Hmm... I read your suggestions. Yes, it seems you managed a collection of features unachievable by available software. Maybe there is a solution for some of them not involving the writing of special programs just for that task, but I can't see it right now. And I usually see a way even for pretty wild ideas if they are possible.
But rejoice! There are two things you mentioned, that are in the mod in their essence.
1) Automatic CMs - activate the CM dropper as a weapon and voila! It automatically drops countermeasures on missile approach.
2) Banks ... just create a bank character. We have console commands that allow you to deposit and withdraw credits without tedious re-logging. Be sure to fly it for at least 10 minutes total, or else it will get deleted.
200 players is indeed the current technological cap. We have more than that wanting to play in the evenings, but they just can't. The only solutions would be
1) Developing a much faster CPU - not within our reach.
2) Reverse-engineer the Server program - not in any reasonable time-frame (we're talking years) and extremely tedious. Not to mention illegal.
3) Linking several servers to govern a single universe - and that is in development.
Some of your theories are ... strange.
How does the absence of a death penalty favour pirates? That would obviously affect pirates, traders, police and navies alike. If there was a death penalty, you would be crying that a cheap pirate bomber can force you to buy your expensive transport again...
The absence of a death penalty affects everyone equally and it is a blessing.
' Wrote:Hmm... I read your suggestions. Yes, it seems you managed a collection of features unachievable by available software. Maybe there is a solution for some of them not involving the writing of special programs just for that task, but I can't see it right now. And I usually see a way even for pretty wild ideas if they are possible.
But rejoice! There are two things you mentioned, that are in the mod in their essence.
1) Automatic CMs - activate the CM dropper as a weapon and voila! It automatically drops countermeasures on missile approach.
2) Banks ... just create a bank character. We have console commands that allow you to deposit and withdraw credits without tedious re-logging. Be sure to fly it for at least 10 minutes total, or else it will get deleted.
200 players is indeed the current technological cap. We have more than that wanting to play in the evenings, but they just can't. The only solutions would be
1) Developing a much faster CPU - not within our reach.
2) Reverse-engineer the Server program - not in any reasonable time-frame (we're talking years) and extremely tedious. Not to mention illegal.
3) Linking several servers to govern a single universe - and that is in development.
Some of your theories are ... strange.
How does the absence of a death penalty favour pirates? That would obviously affect pirates, traders, police and navies alike. If there was a death penalty, you would be crying that a cheap pirate bomber can force you to buy your expensive transport again...
The absence of a death penalty affects everyone equally and it is a blessing.
(And again, why do I even bother...)
You bother because it's helpful, and being helpful for some people is fun.:)
Thank you very much for 1 and 2! That will improve matters significantly. And it's good to hear that the linking of servers is in the offing. Multilayer games are a network good, so the more the merrier. More people more potential developers more interest better fun for all.
As to the absence of death it makes piracy a dangerless career choice. Pirates are defined by their short lived nature. An old pirate was something to be feared. Without pain and death characters piloted by human who are motivated by pain and death become vampire infants, all hunger no aversion.
It seems axiomatic to me, if you could actually kill the pirates we'd have less pirates, don't you think?:P
And I don't want the penalty to apply to traders, living by the sword and dieing by the sword is different than being murdered on your way to the store.
My point is in this universe piracy is in effect a legitimate career choice, and a big part of crime is the risk, so if you're going to simulate crime you should add risk that only applies to criminals.
Legitimate money is always harder to earn but the flip side should be increased security. As it stands now, crime pays, big time. It guts role play because everyone gets to be a mobster with no chance of being whacked.
I think I understand your point, but I'm not sure I would like it.
Btw, dying by the sword and being murdered on your way to store (or being killed by pirates off African shores) have something in common. You stay dead.
Alright, I guess I could create a logical argument why some ships, for example traders, should be exempt from it or get lesser consequences. Varied death penalty in this way is probably a new idea. There were some thoughts about differentiating between caps and fighters though.
