Newcomer / Intro Ship Destroyed due to spontaneous "Criminal Activity" | Rage-Quit

[DeeDubYuh]

Ive been playing for just about 2 hours now. Taking my time getting to know all the IU, hotkeys, etc. Liking the game so far but I just experienced a pretty serious buzzkill tbh.

I'm running a few random items from Matet to Dromi, I pull into the system, reorient to Mawson Dock, disengage the Friendship Drive, come up within 7.5, throttle down, hit 1, contacts, request docking (t-10:00), add a little throttle, autopilot takes over.

Ship flys over, orienting with the dock, comes to a halt. "Waiting in queue" (~t-9:20)

I'm looking around in the contacts interface, scan a ship, look at whats was scanned, exit. look back at the AP "Waiting in queue" ~t-6:30

Continue reviewing the scan and decide to go over to chat, thinking about messaging the pilot I scanned // At this point I realized I may have breached etiquette with an unprompted scan. //

Looking at the chat I notice that the opacity is so low I cannot read the CMDR's names at all. That just wont do!

Exit the chat, check the AP "Waiting in queue" ~t-2:30. Curious, I bump the throttle again. AP takes over once more does a big circle only to stop again to sit stationary in about the same spot it was. // "Okay maybe the station is busy." // "Waiting in queue" ~t-2:10.

ESC, go over to graphics looking for the chat opacity setting (still haven't found that yet) while I'm looking for it I get pulled out of the settings window to this.

Your ship is gone.
You are a criminal.
You have been incarcerated.
You are now labelled as an undesirable.


I have done a bit of research in the forum before posting this, I am assuming that the queue expired while I was inside, prompting me to be attacked by security for unauthorized docking? // But I wouldnt know, as apparently, Elite Dangerous takes place in a dystopian society where you can be shot out of the sky, locked up, fined, and outcast from society, without ever being told what law you broke. "Trust us you broke it" "Because we said you did" //

I suppose my question, summed up, is: Really?!

I not really too upset about dying, I get that realistically nothing has changed for me gameplay wise
// I mean it would have been nice to actually have the opportunity to immerse in the game, build some sort of fondness for whatever reputation I decided my CMDR to have. Despite agreeing fully with the concept "it's just a game" that sense of accomplishment (i.e having not died before playing for X Hours, or earning X credits) is part of the experience I enjoy //

What burns me is that huuge Gaping continuity hole in the game. I cannot look up my own criminal history? to find out what caused my ship to get destroyed? so that i can avoid it ever happening again... only session log entries that say "committed crime" and "Ship lost" with no details. looking to what the community has to say its possible the docking timer expired, but... to be shot down for trespassing, without a comm signal, not any iota of a warning. I fully understand that elite dangerous does not hold your hand. I've had my eye on this game for some time, watching streamers play it, reading lengthy articles about the Fuel Rats( good chaps, them.) However; sadly, at the moment my attitude is just that I should uninstall and abandon this in the steam library graveyard, all because the docking computer autopilot is garbage, and killed all enthusiasm I have. I hope the bad taste this has left doesn't stick around too long I really wanted to play this game.

If you've got any ideas why this has happened, or have a similar experience to share; I'd like to hear from ya.

 

[Maggie_Oz]

apparently, Elite Dangerous takes place in a dystopian society where you can be shot out of the sky, locked up, fined, and outcast from society, without ever being told what law you broke.

It does

Looks like this game may not be for you

 

[Factabulous]

If you are on PC you can look in your journal files or install a 3rd party app to do that for you (EDDiscovery maybe?). That may give a clue what happened, but ... you went AFK Normally people get caught out by the auto-undock not completing in time, but as you say I guess the auto-dock can time out.

Crime & Punishment is seen by some as too harsh, by others are not harsh enough. Have a bit of a rage & come back later - but don't trust the automation as much, it's more dangerous than the cops - especially at busy / non-standard stations

 

[wAsh67]

Chalk up another kill for the docking computer.
Don't use it. The game is better without it as landing and taking off without it can be quite fun, especially when a T-10 comes barging dead centre through the slot, or when you slightly misjudge your line up just as you hit boost to get a "Battlestar Galactica" launch through the toast rack.

