Horizons What is Combat Logging?

[GG7]

Nice to have that confirmed by the lead designer.
Perhaps the notion that a small group of inflexible players with vested interests are the ones who decide what is acceptable, can finally be laid to rest.
Don't be a sheep.

Since a player using this LEGIT method of exiting the game becomes a sitting duck during that 15 second waiting period, this IS NOT what the majority of us consider Combat Logging. Turning off or restarting the PC or XB1 or simply pulling the plug on the network cable is what we are referring to and what the combat logging cowards actually do to escape destruction. Often after THEY initiate the conflict in the first place.

These "non-legit" techniques result in an instant disconnect from the server and no chance of being destroyed in the interim. The other player is then left with a badly damaged ship and some repair bills, often through no fault of their own, since as I said, the majority of combat loggers are the jerks who start the PvP fights in the first place but lack the skills to actually win many of the fights they start.

Banning losers like that from the game would be fine by me.

 

[foebits]

Combat Logging is cheating. Banning someone for cheating is perfectly reasonable.

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And what does the heat Meta have to do with your inability to select the mode of play that you want?

Yet the devs have openly stated it is not cheating so you have no grounds to stand on. Yet the game is not pvp focused so in this case you have no grounds to stand on. The heat meta just makes pvp even more ridiculous than it already was.
So if you don't want people combat loggin then maybe oyu should be going after other pvp'rs or combat capable ships instead of (not necessarily you) going after trade ships because you want an even more unfair fight.

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Combat logging is escaping combat by quitting the game.

Officially you can go to the menu, use the quit option, wait for the 15 second timer to run down and then quit. This makes you a sitting duck for 15 seconds and is still frowned upon in CMDR to CMDR engagements.

A lot of combat loggers will force quit the game or kill their network connection. This results in an insta-quit that cannot be prevented, as because the game is P2P there is no way to counter it. This is very, very frowned upon (read: actively will not be tolerated, and rightfully so) by the majority of combat pilots and is not acceptable by FD's rules, with the threat of ban as punishment.

Scenario number two is visible because the ship will start to fly in an unchanging path and will not take any damage, proceeded by the ship vanishing.

Any interaction with CMDRs would be obvious because they should have CMDR in front of their name at all times.

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It's worth noting that I've never been able to close ED using Alt/F4, as with many other games. It might just be me, but if I had the bizarre inclination to quit very quickly, I would need to alt/tab out and shut the process down - or just pull the plug on my networking. Perhaps that's what he meant, because alt/F4 would typically close the relevant process(es) down anyway - last I checked ED doesn't operate any active data transfer processes to the BGS when the game is closed.

You poor fool, something is not deemed unacceptable by the devs just because YOU don't like it, furthermore they have stated repeatedly that they don't see it as a problem to combat log. And here's another bright idea for you: You start banning them and guess what? Now there's NOONE for you to fight so you've just effectively made the universe devoid of all players around you. Congratulations on not thinking that out or even boning up one who's saying what about it.

 

[foebits]

Exactly how is ED not competitive.

You have 4 'super' powers (independent pilots, alliance, fed, empire) - all with different ethos and in direct competition through various means. Each of those 4 can be further sub-divided into 10 competing PowerPlay powers - of which you don't have to directly participate in PP to take advantage of the benefits. Then add in the various competitive community goals and whatnot.... and you have plenty of competitive arenas.

So I take it whenever a crazed NPC stops you - you believe combat logging is ok? I think you'd be more apt to play Euro Truck simulator than ED if that is the case. ED is competitive at it's very nature....

The level of disconnected you people are showing is atrocious really. So because there is a BG simulated conflict the game revolves around competition? Try again, and harder.

 

[DragoonKnight]

Yet the devs have openly stated it is not cheating so you have no grounds to stand on. Yet the game is not pvp focused so in this case you have no grounds to stand on. The heat meta just makes pvp even more ridiculous than it already was.
So if you don't want people combat loggin then maybe oyu should be going after other pvp'rs or combat capable ships instead of (not necessarily you) going after trade ships because you want an even more unfair fight.

