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The-Starport

Digital Anvil needs to fix multiplayer PK.

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Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 2:21 am

The key to making multiplayer fun is competition. There is no competition when you kill people who cant possibly dent your shields.

--The Superguns need to be toned down or given a drawback.

--Leveling needs to change. As it is now, you can get the max level in 2 hours. Which is total bullsh1t. They need a few things to make leveling harder. Also should raise the level requirements for certain ships. Increase level requirements for sabre/titan/eagle to at least 35. This way, players get to use the other ships in the game, so they weren't all built for nothing.
Here is how I think leveling should work, to actually make it tougher for players to reach that final level.

From 1-5: 50k per level and 2 missions per level from anyone.
5-10: 100k per level and 4 missions/level
10-15: 250k per level and 8 missions/level
15-20: 500k/level and 13 missions/level
20-30: 750k/level and 20 missions/level
30-38: 1.5 million/level and 40 missions/level

Every time you get enough money to Level, you pay for each level with the amounts above. So in the game, it raises your LEVEL throught the game, but its expensive. This will entice you to make more than required to level so you have money to buy new stuff. This system of ranking will also encourage trade convoys, like 2 dromadery's and 2 fighters. Because the amount of money required is so high, you will need to cooperate to make it if you want it fast. So you and 3 of your friends can make a convoy, an actual term in the game. When you reach your destination, each automatically gets 1/4th of the profit.

Increase weapon costs by 100% , as well as equipment prices. Do not change commodity prices. This way, every salvaged weapon will be valuable and you can get more money for salvaged weapons. Every thousand will count.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 2:53 am

I like the idea, aswell this will encourage pirates to attack those convoys, (IF you make at least 10% of the cargo as drop when killed (do not make more than 25% cause it will aswell encourage to talk about the "fee" pirates take from their victims)

adding maybe some skills, like you can make each level your shilds 1-5% better or laternativ do the same to your weapons or cargo, would be a nice addition aswell ... but we should not forget that this changes will make SOLO play a lot harder, which may a problem for some players ... but well not for me, I really really would like to see this ... aswell together with the elimiation of the no energy use bull**** of nomad guns, they should do LESS dmg than other level 10 guns or drain energy like hell, like any other weapon with this real high dmg do.

Aswell the commodie prices should be changed abit, it´s plain stupid, that you get about every good for 100, and can sell it somewhere else for something between 1k and 2k.

lower the gain for some stuff, and make most of the trade runs with the real high profit per unit with a high base price, which means you have to risk more to gain more.

Edited by - Apocalypse on 17-03-2003 02:56:43

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 7:08 pm

ok if there is someone i want to kill then i do it. just because the other guy weaker then me shouldnt ban me from killing him. ive kill lvl26 as a lvl1, just dont suck x man, youll get the hang of things, just keep swimming.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 7:16 pm

Yay, you just suggested an Everquest-style levelling treadmill! This is not an MMORPG. (Just keep repeating that, eventually it should sink in.) And, as soon as the .ini issue is resolved, you will see more servers go up that will be a little more of what you are looking for.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 7:27 pm

Well, the pirates or whoever dislikes you in Freelancer doesnt care about your level, in that case a elite player in any game shouldnt be able to kill a "newbie". but they can and they will, the difference between people is that some think its "funny" to kill with their state of the art, Sabre loaded with class 10 weapons, against the rookie in his Starflyership armed with class 1 guns. I dont find it neither amusing nor rewarding in anyway to kill rookies with my Sabre. But if the "rules of engagement" state Player vs player, then that will happen, unless you do as we did on our server, retards flying around and killing rookies was later prey for all high level pilots, so it ended up with that THEY were the ones that was killed 50 times in a row. after awhile they all stopped killing rookies.
and now we have a stable fun server were people can make their money, and no one kills another one UNTIL a challenge has been sent and accepted. This has been a very good implementation since we all "high level pilots" meet at pre-selected places and fight it out with eachother and having fun.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 7:27 pm

Alex, what you just posed is an unlikely situation. A VERY unlikely one. 99% of lvl26 people WOULD kill a lvl1 if they just tried. If you're saying you met one of those 1% people, it was probably horrible lag that killed him. Or he just didn't care.

