Horizons Reckless flying fines need to be re thought.

[imaner76]

I'm pretty sure this may be age old and lots say it's an issue. But it surely has to stop now.

It's a game mechanic that means system NPC's do some sort of "cool" flyby as you leave a station but because the mechanic is not thought out well all they do is fly in to you. Is the thought that you'll return to the station and pay it? Or is it a "Nice Surprise" for when you can be botherd to find, or happen across an interstellar contact? It's not even the money, literally no concern to any player to pay the very small amount of credits.

I'm pretty sure this part of the NPC behavior could be removed around stations. It adds nothing, I struggle to see when it adds an "element"?

EDIT: Word replaced

 

[Kzak]

You only get fines or bounties if you're speeding (travelling at 100 m/s or faster). Slow down to 99 m/s or less, problem solved.

 

[BurntJello]

You can still be fined when under 100m/s... like when that stupid NPC must go before you... or must enter the mailslot when you are leaving (I've had to log to menu when a T7 was blocking my cutter)...

I say remove all fines for collisions when under 100m/s.

 

[DRaven4135]

I agree.... im flying waiting for mass lock to disengage aimed at my framshift destination.. and BAM get hit by a NPC ship scanning me... I get another B.S. fine..... This happens constantly....... A Cutter is not easy to maneuver around these kamikaze NPC's...And yes you can still be fined if under 100m/s

 

[James Son]

Basically i find problematic the fact that you have received an OK from the Station Control to land on a pad and at the same time another 2 ships may be trying to use the lot to enter and another 3 to leave the station through it. When you are given the OK to land, a timer should start, as done now (or maybe not). When you approach near the station though, you should halt until you get another OK to start entering the station. When you get that OK, you will know that you will be the only one using the slot at that time. For that, there should be a new timer of 30" (perhaps this amount should depend on ship type/size). If you don't manage to enter in the allotted time, you could get a fine or something.

 

[DRaven4135]

As we all know......You dont need to fly at full speed directly at a ship to scan it !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Valorin]

It's a game mechanic that means system NPC's do some sort of "cool" flyby as you leave a station but because the mechanic is not thought out well all they do is fly in to you. Is the thought that you'll return to the station and pay it? Or is it a "Nice Surprise" for when you can be to find, or happen across an interstellar contact? It's not even the money, literally no concern to any player to pay the very small amount of credits.

I'm pretty sure this part of the NPC behavior could be removed around stations. It adds nothing, I struggle to see when it adds an "element"?

Happens to me regulary in live, didn't happen to me once in beta. There's hope.

 

[racer1]

I don't think I've ever been fined while flying less than 100m/s unless blocking mail slot/pad/trespassing.

 

[imaner76]

While it is a point that if you remain under 100m/s you don't always pick up the fine, it is away from the mail slot during the mass lock fly away that 99% of these incidents occur. It is not an option to remain under 100m/s until mass lock is removed because quite simply it takes far too long. The NPC ship scanning does not need to fly in to you. I'll add this happens in far greater frequency in a Corvette. It's like you have an invisible nose?

 

[Para Handy]

You can still be fined when under 100m/s... like when that stupid NPC must go before you... or must enter the mailslot when you are leaving (I've had to log to menu when a T7 was blocking my cutter)...
.............

No you don't.

Traffic control will tell you off about reckless flying but you don't get a fine.

You only ever get fined if you are over 99-100m/s.

So @OP - no they don't need to rethink fines - but you need to rethink how to control your speed and to be patient.

/thread

 

[Para Handy]

......... The NPC ship scanning does not need to fly in to you. ...........

Yes the ram/scan still needs to be improved - it is much better than it was but it still happens.

Perhaps they are only hitting you because you are speeding? Since the ram/scan improvements I have very VERY rarely (I mean less than a handful) of times been rammed by them but I don't go over 100 until I feel sure that I am "in the clear". So maybe MoM has set them to bump speeders to encourage speed limit enforcement?

(Saying that of course doesn't detract from the fact that NPCs start to boost as soon as they clear the slot.)

 

[imaner76]

So @OP - no they don't need to rethink fines - but you need to rethink how to control your speed and to be patient.

/thread

5km at 100 m/s is not practical. If the game mechanic is to have you remain at that speed, or they'll throw an NPC at you then it's a little demanding of time...
I stand my ground, it's a silly mechanic. I am a little bemused that there appear to be some that remain under or at 100 m/s to leave or enter a station in the mass lock range. The game has much more opportunity to take your time...

 

[Para Handy]

5km at 100 m/s is not practical. If the game mechanic is to have you remain at that speed, or they'll throw an NPC at you then it's a little demanding of time...
I stand my ground, it's a silly mechanic. I am a little bemused that there appear to be some that remain under or at 100 m/s to leave or enter a station in the mass lock range. The game has much more opportunity to take your time...

As I said above, the ram/scan is much better now. I got in the habit of restraining myself from speeding-up too quickly on exit after many fines from it so now that it is not so prevalent, just situational awareness of the scanning ships is all that is needed I find. I have not had a fine since they changed it. I just don't boost at all and only speed up when I feel clear of risk, even though the increase in no-fire zones to that of Orbis stations was annoying due to the extra delay.

EDIT - Yes of course the 100m/s limit is practical - just because you don't like it doesn't make it impractical.

 

[imaner76]

As I said above, the ram/scan is much better now. I got in the habit of restraining myself from speeding-up too quickly on exit after many fines from it so now that it is not so prevalent, just situational awareness of the scanning ships is all that is needed I find. I have not had a fine since they changed it. I just don't boost at all and only speed up when I feel clear of risk, even though the increase in no-fire zones to that of Orbis stations was annoying due to the extra delay.

