I am really liking this idea, I hope one of the devs happens on this thread and flags it for potential inclusion in the game. the only problem I can see is difficulty scaling. As more players warp in will the game respond by upping the difficulty level? I think maybe implementing something like this should temporarily freeze difficulty scaling so as not to defeat the who purpose of calling for help in the first place. thoughts?
I am really liking this idea, I hope one of the devs happens on this thread and flags it for potential inclusion in the game. the only problem I can see is difficulty scaling. As more players warp in will the game respond by upping the difficulty level? I think maybe implementing something like this should temporarily freeze difficulty scaling so as not to defeat the who purpose of calling for help in the first place. thoughts?
Well, if the difficulty scales with the distress call, it doesn't do much good because it would still be just as hard. I think it is basically a assist button that is made to just help people out. So there are three ships, cant take em help, send distress call, help arrives you take em down together. I think it should be as simple as that.
Signed! Honestly, though, I think the distress signal should only be activatible [I like made-up words] when you really are below 50% health to prevent people from abusing their newly found privilege.
people will end up spamming this cause thier mommys didnt pay them enough attention as a kid. If you need more game mechanics to be more sociable , than you probably need work on social skills more then an in game "help me , i am incompetent button"
This would be A W E S O M E. Might go a long way to my issue with the lack of teaming available.
I've gotten to the end of a few VA Borg encounters only to have the Cube kick my butt a couple times and then leave because there is no way I'm taking that particular Cube down without help.
I think there should be a death count, maybe 2-3 times, before it comes available and then the hull restriction before you can use it.
I do think there will be some initial abuse by less ... shall we say ... mature individuals, but there is always the ignore function. Maybe the devs tie it into that so if we see someone issuing multiple helps (crying wolf) we ignore them ... then they're S.O.L.
Heck, if you really want to get fancy about it you could add in a rating system where by the distress call could be rated by participants as: 1) wha-wha; 2)needs to think; 3) genuine (Yeah I know I'm blowin' smoke with this.)
I love the idea. The only problem I can see is that if you're in deep trouble and you send out the signal, it would take time for people to see it, think about it, decide to help, and travel to you. By then, if you're really in trouble, it'll be much too late before they get there.
So, to solve this, I think they should make it so you only get this Distress Signal ability every, I dunno, twenty minutes. And when it goes out, the first player to get respond actually get's transwarped to your location. No lag time, no showing up only to watch as the person you were about to help get's blown to bits. Then everyone else could travel there. So you get immediate help to keep you from dying right then, with additional help on the way.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'd have to be really deeply in trouble to think about using it, and by then, if I don't get help fast I'll be dead. It's about the time I realize this that I'd think about using it. So unless I want to guess and say "Oh... I think I'll have that much trouble before the fight and call ahead of time, we'd need something that could provide near instantaneus help.
I love the idea. The only problem I can see is that if you're in deep trouble and you send out the signal, it would take time for people to see it, think about it, decide to help, and travel to you. By then, if you're really in trouble, it'll be much too late before they get there.
So, to solve this, I think they should make it so you only get this Distress Signal ability every, I dunno, twenty minutes. And when it goes out, the first player to get respond actually get's transwarped to your location. No lag time, no showing up only to watch as the person you were about to help get's blown to bits. Then everyone else could travel there. So you get immediate help to keep you from dying right then, with additional help on the way.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'd have to be really deeply in trouble to think about using it, and by then, if I don't get help fast I'll be dead. It's about the time I realize this that I'd think about using it. So unless I want to guess and say "Oh... I think I'll have that much trouble before the fight and call ahead of time, we'd need something that could provide near instantaneus help.
I thought of that too, and I like the transwarping thing. But also, I thought maybe it could only be seen by people kinda close to the system you are in.
Agreed. Logistically the distress beacon should only be "heard" by those within your sector. Not the whole sector block, even... just the sector you're in.
To be honest, I am mostly a solo player, but if in my wanderings I randomly received a distress call, I would love to swoop in, raining unholy hell fire on the enemies, saving the day.
This has to be one the greatest ideas I've seen. Here are my ideas on the subject.
Distress signal would be an ativatable power like the current Transwarp power. It would have a cooldown to slowdown or stop spamming of the power. Once activated it would send create a popup response. Initially, this response would be available to fleet members anywhere (if the player is part of a fleet), and any ship within the sector of the distressed ship. Anyone responding would be transwarped to the distressed ship and it's instance within the mission at hand. If there is no response within a certain timespan, the signal proceeds to move into the sector block (while still being available to fleetmates) and is now able to be responded to by anyone within the sector block. If at that point it is not responded to, the player would have to look for group. If the player is destroyed after activation, the opportunity to respond would still exist, with anyplayer responding transwarping to the player's respawn point.