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You poor fool, something is not deemed unacceptable by the devs just because YOU don't like it, furthermore they have stated repeatedly that they don't see it as a problem to combat log. And here's another bright idea for you: You start banning them and guess what? Now there's NOONE for you to fight so you've just effectively made the universe devoid of all players around you. Congratulations on not thinking that out or even boning up one who's saying what about it.

DONT LIE
Sandro has openly stated that Combat Logging is an exploit and that they will take action against combat loggers at some point.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/105778-“Combat-Logging”-Update

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And just because it may not be allowed on this board, do not think there is no place to Name and Shame the pathetic combat logging of anyone who does it in PvP. It doesnt matter if PvP is desired or not. Equip your ship properly and you will survive to reach the next space station or outpost.

 

[DragoonKnight]

Nice to have that confirmed by the lead designer.
Perhaps the notion that a small group of inflexible players with vested interests are the ones who decide what is acceptable, can finally be laid to rest.
Don't be a sheep.

Thats because exiting via the menu is not combat logging. Exiting by using ALT+F4 or pulling the plug on your router is combat logging.

 

[Devari]

What is combat logging?

Combat logging is what players do when the buggy interdiction mechanics cause them to fail interdictions even when they submit.

Don't think of it like an exploit. Think of it like a "workaround" for the buggy interdiction mechanics that FD is unwilling to fix.

Not that I'm advocating that players combat log. But if you insta-fail an interdiction, it's worth pointing out that the Task Manager is only a few clicks away and is much faster than writing a support ticket.

 

[Fendalton]

Combat logging is exiting the game when in combat, pretty straight forward.

It applies to all online games and isn't exclusive to Elite Dangerous.

What is exclusive in Elite Dangerous is Frontiers absolute joke of enforcing the rule.

 

[Devari]

What is exclusive in Elite Dangerous is Frontiers absolute joke of enforcing the rule.

I would clarify that they are probably unable to effectively enforce the rule. If they ran the game off of a persistent central server, instead of P2P connections, they could simply continue to have your ship "exist" in the game for 15 seconds even with a combat log. At present however you ship is immediately "gone" when the client process is closed. There is no way to track any additional damage or effects to your ship once you close the client on your computer. So FD can't get around this issue in large part because of their technical limitations.

Second, given that they can't actually do anything about any given player closing the Elite client process, there's the issue about how they would "enforce" something that they can't do anything about. In fact, not only can they not "enforce" it but they can't even reliably "detect" it. They have no idea "why" your client suddenly closed, it could have been due to a bug or crash or other issue. They have no way to "prove" that you closed it intentionally. If they ever did try to "punish" players who were disconnected in the middle of combat the backlash would be absolutely massive, because any players who were unfairly "targeted" by FD as combat logging when there was really a disconnection, crash or game bug that caused the problem would be absolutely livid.

The third major issue here is that FD has allowed many bugs to continue to exist which directly result in the destruction of ships in the game. The interdiction bugs are the biggest culprit here, where you submit but insta-fail the interdiction anyways. This can often result in the destruction of your ship and/or cargo and it is a massive hassle to even try to get these reimbursed by support. Even if they "agree" that it was an interdiction bug (and these are very hard to "prove" to support) they would only give you the rebuy cost back, not the cargo or exploration data you may have lost. In this sense it will be extremely difficult to "punish" combat loggers who log out immediately upon insta-failing an interdiction because they are trying to avoid ship destruction caused by a recurrent game bug that FD consistently refuses to fix.

So combat logging will continue to exist for players until FD redesigns the entire game to run off a central server (too expensive and simply not going to happen) as they are simply unable to detect or enforce it with the game's current P2P connections.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Go right ahead and combat log. We'll just post a video of your cheating and have FD ban you to the shadowservers.

And then someone else videos you combat logging on them when they lulzbann you - and you get shadow banned for no good reason.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Combat logging is about people developping power fantasies about you should you have the impertinence to say "no" right away to playing with them. Most of it is just butthurt about that and some even go as far branding the menu exit as "cheating".