Station kills happen. I was happily taking screenshots inside Hudson Ring for my flight logs when the timer ran down and it caught me out. Rebuy and resume.

 

[d8veh]

There is an exact record of what happened with timestamps in your log files stored by default in c:/ user/USER/saved games/frontier developments/elite dangerous.

It's a rule that you should never go AFK when the docking computer is active or any other time that the ship might come into danger.

The docking computer kills a huge number of new pilots. Take my advice and never let it engage until you have visible sight of the pad. That means don't engage it outside the slot for a Coriolis type station or similar.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

Ive been playing for just about 2 hours now. Taking my time getting to know all the IU, hotkeys, etc. Liking the game so far but I just experienced a pretty serious buzzkill tbh.

I'm running a few random items from Matet to Dromi, I pull into the system, reorient to Mawson Dock, disengage the Friendship Drive, come up within 7.5, throttle down, hit 1, contacts, request docking (t-10:00), add a little throttle, autopilot takes over.

Ship flys over, orienting with the dock, comes to a halt. "Waiting in queue" (~t-9:20)

I'm looking around in the contacts interface, scan a ship, look at whats was scanned, exit. look back at the AP "Waiting in queue" ~t-6:30

Continue reviewing the scan and decide to go over to chat, thinking about messaging the pilot I scanned // At this point I realized I may have breached etiquette with an unprompted scan. //

Looking at the chat I notice that the opacity is so low I cannot read the CMDR's names at all. That just wont do!

Exit the chat, check the AP "Waiting in queue" ~t-2:30. Curious, I bump the throttle again. AP takes over once more does a big circle only to stop again to sit stationary in about the same spot it was. // "Okay maybe the station is busy." // "Waiting in queue" ~t-2:10.

ESC, go over to graphics looking for the chat opacity setting (still haven't found that yet) while I'm looking for it I get pulled out of the settings window to this.
View attachment 174180

Your ship is gone.
You are a criminal.
You have been incarcerated.
You are now labelled as an undesirable.


I have done a bit of research in the forum before posting this, I am assuming that the queue expired while I was inside, prompting me to be attacked by security for unauthorized docking? // But I wouldnt know, as apparently, Elite Dangerous takes place in a dystopian society where you can be shot out of the sky, locked up, fined, and outcast from society, without ever being told what law you broke. "Trust us you broke it" "Because we said you did" //

I suppose my question, summed up, is: Really?!

I not really too upset about dying, I get that realistically nothing has changed for me gameplay wise
// I mean it would have been nice to actually have the opportunity to immerse in the game, build some sort of fondness for whatever reputation I decided my CMDR to have. Despite agreeing fully with the concept "it's just a game" that sense of accomplishment (i.e having not died before playing for X Hours, or earning X credits) is part of the experience I enjoy //

What burns me is that huuge Gaping continuity hole in the game. I cannot look up my own criminal history? to find out what caused my ship to get destroyed? so that i can avoid it ever happening again... only session log entries that say "committed crime" and "Ship lost" with no details. looking to what the community has to say its possible the docking timer expired, but... to be shot down for trespassing, without a comm signal, not any iota of a warning. I fully understand that elite dangerous does not hold your hand. I've had my eye on this game for some time, watching streamers play it, reading lengthy articles about the Fuel Rats( good chaps, them.) However; sadly, at the moment my attitude is just that I should uninstall and abandon this in the steam library graveyard, all because the docking computer autopilot is garbage, and killed all enthusiasm I have. I hope the bad taste this has left doesn't stick around too long I really wanted to play this game.

If you've got any ideas why this has happened, or have a similar experience to share; I'd like to hear from ya.

I think i have close to 2000 hours in the game, and I still have stuff to learn. It does have a slight resemblance with reality, being that you're not always treated fair. Generally if you rage quit, you won't get far in life.