As for keeping the balance, each time the power is activated, the level of response available would be based on the mission level. As such, response cannot exceed the level of the mission. Therefore responses are based on level and tier of the ships responding. For a LT level mission, each ship is based on tier. Response equals 5. So up to 5 tier 1 ships could respond, or a single tier 5. At Commander level the tier value would change. Tiers 1-3 would be worth a value of 1, tier 4 worth 2, tier 5 worth 3. So up to 5 tier 3's could respond, or a tier 4 and tier 5. This allows a good response time, but not overly unbalancing the mission at hand. (For the record, I know this could be somewhat confusing, and I will happily clarify if necessary).
These are just my opinions. I would also say that within half the cooldown time, if any ship left the responding force, the option to help would open back up. But that is up for debate.
I think it would be a good idea to have a button that when hit it alerts other players that you need help and where you are. Kinda like the Help button on ground missions. I play on Advanced or Elite setting and that is HARD and I don't want to die and get the DP just because I'm alone, If I'm in trouble I want to be able to call for help. The only problem would be people would overuse or misuse it.
well guys i dont think it should nessisarily be a new ability just make it an incorporation on the fleet assistance ability if you dont get hel in 5 mins then NPC ships come to the rescue.
I think it would be a good idea to have a button that when hit it alerts other players that you need help and where you are. Kinda like the Help button on ground missions. I play on Advanced or Elite setting and that is HARD and I don't want to die and get the DP just because I'm alone, If I'm in trouble I want to be able to call for help. The only problem would be people would overuse or misuse it.
Outstanding idea. This is so 'Trek' that I'm honestly surprised that this isn't already in-game. Some of the ideas for making this work are good, as well. Devs, please take notice.
This is a great idea and very much in line with the various series. I would like to see actually two versions of this.
One would be random generated mission that gets fired when warping through sector space to a PVe mission of some kind( ground, space or both) and you get some kind of unique drop. There was something similar in Earth and Beyond
the second would be a distress signal that can be triggered by the player if he gets into something over his head(skill) and would notify all local friendly faction players that help is needed. There was something like this in PotBS.
Nothing ground breaking, but adds some real "series" type missions as well as a good social tool!
i agree having a distress signal would be awsome i not sure if this has been said but to solve the problem of people abusing it they should automaticly pay at least 10 k for the message and the more they pay the further the sinal or we could use latinum say 100 latinum that would be nice to have another use for latinum pllease reply to this i wanna know what you think or what else we could use to send the signal.
i agree having a distress signal would be awsome i not sure if this has been said but to solve the problem of people abusing it they should automaticly pay at least 10 k for the message and the more they pay the further the sinal or we could use latinum say 100 latinum that would be nice to have another use for latinum pllease reply to this i wanna know what you think or what else we could use to send the signal.
Well I dont think actually paying for it would the best solution we can find, but it is an option.
Perhaps it would draw power away from systems while they were using it so they couldn't be in combat effectively, or more prone to injuries or something.
i not sure if this has been said but to solve the problem of people abusing it they should automaticly pay at least 10 k for the message and the more they pay the further the sinal or we could use latinum say 100 latinum that would be nice to have another use for latinum
Engineer: "Sir! Shields are almost gone, we've got breaches on decks 6-10, warp drive is offline and half the crew is dead! We can't take much more of this!" Me: "Comm! Send a distress signal!" Comm Officer: "It won't matter, Sir." Me: "Why the hell not?" Comm Officer: "There aren't any ships in range, and you don't have enough credits in your account to boost the signal." Me: "What?!" Engineer: "That's right. You spent all your credits to get those two Efficient Saurians." Saurian #1: "It ain't easy being mauve." Saurian #2: "...ribbit..." Me: "There's got to be something we can do!" Comm Officer: "Well, we could recycle a bunch of that stuff in the cargo hold..." Me: "But...most of that stuff is rare! Do you know how many ships I had to destroy before I found those polaron dual beams?!" Engineer: "Sir!" Me: sigh "Fine. Do it." Comm Officer: "Okay, we have enough credits for the distress signal. Um, Sir? Do you want to upgrade your existing subspace communications plan to unlimited distress and data?" Me: /facepalm
Comments
Put out a distress call.....it equals a LFG tag....
Bravo great idea.
Yup, that's the idea. THank you!
Well, if the difficulty scales with the distress call, it doesn't do much good because it would still be just as hard. I think it is basically a assist button that is made to just help people out. So there are three ships, cant take em help, send distress call, help arrives you take em down together. I think it should be as simple as that.
I've gotten to the end of a few VA Borg encounters only to have the Cube kick my butt a couple times and then leave because there is no way I'm taking that particular Cube down without help.
I think there should be a death count, maybe 2-3 times, before it comes available and then the hull restriction before you can use it.
I do think there will be some initial abuse by less ... shall we say ... mature individuals, but there is always the ignore function. Maybe the devs tie it into that so if we see someone issuing multiple helps (crying wolf) we ignore them ... then they're S.O.L.