In truth combat logging is when you pull the cable or kill the task when you're about to lose. That's unsportsmanlike and wastes really everyones time.

 

[StiTch]

Yet the devs have openly stated it is not cheating so you have no grounds to stand on. Yet the game is not pvp focused so in this case you have no grounds to stand on. The heat meta just makes pvp even more ridiculous than it already was.
So if you don't want people combat loggin then maybe oyu should be going after other pvp'rs or combat capable ships instead of (not necessarily you) going after trade ships because you want an even more unfair fight.

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You poor fool, something is not deemed unacceptable by the devs just because YOU don't like it, furthermore they have stated repeatedly that they don't see it as a problem to combat log. And here's another bright idea for you: You start banning them and guess what? Now there's NOONE for you to fight so you've just effectively made the universe devoid of all players around you. Congratulations on not thinking that out or even boning up one who's saying what about it.

Congratulations on lying (please see many statements from FD that what they call "ungraceful" exiting is NOT okay), making the assumption I am a ganker (please point out the section of that post where I tell you it frustrates me because gank prey gets away), and constructing the largest comment I've seen in the whole forum without a single piece of integrity or honesty.

 

[=71st=RuSh]

Combat Logging is cheating. Banning someone for cheating is perfectly reasonable.

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And what does the heat Meta have to do with your inability to select the mode of play that you want?

You cant ban someone that bought your product (in this case the game), and the only way to play it is connected to your servers! period!

If the game were like ARMA or DCS world, were the server is run by own squadrons or individuals, in this case you can ban/kick who you want.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

You cant ban someone that bought your product (in this case the game), and the only way to play it is connected to your servers! period!

...

Well, Blizzard does so with cheaters in Overwatch, no?

 

[StiTch]

You cant ban someone that bought your product (in this case the game), and the only way to play it is connected to your servers! period!

If the game were like ARMA or DCS world, were the server is run by own squadrons or individuals, in this case you can ban/kick who you want.

I believe the term used was "shadow ban", and was first spoken of by FD.

It would likely entail being booted from Open and Private game modes or similar.

They also stated there would be incentives for not combat logging, and sticking out the hard times.

 

[=71st=RuSh]

I believe the term used was "shadow ban", and was first spoken of by FD.

It would likely entail being booted from Open and Private game modes or similar.

They also stated there would be incentives for not combat logging, and sticking out the hard times.

In this case is OK, because the cheater/hacker can continue playing in Solo.

Is any game is run in a dedicated server and dont have single player option, no one can ban to any player for life, in this case, the server owners have to dedicate efforts to keep cheats/hack away by procedural means.

 

[StiTch]

In this case is OK, because the cheater/hacker can continue playing in Solo.

Hacking is absolutely not the same. Hacking will 100% result in permanent account ban/deletion if caught.

 

[=71st=RuSh]

Hacking is absolutely not the same. Hacking will 100% result in permanent account ban/deletion if caught.

You are right, I should say cheat/crack the client part of the game, not hack the server. By the way. if someone hacks any server, will be almost impossible to trace them, hackers usually are well fitted to get inside the target using mutiple proxy/layers and the attacker IP will not be reachable by any means!.

 

[TheDayman]

Combat Logging is when two opposing loggers fight with saws over who can cut down the tree fastest

 

[foebits]

Congratulations on lying (please see many statements from FD that what they call "ungraceful" exiting is NOT okay), making the assumption I am a ganker (please point out the section of that post where I tell you it frustrates me because gank prey gets away), and constructing the largest comment I've seen in the whole forum without a single piece of integrity or honesty.

Your inability to comprehend what has been said is astounding and not my fault. If that's what you really believe then you can continue to ignore literally all of reality all you want. I'm just going to continue laughing at you if that's the case; I will not be bothered with people so far below par in understanding like this.[haha]

Cute attempt though.

 

[Mercury7]

There was a mod for a FPS I used to play that would remove all weapons for 30 minutes or two rounds if you team-killed.

Maybe FD could introduce a mechanism that limits ship performance, cuts FSD jump distance to 5 Ly, and inhibits weapons for some period? It could then apply to any ship the player is in.