I feel like I'm being punished - Insurance game mechanic flaws

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MoSs

M
So I bought the game a week ago, I was so excited with it, its pretty awesome.

Like everyone else started with the crappy sidewinder did a few missions, did a bit of mining, did a bit of bounty hunting, a bit of exploring pretty much tried most of the things you can do in this game.

After I got my Viper and did some bounty hunting, I realized the only way to get a new ship (in a reasonable amount of time) is to do trading. So I started trading rares, which made me a good amount of money, I then got my Cobra and did rares trading with it, then got the Type-6 and started looking profitable trading routes for normal merchandise. So I did just that.

Now after 7 days worth of work spending quite a lot of hours in it, playing on a daily basis for about 5 to 8 hours I was finally able to afford an ASP, was so excited, I bought it, but of course this move almost left me broke ( about 150k cr left in my account). So I thought ok to remedy that, I would do some rares trading again, until i was able to buy more cargo space.

Note here that I owned already 2 ships a Viper and a Cobra, but they were stripped out from their outfittings.

Started collecting rares, then as I had my cargo full and was about to exit a stations airlock, I accidentally pressed the boost key... I was stunned and in shock to see my ASP explode into pieces...

As you can imagine, I did not have the cash for claiming back my ship (and the max loan was 200k which wasn't enough) the ship would cost ~390k to reclaim.

So now I lost about 8 million credits, just like that, because of an accident. Which translates to a week's worth of work being a complete waste of my time.

If this is not punishment for the player, then I don't know what is... The insurance mechanic is definitely lacking features.

And here come my issues with insurance/respawn:

- Why when I already had 2 ships docked, I could not sell them to acquire the cash and reclaim my ASP? That SHOULD be possible.
- Why you have only ONE chance to claim your ship and not being able to claim it later on, after you got some credits together? This one chance only mechanic doesn't make much sense...
- And finally why I can't just re-spawn in my already owned ships and have to start ALL OVER again with the sidewinder in the starter system?

I'm SO bummed out right now, I feel punished for having an accident and loosing 8m instead of 380k, because 'reasons'...

I don't want to hear stuff like "welcome to elite" or "this is a realistic kind of thing" in no way this is a realistic insurance mechanic.

I don't even want to continue to play this anymore and I feel like I wasted my money because things like that, can and will happen again. Imagine instead of an ASP it was a Python or an Anaconda that got blown up and there was no cash for the insurance...

I don't think anyone would want to play ever again after something like that...
 
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Vincent Starson

V
You make fair points:

  • Selling your other ships would have paid for the insurance, but there's no way to do that.
  • You have other ships but are not allowed to spawn in them.

On the other hand:
  • Technically this is your fault, the game shows you the rebuy cost and your credits right next to each other for a reason.

Simple solutions

  • Add an insurance claims screen. If you are unable to pay the insurance claim upfront, you can open this screen at a later time and get your ship back after gathering the credits.
  • Allow players to choose to spawn in already owned ships after destruction instead of the sidewinder.
 

robdood

robdood
I actually think the suggestions you offer are quite good though, and valid criticism of how the game currently works.

You'll be back, man. Just don't forget the lessons you've learned:
- don't lift landing gear til you've exited the station (can't accidentally boost, that way)
- don't ever fly without enough cash to cover the insurance!
 

salad

salad
MoSs said:
I don't think anyone would want to play ever again after something like that...
Click to expand...

You're wrong.

Im sorry you are taking this the hard way, and that it took you so long to find these things out.

Just curious, was this your first death? How did you not see it coming?
 

CMDR Sheehy

CMDR Sheehy
A week...

I feel it. But at least you didn't spend 2 months working up to a conda and then doing the same. It's stings but it won't happen again.

Time to lock down that boost key!!!
 

StayFrosty

StayFrosty
Deploy your landing gear when closing the station, retract it only when outside. That should solve all of your issues.

Otherwise, we know some aspects of the game are poorly thought out, but we can only wait.
 

Coolts

C
You wont do it again though will you? Let off some steam. Its a Friday after all :)

I follow the 2 x insurance plus cash for a full load of Palladium rule that some other wise soul mentioned on the forum.

Not the games fault though. You hit the booster.
 

robdood

robdood
Oh for goodness sake can people stop handwaving this guy's post when he actually offers up some decent ideas? Being able to sell ships you have stored, or wait to claim your insurance later, or spawn somewhere you have another ship stored are all really good!
 

scubaian

S
I'm still a little confused by this mechanic, if I can't afford the rebuy do I loose my current credits and my stored ships?
 

Surly_Badger

Surly_Badger
MoSs said:
So now I lost about 8 million credits, just like that, because of an accident.
Click to expand...

Don't you mean "mistake"?

I remember when I was playing Half-life in extreme mode, there was this one spot where you had to jump across an empty elevator and catch the other side perfectly, or you died and had to re-do that piece of the run. I think I did it 200 times. That's gaming.

Besides, think of the satisfaction you'll feel every time you don't do that again.
 

vyrago

vyrago
if it were realistic, here's what would happen:

1. you could auction your other ships to cover the insurance buy-back of the Asp.

2. The money would be held due to the pending investigation of improper docking bay flight procedures.

3. The investigation would conclude that reckless use of the booster within the docking bay was the cause of the accident.

4. The pilots federation would suspend your license. you could fly without one, but if scanned you would show up as wanted and not be granted docking permission at any reputable systems.

5. The station you crashed into would sue you for damages incurred.

6. with no ship and a massive pending lawsuit, <COMMENT REDACTED>
 
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camelpilot

C
You are blaming the game for something that is your fault. You were at fault in at least 2 ways. You flew a ship that was uninsured, and you hit the boost key. No one else did it to you or for you, it was all you.

life will be like this, you just need to learn to take responsibility for your own screw ups.
 

salad

salad
scubaian said:
I'm still a little confused by this mechanic, if I can't afford the rebuy do I loose my current credits and my stored ships?
Click to expand...

No, you just won't be able to get your ship back, and will spawn with a stock sidey. Your stored ships remain where they are, you just have to travel there to get them. (Saddest travel ever btw)

I have a feeling that spawning where your ships are stored would make people way less mad about it.
 
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CR33P

CR33P
I feel for you but it doesn't warrant a change in game mechanics. I trashed my first Cobra on take off during the premium beta phase, there didn't even used to be an insurance option, let alone loans and part-exing that your suggesting. It is meant to be realistic, if you weren't up on your premiums and you crashed your car would the insurance company let you come back later and repay the missed premiums? Hell no! I do feel for you tho!
 
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