Reverski.. suggestions to stop or at least limit it

[Lateralus]

Those of us who PvP regularly encounter this cheesy tactic.. For those unfamiliar with it, it's basically the practice of flying backwards in full reverse shooting at enemy players who struggle to keep up and stay out of the firing arc of the reversing ship. If the opponent manages to catch up to the reverski player, they will simply boost past them and do the exactly the same in the opposite direction.. This usually goes on until the opponent gets bored and wakes out, usually after leaving some unkind words in comms - or dies if they're unprepared.

The standard reverski setup is to use long-range hitscan weapons like rails and lasers, and then use premium missiles to wreck modules when their opponents' shields go down, so it really is quite frustrating for the opponents who wish to fight in a more conventional manner.

Many in the PvP community regard it as the lowest form of combat due to the speed of reverse thrusters in the game as it gives the user a huge combat advantage.

There are a few ways Fdev could reign it in:

1. Reduce the speed in which the ships can fly in full reverse
2. Add a heat build up for extended use of max-throttle reverse thrusters
3. Add extra jitter to weapons if throttle is maxed out in reverse
4. Apply a pitch & roll penalty speed while in full reverse

Thoughts?

 

[Northpin]

Or you can avoid combat with them reverskiers
And FDev could remove the microgimbal from fixed weapons.
And remove all types of premium ammo.

 

[Incandescence]

What your asking for would affect more than The PVP aspect of the game.

its a Space game, its bad enough we have limited speeds on ships in a "newtonian physics space game".
Flying in reverse is legit, its boring, scrubby as all hell, and id condemn the use of it, but there are ways to fight it.

Don't.
Wake out, or just ignore them.
reverski only works if your opponent is actively chasing you.

Otherwise Fit Long range beams with phasing, or something, if you really think that kill would be worth all this head ache.
theres not much to do to fight these purpose troll builds.

 

[Captain Willard]

A truly hilarious thread. Hold still so I can kill you. LOL

 

[Krieger]

This is not just a PvP problem. Reverski is the favourite tactic of high-ranked NPC pilots as well. They turn every "fight" into a boring shield/hull tanking match that is always won by the players because they can engineer their ships to a higher degree than NPCs.

It would be nice if NPCs had more variety in their fight-styles. For example: NPCs with a tactical fight-style that try to turn behind their target to avoid fire. In that case they can fly ships with less shield/hull that are more manoeuvrable and faster because they are lighter.

Players can then choose whether to fight or run away depending on their own fight-style and ship loadout. As it is now all NPCs fight in the same boring way and there is nothing to choose. You have to deal with NPC reverskis performed with robot-like precision and predictability whether you like it or not. (BTW interdictions by NPCs suffer from similar problems.)

 

[Sylow]

Players can then choose whether to fight or run away depending on their own fight-style and ship loadout. As it is now all NPCs fight in the same boring way and there is nothing to choose. You have to deal with NPC reverskis performed with robot-like precision and predictability whether you like it or not. (BTW interdictions by NPCs suffer from similar problems.)

Very much this. Combat was more fun and more interesting when ships forward movement was more advantageous and maneuvers mattered more.

 

[EUS]

What are we talking about here, pistols at dawn pvp with "acceptable" a.k.a. agreed upon rules, or fight club?
'Cause if it's fight club, anything goes.
Personally, I just explode a lot.

 

[Old Duck]

5. Add rear-facing lasers like original Elite had, or at least allow a CMDR to control his own turrets allowing a turret to become an aimable, fixed weapon while the ship continues on it's current course.. Planes shooting at pursuers while on the run is nothing new, you just have to make sure you don't shoot off the tail like Mr. Jones Senior did! Ever hear of a tail gunner?

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

How's this solution?

Make drag rounds cause a single random RCS thruster to misfires for a few seconds (with a cooldown), causing minor loss of control, but nothing game breaking.

Boosting will immediately clear said misfire, but to you'll lose some boost power, but also be propelled forward, and waste some capacitor.

Anyone reverski-ing will lose some aiming ability, and to quickly fix it will need to boost... Forward, but not very quickly.

Head canon it as drag rounds bung up RCS thrusters with something that causes them to fire off. Boosting overheats those thrusters clearing them, and preventing further drag effect for a short time.

It'll have a knock on effect in dog fights, but of done right, nothing too serious.

 

[Daynen]

Flying in reverse is a mandatory requirement for spaceships that operate in three dimensional space. Shooting at things while flying backward is a completely legitimate tactic that requires a different approach to overcome and has its own advantages and problems. It's NEVER going away. I don't think we should redesign combat to punish it.

 

[varonica]

It's not fair, other players are better than me at taking tactical advantage of game mechanics so I can't kill them.

Solutions;

1) Get better.

2) Nerf the game.

 

[Lateralus]

Logically, heat should build up if a ship is using its maneuvering thrusters to fly backwards at full throttle for extended periods of time.

It's not fair, other players are better than me at taking tactical advantage of game mechanics so I can't kill them.

Solutions;

1) Get better.

2) Nerf the game.

It's just a suggestion, why the unpleasant tone?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

AI does it too. Imo the reverse speed and acceleration is ridiculously high. It's like they have main thrusters magically on frontside of ship.

 

[Northpin]

AI does it too. Imo the reverse speed and acceleration is ridiculously high. It's like they have main thrusters magically on frontside of ship.

oh, did you checked lateral thrusters?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

oh, did you checked lateral thrusters?

They are just silly as well.

 

[Brrokk]

... flying backwards in full reverse shooting at enemy players who struggle to keep up and stay out of the firing arc of the reversing ship....

Not this again, hands off my reverse thrusters.

You've accurately stated the reason why it's a good tactic. It's also a tactic which would be available with real spaceships and should therefore also be available in a good simulation. Pilots should not be misled by the pointy and streamlined appearance of their ships into thinking that there is one direction in space which is not available to them. We have 6DoF controls; they should function as expected in weightlessness and vacuum.

 

[Northpin]

It's just a suggestion, why the unpleasant tone?

Maybe because it's a bad suggestion. Just saying.

 

[Lateralus]

For those who don't see the issue:

 

[dm06]

Thoughts?

No.
When I fly heavy ships (corvette, cutter, type-10) I use it against npcs during bounty hunting. Without long range mods though. This increases time on target and reduces combat time.
The npcs don't mind.

 

[Lateralus]

Not this again, hands off my reverse thrusters.

You've accurately stated the reason why it's a good tactic. It's also a tactic which would be available with real spaceships and should therefore also be available in a good simulation. Pilots should not be misled by the pointy and streamlined appearance of their ships into thinking that there is one direction in space which is not available to them. We have 6DoF controls; they should function as expected in weightlessness and vacuum.

Reverse thrusters should not outpace the main thrusters of any other ship though, it's silly. This game already has gameplay related restrictions to ship speed, so using real physics to justify reverski is a poor argument.