I'm so stupd or the long wait for death

Kathryn Kando

Kathryn Kando
Now here I was just chilling and doing some transport mission in my well engineered Vette (ok legacy Engineering: I just can't bring myself to newly engineer everything now, step by step as time goes by, no hurry).

They've sent some pathetic NPCs after me for interdiction, peace of cake.

I got interdicted, usual procedure, submit - kill - continue travel, so what.

They interdicted me while I was supercharging the FSD at a neutron star. I'm flying since Beta in Elite. I know what to do and what not to do, so I thought. Stupid, stupid me submitted.

After leaving supercruise I saw briefly the NPC getting sucked in by the jet cones and die. Eat this, smartass.

My Vette was spiraling in the cone, warnings and so on.

No problem. Get out of the danger zone. But no matter what power setting, thrusters, FA off... it just didn't leave the neutron star streams.

Ok, waking up. The situation has my attention. No Netflix.

Slowly the modules take damage, but damn it is my Vette "Wendimoor", she can take a lot. Only slighlty annoyed that there will be repair cost. But what is money in Elite these days...

So trying each and everything. Aligning the ship to leave in supercruise or hyper jump: impossible. For a few seconds it may be aligned but the spin doesn't stop. Loosing module after module, energy drain, so beginning to switch of unnecessary power suckers.

Loosing cargo. Really annoyed now.

FSD starts to fail. And to make the atmosphere more interesting the canopy broke. 25m life support.

Maybe I should add here that I am a RL pilot. I am trained to stay calm, consider options and try out the possible.

So I stay calm as 25 min is an eternity in Elite (and in RL).

20.min. 15 min. 10 min. 5 min.

I just tried everything I can imagine.

I just cannot believe what is happening to me. I fly always insured but the feeling of being an idiot is overhelming.

I switch to cockpit camera mode looking at my avatar. She seems relaxed as she would think "let's fix some tea, shall we?". I am not relaxed anymore. Not. a. bit. (could they add a bit more emotion animation in general pls.?)

Shall I watch myself die? No. I just cannot see me suffocate. 2min.

Self-destruct sequence initated.

I am stupid.

I love Elite.
 

Jaiotu

Jaiotu
Been in a very similar circumstance. I've come to realize that FSD supercharging and me just don't get along. Not only is there the rare chance of having things go sideways and leaving you to roast in the sweet and deadly rays of a killer star but the whole process of supercharging breaks my rhythm. Besides ... each light year I bypass by supercharging is just another set of systems that I don't get to scan.

My condolences for your loss, BTW.

Noob said:
GREAT story! (sorry, it needed all caps :)
Click to expand...

And yes. GREAT story. The best stories in Elite come from those times when things don't go according to plan.
 

Swa

Swa
Were you trying to supercharge? Or did just by chance while getting interdicted you ended up their? For what it's worth most people don't survive long enough to go through a whole 25 minutes of LS so +1 for survival.
 

Friedenreich Xante

Friedenreich Xante
I made that same experience in a White dwarf Jet cone. White dwarfes are somehow more dangerous it seems, because of their exclusion Zone barely shows up in SC. I even used life Support injections in the hope that the cone would eventually spit me out. It didn't and I died when my hull reached 0. Didn't want to give up, to self destruct.
 

Kathryn Kando

Kathryn Kando
Alec Turner said:
Brilliant story - think I'll feature this in the Trending section of my "Best of Forum" thread.

[up]
Click to expand...
Cool, thx Alec.

I love Elite most for surprising situtations like these - and they still happen after 4 years of playing.

I think this is saying a lot about the quality of this game (and my stupidity).

Swa said:
Were you trying to supercharge? Or did just by chance while getting interdicted you ended up their? For what it's worth most people don't survive long enough to go through a whole 25 minutes of LS so +1 for survival.
Click to expand...

Yep tried it's part of my route planning to involve supercharges in order to cut down travel time. I am quite skilled in having my ship supercharged save and fast.
Until now that is.
 

rhiz

rhiz
That sounds like a combination bad luck and a momentary lapse of judgement rather than stupidity – it could happen to anyone. :) What was the re-buy on your Vette? 40+ million?
 

Swa

Swa
Well, thanks for sharing your experience...Will have to remember this situation if by a neutron star with NPCs in the area to assess it the risk is worth it now.
 

