Friendly Fire Warning
- Thread starter Stormprooter
- Start date
an NPC hits you, and nobody bats an eye,
you hit an NPC and everybody loses their minds.
This is stupidly unrealistic and just extremely annoying.
I really hope that the fact that it was not fixed before the release means that there are some technical difficulties and not that it's another one of their "design decisions" :-|
Things like this used to happen in 1984, and it was ok. Maybe it was still ok in 1994.
But it is NOT ok in 2014 at all.
you hit an NPC and everybody loses their minds.
This is stupidly unrealistic and just extremely annoying.
I really hope that the fact that it was not fixed before the release means that there are some technical difficulties and not that it's another one of their "design decisions" :-|
Things like this used to happen in 1984, and it was ok. Maybe it was still ok in 1994.
But it is NOT ok in 2014 at all.
I'm definitely in agreement that accidentally winging a Fed who stupidly flies right into your line of fire, and who's shields are at full anyway should just get you a warning. Now, if they were down to 1% hull and you accidentally killed them, I could see that causing some consternation.
So I'd simply make the mechanic based on hull damage; if you don't do any, you get a stern warning but no wanted status.
This satisfies both the "it should be as realistic and challenging as possible - if you hit a friendly you are now a target" crowd and the "stupid NPC pilots are getting me ganked and ruining my fun" crowd: if your allies are undamaged, you can focus on taking out your enemy targets exclusively, but if your allies/the cops are getting pounded, you better be sure of your shot.
So I'd simply make the mechanic based on hull damage; if you don't do any, you get a stern warning but no wanted status.
This satisfies both the "it should be as realistic and challenging as possible - if you hit a friendly you are now a target" crowd and the "stupid NPC pilots are getting me ganked and ruining my fun" crowd: if your allies are undamaged, you can focus on taking out your enemy targets exclusively, but if your allies/the cops are getting pounded, you better be sure of your shot.
I always just liked the idea of them becoming immediately hostile on accidental fire, but you can hit them up in comms with an apology. Very realistic and you can tie faction standing and how badly they were wronged as factors in whether they forgive you for it or not. Adds a little more reward to building up your faction standings and makes the world feel a little more real and dynamic. Tuned correctly, it shouldn't be a very practical means to exploit the AI.
Naturally, if they do forgive you, they should also drop any charges they made with system authorities. I kind of wonder if Frontier had the foresight to track each crime individually so they could be reversed individually. Would be terrible if all they had was a "local authorities: kill this ship" flag and the bounty value.
Naturally, if they do forgive you, they should also drop any charges they made with system authorities. I kind of wonder if Frontier had the foresight to track each crime individually so they could be reversed individually. Would be terrible if all they had was a "local authorities: kill this ship" flag and the bounty value.
I have to agree with this.
This bounty mechanic puts a serious limit on the fun of the game. I've had a hand full of friends actually quit already, just day 2 after release. Some of them experienced and skilled gamers and others relatively casual.
I'm extremely careful about my trigger discipline and still authorities fly right through my field of fire, often with horizontal orientation so even if I hold fire; any multicannon rounds that are still in flight will hit them.
With the sheer quantity of authorities that swamp NPC pirates (slamming into bounty hunter players and flying all over their fields of fire) these incidents are unavoidable at present, even for the most skilled of players.
Perhaps a certain percentage of damage before triggering a hostile response would be more appropriate, Say 10% damage or more?
The ability to pay fines on the spot would be an ideal situation too. Like paying off the cops for a small infraction so they will look the other way. This would prevent people from having to fly all the way back to a station (that will often kill them anyway) to pay off a pointless 200cr fine they incurred while grazing the shield of an idiot NPC that flies like a maniac.
If you could just pay the fine on the spot and carry on without them trying to kill you it'd vastly improve my gameplay experience and might even entice some of my friends that have shelved the game to come back.
Time is valuable to players and the less time spent performing arbitrary and unavoidable tasks the more likely people are to play the game and tell all their friends about it.
