How many Interdictions are too many?

[Riverside]

And there's many solutions if FDev would actually care to try and fix this poor mechanic. One would be simply move the distance one arrives at when exiting SC at a station - make it 20x further or something where pirates could try and wait in ambush or blockade, and where the player would try to either run the blockade, wait things out, try a different approach angle or bail and look for another destination. This would add a lot more gameplay options. But FDev simply love their interdiction mechanic 'as is' it seems, and it's really the only interactive 'thing' ever developed for the game.

The idea of dropping into a station instance further away & running the gauntlet in was originally in the game I believe (pre-release), I don't know the reason why it was changed but it could help improve the chances of successful piracy (it wouldn't make it worse ).

I'm happy with the state of interdictions, NPCs are relatively easy to evade (compared to players) but there is an advantage to submitting anyway (interaction) and fighting the interdiction uses the same basic skill as flying (smooth, controlled inputs). With players the attacker having the advantage (making any interdictor more likely to be successful) just means more interaction too, which is a big part of what the game is about (ie why it's multiplayer).

However the flight model in Supercruise is very basic, with no drift, a fixed model per hull and no reverse. I'd like to see the Thruster grade & engineering affect supercruise flight characteristics, although perhaps not in every way. Acceleration rates should probably remain unchanged, and reversing would fundamentally change attack & evasion tactics in imo probably a negative way (I think it would significantly favour the would-be attacker overall). But I sure would like a way to make my ship turn faster and actually fly around gravity wells rather than pointing the ship as though it's on rails.

I don't want a change that favours the attacker or the victim, but I would like to see skill play more of a part in regular supercruise flight. Maybe then a reduction in NPC interdictions could be justified, because simply navigating through supercruise would stave off the boredom that the occasional NPC interdiction currently achieves.

 

[Tarman]

Three.

Wait...

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I suppose it depends on where you are. In a high security system you probably should be able to pass through without too much bother, but I've sailed peacefully though anarchy systems with a hold full of palladium before. For me there needs to be more pirate interdictions, certainly in lower security systems. Even to the point of constant harassment would be ok with me.

If the game keeps sending me pirates, I'll keep destroying them.

 

[Zak Gordon]

How many Interdictions are to many?

For me (and this applies to any game where it is a thing), it is 100% about context and being dependent on what the local (to me) situation is.

If i'm in a high anarchy low law level place i would expect it to happen more often, than if i was in a heavily policed area. If i was in a high population area i would expect it more than when i was out in the fringes of space.

100% about context and 'logical' game awareness. I don't think ED does this very well.

 

[Ca$hback]

2 is too many but consider how many missions you took.

 

[Lestat]

I was on a mission to repair a space station and after the first pick up, I had the same 5 NPC on me for the entire time I put up with this interdiction crap!! I was interdicted 5 times EVERY time I entered super cruise EVERY TIME!. To put it in perspective, If I had to make 3 station stops then I was Interdicted 15 times. By the Same 5 NPCs. Interdicted, evade, stop at station, leave, enter super cruise, be interdicted 5 more times and so on and on and on, till I finaly said the hell with it and returned to repairing station and turned in what I had picked up and quit the rest and mission. The amount of interdictions was over 60 by the SAME NPCs. I think this needs to be fixed. Well I tried ED after a 3 month lay off and after this it's back to NMS, where I own a business, a fleet and walk around my various Planet Bases. Later Folks. Please enjoy your game ED.

I need to ask. What type of mission. Was it solo? Wing or what. That could tell us the answer. As in Solo, you have to view your combat Rank. If you accept a Wing mission solo plus rank. You would see more issues.

I hope you love your NMS bland type game with no risks.

 

[YRM_DM]

I find the interdictions entertaining myself. It adds to the challenge of the mission. As a habit now I run a ship that can at least put up a fight (an A-rated Python presently) if I am harassed by pirates. I've had a few occasions where I lost the fight and ended up with a re-buy, but many times I prevail and collect the extra bounty.

I have now made enough rank and credits to get a Corvette so I will be picking one up soon and using it as a mission runner. Any NPC that dares taking me on will have to face the wrath my Death Machine.

It surely is entertaining in reasonable doses. It seems like the system is either all-or-nothing... in repair systems, you'll be interdicted constantly (as many as 30x) for mission orders of small cost items like 5 tons of Ceramic Composites. You can stack those missions so there's literally a queue of pirates appearing behind you, waiting to die. It's exciting when it feels "real"... like, if I take a mission to deliver 180 tons of Super Conductors, I'm sort of wary that pirates might come after me. It's just when dozens of them queue up, appearing instantly behind you one after the next as you kill them, that it loses any element of a living-breathing universe.

