Ramming!!

[Stealth Gamer92]

I can recall a combat encounter during the later stages of PB. Both in Cobra MKIIIs, we were slogging it out and both ended up with around 10% hull. My lasers were recharging as my opponent turned to face me. Before he could shoot I boosted and rammed him square on. He died and I just managed to scrape through with 2% hull. We both agreed it was an awesome encounter. So, nothing wrong with ramming during combat IMO, perfectly legit.

In that situation I totally agree, it was a last act of defiance. But useing your ship as your main weapon is juist a result of either too much money, bad game design to where it work's, or both.

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<scratches head> What do you mean by not legitimate, btw?

A tactic that has a chance to win without risking one's own life needlessly. Useing ramming as a primary method of attack is not such a tactic, or at least shouldn't be.

 

[warlock]

In that situation I totally agree, it was a last act of defiance. But useing your ship as your main weapon is juist a result of either too much money, bad game design to where it work's, or both.

Yes in this instance i dont see a problem because there was obviously a lot of pew pew first, but like the man said it wasnt used as the main source of attack.

 

[Banana's_Are_Good_For_You]

Maybe, ramming should not be valid.
You can't ram with shields.
If you do, you just bounce off.

 

[Cody]

A tactic that has a chance to win without risking one's own life needlessly. Useing ramming as a primary method of attack is not such a tactic, or at least shouldn't be.

Sorry, perhaps I should've been clearer - we talking in-game now?

 

[warlock]

Maybe, ramming should not be valid.
You can't ram with shields.
If you do, you just bounce off.

Like it like it a lot.

 

[Stealth Gamer92]

Sorry, perhaps I should've been clearer - we talking in-game now?

In game same principle, such an attack should hurt you as much or more than it's hurting your enemy. Unfortunately the Dev's don't give a care about how realistic their SIM is, so they just added a bunch of mechanic's that would almost inevitably lead to this tactic likely being attempted and more than likely being a very overpowered one. And no big surprise to anyone with half a brain, it's happened.

 

[EddyRockSteady]

It still wasn't legitimate, that implie's it was an effective way of winning not "Imma take you wid me!" Ramming past the techological advancent's that came after the age of sail turned into a Kamakazi tactic, would you call suicide bombing an effective tactic past the innitial shock? I wouldn't as you'd lose a soldier to maybe kill a few people, when he could live use a gun and have the chance to kill far more people. All these Crazy Ivan, Kamakazi etc. are are psychological warefare which is useless in a video game as you can't hardly get PTSD from a virtual attack and if you can your mind was weak to start with(not an insult to intelegence, just saying a little fragile mindset to be playing any violent game if it does occur).

Did you actually look up and read about the Soviet doctrine of employing the Taran or are you just throwing submissions around for the sake of posting?

In any event, RL doctrine admittedly has zweetblowfiggerall to do with in-game mechanics so I apologise for my contribution in derailing. As a last comment, are you aware of the Heather Penney story? Interesting to ponder.

 

[Stealth Gamer92]

Did you actually look up and read about the Soviet doctrine of employing the Taran or are you just throwing submissions around for the sake of posting?

In any event, RL doctrine admittedly has zweetblowfiggerall to do with in-game mechanics so I apologise for my contribution in derailing. As a last comment, are you aware of the Heather Penney story? Interesting to ponder.

No offense but I knew of it and like probably at least 70% of the world saw how crazy it is, Soviet's weren't known to fully appreciate the value of their grunt's.

 

[Arindor]

In that situation I totally agree, it was a last act of defiance. But useing your ship as your main weapon is juist a result of either too much money, bad game design to where it work's, or both.

I must admit, I can't understand the sense of using your ship as a battering ram for a primary weapon, only as a last resort. However, I can also recall doing a trading run in an Asp, no weapons, and being interdicted by a pirate NPC. If it was either a Sidey or Eagle, I would try to ram them. Sometimes with moderate success.

 

[Schmack]

Meta, just like it's always been. Only in private settings will you get desired game play. In other online combat games, players pick the most efficient weapon and use the most efficient tactics, realistic or not (bunny hopping, proning, anything else to get it done). Few combat PvPers care about realism.

 

[Stealth Gamer92]

Meta, just like it's always been. Only in private settings will you get desired game play. In other online combat games, players pick the most efficient weapon and use the most efficient tactics, realistic or not (bunny hopping, proning, anything else to get it done). Few combat PvPers care about realism.

Unfortunately, I must admit this is the truth. I've never once said it does not work, only it should not work. Ultimately the online PvP crowd alway's use any flawed game mechanic to their advantage, I'd just hoped a sim. with PvP would have far less abuseable mechanic's.