“If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”

― W.C. Fields

 

[Ethaidan]

You sat in a docking queue for 9 minutes? Sounds like it may be time to learn how to fly your ship.

 

[Northpin]

request docking (t-10:00), add a little throttle, autopilot takes over.

Elite Universe went through an event similar to Dune's Butlerian Jihad - on a waaay lower magnitude, but you get the idea.
As a result, AI is banned in ED universe.

But i do think that from time to time the AI ghost manages to infiltrate a Docking Computer and gets some revenge

 

[Bigmaec]

Seriously guys&gals, this is the newbie forum, try not to post things like "perhaps this is not the game for you" to people who played for 2 hours.
You may have forgotten, but the game has a steep learning curve and can have frustrating moments...

That said, OP don't get down by this mistake. The docking computer is sometimes unreliable, and Elite is a terrible game to afk.
Never afk, seriously. Also remember this game is real time and has no pause function. You have to log off to be safe.

Luckily for you, you lost nothing really of value, you just learned something.
You can now decide to accept what happened, learn from it, and maybe start your CMDR anew if you like to play "hardcore" although I'd advise not to do this.

 

[Fenderbelly]

queue? nah, blast in and hit as many other ships as you can, giggle giggle... land in the wrong place, blast away at your surroundings..all in a souped up sidewinder, brilliant fun. Do it in 'open' take them all on, heh heh heh! throw that docking computer out the window whilst you do it...ha ha ha....(I've been out in the black exploring for a while....can you tell?) gibber gibber

 

[Ashnak]

Regarding the chat opacity: posting a screenshot could confirm or remove my suspicion that you didn't switch the chat window to the foreground.

Regarding being killed by the station after your grace period timed out: yes.
Or, the slightly more firendly option: never trust the (advanced) docking computer. And yes, "esc"ing out of the game doesn't pause the game - everyone and everything else keeps on running, your ship just continues doing what it did before. And as for being killed - if you play again, listen to the game (it's worth it - experienced pilots can throttle their ship from the engine sound). The station (at least some of them) regularly announce:

Loitering is a crime, punishable by death.​

On the plus side, you were still in the starter area, so you didn't lose much. Even if you don't rebuy your ship and instead opt to kill your CMDR and start afresh, you'd be amazed how fast you can get to the point where you have been the second (third, fourth, fifth... some pople play ironman, where each death is permanent) time around.

If you need to tab out or visit the options menu, there are a few safe places to do so:

• when in the main menu
• docked on a pad or inside the station

less safe, but still ok-ish:

• landed on a remote planet
• after dropping out of supercruise in an uninhabited system while not doing any missions and not having one (or several) bounty hunters after you

either of the above is somewhat safer when doing it in solo or a PvE-only private group
somewhat risky - people have been killed that way, e.g. when going for a cup of tea while
- supercruising to a remote station, like Hutton Orbital

Oh, and in before "it's called Elite Dangerous" - while apt, that refers to the combat rank . But yes, the Galaxy is a dangerous place. There are quite few more traps to fall into. For your next adventure, get an AFMU (Automatic Field Maintenance Unit, aka repair thingy) and try to repair your engines while you're in supercruise . After that, if you have Horizons (if not, it's on offer this weekend on Steam - 75% off) and learned about Felicity Farseer, fly to Deciat in Open ...

 

[Para Handy]

Just start again - now you know what you are doing it will be so much easier.

P.S. Don't trust docking computers - I use them (I'm a lazy git) but I never leave them alone, all you have to do is add a little bit of throttle to disengage it and pilot yourself. I don't know why one would add throttle to disengage the DC and then let the DC take over again.

Oh yes, the Advanced version and undocking - serious waste of time - just follow someone out of the slot if it is busy.

 

[Dommarraa]

Loitering is a crime punishable by death.

Sure one of the station announcements says that, or if not, it should

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

I would have cancelled the docking request and then tried again. Or, you could quit open and tried in solo.