Heck, if you really want to get fancy about it you could add in a rating system where by the distress call could be rated by participants as: 1) wha-wha; 2)needs to think; 3) genuine (Yeah I know I'm blowin' smoke with this.)
+1
this.
Make it so!
/signed
So, to solve this, I think they should make it so you only get this Distress Signal ability every, I dunno, twenty minutes. And when it goes out, the first player to get respond actually get's transwarped to your location. No lag time, no showing up only to watch as the person you were about to help get's blown to bits. Then everyone else could travel there. So you get immediate help to keep you from dying right then, with additional help on the way.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'd have to be really deeply in trouble to think about using it, and by then, if I don't get help fast I'll be dead. It's about the time I realize this that I'd think about using it. So unless I want to guess and say "Oh... I think I'll have that much trouble before the fight and call ahead of time, we'd need something that could provide near instantaneus help.
I thought of that too, and I like the transwarping thing. But also, I thought maybe it could only be seen by people kinda close to the system you are in.
I tend to RP my ship as a "Medical Attach
To be honest, I am mostly a solo player, but if in my wanderings I randomly received a distress call, I would love to swoop in, raining unholy hell fire on the enemies, saving the day.
Distress signal would be an ativatable power like the current Transwarp power. It would have a cooldown to slowdown or stop spamming of the power. Once activated it would send create a popup response. Initially, this response would be available to fleet members anywhere (if the player is part of a fleet), and any ship within the sector of the distressed ship. Anyone responding would be transwarped to the distressed ship and it's instance within the mission at hand. If there is no response within a certain timespan, the signal proceeds to move into the sector block (while still being available to fleetmates) and is now able to be responded to by anyone within the sector block. If at that point it is not responded to, the player would have to look for group. If the player is destroyed after activation, the opportunity to respond would still exist, with anyplayer responding transwarping to the player's respawn point.
As for keeping the balance, each time the power is activated, the level of response available would be based on the mission level. As such, response cannot exceed the level of the mission. Therefore responses are based on level and tier of the ships responding. For a LT level mission, each ship is based on tier. Response equals 5. So up to 5 tier 1 ships could respond, or a single tier 5. At Commander level the tier value would change. Tiers 1-3 would be worth a value of 1, tier 4 worth 2, tier 5 worth 3. So up to 5 tier 3's could respond, or a tier 4 and tier 5. This allows a good response time, but not overly unbalancing the mission at hand. (For the record, I know this could be somewhat confusing, and I will happily clarify if necessary).
These are just my opinions. I would also say that within half the cooldown time, if any ship left the responding force, the option to help would open back up. But that is up for debate.
Love the idea.
I like this idea a lot. Especially the mission to assist. I would respond to a distess signal but what good starfleet officer wouldnt
but yeh good idea dude!
I can't tell you how many times I accidentally ran into an Enemy Signal Contact, only to be warped directly into no less than 452 Bird-of-Preys
Outstanding idea. This is so 'Trek' that I'm honestly surprised that this isn't already in-game. Some of the ideas for making this work are good, as well. Devs, please take notice.
Z
One would be random generated mission that gets fired when warping through sector space to a PVe mission of some kind( ground, space or both) and you get some kind of unique drop. There was something similar in Earth and Beyond
the second would be a distress signal that can be triggered by the player if he gets into something over his head(skill) and would notify all local friendly faction players that help is needed. There was something like this in PotBS.
Nothing ground breaking, but adds some real "series" type missions as well as a good social tool!
See you in Space!
Well I dont think actually paying for it would the best solution we can find, but it is an option.
Perhaps it would draw power away from systems while they were using it so they couldn't be in combat effectively, or more prone to injuries or something.
Engineer: "Sir! Shields are almost gone, we've got breaches on decks 6-10, warp drive is offline and half the crew is dead! We can't take much more of this!"
Me: "Comm! Send a distress signal!"
Comm Officer: "It won't matter, Sir."
Me: "Why the hell not?"
Comm Officer: "There aren't any ships in range, and you don't have enough credits in your account to boost the signal."
Me: "What?!"
Engineer: "That's right. You spent all your credits to get those two Efficient Saurians."
Saurian #1: "It ain't easy being mauve."
Saurian #2: "...ribbit..."
Me: "There's got to be something we can do!"
Comm Officer: "Well, we could recycle a bunch of that stuff in the cargo hold..."
Me: "But...most of that stuff is rare! Do you know how many ships I had to destroy before I found those polaron dual beams?!"
Engineer: "Sir!"
Me: sigh "Fine. Do it."
Comm Officer: "Okay, we have enough credits for the distress signal. Um, Sir? Do you want to upgrade your existing subspace communications plan to unlimited distress and data?"
Me: /facepalm
Maybe not such a good idea.
Z