Food for Thought : Possible Solution to Combat Logging & Stacking of Missions?

[Cmdr Eran Mintor]

I log out when my dog whines and needs to go potty, can happen at anytime during game play...or when my wife calls me to help her with something...again can happen at any time during game play.
Many things interrupt my play at times..and other times, I may play for an hour or more without any interruption.
But its just not me...how about the 100's of working and stay home parents trying to juggle more than playing a game while doing things around the house.

I guess what im saying is...I paid for this game to be able to access it when it is running properly. I shouldnt be held back for any reasons...unless I broke TOS or am banned for some reason.

I understand your point you are making but I would argue that many of the things you list, and that would draw the attention away from many players are things that would take 5+ minutes to handle. What if the timer was even as short as 5 minutes? I still feel that short a period would help reduce the issue of combat timer abuse in Open play.

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Are you serious? You want a timer stopping people from logging back into the game? I've got a better idea. You play it your own way, as befits your own personal circumstances (including crying baby, which I fully understand) and I'll play it according to mine.

When they are in combat situations, yes. There has to be a solution to this issue that is plaguing Open play and it is a simple idea. I do not see how this would greatly hamper any casual players experience.

 

[Lemonhoko]

I understand your point you are making but I would argue that many of the things you list, and that would draw the attention away from many players are things that would take 5+ minutes to handle. What if the timer was even as short as 5 minutes? I still feel that short a period would help reduce the issue of combat timer abuse in Open play.

In working for a solution, you need to keep the thought of not penalizing people that play the game fairly...Im sorry I can not add to the solution part of this thread...it to me is a complicated matter since someone will be affected no matter how FD goes with this.
But for me...again, I state, for me....just keeping me from entering a game that I paid for steps on the little bits of imagined freedom that I feel we have left...and I will fight tooth and nail for every bit of free choice and play without restrictions.

 

[mistohise]

I do not see how this would greatly hamper any casual players experience.

Because you do not see it does not mean that it doesn't exist. I despise the idea of logoffski with a passion and believe that it represents some of the very worst cowardice, but to take that concept and use it to punish other, legitimate, players would not be an improvement to the game experience. I expect that the number of players actually experiencing logoffskis is far smaller than the number who would be caught by this idea.

ETA: mission stacking has, I'm sure, been shown to be a legitimate concept, even if it is frowned upon.

 

[Siobhan]

.... so some players would be "encouraged" to pull the plug to avoid a 15 minute delay before they could rejoin the game. That doesn't seem to be dealing with the "combat logging" issue (which, by Frontier's definition, does not include the use of the 15-second graceful exit).

In my opinion, if you have not deployed weapons, never mind fired them, then you are not in combat. Taking fire is not the same thing.

Now me, I'd probably just fight back, but even if not, a week's holiday from open would be luxury...

 

[ocflyer]

Siobhan makes a good point. Taking fire is not the same as combat. In real life, if a victim is helpless to fight back against a murderer, the victim is not actually combatting the murderer. So why call it "combat logging". Should be called "grief logging". From that perspective, there are a great many people that are actually are guilty of grief logging, not combat logging, and thus shouldn't be subject to these inane suggestions.

 

[Robert Maynard]

In my opinion, if you have not deployed weapons, never mind fired them, then you are not in combat. Taking fire is not the same thing.

Good point. However the ship is still "in danger" and the 15-second delay applies.

 

[Thetele]

Simple just copy past competitive matchmaking penalties from csgo. Not too harsh if you do it once or twice but if it happens too much you are going to feel it. Increase log out timer to 1 min if there is other player in same instance and not docked with station. You can stay and wait 1 min before game logs you out, so you can react if someone attack you, or leave immediately and your ship will sit still for minute after you left. And if you manage o work around it and to do combat log clear players missions, bounties, merits, exploration data and cargo.

Ed is so slow paged and 95% of time you aren't in combat and fights only last couple minutes. Payers of csgo can deal with log off penalties and matches can take up to 1.5 h

I believe that frontier can do good auto ban system as they have created this fantastic galaxy with procedural generation.

Then just make so that bb doesn't refresh when mode is changed (so it only refresh every 10 min) and increase current missions rewards 2x.

Players who say that phone etc. is reason to combat log. No it isn't, nothing is. Even if your house is on fire and you lose connection you should be penalized for combat log. Game should defend those who have no fault on what happened and you combat logging wasn't the fault of the dude who you left by combat logging. You removed his reward, rank progression etc. The answer to no PVP is solo/private group or (hopefully added pve mode), the solution isn't combat logging. Its 2016 and in most games combat logging is punished. Ed is too much behind of time. Even crappy early access games on steam have better methods to prevent it than elite.

 

[tagos]

How about we leave developers to solve real problems. Logging out and getting the 15 second timer is logging out, not combat logging. And who cares if people stack missions. Frontier don't.

The game would be a lot better if people spent more time playing the game and less time worrying about what other players are doing.

