Another example why Missions timers should freeze when you log-out

SentineI · Dec 11, 2014

Just as I was looking to finish a simple delivery mission with 3 hours 22 minutes on the clock, the servers were about to shutdown for the release of Gamma 2.01 . Oodles of time I think, so I decide to log-out without trying to finish the mission (and risk being disconnected from the servers), and just make a mental note of when the mission expires...

2.01 comes out, and I find I'm unable to start the game, because it crashes immediately. Credit where credit is due, FD fixed this bug with incredible quickness (by comparison to just about any other game developer you care to mention), in just a few hours.

But, allowing for the time it took to update to 2.02, I get into the game about 3 hours 23 minutes after I originally left, and of course the Mission now shows as failed. I'm sure someone out thinks this is "immersive", but it doesn't feel like that to me.

Jack Booted Thug · Dec 11, 2014

Real time is passing in the game and therefore mission time will pass as well.

How long do you want them to pause for? An hour, a day, a week, a year?

If you want immersion then the missions must be real time. So you missed out on a mission? Well there are plenty more. I have missed out on a bunch because I would accept them and find I didn't have the time, others I failed because I was unable to locate the plans or target.

SentineI · Dec 11, 2014

@Jack Booted Thug
You give the usual non-arguments against this, which make zero sense to me, but I'm not going to argue (there is a very long thread proving it's pointless).

Veldryn · Dec 11, 2014

Updates are the exception; not the rule. Maybe the Missions Timer should be stopped "During updates", but definitely not "During log out" in general. During Beta (And the week after the release, I bet), of course, updates are quite frequent, but that's still the exception.

gazzareth · Dec 11, 2014

Veldryn said:
Updates are the exception; not the rule. Maybe the Missions Timer should be stopped "During updates", but definitely not "During log out" in general. During Beta (And the week after the release, I bet), of course, updates are quite frequent, but that's still the exception.

Why? What does it actually matter. If you don't like the idea then don't log out whilst you have an active mission, problem sorted.

G

CmdrKull · Dec 11, 2014

Ok, I agree in this one case. Missions timing out while players are locked out due to a widespread is an issue. It is NOT a big enough issue that I wish they would stop working on wings to retool mission timers though, so what coming feature or needed bugfix are you willing to give up in order to allow for this new feature development?

Maybe instead of asking for paused mission timers (client side, therefore exploitable) we could ask for 24 hour timers? Or 12 hour timers? Expecting us to complete every mission we're holding when we get the "server down in 5 " message isn't reasonable, but what COULD be done?

MASTER_DEATHDEALER · Dec 11, 2014

I disagree. U take a Mission u have to make the time, PERIOD. If u cant for ANY REASON then U pay the price. U should be happy U dont have missions from Jabba. I would actually like one system having a huge bounty, 1 million, and they send out specific bounty hunters to chase u down and kill u or collect and u can give them cargo to appease them and put them off till u can get it all together.

Icarus1 · Dec 11, 2014

MASTER_DEATHDEALER said:
I disagree. U take a Mission u have to make the time, PERIOD. If u cant for ANY REASON then U pay the price. U should be happy U dont have missions from Jabba. I would actually like one system having a huge bounty, 1 million, and they send out specific bounty hunters to chase u down and kill u or collect and u can give them cargo to appease them and put them off till u can get it all together.

I'm not sure if you caught that simple little detail, that the server went down so it's not like he had any control over finishing the mission.

foxpur · Dec 11, 2014

ChrisH said:
@Jack Booted Thug
You give the usual non-arguments against this, which make zero sense to me, but I'm not going to argue (there is a very long thread proving it's pointless).

You comment doesn't have anything to do with the times during a upgrade... they told you 30 min before turning off... you had time to finish your messions... since you didn't you have no one to blame except you.

No amount of winging will make the devs stop the timers. They have already said how important the live timer is to the game, so it's serious flogging a dead horse.

Telnets · Dec 11, 2014

ChrisH said:
Just as I was looking to finish a simple delivery mission with 3 hours 22 minutes on the clock, the servers were about to shutdown for the release of Gamma 2.01 . Oodles of time I think, so I decide to log-out without trying to finish the mission (and risk being disconnected from the servers), and just make a mental note of when the mission expires...

2.01 comes out, and I find I'm unable to start the game, because it crashes immediately. Credit where credit is due, FD fixed this bug with incredible quickness (by comparison to just about any other game developer you care to mention), in just a few hours.

But, allowing for the time it took to update to 2.02, I get into the game about 3 hours 23 minutes after I originally left, and of course the Mission now shows as failed. I'm sure someone out thinks this is "immersive", but it doesn't feel like that to me.

