End collector limpets self-destructing(?) after retrieving TARGETED cargo or fragments

[hammer326]

Hey everybody!

First post, thought I'd get right into suggestions before I forget them as always. I have been mining much of my career (a week), and honestly love virtually everything about it, but then again the last I've seen of space mining is EVE's so there's not exactly any room to do anything BUT improve. Anyway, I have obviously used collector limpets a lot. I quickly learned they expire when they retrieve a fragment you have targeted, which baffled me (I only learned that in the first place after looking it up and finding various steam threads). On one of said threads, a user claimed it makes some sense exclusively in a gameplay context and I cant even think of how that would be true. All it does is, once your limpet is out (as there's no way to recall them, right?) you cannot target fragments to accurately assess their composition and thus effectively mine. I personally am left babysitting my left panel's "contacts" tab just to see what minerals are in each fragment, obviously not seeing compositions until they hit the refinery. One possible (and probably the only) counterargument I could imagine would be that this is some kind of incentive to use prospector limpets too. However, those give you an entire asteroid's composition, no real knowledge of particular fragments you don't get from the contacts tab, or locking them, which is no option. Moreover, you'll need a prospector for every POTENTIAL rock to mine, a ton, the best collectors last barely 12 minutes....you're talking about a quarter of your cargohold to be properly prepared in anything before the freighters. Hardly necessary.

Thus, I believe collector limpets have no reason to be expiring upon retrieving locked fragments or even jettisoned cargo and believe this should be corrected. Thanks for reading.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Expiring after retrieving a targetted item is what they are sypposed to do. This mode is for pirates to quickly grab choice loot. It's also an easy way of disposing of a few spare limpets to make room for refined metals.
Just get into the habit of untargetting fragments before deploying limpets. Don't ask to nerf a feature that other people find useful.

 

[hammer326]

Expiring after retrieving a targetted item is what they are sypposed to do. This mode is for pirates to quickly grab choice loot. It's also an easy way of disposing of a few spare limpets to make room for refined metals.
Just get into the habit of untargetting fragments before deploying limpets. Don't ask to nerf a feature that other people find useful.

..Okay... So stepping into a pirate's shoes here. You lock loot, Limpet retrieves. If the limpet's still there afterward, where's the issue arise in that case? Worst thing I'm seeing is that they still have their limpet, which is good for them too.

Perhaps it is so that upon cycling targets they can visibly see, the limpet doesn't just jump at the first thing targeted, as you say, allowing them to target specific cargo?

...Are all contacts, including jettisoned cargo, not listed in the contacts panel with their composition, just like fragments, allowing you to specific lock and choose what you want? What if Limpets could be set NOT to jump at anything in range, obviously better for pirates, and of course toggled to do so, as currently, for miners? Maybe even a new type of limpet controller?

It's not about getting in or out of a habit, it's about it being arbitrarily hard to be able to get good readings of fragment composition without wasting limpets. Sure, I can do as you say...what about at Rock #2 and beyond, until the limpet fizzles out? Get a new limpet out every rock? I believe I mentioned the average miner would be down well over a quarter of their cargohold. On that note, there could be a way to retrieve limpets at will, I can't conceive how that would hurt non-miner limpet users...

Don't get immediately defensive and insinuate someone's begging something be "nerfed" before they're even allowed to show that they're flexible about brainstorming a solution

 

[Psycho Romeo]

This is hilarious. He stated a fact, made a pretty neutral (and in my eyes valid) assertion of your request, and you're getting defensive and accusing him of being defensive. You even throw the "well this is a suggestion forum made for discussion therefore you're not allowed to disagree with me" mantra out there. This is gold. Exactly what I'd expect from someone's first thread.

..Okay... So stepping into a pirate's shoes here. You lock loot, Limpet retrieves. If the limpet's still there afterward, where's the issue arise in that case? Worst thing I'm seeing is that they still have their limpet, which is good for them too.

Perhaps it is so that upon cycling targets they can visibly see, the limpet doesn't just jump at the first thing targeted, as you say, allowing them to target specific cargo?

...Are all contacts, including jettisoned cargo, not listed in the contacts panel with their composition, just like fragments, allowing you to specific lock and choose what you want? What if Limpets could be set NOT to jump at anything in range, obviously better for pirates, and of course toggled to do so, as currently, for miners? Maybe even a new type of limpet controller?

It's not about getting in or out of a habit, it's about it being arbitrarily hard to be able to get good readings of fragment composition without wasting limpets. Sure, I can do as you say...what about at Rock #2 and beyond, until the limpet fizzles out? Get a new limpet out every rock? I believe I mentioned the average miner would be down well over a quarter of their cargohold. On that note, there could be a way to retrieve limpets at will, I can't conceive how that would hurt non-miner limpet users...

As for the rest of the post, I honestly don't see your issue. I don't think grabbing individual rocks is what the targeted limpet control is meant for. Adding extra buttons to change limpet behavior sounds like making a complicated situation out of something that has a simple intended method. Is there something wrong with grabbing everything and chucking bins? I can't see that there would be, unless you're doing more than just mining.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

OK, you may have stepped on a few toes. It happens. The thing is, FD have tried to get things right, and usually do quite well at it. Just learn to let others have their own opinions (even if they do not coincide with yours) and you will be OK.