Anyway, there's nothing in your post that justifies a high level killing a low level. It's not fair, and PvP should have a certain fairness to it.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 9:46 pm

well this lvl26 guy was flying a defender, im like wtf. he i took him down while he was trying to be hero. and alot of things are not fair but it does mean he had no options. if i was pissing him off he could of hit his cruise and ran or joined another server. a kills a kill. when you play counter-strike you dont say oh, he has a pistol and i have a rifle, i better not attack him or i better pull out my pistol so it would be more fair. yes unfair is cool and sucks, thats a part of why games are fun

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 10:11 pm

You just dont get it do you? There is no point in explaining it to you again.

Post Mon Mar 17, 2003 11:54 pm

PK sucks, but restricting kills isnt the answer. Instead, DA should up the strength of the police. In Liberty space, the police should be able to take out a level 38 guy with a loaded sabre en masse...this, IMO, would GREATLY discourage PKing in newbie areas, and would also make the game more realistic, all without cramping the style of PvPers. I think Da should also make quasi-cloaking equipment available that hides you from other players unless they are in visual range...that would help out newbies too without ruining the PvP experience or making it unrealistic.

And yes, if you are whining about PKing, go to a carebear server. There are plenty out there (although it is no accident that the majority of servers are PvP...democracy sucks eh?). I was PKed twice at level 8, and I got over it. He was lane hacking and I got around him by using cruise engines instead of the tradelanes. On the Elite server you can also report someone if they kill you in Liberty spcae (which I didnt do, because I dont want to be a tattle tale).

If you are that anal about PvP, dont play on a PvP server. Simple as that. You do have a choice.

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:02 am

If you increase the police strength, newbies won't be able to become pirates. You have to draw the line on the players' side, just like D2.

Alex, Counter-strike is a completely different game. Both sides have access to all weapons, they just have to NOT spend money and they'll eventually save up to get anything they want (no earning needed). And when one side wins, the WHOLE MAP RESETS. No spawn killing, no PK (in the sense that FL has). Here's CS with FL-type PK: you spawn as a CT with a knife, and the T is standing 5 feet away with a pump shot. Boom, you're dead. Repeat. That's not fair, AND it's not fun.

Once again, sometimes going to a non-PvP game isn't an option. Like when the server you've been playing on for a week suddenly TURNS PvP. That's my situation, and it's a nice, stable server too. I don't care how many of you will make 2 hour, level 38 characters - I won't. It'll just ruin my gaming experience, like stupid PKers.

Btw, I haven't been PKed yet. Someone tried once, but gave up after about 30 seconds. This is just my preemptive response, based on my D2 experience.

New thought:

Alex's "victory" over a lvl 26 gave me an idea. Instead of restricting levels for PK, restrict weapon/shield classes. I'm tight for time, but my line of thought is using a formula for average weapon class (weighting weapons based on ratio of damage to refire rate) and adding some influence of shield class. Anybody with a lower rating can attack you, but you can't attack them unless they "piss you off", much like triggering a friendly/neutral to go hostile (by doing enough damage). Anyway, that's something to start with.

Edited by - Aerundel on 18-03-2003 01:36:53

Edited by - Aerundel on 18-03-2003 01:39:48

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 8:04 am

Oh, I can see it now!

This is not a damn MMORPG.. the solution to PKing is A) Better patrols and stronger police forces. Restricting PVP to all zones except the primary planet zones (New York, New Tokyo, etc) You don't want to be killed? Don't leave your primary system.

Another solution? No loss on death. Honestly though, all you lose now is cargo, (unmounted stuff counts as cargo.) Right? So if you don't buy cargo, what do you lose?

Yeah, I can see it now.

Com: Trade Lane Disrupted
Pirate: You have loot, I want it, now!
Newby: No
Pirate: Oh, well then, be on your way. And good luck out there! =)

Soon after, an NPC Pirate slaughters said newb.

Oh come on, get over it, you die, it happens, go play on a carebear server if you're really worried. (And the "It's not always possible" excuse just doesn't cut it. Pessimist.)

Can PKing be a problem? Sure, does it require draconic in game rules to stop it? No.