 

[Lemonhoko]

Kamakazi...The Japonese had a name for this tactic...I tend to go YOLO Kamakazi style if I have little hull left and thrusters stiill working...Cmdr or NPC..doesnt matter..tactic is legit when you know youre gonna meet your maker soon.

 

[Cody]

In game same principle, such an attack should hurt you as much or more than it's hurting your enemy. Unfortunately the Dev's don't give a care about how realistic their SIM is, so they just added a bunch of mechanic's that would almost inevitably lead to this tactic likely being attempted and more than likely being a very overpowered one. And no big surprise to anyone with half a brain, it's happened.

<nods> Okay, in-game stuff. For some reason, I couldn't help but think of HMS Thunder Child (a fictional example) and its real life ilk.

 

[mossfoot]

<nods> Okay, in-game stuff. For some reason, I couldn't help but think of HMS Thunder Child (a fictional example) and its real life ilk.

War of the Worlds reference FTW!

 

[Renegade Roach]

So if ramming is a real situation ("legit" or not really is subjective IMHO) what are the best defenses against it? Obviously not to get hit, but what steps can you take to reduce the risk.

What visual warning signs might you notice before a ram is started? The flare of boosters?

What's the better way to dodge? Maneuvering thrusters or tilt and pull (the latter makes you lose visual so can be risky)

How do you work to keep a decent range between you and your target if ramming is a worry?

If you're more agile than them just try not to ever let them get a straight run on you. If they have to turn to boost into you they're much more likely to miss and put themselves in a weak position. Keep maneuvering to get on their flank/backside and it's a whole lot harder for them. I see an awful lot of players, and vids of players , who simply try to facetank their opponent and out scb them.

would you call suicide bombing an effective tactic past the innitial shock? I wouldn't as you'd lose a soldier to maybe kill a few people, when he could live use a gun and have the chance to kill far more people.

Suicide bombing is a hugely effective tactic, both psychologically and in terms of the damage to cost ratio. That's why it is being so widely used in the middle east. They don't use their good soldiers for it, they use poor saps who are brainwashed, coerced or of limited intellectual ability. Just look at recent attacks where ISIS have used waves of suicide bombers in trucks to breech the walls of military compounds and then followed up with their regular troops. Highly effective, very difficult to counter.

 

[Stealth Gamer92]

Suicide bombing is a hugely effective tactic, both psychologically and in terms of the damage to cost ratio. That's why it is being so widely used in the middle east. They don't use their good soldiers for it, they use poor saps who are brainwashed, coerced or of limited intellectual ability. Just look at recent attacks where ISIS have used waves of suicide bombers in trucks to breech the walls of military compounds and then followed up with their regular troops. Highly effective, very difficult to counter.

I doubt the player's playing ED fit those criteria.

 

[NathanM]

It would be easy to nerf ingame, just make the person going the fastest take the most damage and call it sthg like shield momentum absorption. The issue is that shield cell spam is also broken in pvp, its ok in pve as npc's dont use shield cells.

As usual FD have not thought properly about anything, no surprise there.

 

[KaizoMK]

I have something to say to those who think ramming isn't a legitimate tactic.

*ahem*

Stop making excuses for losing. If it works, it's clearly a legitimate tactic. If I think my shields can take a hit, I will totally ram the hell out of my opponent.

You want to avoid having it done to you? Try winging up. I guarantee I'll think twice before I sacrifice my shields - my largest chunk of effective health - to damage you in a situation where I could potentially take a ton of damage.

As for whether it's balanced, I don't really see why not. It's hard to perform and the danger is generally relative to the size of both combatants and their shields.

 

[warlock]

I have something to say to those who think ramming isn't a legitimate tactic.

*ahem*

Stop making excuses for losing. If it works, it's clearly a legitimate tactic. If I think my shields can take a hit, I will totally ram the hell out of my opponent.

You want to avoid having it done to you? Try winging up. I guarantee I'll think twice before I sacrifice my shields - my largest chunk of effective health - to damage you in a situation where I could potentially take a ton of damage.

Wow your username is almost an anagram of kamikaze. Figures.

 

[jacozilla]

**edited due to discussing with respondent and original response changed. Thank you**

**Edit **
-modifed after discussing with original respondent. This is more along lines of simple PSA.

Suffering PTSD is an issue that can affect anyone, usually soldiers but also other professions that routinely encounter trauma.

Personal will, strength of mind or character, has nothing to do with suffering PTSD and is one of the most common misconceptions.