I agree with your point of view, and immersiveness aside, I still dont think it would be high on the priority list for them to work on.. I too have had my fair share of "300K to deliver this to there?!?!.. but its 2AM!".. which I would have loved to grab and completed later.. but I think its fair that as an "MMO" (as loosely as it is in this game) its not the games fault that I need to work in the morning.. In fact I actualy like it this way.. It makes the game to me, seem a little less single player.. sort of an indication that when i log off, its going to go on without me and it doesnt care..

Just the other day I grabbed a mission, 40k to deliver some cargo.. I ran into a USS on the way and that guy told me to deliver my cargo somewhere else instead.. i thought.. nah, thats further and its already late so i went to the original drop point.. the mission didnt even exist there anymore.. so.. sigh.. i went to the alternate drop point, and walla, there was the mission turn it.. *Cannot connect to Server*.. every time i tried to turn it in.. everything else worked.. i relogged, same thing.. Lost out on 42k.. wrote a ticket, "thanks, we know about this problem"... okay... great, can i get 42k?!?!

Some things you just gotta accept and move on!

Tuzmaal · Dec 11, 2014

The end is near, he lost rep & creds because FD deployed aan update in the teseting phase of this game.

SentineI · Dec 11, 2014

Oh how silly of me, I assumed ED would be working now, so I took a 2 hour mission (with the same Faction I upset last time) with high penalties.... and now I can't play the game again, because the (F word omitted) server can't find my Cmdr data (or something like that).

So, yet ANOTHER example why Mission timers should freeze while you aren't playing, ggrrrr.

I hate to think what happens after Release in 5 days time.

Telnets · Dec 12, 2014

so... it doesnt bug you enough to stop playing i guess...

Virtual Insanity · Dec 12, 2014

Jack Booted Thug said:
Real time is passing in the game and therefore mission time will pass as well.

How long do you want them to pause for? An hour, a day, a week, a year?

If you want immersion then the missions must be real time. So you missed out on a mission? Well there are plenty more. I have missed out on a bunch because I would accept them and find I didn't have the time, others I failed because I was unable to locate the plans or target.

I find servers going down to be more imersion breaking than the idea of altered mission time.

I agree with OP, mission timers need to = login time.

Cruel Coppinger · Dec 12, 2014

I think this has been implemented.

I had this happen in OPEN play:

I took a "get a blackbox" mission on in Gamma 2.0. Time to complete 1.5hrs . Hunted around the named system and couldn't find the blackbox they wanted. I ran outta time to continue playing so had to log off.

Fast forward 24hrs.......

Logged on for a hour or so last night after updating to 2.02 and checked the transactions tab expecting to see a big FAIL and fine but it looks like FD have given us some leeway on missions now as instead there was a new message along the lines of:

This is a automated message that was prepared just incase you had difficulty in tracking down our cargo. We expected it to be difficult so this is why we sent you. Luckily we have a little more time and you have a second chance...

Time left to complete 1Hr 54mins.

The reward had more than halved too, it was 13k and was now 6k ish, but still I'd take a 2nd chance over no chance.

Still couldnt find the blackbox even after checking arounf 7 USS' for over a hour.

Bikky · Dec 12, 2014

ChrisH said:
@Jack Booted Thug
You give the usual non-arguments against this, which make zero sense to me, but I'm not going to argue (there is a very long thread proving it's pointless).

Usual non arguments???? so if I take a mission to get weapons to an outpost, and you take a mission to attack an outpost. If you log out, that means my mission time actually would increase.....

However if 20 people get a mission to attack an outpost, to destroy it within 10hours. You log out for 8 hours, but the other 19 complete, then your mission to complete is 8 hours late.

I take it you also want TV to stop broadcasting a film you want to watch, just because you're going out.....

The game has real-world mechanics, time and consequence.... I don't take missions that may be affected this way while releases are impending.... I used to through testing for the simple purpose of testing, However I've now wiped and restarted my commander (2 days ago) pending the release of the game with no wipe. I take the odd mission that I can complete in the timescales i'm online for, not something that I'll log out half way through completing, for this very purpose. In future, I will be taking such missions and logging out, but it's a risk.

Look at it from the point of view, you took a job to drop some boxes off in london, but there was an accident on the motorway and you missed the deadline..... excrement happens.

Brusilov · Dec 12, 2014

The word is timing.

Flossy · Dec 12, 2014

I had 3 missions yesterday and was trying to get to a distant outpost when the Galaxy went down for an update as I was lining up on the pad. When I logged back in, knowing time was getting short, the missions had disappeared from the left panel, so I ticketed it. Later in the day the missions had reappeared along with a 'disappointed you didn't complete in time' message and all had 18 hours remaining! I then completed them all and on completion of each mission I got a message saying they did not wish to hear of any excuses why I was late, just take my credits and get off their station. I don't know if the amounts of the rewards had been reduced or not but I was certainly made to feel bad for being late.

I don't agree that the timers should be stopped on logging out, but glad to see there now seems to be something in place for being late, especially if it was due to circumstances beyond my control.