On the flip side, I've jumped through multiple systems with 50 tons of Void Opals and not been interdicted once.

They'll queue up in identical groups, waiting to die, for 4 tons of Bio Waste... they'll send Elite Anacondas after you for that... "juicy cargo".

If you take the missions, pirates appear pretty much constantly.

I think what people are suggesting is to make piracy make sense. Have some ships manifest scan you, have some randomly interdict, and with missions, change up the random encounter values in a way that offers variety and makes sense.

 

[Lestat]

On the flip side, I've jumped through multiple systems with 50 tons of Void Opals and not been interdicted once.

Only 50? It off topic but a small tip. Outfit a Python, 1 Collector controls 2 Collector and one Prospector controls 2 Prospectors, Surface scanner Level 5 Shield Generator Level 4 Refinery. So you have 8 Bins and wake scanner and the rest Cargo So you have around 224 225 Cargo spaces. Fill them up with limpets. When you are done mining you should have around 200 Void Opal.

 

[Schmack]

Not too many or two few. They are too predictable, too scripted.

When the Smeaton runs were a thing, I would avoid the first couple of pirate attempts and AFK for most of the flight, then return and avoid a couple more close to the station. Then drop in, drop off and jump back to Aquarii. Rinse and repeat. If some ships interdicted me in the middle of that trip I would have lost every passenger and the ship. Nope though, it's like watching the same scene by restarting the video.

That's why interdiction numbers are crass, because they are predictable.

 

[Schmack]

Only 50? It off topic but a small tip. Outfit a Python, 1 Collector controls 2 Collector and one Prospector controls 2 Prospectors, Surface scanner Level 5 Shield Generator Level 4 Refinery. So you have 8 Bins and wake scanner and the rest Cargo So you have around 224 225 Cargo spaces. Fill them up with limpets. When you are done mining you should have around 200 Void Opal.

The pirate doesn't seem to care if you have 400 tons of void opals or 1 ton of biowaste. Same response. Good job, I found you first.

 

[Darkfyre99]

The idea of dropping into a station instance further away & running the gauntlet in was originally in the game I believe (pre-release), I don't know the reason why it was changed but it could help improve the chances of successful piracy (it wouldn't make it worse ).

It was removed during the Alpha due to complaints that it took too long.

I'm happy with the state of interdictions, NPCs are relatively easy to evade (compared to players) but there is an advantage to submitting anyway (interaction) and fighting the interdiction uses the same basic skill as flying (smooth, controlled inputs). With players the attacker having the advantage (making any interdictor more likely to be successful) just means more interaction too, which is a big part of what the game is about (ie why it's multiplayer).

However the flight model in Supercruise is very basic, with no drift, a fixed model per hull and no reverse. I'd like to see the Thruster grade & engineering affect supercruise flight characteristics, although perhaps not in every way. Acceleration rates should probably remain unchanged, and reversing would fundamentally change attack & evasion tactics in imo probably a negative way (I think it would significantly favour the would-be attacker overall). But I sure would like a way to make my ship turn faster and actually fly around gravity wells rather than pointing the ship as though it's on rails.

I don't want a change that favours the attacker or the victim, but I would like to see skill play more of a part in regular supercruise flight. Maybe then a reduction in NPC interdictions could be justified, because simply navigating through supercruise would stave off the boredom that the occasional NPC interdiction currently achieves.

In the first iteration of Supercruise during the Alpha, quite a bit of skill was actually required due to the hefty mass lock shadows of planets. It not only required more hands on navigation, but also accurately judging your approach vector and successfully threading the needle between overshooting and disaster. But thanks to the "Forum Recommended Technique," there was a lot of complaints that Supercruise was "taking too long," so those mass lock shadows were greatly reduced. Ironically, those of us who were using the gravity braking technique actually saw our Supercruise times increase thanks to the ideal braking vector now being inside the planets themselves.

Good Supercruise technique is still a time saver vs the "Forum Recommended Technique," not to mention that good technique also makes you pretty much immune to NPC interdictions, as well as those of most player "pirates."

Has anyone said git gud yet?

I feel there is a lack of git gud in this thread. Also, don't forget the "Its called Elite: Dangerous" meme, that one usualy goes down well.

IOW... "Git Gud" at Supercruise, and you won't get interdicted very often.