Kathryn Kando

Kathryn Kando
rhiz said:
That sounds like a combination bad luck and a momentary lapse of judgement rather than stupidity – it could happen to anyone. :) What was the re-buy on your Vette? 40+ million?
Click to expand...

It was a lot. Actually I just closed my eyes pressing the rebuy-button of shame.
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
So if you're interdicted while supercharging the FSD the correct procedure is to neither submit nor fight the interdiction, but instead immediately fly out of the cone?
 

Kathryn Kando

Kathryn Kando
Yep. Get the hell out of the cone. Take care about the interdiction later, even if you do not have the time to submit, it's safer that way.
Having said that you may be lucky and get in a more safe distance to the cone even when you submit or fight the interdiction but that's just luck.
 

rekurzion

rekurzion
You were saved my final indignity when i first wondered into a neutron star...after exploding i get the rebuy screen. But after clicking rebuy I'm back in the exclusion zone, 3 minutes of oxygen, no fsd, no thrusters, no canopy.

I had to sit there and watch it all over again. Btw, it was my maiden voyage in my brand new python.

I still curse every neuron star i see. But under my breadth and when I'm far away from that beast.
 

Traveler

Traveler
Great story! +1
Emanating with the calmness and precision of a RL pilot, superb.

In the past I was an amateur of an "Air crash investigation" series on Discovery channel, I loved to watch NTSB dissecting the puzzles of an incidents.
There seems to be always a series of events leading to fatal end. Since we can not recover the black boxes here I'd bet on factors like Netflix, routine, lack of proper training procedures in such situations by the company (Pilots Federation), lack of adequate checklist in ship's manual... ;):p
I wonder what are you flying in RL, choppers or planes? Must be amazing experience.

o7
 

Kathryn Kando

Kathryn Kando
Traveler said:
Great story! +1
Emanating with the calmness and precision of a RL pilot, superb.

In the past I was an amateur of an "Air crash investigation" series on Discovery channel, I loved to watch NTSB dissecting the puzzles of an incidents.
There seems to be always a series of events leading to fatal end. Since we can not recover the black boxes here I'd bet on factors like Netflix, routine, lack of proper training procedures in such situations by the company (Pilots Federation), lack of adequate checklist in ship's manual... ;):p
I wonder what are you flying in RL, choppers or planes? Must be amazing experience.

o7
Click to expand...

Hi. You are right, it is always a sequence and often a combination of technical and human failure. Netflix, or should I say, lack of concentration, flying carelessly in a routine (pilots 1st enemy), misjudgement. When i left SC I didn't take it serious, relying on the capabilities and redundant safety a big engineered ship is providing.

What bugs me here is that i have the feeling that in the beginning of the spin I might still have had the chance to escape, the spinning speed increased after some 30sec. Did i mention "stupid?"[blah]

Flying planes. Helicopters are unnatural witchcraft driven flight vehicles that shouldn't be in my airspace. Ballons are even worse, I despise ballons.:D
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
I can escape neutron star jets in large ships, it's small ships that give me problems. :) The trick (at least, the one that works for me) is to reduce throttle to zero and then charge FSD. When FSD is almost charged, align with the vector as much as possible, then throttle up to full and boost. When in my Cutter, this works very well. I have never lost my Cutter to a neutron star (though admittedly I've only had a couple of encounters). A DBX, on the other hand... Nope, no idea how to get that one out (I have several failed attempts). :D
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
For the bored and lifeless, Cone-Grief Interdiction could become a new thing. I don't even screw with interdictions near any stellar cones - just ditch them and go.
If they want to try their luck in the next system without a coned star, then I'm game. I can always use a bounty voucher.
 

Geraldine

Geraldine
Kathryn, I have been playing Elite for 30 plus years and even now, this game still teaches me new things. I find that a wondrous thing and you want to know the best thing? All the past Elite games were like that too. For example, I can pick up Elite II today (came out in 1993) and that game can still show me something I've not experienced before. Never forget that Elite is a game that waits, patiently, oh so patiently, for the player to make a mistake then it strikes like a Cobra. Maybe that is why David picked that name for the most iconic craft in the game? A cryptic warning perhaps to always be wary.

Q, from Star Trek, said it best: "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."

And I would add, it's not for the unwary in Elite either. ;)
You will do better next time tho. :)
 
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