Imagine the limpets have limited processing power. If you tell them what to do, they will do just that, and nothing else (hence the self destruct). However, if you merely let them get on with the job they were designed to do, they can be a lot more flexible. Let them make the decisions, and they can do a lot more than move 1 item. There are enough controls in the game without adding more (have you looked at the control configuration in the main menu? It is a HUGE list!).

 

[Vision1776]

I think limpets expiring and crashing all the time is quite buggy and annoying. The idea that a drone dies after collecting something is pretty bad. Not even in the year 2015 does that happen. Why it would happen in the future is even less believable. I agree with the post. The idea of balance is important but right now elite dangerous doesnt really need more balance, it just needs more content and things like limpets dying is annoying.

 

[xondk]

Do not target anything, fire collector limpet, collector limpet will stay near your ship and get anything within range for the time it lasts? problem solved? targetting is more for if you only want a specific thing, though yes it could do with a little tweaking.

 

[Vision1776]

Problem is, it is slow and tedious. Not as fun as it could be. Limpets tend to crash and die all the time. A drone should never self destruct and if my ship can scan an entire world, why not an asteroid?

If they are making procedural generated worlds why cant they do something less like destructible asteroids? I see certain other space games already doing it. Break down an asteroid and absorb in the materials as fast as the refinery can perform. Some faster than others, and some wear and tear causing malfunctions.

 

[Psycho Romeo]

The idea of balance is important but right now elite dangerous doesnt really need more balance, it just needs more content

what.

If they are making procedural generated worlds why cant they do something less like destructible asteroids? I see certain other space games already doing it. Break down an asteroid and absorb in the materials as fast as the refinery can perform. Some faster than others, and some wear and tear causing malfunctions.

Unlike those other space games, ED is multi-platform, and needs to run well across all platforms. ED runs well on my 2011 machine and I think that's great.

 

[YinYin]

Gotta agree - the single use expiration needs to change in some way - and it's possible while keeping the selective feature required for pirates/salvagers in tact. Limpets may be cheap, but your current limpet stock is still precious.
See my thoughts here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=188938

Problem is, it is slow and tedious. Not as fun as it could be. Limpets tend to crash and die all the time. A drone should never self destruct and if my ship can scan an entire world, why not an asteroid?

I am A ok with having to take care of my collectors, they are as smart as they should be and manoeuvring around rocks to avoid crashing them is a fun mining skill.
Also there is a huge difference between giving an entire world a quick scanner glance and probing the exact composition of a rock. Just a surface analysis won't do for mining.

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

I think limpets expiring and crashing all the time is quite buggy and annoying. The idea that a drone dies after collecting something is pretty bad. Not even in the year 2015 does that happen. Why it would happen in the future is even less believable. I agree with the post. The idea of balance is important but right now elite dangerous doesnt really need more balance, it just needs more content and things like limpets dying is annoying.

Lore.
We have very very poor AI thanks to a ban on AIs that exists from a past Skynet incident.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Don't get immediately defensive and insinuate someone's begging something be "nerfed" before they're even allowed to show that they're flexible about brainstorming a solution

OK, you didn't use the word "nerf". You said it should be corrected.

Thus, I believe collector limpets have no reason to be expiring upon retrieving locked fragments or even jettisoned cargo and believe this should be corrected.

Your missunderstanding of the reasons behind the functionality is not a reason to change how this works.
Don't get defensive when someone points out wher you haven't understood something.

 

[MikeDH]

*snip* ... I quickly learned they expire when they retrieve a fragment you have targeted, which baffled me (I only learned that in the first place after looking it up and finding various steam threads).On one of said threads, a user claimed it makes some sense exclusively in a gameplay context and I cant even think of how that would be true.

Better believe this. The fact is that if you "start" a limpet with a targeted Fragment the limpet will be programmed to return only this Fragment and then expires. That's how it is and it is as intended.

*snip* One possible (and probably the only) counterargument I could imagine would be that this is some kind of incentive to use prospector limpets too. However, those give you an entire asteroid's composition, no real knowledge of particular fragments you don't get from the contacts tab, or locking them, which is no option...

I never realized that if the prospector drone doesn't found Gold or platinum in the Asteroid that a Fragment contains this ... ?!?

*snip* Thus, I believe collector limpets have no reason to be expiring upon retrieving locked fragments or even jettisoned cargo and believe this should be corrected. Thanks for reading.

If the Manual reads that the behaviour of the limpets is: If you target a Fragment or Container and then Launch the Collector Limpet it will expire after doing the Job. This is because the limpet is either programmed to collect a specific thing or collect all which it is designed for in a amount of time. The programming can only be done before the Launch of the limpet. To select how you want to use the limpet simply target something or not, BEFORE launching / programming the limpet.

 

[Cmdr Evans]

Keep limpets the way they are their cheap and once you get the hang of it fairly easy to use but add in drones maybe make them only available to the larger ships that dont expire and can go around collecting ore. I personally tried mining once but was not the best at 1 seein the ore chunks flying through space and found them really close to the asteroids which meant going slow to collect. i would love to do it in a more eve like way with drones collecting the cargo..maybe not the auto teleport into hold but i would absolutely love some drones. maybe even some drone fighters for the anaconda...Drones Drones everywhere Muwahahahaha
the fighter drones could also be used to protect a helpless miner from a horrible bloody fate