playing the game. That's what I meant by bugging out when the heat is on. Surely you see that isn't in the spirit of ironman gameplay? An ironman would come out all guns blazing, or take the easy option and log off.

Goes against the spirit of any mode of play frankly, not just Ironman, however it's impossible to avoid. Up to the player. You won't be able to switch groups quickly if you have a fresh bounty on your head anyway as for a period of time you're forced into All-Pilots, however if you wait in the station long enough this restriction is removed.

(Logging off stops the timer but doesn't reset it )

Its about keeping an aspect of the game, one that should pride itself on ethical gameplay and keeping in the spirit of the mode offered, free of the things that the other game modes will suffer from. I seem to remember a few months ago you actually agreeing with me that sub-groups in ironman mode was a terrible idea?

I do agree with you that sub groups are a bad idea ... however including them, and the ability to switch groups at stations, doesn't make it a non-true ironman. There are no "true" ironman rules, only what FD define, and I wanted to avoid the inevitable "You're not a real Elite pilot unless you're Ironman" argument that's going to come in the future (not by you I hastily add)

The E grouping system means that people will just stop playing with players who get known for combat logging etc.

Hard to do if the offender is playing in the all-pilots group anyway unless you yourself switch to a private group / add them to ignore. (Adding to ignore lessens the chance of meeting them though) Also to add - watch for the inevitable screams from players on the forums about combat logging .. If someone does genuinely drop how would you know for sure - the assumption by some is that they pulled the plug but it could be an innocent problem. It's impossible to know either way therefore I just shrug and move on.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

At its base level sub-groups offer a player an out of game mechanic to sidestep situations, which may well be fine and become accepted in normal mode, but not in ironman mode since you've specifically signed up for a challenging style of gameplay.

I guess we'll have to see how it pans out. I would love ironman mode to be a heavily populated gameworld with mature and ethical players (I can dream), and as has been mentioned maybe a name and shame list of group hoppers may spring up so we can put them on ignore lists and not have to deal with players who aren't true ironmen (sorry Liqua, couldn't resist )

I may be an iromnan explorer. Probably the only one!

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

At its base level sub-groups offer a player an out of game mechanic to sidestep situations

No, at it's base level sub-groups allow people to play exclusively with their friends.

The fact that it could potentially be abused remains to be seen.

As an explorer you won't be alone in IM .. I will be there to take your findings off your hands

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

No, at it's base level sub-groups allow people to play exclusively with their friends.

The fact that it could potentially be abused remains to be seen.

As an explorer you won't be alone in IM .. I will be there to take your findings off your hands

But Ironmen should have no friends!! We're all lone wolves out to be the last man standing!

And its a big big big galaxy, if you can find me you will have earned your payday

 

[Abel]

Ok, IM sounds like the right way to squeeze the maximum of "fun" out of the little time I will be able to game.

You know the highscore table in nethack? There basically all your previous characters are listed according to their achieved score, showing their reason of death.

I want something that like that for ED IM.

 

[deMangler]

But Ironmen should have no friends!! We're all lone wolves out to be the last man standing!

And its a big big big galaxy, if you can find me you will have earned your payday

I am looking forward to making friends and enemies in IM E:⁠D. One of the great things about permadeath that I remember from tabletop roleplaying is that acts of heroism where you defend a friend at risk to your life really mean something. It is respected and remembered. Also if someone does die through heroism it goes into folklore - "you remember when so-and-so died defending that town? Now that was deeply cool, that guy was a dude..."
Also trust and betrayal will really come to mean something too.
So different from most MMO's where you die helping someone, you respawn... thanks dude... whatever.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

You know the highscore table in nethack?

More of an Angband person myself - Darren's a good person to talk to about rogue like games, as are some of the Devs so you never know

Also if someone does die through heroism it goes into folklore - "you remember when so-and-so died defending that town? Now that was deeply cool, that guy was a dude..."

I refer you to Fansy the most famous Bard from Everquest who I will repsect and remember forever, and that was over 10 years ago

 

[deMangler]

Ok, IM sounds like the right way to squeeze the maximum of "fun" out of the little time I will be able to game.

