[Suggestion] Death screens show weapon used and damage caused by last five hits

[Djerk Ard]

I'm pretty certain that this will have been suggested before - it's a very common tool in any game where a character can die these days. In Elite Dangerous we are informed of who killed us but have no idea of how. I would like to be informed of how I died.
An example:
Player A fired a 2f pulse laser and hit you for 30 damage.

Having access to that information allows me to judge whether it was my stupidity or bad luck or bad flying that led to my demise, or if I took on a sidewinder with a strange loadout.

I'm not asking for detailed information on player or NPC loadouts. If a weapon has been engineered, the name of the weapon with an asterisk would be enough, along with the damage amount that it caused with its last five or three shots.

 

[StiTch]

ESO uses a similar concept with a "death breakdown".

I like such ideas, but it feels remarkably arcade-y. Not something that goes in a simulator-slash-sandbox hybrid. Assassinations and the like SHOULD be stealthy and mysterious.

So...good, but I don't think good for ED.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

My death log would state:

Ship Type: Planet
Weapon Hit: Rock
Weapon Hit: Rock
Weapon Hit: Rock
Weapon Hit: Rock
Weapon Hit: Rock

Or
Ship Type: Surface Port
Weapon: Hull melting Lasers of Doom
Weapon: Hull melting Lasers of Doom​
Weapon: Hull melting Lasers of Doom​
Weapon: Hull melting Lasers of Doom​
Weapon: Hull melting Lasers of Doom​

 

[Djerk Ard]

I've actually been playing ESO and that's what led me to think of it once I had to face my first rebuy screen!
EVE makes this data freely available to players, and the concept has been around since CoD Modern Warfare, where you were given an idea of who fired the final shot...
In ESO the damage report allows players to realise that maybe taking on that NPC wasn't such a good idea. I'm currently wondering if I should not take on "Novice" NPC vipers until I'm in a Corvette.

I'm not sure you can use the simulation argument against this - if this were real life I'd want someone to find out my cause of death. I do see the arcade aspect though (in that you're given a bunch of numbers) but I don't think this would apply to elite as the main part of the game, for most players, is trying to stay alive. And I think this would help that a tiny bit.

 

[StiTch]

I'm not sure you can use the simulation argument against this - if this were real life I'd want someone to find out my cause of death.

You'd "want" nothing, because you'd be dead.

Can see you're one of the people that puts forward a "suggestion" (taken from another game) as undeniable truth, so not really interested in this discussion. I'd rather keep the details of my tactics mine...and I dare say 99% of players wouldn't be able to make use of such info anyway.

 

[Djerk Ard]

You'd "want" nothing, because you'd be dead.

Hah, yes, so I would be - I won't want anything, but I don't see how this will prevent the doctor filling in the death certificate from doing their job properly and referring to a coroner if there is an unknown or unidentifiable cause. There is a reason for this in the real world, mainly to prevent spread of contagious diseases and massively devastating illnesses. "Cause of death" is written on the death certificate.

Can see you're one of the people that puts forward a "suggestion" (taken from another game) as undeniable truth, so not really interested in this discussion.

Can see you're one of those people who got out of bed on the wrong side that morning... so, as I wrote in the follow ups, the concept has been around in many games for the last ten years. Eve Online's player kills are documented along with the builds of attacking ships. Again, that is not what I was suggesting. Ideally, a cause of death (kinetic barrage, solar flare + overheating + attempted use of FSD, missiles and lasers to the face and so on) is what I was suggesting.

I'm not sure what undeniable truth I was positing, other than the real life statement that a "mystery death" is always investigated, first by the GP or AE doctor, and then by a coroner if necessary. This is how deaths are then registered in the UK.

I'd rather keep the details of my tactics mine...and I dare say 99% of players wouldn't be able to make use of such info anyway.

In the OP I wrote specifically that detailed breakdowns of loadouts were not necessary. If a player has enough time they can get a good idea of another player's loadout without firing a shot.

The reason why I was suggesting last five hits was that if a combination of weapons was used, they may give an indication to new players which areas could be improved on in their loadout.
More likely it'd be as CMDR_Cosmicspacehead described and just one weapon would be shown. If I could I'd change the topic to "Cause(s) of Death".

I'd be perfectly happy for an ingame reason why this information is not available too - perhaps the insurance companies refuse to release it so that their premiums don't have to increase for pilots repeatedly attacking surface ports in Type 9s?

All the best.
Px

 

[DaggerSnake]

I'm pretty certain that this will have been suggested before - it's a very common tool in any game where a character can die these days. In Elite Dangerous we are informed of who killed us but have no idea of how. I would like to be informed of how I died.
An example:
Player A fired a 2f pulse laser and hit you for 30 damage.

Having access to that information allows me to judge whether it was my stupidity or bad luck or bad flying that led to my demise, or if I took on a sidewinder with a strange loadout.

I'm not asking for detailed information on player or NPC loadouts. If a weapon has been engineered, the name of the weapon with an asterisk would be enough, along with the damage amount that it caused with its last five or three shots.

I think it could be wrapped up into a report at the rebuy screen. Like the Insurance Investigation Report of the cause of death or something like that. It's not a bad idea. Some people would obsess over the numbers and others would just ignore them, but more levels of detail are usually welcome.