What a sad game this is when you have to resort to combat logging because of crappy game mechanics

[captainhelmet]

Let me first start by stating that I don't like to cheat. This is the only game I have played in a long time where I will cheat occasionally, I do this because the game cheats also.

So I'm in SC and two different pirates send me messages to indicate they are about to interdict me. One of them does so I submit then the other drops in too, no biggy, this happens all the time. I boost away and jump out again. These two NPCs just keep jumping in and interdicting me. Anyway it goes on and sometimes I get an FSD failure due to their magic ability to fill the bar instantly sometimes; I have to wait for the FSD cooldown which serves no purpose other than to annoy you. This is already annoying and dumb mechanics but here's the best bit - I decided that on the next interdiction I'll fight the mini game. When it happens it took around 1.5 mins to win it then INSTANTLY I get locked into another by the other NPC and have to do that also. So many game mechanics that are not only broken but just seem to serve the only purpose of severely annoying the player.


What prompted me to write this though was why I was forced to combat log. As if all the above isn't annoying enough as it is, I had another incident in the next system where a pirate kept doing the same (only 1 this time). I managed to get within 10MM of the station, literally about to drop and he interdicts me. I submit and boost away and jump again but I somehow start about 10LS away from the station!! My plan was, since I was so close to the station I could jump and then safe disengage before he got behind me again. Anyway, this repeated for 5 times where I kept getting really close then interdicted and it would reset 10LS away again. I'd had enough and combat logged, logged back in and flew to the station. What a joke!

BTW for both these occasions I did not have any missions active, I was just doing my own trade.

So many mechanics like this that just astounds me that the DEVs never once thought "hmm, would this annoy the hell out of the players??, no"


It's a sad day when we have to resort on game exploits to counter the games stupid annoying flaws!

 

[Kewpa Eurus]

If you really want to be annoyed, stack smuggling missions at Robigo and make the run.

 

[WR3ND]

Meh. I must be accidentally doing something right then, as this really isn't much of a bother for me. On the other hand, I do often just submit and pop the other ships with my fully combat loaded explorer Vulture.

To be fair, I do kind of find rubber-banding (or what have you) back away from stations to be an unfortunate thing.

 

[Jaiotu]

Wow.

I remember playing PacMan in my youth. It was really annoying that there were four ghosts constantly pursuing me and preventing me from completing my endless quest of collecting tiny dots. I'd eat the corner dots and then eat the ghosts but then they would just instantly respawn and start chasing me again. Really annoyed the heck out of me.

 

[CMDR Ellegon]

Combat logging is lame in general. Combat logging against NPCs is utterly ridiculous. [down] [down] [down] to the OP.

 

[mistohise]

The chain interdiction from NPCs is s bit daft. In a non combat ship you really need to try to win the mini game if you're stuck in one of those loops because your other options are destroying the opponent which is unlikely in a trade ship or Hi wake out which means you have to start over.
ETA though you don't have to combat log. Just drop to normal space when you have an opportunity and then menu and back in.

 

[Weps]

I managed to get within 10MM of the station, literally about to drop and the b@start interdicts me. I submit and boost away and jump again but I somehow start about 10LS away from the station!!

While I don't agree with the OP's stand on things, I have to give him this. We've argued this mechanic before, some were for it, some were against it, I'm still against it.

It makes no sense for the interdiction process to whisk you through spacetime to the location of the interdictor. We're having these massive spaceship frame shift drives designed to make us travel faster than light and yet an interdictor can not only counter the effects of the drive, but also work as a different drive in reverse, pulling the ship away from its destination. Next thing you know, we might abandon space flight altogether and simply pull cargo and passengers from one planet to another with huge planetside interdictor devices.

Or is the interdictor somehow hacking the controls of my drive and making it work against my will? Someone call Apple!

Yes, I know, who am I to judge how imaginary future tech works, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, yadda yadda yadda.

It would be much cooler to have the interdictor device do just what its name implies. Interdict the target's drive from working. The target drops in normal space, the interdictor ship has to approach and drop on its wake. This gives time for the target to prepare, put some distance between himself and the drop point, engage silent running, call friends, call the cops, whatever. Increase the target's cooldown period if that's a concern. It's also an incentive for the interdictor to try and interdict targets as close as possible as opposed to hundreds of light seconds away. This gives rise to a cat and mouse game where chases across a system might actually take place.

 

[Varrag]

+1 to OP

I have to admit that I've been forced to use logoffski against NPCs more than once. Chain interdictions, magic ability of NPCs to materialize on your tail out of nowhere, over and over again, and of course instant teleportation of my ship back to interdictor's position are not really my definition of fun; much less the challenge. It is just annoying, plain and simple. One of those moments when I think that the game is treating me like an idiot.

It would be much cooler to have the interdictor device do just what its name implies. Interdict the target's drive from working. The target drops in normal space, the interdictor ship has to approach and drop on its wake.

^^ Also, this.