You know the highscore table in nethack? There basically all your previous characters are listed according to their achieved score, showing their reason of death.

I want something that like that for ED IM.

Yeah Totally! And like the bones files where there is a chance of meeting your previous ghost - perhaps not for E:⁠D though.... Maybe there will be orbital memorials like the Tionisla one in The Dark Wheel where players or even NPC's can make a memorial to a famous commander - This would only make sense for players from IM mode because they are the only players who can die but maybe the memorial could appear in the persistent shared world anyway....

 

[Bikky]

I Might do Ironman in offline mode, but it won't get much use, I'm deffo an pvp player.

 

[Perseus]

I am looking forward to making friends and enemies in IM E:⁠D. One of the great things about permadeath that I remember from tabletop roleplaying is that acts of heroism where you defend a friend at risk to your life really mean something. It is respected and remembered. Also if someone does die through heroism it goes into folklore - "you remember when so-and-so died defending that town? Now that was deeply cool, that guy was a dude..."
Also trust and betrayal will really come to mean something too.
So different from most MMO's where you die helping someone, you respawn... thanks dude... whatever.

I'm with you on this.

 

[Alpha Protocol]

The only problem I have with Ironman mode is getting my wife to do it too. If she for some reason won't then I'll have to have different commander to do it with.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

If she for some reason won't then I'll have to have different commander to do it with.

The beauty of ED is that you're going to have a choice of up to 3 commanders - one you could use exclusively with your wife and the other 2 for when she's not online.

 

[deMangler]

The beauty of ED is that you're going to have a choice of up to 3 commanders - one you could use exclusively with your wife and the other 2 for when she's not online.

I am going to need this. With Elite I have an Iron-man commander and some casual ones. If I am feeling careless I just don't play the Iron-man one - I would never have gotten to Elite otherwise (Amiga). It is just too easy to make either tactical, strategic or just stupid mistakes.
As for my wife - She is usually just happy to be my imaginary co-pilot, helping chose destinations, cargoes and so-on. Although I have dreams of getting her an account she simply does not enjoy twitch-based games.

 

[Jezzah]

the real beauty is that she's willing to play at all there

mine will grumble a lot when this comes out.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Although I have dreams of getting her an account she simply does not enjoy twitch-based games.

Give her time .. my wife loves it

 

[Ref Minor]

Ironman sounds cool, I guess I will start with one and then use up another slot once I have died and practised a bit on normal mode.

 

[MortVader]

I'll be playing ironman aswell.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Same here, I'll give it a go (for about 30 seconds before I die.)

 

[Qpid Stunt]

the real beauty is that she's willing to play at all there

mine will grumble a lot when this comes out.

'Grumble'? I'm wondering if E: D could possibly be used as grounds for divorce with mine when it comes out... hehe

I will be having at least one char slot dedicated to IM mode, fair enough if my IM dies after a lot of time invested I might swap to normal mode with it but will still make another slot into an IM to play and 'level up' slowly.

Hopefully the IM playstyle will have far more of an edge where you really feel the consequences of making a mistake. I figure by its nature there will also be a more mature player base.

I mean with all the risks involved this will hopefully put off random gankers or kids, both needing to spend a lot of time evolving a character to make it powerful enough to pose a threat - to then risk losing it over a random fight? Probably won't happen. Then those that repeatedly start new IM characters to greif other players? They will also be so weak equipment / ship wise, they will be like swatting gnats after having played sencibly for a week or so.

Its the other serious IM players who will pose a risk, who hopefully will be like minded and mature - a shot accross the bow screaming 'Yer cargo or yer life!'. Other main risks to concider would have to include general stupidity, not buying your escape pod as a second from a pound shop, and most devestating... logging on with your IM toon after downing 5 pints thinking you are invincible!

 

[Minti2]

logging on with your IM toon after downing 5 pints thinking you are invincible!

yep that rings so true with me!

and unfortunately for me i have these madness moments to where after playing in games with skill and careful thoughtfulness for hours, i can sudden go into **** it mode and chance my arm on something trivial but dangerous.

Having said that i remember playing like that in original Elite, fighting two or three pirates at the same time, and it was a great buzz.. if i survived it!