I can tell you as a new player with about 2 days worth of playing having a fedsec ship show up in your battle and fly through your shots and turn on you while the guy with the bounty escapes is a real PITA. Honestly like my 2nd fight ever in game I had this happen and even when I escaped I was wanted there needs to be some kind of break for just these situations.
While accidentally hitting an NPC as you go after a wanted target (and getting a bounty) is annoying, you can argue it away. The other side of this is when a NPC accidentally hits you while going after the same target.
I once had a non-security NPC Anaconda drop in and engage the same wanted target as myself, and accidentally hit me in the rear (not the best awareness on my part, and I was not wanted at the time). Now taking a hit like that is fine, I was in the way and fairs fair, however the Anaconda immediately became hostile to me and I had to jump out to keep my insurance.
There should be some indicator (orange maybe) for people that have "accidentally" hit you recently but you may not want to become hostile. If you were to shoot back on this individual, or they were to continue engaging you then the standard hostility should ensue.
I once had a non-security NPC Anaconda drop in and engage the same wanted target as myself, and accidentally hit me in the rear (not the best awareness on my part, and I was not wanted at the time). Now taking a hit like that is fine, I was in the way and fairs fair, however the Anaconda immediately became hostile to me and I had to jump out to keep my insurance.
There should be some indicator (orange maybe) for people that have "accidentally" hit you recently but you may not want to become hostile. If you were to shoot back on this individual, or they were to continue engaging you then the standard hostility should ensue.
Yeah it's a problem. Everyone suddenly turned red when I was shooting at a wanted NPC. When he blew up, I guess one of my shots passed through the wreckage and hit another ship on the other side, which was blocked from my view. They should at least have a warning that you're hitting other vessels before they go crazy on you.
+1
Should take a larger amount of damage to aggro a neutral NPC. Furthermore, you should be able to apologise somehow for friendly fire.
In fact more NPC interaction is needed on the whole. Demanding people drop cargo, paying fines/bounties directly, accepting/denying requests to jettison illegal goods, etc etc.
Should take a larger amount of damage to aggro a neutral NPC. Furthermore, you should be able to apologise somehow for friendly fire.
In fact more NPC interaction is needed on the whole. Demanding people drop cargo, paying fines/bounties directly, accepting/denying requests to jettison illegal goods, etc etc.
It has nothing to do with being as hard as possible and everything to do with not wanting a watered down experience that offers no challenge and becomes so repetitive and boring everyone has bailed after a week. Combat against the ai is already incredibly easy and doesn't need adjustments making it easier still. As for your comment about real life it is completely asinine, but does explain why you might think this mechanic hard or unfair.
From the PM's and down votes I received, it is obviously too hard for some folks to coordinate more than one action at a time, it shouldn't even need a macro, and if you leave the cursor over the option while at nav beacons and resource extraction sites you only needs three key presses, "4", "space", "4". They are more interested in finding excuses and using as few controls as possible instead of spending the effort on getting better.
Last edited:
+400,000,000,000 to this. If the game is not smart enough to realize which shot is accidental (when a non-targeted ship is gets in the line of fire), at least introduce 3 warnings or something (only applicable if the ship being hit is not targeted).
I can not believe that there people who are actually supporting this non-sensical, unrealistic and short-sighted mechanic. It is almost like a bug. I hate fanboys.
I can not believe that there people who are actually supporting this non-sensical, unrealistic and short-sighted mechanic. It is almost like a bug. I hate fanboys.
Agreed. I have 86 bounties since launch, I've had a stray shot hit a random ship on ONE occasion which was entirely my fault. I supercruised out and paid the measly 300Cr, not a big deal. It's not difficult, it just takes some practice (watch the scanner!) and I don't think it needs dumbing down.
Did not happen to you does not mean it does not happen to others. I have had feds boosting into my line of fire vertically from below giving me no time to react.
Look at it this way. If you accidentally bump into a cop while chasing a snatcher (while the cop was also chasing the same snatcher) does the cop start shooting at you immediately? It makes no sense.