Hello all,
I've been playing again after a long hiatus and am frustrated to find that one of the bug/features/design choices which caused me to leave in the first place is still front and center.
I am of course writing about how the "Wanted" status is handled in the game in general. It affects me most directly in RES sites. Anyone who hunts bounties is familiar with the frustration of becoming wanted after firing an errant shot, or one's own fire being intercepted by local security forces. (Seriously, these guys are reckless). While I enjoy my time in the game, this one design choice leaves such a foul taste in my mouth every time that it happens that I will find myself not playing for extended periods of time. Weeks, months, and in the most recent case, an entire year has gone by without me logging in.
I understand the desire to force the player to pay attention so that we are not able to simply zone out and not have to worry about the ramifications of our actions. However, I feel the 1 step solution currently in place, where the offending pilot is immediately wanted and marked for DEATH, is heavy handed. For me it is not a deterrent from carelessness, it is a deterrent from enjoyment. Any fun I had during the play session is meaningless because all progress for bounties is lost upon death. I do my best to not shoot anybody without pure intent. But, accidents happen. In all likelihood the ship which was inadvertently shot lost a few points of shield, worst case scenario they took some hull damage. The mark of Wanted for a simple assault is out of line with the severity of the crime. The penalty for murder, should be wanted with the punishment being death if caught.
My suggestion: Increase the fine, drastically if needed, as a deterrent for assault but discontinue assigning the 'wanted' status until a threshold is reached.
Example implementation:
The benefits of this to the player are extreme, as it teaches mindfulness in RES zones, and the player is able to continue playing the game. It also helps to achieve what I assume your goals are for the penalty, which is to deter reckless behavior. We are, after all, in the RES to make money. Reckless players could see a significant reduction in their earnings, and the mindful ones who make the occasional accident aren't encouraged to put down Elite Dangerous to play other games in their free time.
I've been playing again after a long hiatus and am frustrated to find that one of the bug/features/design choices which caused me to leave in the first place is still front and center.
I am of course writing about how the "Wanted" status is handled in the game in general. It affects me most directly in RES sites. Anyone who hunts bounties is familiar with the frustration of becoming wanted after firing an errant shot, or one's own fire being intercepted by local security forces. (Seriously, these guys are reckless). While I enjoy my time in the game, this one design choice leaves such a foul taste in my mouth every time that it happens that I will find myself not playing for extended periods of time. Weeks, months, and in the most recent case, an entire year has gone by without me logging in.
I understand the desire to force the player to pay attention so that we are not able to simply zone out and not have to worry about the ramifications of our actions. However, I feel the 1 step solution currently in place, where the offending pilot is immediately wanted and marked for DEATH, is heavy handed. For me it is not a deterrent from carelessness, it is a deterrent from enjoyment. Any fun I had during the play session is meaningless because all progress for bounties is lost upon death. I do my best to not shoot anybody without pure intent. But, accidents happen. In all likelihood the ship which was inadvertently shot lost a few points of shield, worst case scenario they took some hull damage. The mark of Wanted for a simple assault is out of line with the severity of the crime. The penalty for murder, should be wanted with the punishment being death if caught.
My suggestion: Increase the fine, drastically if needed, as a deterrent for assault but discontinue assigning the 'wanted' status until a threshold is reached.
Example implementation:
Fine: Perhaps they start at 1k and the fine amount doubles per infraction. Fines for assault could start small and increase in size with repeat infractions. Could also be tied to the damage caused if the target takes hull damage. This would account for the damage disparity between a little pulse laser and a missile or round from a rail gun.
Threshold: For arguments sake make the threshold such that a person could accidentally hit someone with a laser 5 times before being wanted. Whereas a player who hits the wrong ship with a plasma accelerator would be wanted with just one errant shot. With great power comes great responsibility kind of thing. This could also be a function of the player's highest pilot rating to have it scale with the value of their ship, and earning potential.
UI: I don't think a direct message would suffice for this. There would need to be a significant notification to the player indicating the infraction. The current location of the wanted indicator would be perfect for this. Simply add a third state. Normal, Warning, Wanted. Perhaps display the current fine amount and the total allowed before becoming wanted in the ship/player status screen
Threshold: For arguments sake make the threshold such that a person could accidentally hit someone with a laser 5 times before being wanted. Whereas a player who hits the wrong ship with a plasma accelerator would be wanted with just one errant shot. With great power comes great responsibility kind of thing. This could also be a function of the player's highest pilot rating to have it scale with the value of their ship, and earning potential.
UI: I don't think a direct message would suffice for this. There would need to be a significant notification to the player indicating the infraction. The current location of the wanted indicator would be perfect for this. Simply add a third state. Normal, Warning, Wanted. Perhaps display the current fine amount and the total allowed before becoming wanted in the ship/player status screen
The benefits of this to the player are extreme, as it teaches mindfulness in RES zones, and the player is able to continue playing the game. It also helps to achieve what I assume your goals are for the penalty, which is to deter reckless behavior. We are, after all, in the RES to make money. Reckless players could see a significant reduction in their earnings, and the mindful ones who make the occasional accident aren't encouraged to put down Elite Dangerous to play other games in their free time.