Adjust instancing to prevent spawn camping

[Maolagin]

As demonstrated by the current fracas in the DW2 threads, a non-negligible source of salt-producing player interactions is the current viability of "spawn camping" tactics. Players in the Bubble probably notice this only rarely, since when logging in while docked the player's ship is invulnerable. Similarly, when logging in while in open space, the player ship will appear in an empty instance in normal space and is thus relatively safe. In contrast, a player logging in at a populated location (surface sites, tourist and nav beacons, a published meetup location, etc) can potentially be attacked before their controls even start responding, if hostile players are waiting for player targets to spawn.

I would propose that players logging in at potentially-populated locations get a similar level of safety by being started in a new instance when logging in fresh. Once created, that instance would follow the usual mechanics, so encounters with other players could naturally happen when ships drop in to the location. But the initially empty instance would ensure that the player has at least a few seconds to establish situational awareness before having to deal with potentially hostile encounters.

As a bonus, this change would improve immersion be eliminating the sudden and seemingly-magical appearance of player ships, especially at surface sites. It would also rescue players inclined to spawn camping from the tedium of hovering over a distant installation for hours waiting for targets to log in.

 

[Bloodsign]

I think there's a reason it's detrimental to be lazy and logout while your ship is just floating around somewhere.

Landing at a station before logging out solves this "problem" entirely.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

Solo -> leave populated are -> Open -> go back -> problem solved

 

[Bloodsign]

Solo -> leave populated are -> Open -> go back -> problem solved

Indeed. Asking FDev to expend resources on "problems" that a CMDR could easily fix with minor gameplay adjustments is, I suspect, why FDev largely ignores the suggestions section of the forums.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Solo -> leave populated are -> Open -> go back -> problem solved

Yep. And back when I was on exploration expeditions, having to go to supercruise and back to meet people at the meetup sites would have been really annoying. If this was a regular thing which happened to explorers in general, then sure, it'd need some work. But DW2 is unique even by the context of bulk expeditions, is almost over, and making changes which would be good for it but neutral or bad for normal gameplay is not a good idea.

Another workaround if you're expecting possible hostilities - log out while in your SRV with the ship dismissed. The reappearance of an SRV is much less noticeable by a hostile ship, you get chance to inspect the situation, and worst case you just lose the SRV.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I think there's a reason it's detrimental to be lazy and logout while your ship is just floating around somewhere.

Landing at a station before logging out solves this "problem" entirely.

.... and the nearest station to Beagle Point is how far away?

 

[Maolagin]

I think there's a reason it's detrimental to be lazy and logout while your ship is just floating around somewhere.

That's actually part of the issue here - it's not detrimental to log out while floating around somewhere. Unless there's something to anchor an instance, when you log back in you'll find yourself alone and perfectly safe from attack in a brand new instance. Only if you're at a POI or there are other ships at your exact location, can you log in into an existing populated instance.

And back when I was on exploration expeditions, having to go to supercruise and back to meet people at the meetup sites would have been really annoying.

Fair enough. What if the instancing code still prioritized pairing you with friends and wing/squadron members, and just put you in an empty instance instead of pairing you with strangers?

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Fair enough. What if the instancing code still prioritized pairing you with friends and wing/squadron members, and just put you in an empty instance instead of pairing you with strangers?

On the expeditions, it wouldn't have been a problem for me, but it wouldn't have been helpful either.

 

[Phisto Sobanii]

As demonstrated by the current fracas in the DW2 threads, a non-negligible source of salt-producing player interactions is the current viability of "spawn camping" tactics. Players in the Bubble probably notice this only rarely, since when logging in while docked the player's ship is invulnerable. Similarly, when logging in while in open space, the player ship will appear in an empty instance in normal space and is thus relatively safe. In contrast, a player logging in at a populated location (surface sites, tourist and nav beacons, a published meetup location, etc) can potentially be attacked before their controls even start responding, if hostile players are waiting for player targets to spawn.

I would propose that players logging in at potentially-populated locations get a similar level of safety by being started in a new instance when logging in fresh. Once created, that instance would follow the usual mechanics, so encounters with other players could naturally happen when ships drop in to the location. But the initially empty instance would ensure that the player has at least a few seconds to establish situational awareness before having to deal with potentially hostile encounters.

As a bonus, this change would improve immersion be eliminating the sudden and seemingly-magical appearance of player ships, especially at surface sites. It would also rescue players inclined to spawn camping from the tedium of hovering over a distant installation for hours waiting for targets to log in.

If you're not savvy enough to deal with the issue as described above I'm fairly certain this change will only result in most pilots only getting rebuy'd later than they might otherwise have.

 

[The Replicated Man]

I think there's a reason it's detrimental to be lazy and logout while your ship is just floating around somewhere.

Landing at a station before logging out solves this "problem" entirely.

Imagine trying to be that Immersed

It's a video game friend. Not real life.