CQC Where is the fun in CQC?

I wonder, what's the fun in CQC? I've played for an hour, i've been killed 1000 times and i've not killed even 10. Am i that bad or CQC is crap? Once someone locks at me, i'm dead in less than 5 seconds, no matter what manoeuvres i do. So, everybody else has gimballed weapons and i'm the idiot with the fixed lasers?

I wish there was a training mode against npc.
 
Personally, I don't see the point in bothering until there's an option to be matched against people of the same rank or skill level.

I know certain free to plays that at least have the courtesy to only put you into matches with others with less than 10 matches under their belt when your new. I don't mind getting owned, but those first few fights you're fighting the ships as well as the player.

Or in my case... the controller. I get the distinct feeling my 20 dollar joystick isn't going to cut it with this mode.
 
In general you have to decide whether to fight or flight. If you have a weapons/stealth/shield boost - then fight. If you dont, or your ship is not at 100% then - flight (go find some power-ups). You will still die fairly often, but by always fighting when you have an advantage you should win those 1v1's. Getting 2 or 3 enemies on you at once is a different story though :)
 
CQC is balanced and well implemented. I admit, I'm surprised. The regular game has been such a let down so I wasn't expecting much. It's very formulaic, but it works. I like how the starting ship/gun is very effective so you can compete right away.
 
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Fun? Lots and lots of fun. Specially when rank 2 guy select team match and in opponent group there is no guy under rank 20. Imagine what makes you in the middle of the fight. Body count and nothing more. I mean from all the combat ranking systems Frontier had to choose the worst, the one I try to avoid in all FPS games. The final score. I think it was around 30 something vs 2.
 
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I wish there was a training mode against npc.

The above repeated for emphases. I love CQCC but I do wish it was balanced. An option to play an "InstaGib" or "Rocket Arena" mode where everyone is in exactly the same ship would be nice.

To the OP I'd suggest sticking with it. It is a bit silly that the players who need the most help fighting are stuck with the most basic ship, but you get XP even if you're not doing that well. You get XP for showing up. And the extra time it takes you to level up to new ships gives you a chance to get used to the maps.

I'm an old man. My eyesight's failing and I've got the reactions of a lump of concrete that's been airgapped. I still enjoy playing CQCC because I'm not really playing against the other players. I'm playing against myself, to do better than I'd done in the previous games.
 
Rank doesn't actually mean anything. A rank 2 could be a far superior pilot than a rank 20, it's just the rank 20 has played more, and likely died a lot. I'm somewhere in the mid 20's and have come up against ranks lower than 10 that surprised the hell out of me, mostly because I went after them with the assumption that they were 'noobs'.. A few of them certainly were not.
 
Rank doesn't actually mean anything. A rank 2 could be a far superior pilot than a rank 20, it's just the rank 20 has played more, and likely died a lot. I'm somewhere in the mid 20's and have come up against ranks lower than 10 that surprised the hell out of me, mostly because I went after them with the assumption that they were 'noobs'.. A few of them certainly were not.

When they are awarding gold stars for showing up to class it's no wonder that the rankings are meaningless. While I'm waiting for the game to begin, I go through the other player's stats to see their kill/death ratio... Not so much to see who I should pick on, more just to check who I should be running away from.
 
its tough early on.... fun really begins once you get a ship thats not made of cardboard.... ranking is a bit meaningless..... unless you are 1 v 1 against a much lower ranked ship ( not pilot )....as you should win easily... BUT that rarely happens as i found i am nearly always killed by attacks up my rear end ... that makes ship /rank meaningless... 1 v 2 or 3 or 4.... saying that its still great fun.... not to be taken too seriously... :)
 
I have found it an ok distraction. It's certainly not bad and I am sure it will have it's fans. I think I will appreciate it more when I am next out of a long distance exploration trip.

My main issue with it however (or rather with myself) is the same one I had when I regularly played Planetside 2: I have a totally childish and ridiculous obsession with K/D. It is the stat I would most like to see vanish as if it is not greater then 1 I start regressing into an 8 year old and getting ratty.

Given how quick and easy it is to die or by ganked by multiple ships (everyone goes for a ship that is already damaged), if you are a so-so pilot like me, then keeping the K/D positive is tricky and I find myself not enjoying the game any more.

As said however, this is an issue with me as opposed to an issue with the game.
 
I love CQC, its a good distraction and quite addictive, with more features I'll be playing this a lot.

For the record I consider myself a really crappy pilot BUT I can come in first place in Deathmatch no problem in CQC.

1 - Use Flight Assist OFF
If someones one your tail, turn flight assist off and start thrusting in reverse, your enemy will end up in front of you 99% of the time. Put flight assist back on and blast away :D

2 - Always try and find a Shield Boost power up whenever possible it'll put people off trying to pop you.

3 - Manage your pips effectively, don't just leave them on 4 pips to weapons all the time, try putting some in ENG when you needs the speed boost, and SYS when your under flak and fleeing.

