Add combat credit for Support role

[Lythix]

Currently any combat bonds for ship kills, both NPC and Thargoid, are not awarded to a player unless they do damage during a "kill window" of a certain amount of time just before target dies.
This results in all players involved having to "tag" the target with damage or they do not get paid for it.
Many players play as a support role and this reward penalised that style of play.
Add a mechanic or change the current mechanic so that a player can repair another player or regen/buff their shields and still get credit without having to do any damage.
Often a support player may not even need to heal another player, but they are still there as backup. Just being in the instance where the kill happened should be enough for credit.
Make it so the player needs to be flying (so afk players do not get credit). Just being in the area should count. Perhaps if someone in the wing is involved with dealing damage then others in the wing also get credit, just as long as they are there.

 

[Florenus]

I'm not sure if rewarding players for doing nothing at all is such a good idea.
People would wing up and let one guy go someplace and earn credits for them.

 

[Lythix]

I'm not saying rewarding them for doing nothing. The support player is in the instance where the kill happens at the time target dies. They participated. Ie they were there and controls were moving. They should be rewarded. They could make healing a wingmate plus proximity into an action that gains agro. Plenty of other successful mmos have healing as an agro mechanic. A bystander who is afk should not be paid, I agree but an active support role should.
The current death window is way too short. Many Thargoid fights I have missed out being paid for after a 30 to 45 minute battle purely because I did not "tag" the goid just because it was about to die.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

This is s good idea.

It should also be expanded so anyone supporting is treated the same as anyone killing. So agro will spread to you, as well as fines and bounties.
(Aiding and abetting, essentially)

Just needs to be in a balanced manner that doesn't pay for AFK time.

 

[Lestat]

I'm not sure if rewarding players for doing nothing at all is such a good idea.
People would wing up and let one guy go someplace and earn credits for them.

I have to agree with Florenus here. You have a ship that can leave and come back after restocking. Or use Make Limpets to keep repairing. I smell an exploit. I think the best way to balance this is Both ships have to engage in combat and repair each other or them selfs. Both will have small Cargo hold and repair hull limpets.

If I had a Type 9 with Hull repair and tons of cargo space and not fight. Most of the time I would sit repair and do nothing. I think as a wing they both need to engage in combat. If they want to repair it should be a co-op and both responsibilities.

 

[Lythix]

Um I think you misunderstand, that is what support role is. Repair hull, decontaminate corrosion, regenerate shields. I play this role primarily when killing Thargoids and enjoy it. I do not sit about twiddling my thumbs.
Having to also worry about dealing damage to the Thargoid (during the kill window only, I might add) is an extra thing and is a flaw.
I have been in situations where I was healing or helping a wingmate who was dealing with the swarm and so I was too far to get back to the Thargoid to "tag" it just before it was killed, in my Type 10 support ship. So no combat bonds for me. I was there for the whole fight and even damaged it between helping. The kill window is very short.

So you are suggesting I do not deserve to be paid because I helped keep them in the fight?

We all love the game and play it in our own ways. This would open up the game for support. Sure limit to the wing like they have done with regen beams. If they did not want support roles to exist why are regen engineering for beams in the game?

 

[Florenus]

So you are suggesting I do not deserve to be paid because I helped keep them in the fight?

Player you've supported can pay you in some valuable commodities you could then sell and get the credits. You've supported him, he got paid, it's only fair for him to share, if that was the arrangement.
I'm not sure you should be rewarded with anything combat related, like advancement in Combat rank f.ex.

 

[eaglejonno]

well, as lythix has said, he can spend sometimes over an hour in an instance, keeping tanks shields up or regening swarm ships (thargoid instances) we arent talking about exploits.... Kiting a goid past its mode of fighting could be looked at as an exploit, getting over 1bill credits from farming bugged areas for void opals could be looked at as an exploit.... if you wanted to do this to make money you would be better mining...

His role is effectively a Healer, which in all other games is viewed as part of the group and gets rewarded,
If he heals/regens a wing he should be rewarded as they are. Its not like he has no weapons to hurt the goid, its that his job is different. Its a fun role to play and its a needed role if you fight thargoids the way they were originally intended.

AFK or people that just drop in at the last second to reap the rewards is not the point of this request.