Iron Man group

[Half Giant]

I understand the desire to play Ironman like in open play. I can see people being worried that Ironman will have less players. It is quite interesting to add professions (or play styles) to the discussion. I think it is likely that most people wanting to play pirates will play in open mode - on the face of it there are more player targets and most pirates seem to want player targets. I think it is possible that some of these pirates will get frustrated because in open mode the trader only really suffers credit loss from the pirate. So a lot of traders might choose to go down in flames rather than submit to piracy. Flip that around to Ironman and the trader/pirate relationship might be a lot more tense. If I was trading then I really don't want to lose an established character just for a few tons of gold. Equally the pirate needs to be careful. So a successful Ironman pirate is really living on the edge. They will probably be notorious among other Ironman players. What about the bounty hunter who eventually brings this pirate to justice? Of course if Ironman players get quick on the eject button then we should be OK. But the risk is always there and that adds to the tension.

The effect of adding Ironman like in open mode would be that there are less players in Ironman mode. If you want Ironman like in open then that doesn't concern you because your mode gets more players. But you can see why it would probably dilute Ironman. But that is getting away from my point. What happens when you add professions and play style to this discussion?

 

[Ydiss]

Half Giant, that is a fair point; I can't disagree that it would result in some players opting to play iron man away from the iron man group. I agree that is a negative for iron man players.

I do think the vast majority of players who wish to have permadeath would still prefer the iron man group, though. I personally have little desire to be a part of that group, so I'm definitely not one of the players who would "convert".

This is why I added option 1 to the poll. I wouldn't want to take players away from your group, only give players who don't want to be in that group an extra dynamic to their game.

I appreciate that it would have an impact though. But hopefully the poll shows that iron man players have little interest in my idea. Certainly, the replies have made it clear. I've not seen anyone say they will be playing iron man but would prefer to do it in the all group. But I don't deny such players probably exist.

 

[Half Giant]

So as things stand you wouldn't play Ironman then Ydiss? What kind of pilot do you see yourself as?

I'm off for a long cycle now. Getting some exercise in now, in case tomorrow turns out to be a marathon mining session. I expect to come back to find Beta day war III has broken out on the forum.

 

[Ydiss]

So as things stand you wouldn't play Ironman then Ydiss? What kind of pilot do you see yourself as?

I'm off for a long cycle now. Getting some exercise in now, in case tomorrow turns out to be a marathon mining session. I expect to come back to find Beta day war III has broken out on the forum.

Probably not more than once, no. I don't usually play Hardcore mode in any game, so Elite wouldn't have been the exception except the drop-in to all group after death looked like a good mechanic. So I may try it but I generally always play online games where more people are.

I'm inclined to play a bounty hunter; I got the game not knowing what I'd like to do but bounty hunter has been the most fun. I'll dabble in trading as well. I will be playing with a friend once he gets the game and we'll probably look for dangerous but lucrative trade runs, with one of us flying escort (so long as being in a wing allows sharing of credits earned). And to mix it up, we'll do some bounty hunting and, my primary goal, is to engage in large-scale conflicts.

Ideally, I'd love it if actually bounty hunting players/NPCs was a viable branch of the career (i.e. there exists a way to track high bounties to their system and hunt them down, by mission or otherwise) but I don't think that'll happen with PCs and mission targets are a bit too random currently (although I've not tried them very much yet). So, generally, it'll be opportunistic bounty hunting.

 

[StayFrosty]

I have another option: Ironman players should play exclusively with other Ironman players, and have no options for groups and solo play, thus being forced into online.

 

[Ydiss]

I have another option: Ironman players should play exclusively with other Ironman players, and have no options for groups and solo play, thus being forced into online.

That would make me want to play iron man more. But you knew that

I'm not sure that would be a popular change. But to me it makes sense because it's a group in itself.

 

[Cruel Coppinger]

Ironman modes work in games when both players have the same amount to loose. Its what helps build tension in encounters games like DayZ. Things can go south fast on the attacker and they end up being the one dealing with perma death.

A non ironman player should not be able to attack a ironman player as the non-ironman player goesinto a fight with a distincts advantage of knowing they will not risk perma death.

Therefore I think that Ironman players should be grouped or segregated from non-ironman player somehow.

 

[CMDR Brock Samson]

I voted for the first option.

 

[Mr_Jim]

I really hope we will see ironman-mode in the release version, but its only hope at this point.

 

[zombieapocalypse]

I voted something else. At the moment you don't need any weapons in Elite Dangerous. If you get interdicted or have pirates, cops, bounty hunters etc. trying to kill you all you need to do is quit and reload. If NPCs were persistent and were still there when you reload he Elite Dangerous might be dangerous but right now, at least as Iron Man mode is concerned its very safe. So I'd like NPCs and encounters to be persistent.

This is an excellent point and I think it needs addressing. My suggestion would be some kind of timer, where you're character/ship remains in the world for something like 30 seconds after disconnecting/exiting.

Otherwise, a lot of players will exploit this fact and I can imagine it being used a lot by IronMen because they have much more to lose.

 

[deMangler]

I really hope we will see ironman-mode in the release version, but its only hope at this point.

Me too. Lots of us spent ages hammering out the details of it in the forums and the DDF and FD seemed to be genuinely involved. I can remember at least one leading dev expressing a personal thought that some form of this mode is high on their wishlist. I just hope all this means that hope is justified.