4 - Get all star wars and fly about in side the structures, I see a lot of pilots out in the asteroid fields blasting each other. They inevitably become the prey of an eagle pilot lurking in the shadows :)

That's all I got guys. It is a load of fun, I knocked it when they announced it, but now I think it's a pile of fun. Though my elbow is getting sore now haha
 
I wonder, what's the fun in CQC? I've played for an hour, i've been killed 1000 times and i've not killed even 10. Am i that bad or CQC is crap? Once someone locks at me, i'm dead in less than 5 seconds, no matter what manoeuvres i do. So, everybody else has gimballed weapons and i'm the idiot with the fixed lasers?

You are bad. First ship--the Condor, is amazing once you figure out how to fly it--and use it right. The base weapons it comes with are fantastic.
 
Im also struggling to enjoy CQC.

The TTK (time to kill) is so quick, even a skilled pilot will be destroyed by a beginner more times then not.
Its all due to an attacker usually engages you from behind, and in ED its very simple to keep your target in view. At least for the time needed to kill.

A skilled pilot will of course be able to gain an advantage by superior maneuvering using all the possible "tricks", controlling the map by grabbing pickups and denying the enemy, and by using the surrounding environment for cover and ambushes. And possibly, at higher skills of play, gameplay is way different from my experiences.

Maybe more interesting gamemodes and maps with more environments would make it more suitable for my taste.
Im keeping an eye on it.
 
Im also struggling to enjoy CQC.

The TTK (time to kill) is so quick, even a skilled pilot will be destroyed by a beginner more times then not.
Its all due to an attacker usually engages you from behind, and in ED its very simple to keep your target in view. At least for the time needed to kill.

A skilled pilot will of course be able to gain an advantage by superior maneuvering using all the possible "tricks", controlling the map by grabbing pickups and denying the enemy, and by using the surrounding environment for cover and ambushes. And possibly, at higher skills of play, gameplay is way different from my experiences.

Maybe more interesting gamemodes and maps with more environments would make it more suitable for my taste.
Im keeping an eye on it.

All aerial combat is like this--no matter the simulator. Situational awareness and position managment are critical skills. This is why the aces of World War 1 and 2 lived to fight another day.
 
They should remove ALL gimbaling from the weapons and make them 100% fixed aiming. Otherwise the only battle is who gets who NEAR their crosshairs first.
 
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My advice to newbies (from a slightly better than newbie..)

- Pick your fights. If you two pilots fighting, they'll be weakened so target them. I tend to go for the one facing away from me as it's harder for him to turn & fight back (dishonourable, I know!) If someone in the distance drops chaff, I make a beeline for them because by the time I reach them they'll be out of chaff! :)

- If you start to take fire, drop chaff, turn FA-Off, and turn hard, with reversing. You'll swap ends really quickly and be facing your attacker before the chaff disappears.

- Always watch your scanner. If you see a yellow, blinking triangle it's someone shooting at you. Always prioritise them (unless you're just about to finish someone off), as they're the biggest threat.

- In a Condor, don't go toe-to-toe with Sidewinders or Eagles, they're tougher and often are equipped with better weapons. Always keep moving, strafing, boosting past them and turn back.

I thought I wasn't making any progress (other than the Rank, which is more down to how many games you've played) - until I was put into a couple of Team Deathmatches last night with some new players, and ended up with 11:2 and 12:5 kill-death ratios. I felt bad. :) But at least I know I've improved from day one.
 
Why is it so, that i die in seconds from a condor? When i need like half a minute to kill one!?

Yes i have full pips on shields! Im using plasma reapeaters

[masked swearing redacted - please avoid this thank you]
 
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Why is it so, that i die in seconds from a condor? When i need like half a minute to kill one!?

Yes i have full pips on shields! Im using plasma reapeaters

[masked swearing redacted - please avoid this thank you]
ive tried most loadouts on condor eagle and sidewinder....... condor suits me the best easily..... i dont get killed so often , you get chaff , dont like the lasers on sidey and eagle , they dont accelerate or turn as quickly... only weakness with condor is its armour if you do happen to get blasted ...its no tank ...
 
All aerial combat is like this--no matter the simulator. Situational awareness and position managment are critical skills. This is why the aces of World War 1 and 2 lived to fight another day.

No, all aerial combat is not like this.

You are correct that situational awareness is key no matter what, but EDs combination of limited movement, extremely easy controls and autoaiming weapons makes this completely different from WWI/WWII warplanes. They were hard to control and aiming weapons was even harder. Sure, a few rounds was often enough to account for a "kill" but getting those rounds there was not an easy task, as is the case in ED.
Modern aerial combat is not relating to ED or CQC since the two are so vastly different.

A good indication that something is really off is that lots of people seem to adopt a strategy to not care at all about being attacked and dying.
Its quicker and easier to just let them kill you quickly so you can respawn in a new ship and get back in with full force a few seconds later. Probably more effective too as respawn is so quick, consequence of dying none and maps small enough that you only need seconds to be back where you started.


I do think that removing all form of gimbals/autoaim would make CQC ALOT more fun to play but it would make the gap between skilled and unskilled alot bigger.
As it should be, IMO. Would make a kill mean something and we would see alot more interesting dogfighting going on.
This, in combination with a bigger consequence to destruction. Longer respawn, loss of xp or something in this line.


Bottom line is, CQC feels very shallow. A PVP competetive gamemode thrown together just because it was promised. Not unlike the tablet app :D
 
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