 

[Siobhan]

Good point. However the ship is still "in danger" and the 15-second delay applies.

The really harsh penalties should only apply when the aggressor logs off if the battle turns against them, not to a trader just trying to make a living. Otherwise you're just pandering to the pew-pew crowd who want easy targets.

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I believe that frontier can do good auto ban system as they have created this fantastic galaxy with procedural generation.

I quite like Germany's auto bahn system, myself

 

[Robert Maynard]

The really harsh penalties should only apply when the aggressor logs off if the battle turns against them, not to a trader just trying to make a living. Otherwise you're just pandering to the pew-pew crowd who want easy targets.

I would not disagree with that.

 

[ocflyer]

The really harsh penalties should only apply when the aggressor logs off if the battle turns against them, not to a trader just trying to make a living. Otherwise you're just pandering to the pew-pew crowd who want easy targets.

Great suggestion Siobhan. The only timer change we need is for aggressors in combat. If you deployed your weapons, a long logout timer applies with all damage accruing to your ship. If you didn't deploy your weapons, the 15 sec timer applies.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Great suggestion Siobhan. The only timer change we need is for aggressors in combat. If you deployed your weapons, a long logout timer applies with all damage accruing to your ship. If you didn't deploy your weapons, the 15 sec timer applies.

Interesting proposal - presumably this would happen for both PC and NPC targets?

 

[Cmdr Eran Mintor]

*Removed*

 

[Krieger]

The 15 sec logout timer is the same amount of time an FSD charge would take. That is no coincidence. I propose that when a commander triggers the 15 sec logout timer the other commanders see his ship make a hyperspace jump (15 sec FSD charge and accompanying voice message). If they can't kill him during the 15 sec FSD charge they will think he jumped out. No problem.
.
PS: Only if the FSD wake is scanned it reveals 'destination unknown' or so.
.
--Ninja'd by Weps

 

[Robert Maynard]

The 15 sec logout timer is the same amount of time an FSD charge would take. That is no coincidence. I propose that when a commander triggers the 15 sec logout timer the other commanders see his ship make a hyperspace jump (15 sec FSD charge and accompanying voice message). If they can't kill him during the 15 sec FSD charge they will think he jumped out. No problem.
.
PS: Only if the FSD wake is scanned it reveals 'destination unknown' or so.

The "leave the game by untraceable hyper-jump" suggestion was made a long time ago. Sadly it hasn't been adopted.

 

[Arithon]

In my humble opinion if you choose to log out with aggression from another player in open mode, you should be banned at least a week from open. Clearly you don't want to play in open with another human beings, and in this way the game will help you to choose the mode you really like.

Then you are okay with the same for griefing yes? If you attack a player where they are not Wanted, in a combat zone or from an Enemy faction and not carrying cargo, then you'll be banned from Open for a week?

Remember, if it's "fair" for them it's "fair" for you too.

 

[Siobhan]

Interesting proposal - presumably this would happen for both PC and NPC targets?

Presumably, yes.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

True, and I am no coder, however I would think it wouldn't be too difficult to make the 15 min countdown apply to both the 15 sec logout and regular logout, however if this seems too much of a pain I suppose it can just focus on the 15 second timer.

Edit: I should add that Arena/CQC would be an exception to the rule.

That's easy enough to implement - everything in ED is real-time based (missions etc) so by adding a field to the commander sheet on the server when you are shot you could add the timer there. (Get shot - timer put 15 minutes ahead of current time). If you log out prior to the timer elapsing you can't log in (but to make it customer friendly there needs to be a message stating when they can)

However, locking someone out of the game isn't the right answer - you potentially drive people away from the game as they look to something else to play.

That said your idea has merit - if you come under fire a clock "stamp" is added to your commander and if you exit the game (regardless how) prior to the end you can come back to solo. Once the timer has expired you can rejoin PG / Open.

 

[Zelos1983]

Thoughts?

That's an idiotic idea because it means that people are not going to be able to play for 15 minutes after the client crashes/is terminated/whatever. This adds more tedium and does not address the root cause of combat logging (game bugs, people violating rules in group mode,..). Just think of the plethora of situations where you get a disconnect because some server is not available or Commander Data could not be loaded.

"Fixing" the mode swapping will make ranking much more difficult and must thereby be addressed with subsequent changes.

And there is no upside to it as combat logging is a problem only for Frontier and the few PvP players.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Spoiler

That's an idiotic idea because it means that people are not going to be able to play for 15 minutes after the client crashes/is terminated/whatever. This adds more tedium and does not address the root cause of combat logging (game bugs, people violating rules in group mode,..). Just think of the plethora of situations where you get a disconnect because some server is not available or Commander Data could not be loaded.

"Fixing" the mode swapping will make ranking much more difficult and must thereby be addressed with subsequent changes.

And there is no upside to it as combat logging is a problem only for Frontier and the few PvP players.

The concept is sound - the details are not quite right.

Log out (when under fire) and you can only log back into solo (for the 15 mins or what ever)