Visualization of Crime Rates

[SiriusSeven]

This excellent post on another thread got me thinking:

The forum is full with threads about the pirate threat around Lave. The system has been the staging area for various invasions, offensives, counter-offensives, hostile take-overs, griefing, terrorism and all kinds of nasty player behavior in the days since release.

So raging about getting attacked by a pirate in a system that is widely known for its piracy issues....

...

You entered Lave at your own risk. The information about the level of risk had been available since game release. And still you entered Lave in an unarmed transport, a flying brick. What did you expect to happen?

Ok, so here's the reality:
Lave is listed as a high security zone. Wouldn't it be cool if player actions actually could modify this? It's perhaps the single most dangerous location for traders to travel, yet this is not reflected in the galaxy or system map. Unless you follow the forums, you would have no idea.

What can be done about it?
It would be very cool if there was an in-game mechanic for Lave's reputation to spread. GalNet is one mechanism I guess. But, I'd also like to see crime rates visible in the system info screens or galaxy map. Something like the crime rate visualization of sim city:



What other in-game mechanisms might there be for spreading the reputations of dangerous pirate hubs?

 

[Sayne]

I'd prefer if the cops actually did their job and made the Lave cluster and other high security systems relatively safe again.

 

[SiriusSeven]

Sure. So would I (as my posting history reveals). In any case, there is a mismatch. Either make the system feel high security, or allow the security status to drift to reflect reality. Same problem. Working the solution from either end.

 

[Bardolin]

Making cops an actual credible threat would go a long way to improve the situation, but I do like the proposed idea of having some way of seeing on the galmap where sytems tend to have more criminal activity (or player conflict in general), since it would not only help traders plot their jumps but also help bounty-hunters find other systems that aren't talked as much on GalNet/forums like Lave to hunt pirates.

 

[Sayne]

Sure. So would I (as my posting history reveals). In any case, there is a mismatch. Either make the system feel high security, or allow the security status to drift to reflect reality. Same problem. Working the solution from either end.

Yeah I understand. I didn't mean to belittle your crime reporting idea, it wouldnt be a bad feature. Even if the cops woke up and started hunting pirates with wings of Elite Pythons and Anacondas, there still might be crime spikes worth reporting.

 

[SiriusSeven]

^ @Sayne I didn't feel belittled

And my post actively asked for other suggestions!

I just wanted to point out that I was/am in full support for stronger police forces as well.

 

[Venree]

I've been playing the Wings beta (1.2) and i will admit, in every beta i go nuts attacking everything just ... to ... "test" (sure ... lets call it that )

anyway my point is since wings got introduced the NPC system security has been showing up in wings of eagles/vipers or worst i saw was anaconda and 2 vultures as escorts...
they seem to be fighting in team and not all randomly shooting you (like they cover their wing men and such).

in short i think wings will force pirates and criminals (at least some of them) to act a bit more cautiously

 

[SiriusSeven]

I've been playing the Wings beta (1.2) and i will admit, in every beta i go nuts attacking everything just ... to ... "test" (sure ... lets call it that )

anyway my point is since wings got introduced the NPC system security has been showing up in wings of eagles/vipers or worst i saw was anaconda and 2 vultures as escorts...
they seem to be fighting in team and not all randomly shooting you (like they cover their wing men and such).

in short i think wings will force pirates and criminals (at least some of them) to act a bit more cautiously

That's great news!

To be clear, I am not complaining about pirates. I just think system security levels should be more player driven, and I also think it would be cool get some data as to where the action is! (as it were)

 

[Pekka]

Security forces have been a bad joke since day one.

Maybe Wings will change that, I don't know. It just isn't very believable that a system with supposedly high security is such a playground for criminals.