 

[WR3ND]

...

Bro, don't believe others' quips just because they happen to get repeated. "Indistinguishable from magic." Pretty sure magic isn't real, regardless of me not knowing and understand everything that there ever was and will be. If I observed something I didn't understand, magic wouldn't be my fallback.

But yeah, this is a video game, and I agree that isn't necessarily the best game mechanic.

 

[bamber]

Let me first start by stating that I don't like to cheat. This is the only game I have played in a long time where I will cheat occasionally, I do this because the game cheats also.

So I'm in SC and two different pirates send me messages to indicate they are about to interdict me. One of them does so I submit then the other drops in too, no biggy, this happens all the time. I boost away and jump out again. These two NPCs just keep jumping in and interdicting me. Anyway it goes on and sometimes I get an FSD failure due to their magic ability to fill the bar instantly sometimes; I have to wait for the FSD cooldown which serves no purpose other than to annoy you. This is already annoying and dumb mechanics but here's the best bit - I decided that on the next interdiction I'll fight the mini game. When it happens it took around 1.5 mins to win it then INSTANTLY I get locked into another by the other NPC and have to do that also. So many game mechanics that are not only broken but just seem to serve the only purpose of severely annoying the player.


What prompted me to write this though was why I was forced to combat log. As if all the above isn't annoying enough as it is, I had another incident in the next system where a pirate kept doing the same (only 1 this time). I managed to get within 10MM of the station, literally about to drop and the b@start interdicts me. I submit and boost away and jump again but I somehow start about 10LS away from the station!! My plan was, since I was so close to the station I could jump and then safe disengage before he got behind me again. Anyway, this repeated for 5 times where I kept getting really close then interdicted and it would reset 10LS away again. I'd had enough and combat logged, logged back in and flew to the station. What a joke!

BTW for both these occasions I did not have any missions active, I was just doing my own trade.

So many mechanics like this that just astounds me that the DEVs never once thought "hmm, would this annoy the hell out of the players??, no"


It's a sad day when we have to resort on game exploits to counter the games stupid annoying flaws!

Seems ok to me - solution is jump to a new system and back in - no one forced a combat log on you but you

 

[Machinewash]

I smuggle out of Robigo almost daily and found a method of minimizing the chain interdictions. Over half the time, I beat the interdiction, including serial interdictions. When I can't beat the interdiction, I submit and boost away until I'm 8km from the interdicting pilot. I then wait about 5-10 sec before jumping to supercruise. Most of the time, I don't see a subsequent interdiction. Similarly, if an authority ship drops into my instance when I'm at the station, I boost away until I'm 8km from the cop, then wait 5-10 sec before turning back to the station. I should mention that this works because I smuggle in a Cobra Mk III.

 

[Jaiotu]

It would be much cooler to have the interdictor device do just what its name implies. Interdict the target's drive from working. The target drops in normal space, the interdictor ship has to approach and drop on its wake. This gives time for the target to prepare, put some distance between himself and the drop point, engage silent running, call friends, call the cops, whatever. Increase the target's cooldown period if that's a concern. It's also an incentive for the interdictor to try and interdict targets as close as possible as opposed to hundreds of light seconds away. This gives rise to a cat and mouse game where chases across a system might actually take place.

This would be much worse. Increase the cooldown time? No way. That would lead to people whose only goal in life would be to interdict you just to watch you waste time. Why jump in on the wake? Just wait for you to pop back into supercruise and then interdict you again. Just to force you to waste more time waiting for you to enter supercruise. I can see whole systems full of people doing nothing but interdicting players every single time they enter supercruise just to prevent them from making any headway.

I'm not faulting you for trying to think of a better solution to the current mechanics. I just don't think this particular proposition is the right way to go. Maybe the answer is to keep the current mechanic but make the act of "being reeled-in" by the interdictor actually visible on-screen so you actually see yourself being "pulled back" from your intended destination.

 

[Iskariot]

It's a sad day when we have to resort on game exploits to counter the games stupid annoying flaws!

In general the intensity of interdictions you describe seem to be very rare now. Chain interdictions were much more common a few patches ago.
Stacked Shadow missions are an example of something FD needs to look at in this respect.

I never experience chain interdictions myself anymore. This used to be different.
It is good to report them if they still happen I think, because FD will no doubt want to tweak this.

Please try to understand that the game is still in development.
Report this stuff so FD knows about it.

 

[MickyG1982]

In general the intensity of interdictions you describe seem to be very rare now. Chain interdictions were much more common a few patches ago.
Stacked Shadow missions are an example of something FD needs to look at in this respect.

I never experience chain interdictions myself anymore. This used to be different.
It is good to report them if they still happen I think, because FD will no doubt want to tweak this.

Please try to understand that the game is still in development.
Report this stuff so FD knows about it.

Why would they need to look at stacked smuggling missions? The more you have, the more interest you have focussed on you, the more you get interdicted. It's already too easy to make credits at Robigo and similar systems as it is.

