Keep in mind that Intel is not a game mechanics , but player made tool, and player driven. If no one online to spot you, there will be no Intel.
Like a chance of be successful on the scram scaled on skills and modules of both sides.
Local chat has maybe not been designed as intel tool (like d-scan, combat probes or even your own eyes on grid) but nevertheless pretty much everyone in high, low and null sec has local chat open to get a list of the players that are in system with them.
Local chat is the most powerful and instantaneous intel tool in the game, one that unlike the other intel tools cannot be fooled or countered.
But yea, if no one is in system to spot you, you do not get spotted. It also means there is no one for you to fight in that system, so I’m not sure where you want to go with that argument.
It’s so powerful that ppl keep dying over and over . From frigates to capitals… Also non consensual pvp ships too. So i think it’s not that powerful at all. think ppl just want to hunt on easy mode.
It doesn’t favour bots any more than the current situation does.
If anything it degrades bots because bots can’t use local to know who is in system with them.
When ratting I can be safe before any hostile can arrive at my spot, if I pay attention. It’s pretty much impossible to get caught, if paying attention. (Unless you’re locked in siege, bastion or something like that).
However, people do make mistakes. They stop paying attention, go afk to grab a drink, alt tab and browse the forums and get killed.
That does not mean local as intel tool isn’t way too powerful in telling you exactly who is in system with you right now, because it is.
Hunters can slot what their anom is, go away , give it 1 min, then go back and warp straight to the ratter loc. I tested that myself it’s doable, also you can set a log off trap, so a fat bs won’t warp away in time by any means if you know where he is ratting.
See? Many options available, but they require effort. Think hunters are becoming lazy that is
That strategy sometimes works, but relies on the target making a mistake the second time after you didn’t catch him the first time.
Nevertheless, it still doesn’t mean local is not an unavoidable powerful intel tool to tell who is in system with you right now.
Yes it means. If it’s possible to gank even with local , that proves it’s not unavoidable
If local chat is unavoidable but people can still get killed, does that prove local chat is avoidable?
Or does it merely tell us people make mistakes, including ‘not paying attention to local chat’?
I’m pretty sure the attacker’s name was in local chat before the fight, provided the chat engine wasn’t broken. There is no way to avoid that.
It proves that local chat is not the problem. The problem are people who are not competent enough to get kills that other people get despite the “all powerful” local chat. And it’s always those people who cry for removal or changes or more ambiguity in local chat because they don’t want more interesting gameplay, they want and need crutches to get kills.
It doesn’t prove that either.
It just proves that people can get caught for various reasons, but I don’t see how that adds anything useful to this discussion. I thought you were more rational than that, so I’m surprised to see you support an argument as bad as that. I guess that is because it aligns with your idea that local should not have a counter?
Try not to generalise too much. I ask for more ambiguity in local chat especially to get more interesting gameplay, not because I want crutches for easy kills.
Easy kills can already be gained by catching players who don’t pay attention to local chat.
Let me be clear about my point of view:
- I believe that easily seeing who is nearby in null, low and high sec is part of what defines those regions and is part of what sets WH space and Pochven apart from the rest of space
- Local chat currently fills that role
- Following point 1 and 2, I do not think another blackout where local chat in null is gone is good for the game
- I also believe that there should be a counter to every strategy in the game
- There currently is no practical way to catch a player who immediately gets safe when a hostile name appears in local (apart from backstab strategies such as awox and bluescouting)
- Following point 4 and 5, I feel like the game could be improved by adding a (niche) mechanic that allows players to somehow counter local - of course with the necessary drawbacks to make it balanced
I realise there is not a lot of room between current local chat mechanics and easy no-skill kills on people who didn’t see you in local, but nevertheless I support any attempt at finding this very fine line that may make the game more interesting.
While I would say that the idea in the OP is over that line (it would be way too easy to plant cloaky campers that do not show up in local using blops bridges) I think it is good to explore the possibilities until we find something that is balanced.
Again, using the Lore as an interesting foundation, it would be pretty easy to take the “chat” out of local chat and simply provide a system counter or list for friend/foe information.
Modules could be used to mask your friend/foe transponder and take you off that counter, but as was mentioned you would risk losing any skill points you gain while “untethered” from the jump gate system.
15-30 SP per minute (nominally) isn’t much, but it could add up. So don’t mask up for several hours…do a quick op and then resync with the stargates. Cloaky mechanics are probably pretty close to what would be well balanced (e.g. stabilization time, observatory sweeps, etc.).
Could be interesting…but I’d be concerned about the extrapolation back to spaces like wormholes, Pochven, abyssals, etc…where you’re already disconnected from the gate system for extended periods of time. In an effort to change low/null playstyle (to questionable benefit) you also risk completely destroyed WH/Pochven playstyle as now they are out of reach of the most recent “save point” and abyssals become riskier because losing means you’re skill queue was essentially paused while you where in.
Not to mention, how would the gate system know when to declare you MIA and activate the clone?
I don’t know if there is a good Lore-consistent way to make a dynamic local…but simply for screen real estate, I’d love to change the chat window footprint into an expandable counter/list like the autopilot route or similar.
It’s not unavoidable because you can set up traps just like i said. Just read again
A Dynamic Local…
That is definitely something to think about.
Right now it is a powerful tool to gather intelligence, that anyone can use at the moment’s notice and with no cost or investment whatsoever.
May be, a step in the right direction would look like:
Introduce a DELAYED LOCAL, that will work in accordance with
-
The security status of a star system.
1a. The higher Security status of a system, the faster you will show up in local
1b. The lower the Sec. status, the longer it will take you to appear in it
1c. Owners of null sec will have to install system upgrades and configure them to increase / decrease the delay based on the standings -
The security status of a player
2a. A player with -10 Security status will show up in local faster than a player with +5 Sec. status -
Standings with the faction owning the system.
3a. Player with -10 Caldari Faction standing will show up in Jita local faster than a player with +10 Standings -
Social skills
4a. Higher levels will grant a bigger delay -
Social boosters (or call them Anti-social boosters if you like)
5a. Player with active booster will have a greater delay
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