On the DC or ADC - I've bever had a problem with them, ever. But then, I am a solo mode player so that may be why.

 

[varonica]

First: Generally you can over-ride the DC, fly in through the slot until you are just above the pad you are assigned and then set thrusters to zero and it will land for you, the queue is for NPC's, 99.9% of the time it's clear to fly through the slot manually and even if you aren't fully familiar yet with landing then let the DC take over when you are directly over your pad, beware pad loitering and never, ever let the DC take over as you are flying through the slot.

Second: Never, ever take your eye off the ball, save your options and other messing about until you are somewhere you are 100% sure you are safe.

 

[aRJay]

If your docking permission expires while you are coming in to dock you will get a trespass warning if you are inside the station or within 500m or so of the slot, the warning tells you that you have 30 or 40 seconds to get out of the trespass zone.
Docking permission expires after 9 minutes when entering and 5 minutes when leaving however when leaving docking permission expires as you leave the slot so if you fly out too slowly <70 you can get a trespass warning because you haven’t got far enough away.

Around a station you can get in trouble by colliding with another ship at more than 100 if the collision destroys the other ship you will be shot. If inside the station you fly to close to the wrong landing pad you will be warned that you are loitering which is an offence and have 30 seconds to move away. Coming to a halt and causing an obstruction in the slot is an offence the station will use its guns to clear the slot.

Jettisoning cargo in or near stations can also get you in trouble.

Carrying wanted passengers, sometimes tricky to spot, will get you shot at.

If the docking computer hasn’t got you in or out of the station within half of the limit time increase the throttle so you have manual control and dock that way, the only option when leaving, or cancel docking fly out of the queue for a while and then request docking again hopefully that will get you a cleaner approach.

 

[DeeDubYuh]

If you are on PC you can look in your journal files or install a 3rd party app to do that for you (EDDiscovery maybe?).

There is an exact record of what happened with timestamps in your log files stored by default in c:/ user/USER/saved games/frontier developments/elite dangerous.

Don't get me wrong, still fresh out of the gate, I'm not attempting derision. But the newfeed etc shows months of hype over Fleet carriers, but there hasn't been a cohesive ships log fleshed out, when there are already bank files for it. A full bodied experience is more important than a thousand fancy new ships in my opinion. I'm still keeping a positive mind, but that looks like developer taking favor over monetization-capable features rather than qualitative.

 

[DeeDubYuh]

You sat in a docking queue for 9 minutes? Sounds like it may be time to learn how to fly your ship.

Ive been playing for just about 2 hours now.

Thanks Bud.

 

[aRJay]

Don't get me wrong, still fresh out of the gate, I'm not attempting derision. But the newfeed etc shows months of hype over Fleet carriers, but there hasn't been a cohesive ships log fleshed out, when there are already bank files for it. A full bodied experience is more important than a thousand fancy new ships in my opinion. I'm still keeping a positive mind, but that looks like developer taking favor over monetization-capable features rather than qualitative.

That is more of a can of worms to take to Dangerous Discussions.

 

[DeeDubYuh]

Seriously guys&gals, this is the newbie forum, try not to post things like "perhaps this is not the game for you" to people who played for 2 hours.
You may have forgotten, but the game has a steep learning curve and can have frustrating moments...

Thanks for that.

That said, OP don't get down by this mistake. The docking computer is sometimes unreliable, and Elite is a terrible game to afk.
Never afk, seriously. Also remember this game is real time and has no pause function. You have to log off to be safe.

Okay I opened the settings I never stepped away from the keys. I was actively exploring the UI, adjusting graphics, audio and controller settings. I understand the sentiment that there is little difference. Beyond that. If I need to consider myself afk any time I don't have my path of travel in FOV; Saving key #2 the chat. (which as of yet is still out of contrast for reading) The sub assemblies have terrible peripherals, it wouldn't be an issue to glance left and run a scan while actively piloting, without running into things, if I were sitting in the cockpit actual. The UI makes the process unrealistically difficult in this regard.