EDIT - Yes of course the 100m/s limit is practical - just because you don't like it doesn't make it impractical.

If you travel at 100 m/s in the masslock region of the station you'll be the slowest moving object by quite some margin! Bit like doing 30 mph on a motorway/interstate. LOL

 

[Para Handy]

If you travel at 100 m/s in the masslock region of the station you'll be the slowest moving object by quite some margin! Bit like doing 30 mph on a motorway/interstate. LOL

Of course you are correct - as I said, the NPCs don't observe the limit but I just got fed up with the fines when it was so bad, having to go back in to pay them off 'cos the fine sitting there in the UI just winds me up and I even had a couple of murder bounties because of ram/scan so I got in the habit of trying to avoid being "dinged".

So basically I never exceed 100 until I am past the toast-rack and only speed up when I think there is no chance of the security ramming me - I wouldn't normally stay under 100 all the way out of the zone but I watch for ships zooming towards me and reduce speed to under 100 as they pass. Normally there is only the one system security scanner to watch out for but I sometimes come close when one of the powerpants enforcers also whizzes-in for a scan. Otherwise, yes I would appear to be the E D equivalent of the guy toddling along at 29mph in a 30 limit.

I wouldn't mind if they reduced the distance the speed limit was in force over, unfortunately it is tied-in to the no-fire zone and I doubt they will split them plus they have only recently extended the no-fire zones.

 

[racer1]

While it is a point that if you remain under 100m/s you don't always pick up the fine, it is away from the mail slot during the mass lock fly away that 99% of these incidents occur. It is not an option to remain under 100m/s until mass lock is removed because quite simply it takes far too long. The NPC ship scanning does not need to fly in to you. I'll add this happens in far greater frequency in a Corvette. It's like you have an invisible nose?

I don't think it has ever happened to me while leaving a station and I boost continuously until I break mass lock.

Anyway, the ramming aspect is a bug that re-emerged in 2.4 after being fixed previously. Hopefully it'll be fixed again in 3.0.

 

[ChipStar65]

I've been experimenting with ParaHandy's approach and it works quite well, adds about 10 seconds overall to the time it takes to get out of the no-scan zone. Usually takes a lot longer than 10 seconds to deal with the fines, so it's a win-win method, saving time, money and aggro. Once scans have been made and a little distance covered between you and the scanners, you can throttle up to jump speed, clear mass lock and go. Haven't had a fine or a dive-bomb scan in weeks.

 

[Mike Reacher]

You only get fines or bounties if you're speeding (travelling at 100 m/s or faster). Slow down to 99 m/s or less, problem solved.

That is patently untrue! Been playing for 20 months now, and nearly all the fines are from NPCs ramming me from behind. Feds bounced off my nose one time and got no fine.
I always fly out at about 95M/S so speed has nothing to do with the fine. It is a mechanic where NPCs ram me from behind. Has not changed in 20 months.

While it is a point that if you remain under 100m/s you don't always pick up the fine, it is away from the mail slot during the mass lock fly away that 99% of these incidents occur. It is not an option to remain under 100m/s until mass lock is removed because quite simply it takes far too long. The NPC ship scanning does not need to fly in to you. I'll add this happens in far greater frequency in a Corvette. It's like you have an invisible nose?

Well, now, 99% of my fines are from speeding NPCs ramming my butt.

No you don't.

Traffic control will tell you off about reckless flying but you don't get a fine.

You only ever get fined if you are over 99-100m/s.

So @OP - no they don't need to rethink fines - but you need to rethink how to control your speed and to be patient.

/thread

Wrong, wrong wrong! Fined last week for going 96m/s and got rammed from behind as I was in the slot and exiting.
Maybe some of the players are lucky to not get fined. Don't make that a definite, that doesn't happen to other players.
This mechanic has been complained about since I started playing, and no effort has been made by FD to adjust anything. (Working as intended)

To put that rant into perspective, all my exploration in 20 months and I only found one (partly) interesting shiny. Yet others seem to find hundreds.

 

[Iron Duke]

I'm pretty sure this may be age old and lots say it's an issue. But it surely has to stop now.

It's a game mechanic that means system NPC's do some sort of "cool" flyby as you leave a station but because the mechanic is not thought out well all they do is fly in to you. Is the thought that you'll return to the station and pay it? Or is it a "Nice Surprise" for when you can be botherd to find, or happen across an interstellar contact? It's not even the money, literally no concern to any player to pay the very small amount of credits.

I'm pretty sure this part of the NPC behavior could be removed around stations. It adds nothing, I struggle to see when it adds an "element"?

EDIT: Word replaced

Agreed, I just got five fines in as many days due to these nut-ball NPC's ramming me. Then, to add insult to injury, the traffic controllers chastise me! :S Anyway, the fines are a nuisance as you either have to get back to that system in order to pay off the fine or look for the intestellar-factors thieves to pay it off. Yes, Yes - I know slow down, but the irony of the whole thing is that I was speeding in a T9 in all instances. Just turning and going back to station was too long a delay.. [haha]

I actually thought they [FD] had sorted this out way back..

 

[ChipStar65]

I agree slowing down will not help the fender-benders in or near the mail slot, both entering and exiting. I've had that happen @ far below 100m/s -- one incident got me clipped so hard (NPC was doing far beyond the limit into the mail slot, as they frequently do) it jammed my nose into the construction scaffolding around the inside of the mail slot (station under Repair) and got me stuck in the geometry, blocking the slot so of course I eventually got vaporized. I raised a ruckus on a support ticket & got a satisfactory resolution on that one, but it does show how ridiculously bad the NPC flying can be, observing few if any of the rules players must follow. Doesn't make much sense to me.