 

[CMDR Argent Steel]

If you beat the mini game and their interdiction fails, the npcs go away and don't bother you again. That's on a one by one basis though so if there are multiple ones trying they each get a turn.

I always did cargo in an asp loaded to fight and would kill the npcs. That did the trick for me. You could try it.

 

[Weps]

Why jump in on the wake?

The game would drop the interdictor on the wake automatically, but only if he keeps the wake in his sights. Think of the process we have now, but asynchronous in terms of progress made by interdictor vs. target. When the target loses the tug, the interdictor still has some blue bar progress to fill - this depends on his destination to the wake. Not keeping his sights on the wake means that he can revert his progress and lose, being dropped randomly. If he heads straight for the wake, the progress bar fills up at the point where it is safe to drop, which happens automatically.

In any case, even if such a mechanic would be too complicated to implement, I'd prefer to see the interdictor being magically transported to the position of the target rather than the target being magically transported to the position of the interdictor. It creates the sensation of both ships moving forward and meeting at a point in front of them, as opposed to one arbitrarily starting to move in the opposite direction.

 

[Iskariot]

Why would they need to look at stacked smuggling missions? The more you have, the more interest you have focussed on you, the more you get interdicted. It's already too easy to make credits at Robigo and similar systems as it is.

My feeling is that increased interest is fine, but it feels unrealistic that every omniscient cop in the universe seems to be on to you all the time when you stack a certain type of missions.
Smuggling therefore does not feel like smuggling, but becomes a form of blockade running this way.... all the time.
The police always knows! It gives me the frustrated feeling I am the worst smuggler in the history of mankind . And there is nothing I can do to improve my skill, because the cops are like all-knowing gods.
I'd like to see a more subtle mechanism implemented that requires a more stealth like approach instead of always running away from cops who already know you are the target they want.

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In any case, even if such a mechanic would be too complicated to implement, I'd prefer to see the interdictor being magically transported to the position of the target rather than the target being magically transported to the position of the interdictor. It creates the sensation of both ships moving forward and meeting at a point in front of them, as opposed to one arbitrarily starting to move in the opposite direction.

Totally agree with this!
If possible FD should implement this as soon as possible. It would feel more natural and remove an incredible annoyance from the game.

 

[GunnerBill]

Let me first start by stating that I don't like to cheat. This is the only game I have played in a long time where I will cheat occasionally, I do this because the game cheats also.

So I'm in SC and two different pirates send me messages to indicate they are about to interdict me. One of them does so I submit then the other drops in too, no biggy, this happens all the time. I boost away and jump out again. These two NPCs just keep jumping in and interdicting me. Anyway it goes on and sometimes I get an FSD failure due to their magic ability to fill the bar instantly sometimes; I have to wait for the FSD cooldown which serves no purpose other than to annoy you. This is already annoying and dumb mechanics but here's the best bit - I decided that on the next interdiction I'll fight the mini game. When it happens it took around 1.5 mins to win it then INSTANTLY I get locked into another by the other NPC and have to do that also. So many game mechanics that are not only broken but just seem to serve the only purpose of severely annoying the player.


What prompted me to write this though was why I was forced to combat log. As if all the above isn't annoying enough as it is, I had another incident in the next system where a pirate kept doing the same (only 1 this time). I managed to get within 10MM of the station, literally about to drop and he interdicts me. I submit and boost away and jump again but I somehow start about 10LS away from the station!! My plan was, since I was so close to the station I could jump and then safe disengage before he got behind me again. Anyway, this repeated for 5 times where I kept getting really close then interdicted and it would reset 10LS away again. I'd had enough and combat logged, logged back in and flew to the station. What a joke!

BTW for both these occasions I did not have any missions active, I was just doing my own trade.

So many mechanics like this that just astounds me that the DEVs never once thought "hmm, would this annoy the hell out of the players??, no"


It's a sad day when we have to resort on game exploits to counter the games stupid annoying flaws!

Exactly this happened to me last night, several times. Oh that and the turreted rails on NPC's and frankly ridiculous interdiction angles etc.

Combat logging is lame in general. Combat logging against NPCs is utterly ridiculous. [down] [down] [down] to the OP.

I think you are missing the point of the OP, the game cheats ferociously and that is the only way to make it even slightly fair... and it wasn't combat logging.

Observe this NPC's angle at interdiction (I took the screenie immediately he interdicted so I hadn't moved away or changed the interdiction angle at all):



Really? Seriously?

 

[GluttonyFang]

Combat logging on NPCs...?

Hah...

 

[Barking_Mad]

There obviously needs to be a risk to smuggling missions, especially if you stack them. Otherwise we'd all be moaning there's no risk and it's all easy money. Interdictions are that trade off. However they need looking at again imo as they're not involving enough as a game mechanic. That said I've been unable to think of an interesting take on them, and I've not seen an alternative that struck me as a good idea.

Anyone?