~There are only 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand Binary, and those who don't.

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 9:31 am

I'm not a pessimist. All I said was I didn't want to freaking switch to another server just because some punks keep killing new players. They should be dealt with, one way or another.

You know, sometimes people don't FEEL like fighting, even in a PvP server. When I get high enough equipment, it won't automatically turn on my "killer" switch. I'll fight sometimes, but then other times I just want to cruise around and trade and stuff. The problem with this game is you can't just switch servers like in D2, which complicates the issue a great deal. If a PKer is waiting for you outside a base, you either have to stop playing, wait at the base for who-knows-how-long, or launch and die. We're supposed to ENJOY the game, not suffer through it.

And the only people that think any restrictions would be "draconic" is just a bully in the first place. If you don't pick on weaker players, then the rules won't even affect you. Let them build up a formidable arsenal that will actually be a challenge, THEN fight them...stop being selfish.

Edited by - Aerundel on 18-03-2003 09:31:18

Edited by - Aerundel on 18-03-2003 09:33:53

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 9:51 am



You know, sometimes people don't FEEL like fighting, even in a PvP server.



Well, and some ppl are idiots, even on this forum
*shrugs*
The admin should ban you at your server, just to make sure that you don´t get anymore pked and don´t spoil the fun for any pvp player.

Reading is a fine art, and most ppl have no sense for art.

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:56 am

@Ryozu

The only solution to having a balanced/fun MP game is level based pk. Its they only way. Why do you think MUD's and most other good RPG games have level based PK? Because its dumb to have a Hero Paladin beat up on rank 1 necromancers.

The issues with the NPC's are totally different. A rank 10 player who is hated by the corsairs had no business anywhere near Crete. If he goes in the systems around Crete and gets slaughtered by Corsairs thats his own damn fault.

You need penalties for dying. There is no reason why one should reward negligence/stupidity/lack of common sense. If you have level based pk, you can whack your attackers or have a good chance to run. Penalties for dying should be increased if level based PK is implemented since the risk of dying is significantly lower, unless you go lookin for death in dark corners with a flashlight.

About death penalties. You should only lose money/cargo/spare weapons to other players, NOT if you get killed by an NPC. In other words no death penalty added in NPC death, except maybe a slight increase in the $ required to reach the next level. Lets say you are rank 10, and need 20k to level and die to a sucky @ss pirate NPC who you shoulda gotten away from. In this case you lose your 30% of cargo and now you need 35k till next level. If you keep dying to NPC's over and over, eventually you will end up with 100k till next level at rank 10. If you die to a player, he can either chose to take or not to take your cargo or money (10% of your cash). If however you spent all your money on cargo and have like 100 cash, sucks for the pker, but you get no penalty to rank.

With level based pk, newbies can form their own pirate squads while other newbies form their own pirate hunting squads. This way players can get the best ships for their level and be on equal footing with others of the same rank.

While we are on the subject, i just got my first MP rank 38 character. Sabre + nomads, guardians. First thing i did was to multikill this guy who was killing rank 10's with his titan, earlier. He was being an ass to newbies and kissing my @ss when he realized i had the same **** that he does, but a faster connection . I killed him anyway, 11 times before he quit. I told him ill kill him every time i see him, so he shouldnt even bother talking to me.

People who kill newbies for fun with their decked out Sabre are d1ckless pieces of sh1t. If youre a rank 38 and want to go newbie/lowrank player killing, ditch the sabre and go buy yourself some newbie equipment and ship, and go newbie hunting. That way, you can see how well you do. Now THAT is sport.

Here is another huge post. Ugh.

Edited by - Xaanix on 18-03-2003 12:02:06

Edited by - Xaanix on 18-03-2003 12:06:06

Post Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:00 pm



People who kill newbies for fun with their decked out Sabre are d1ckless pieces of sh1t. If youre a rank 38 and want to go newbie/lowrank player killing, ditch the sabre and go buy yourself some newbie equipment and ship, and go newbie hunting. That way, you can see how well you do. Now THAT is sport.



Inpotent? Gay? Or why so dick fixated


Reading is a fine art, and most ppl have no sense for art.

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