I still prefer the absence of death penalty. It makes it so much easier to relax. With severe consequences, there would be so much more bad blood and temper tantrums around here. I believe it is one of the things that allow Discovery to be a pretty friendly place.
1.Could u increase mass(weight) of capital ships, so they don't spin like a ball, when they get rammed by a fighter.
2.could u make CARRIERS dockable by fighters.
that's all from my, i think the 1st request is more important then 2nd one.
Hate will eat you up from the inside, so hurry up and give your heart to a girl before you get eaten up.
' Wrote:1.Could u increase mass(weight) of capital ships, so they don't spin like a ball, when they get rammed by a fighter.
Have you flown a capital ship in Discovery 4.85 ? Capital ships don't "spin like a ball" for a long time now. At least not from player fighters. NPCs still hurl them around, but that's a different story, that's an irresistible force.
' Wrote:I still prefer the absence of death penalty. It makes it so much easier to relax.
I couldn't agree more, which is why my other ideas are in game and less, deus ex machina. I don't support the idea of death penalties as the only possible solution, and you may be right about that being the wrong approach, but I do think there is a problem.
Perhaps another way to make money entirely that is safe from piracy altogether could be devised for example? Such as making mining more viable in more locations while Perhaps toning down the profits from extreme tens of millions per cargo hold cases. Again, merely a single possible solution.
' Wrote:With severe consequences, there would be so much more bad blood and temper tantrums around here. I believe it is one of the things that allow Discovery to be a pretty friendly place.
Again, agreed completely, but you must understand that bridge is already partially crossed, if you're a trader. We already are doing something many gamers find boring, we like a relaxed style of play even compared to other casual gamers, so when we get robbed and an hour of work is destroyed by someone who has no emotional investment at all beyond digital sadism, it makes you want to leave the game entirely, and in my case you curse and get banned for a week.:)
I HATE pirates and the players who play them because the game presents the choice to the player, be a pirate or be a victim. Well, in the real world I have a shotgun by my door to dissuade criminals. I want options for defending myself here, and all the cargo haulers are written to be powerless.
I really think the best solution would to mimic real world tools used for offsetting risk.
Here's an idea and you can tell me what you think.
Instead of making death costly to pirates, which you've rejected with probably good reason, we could go in the other direction and make it less costly to traders. One could make it so that on death the trader respawns with his cargo intact. That way the only thing the trader loses is time, not 3 million worth of cargo and time.
My problem ultimately is that when a pirate dies they have nothing to lose, especially when they have a whole stable of characters while I'm struggling to maintain and build my one. Traders need AT LEAST that.
Or how about a new class of thruster/cruise (maybe set cruise to be twice as fast on the obvious cargo ships and remove weapons from them entirely?) so that traders have the realistic option of bypassing trade lanes altogether. Then at least the pirates would have to hunt more actively rather than camp.
I really want to respond to a lot of your arguments, but atm I don't have the time.
But one in particular caught my attention and that's of a dying trader keeping his/her cargo intact on respawn.
Tell me then, what incentive does the trader have to pay the pirate at all? Really, none. Pirate-trader enmity goes up some more because now traders will just say "OLOLOL you can't harm me".
So as not to just shoot down ideas, but add to them (because that's the kinda guy I am), if this were to happen...Traders could respawn with 1/2 of their cargoes, with the other half being dropped. not exactly a win-win, but probably the closest that could happen in this scenario.
' Wrote:Have you flown a capital ship in Discovery 4.85 ? Capital ships don't "spin like a ball" for a long time now. At least not from player fighters. NPCs still hurl them around, but that's a different story, that's an irresistible force.
yes, i own a liberty carrier at the moment, and is really annoying when get rammed by fighter.
ok, i got a little carried away, but still, they spin a lot,
shouldn't the fighters bounce from capital ships, and capitals remain in place, because they are a lot bigger?
Hate will eat you up from the inside, so hurry up and give your heart to a girl before you get eaten up.
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