As I go to Earth Spacedock, I dock and appear in the station. However, to meet up with friends, I then have to change instance where my friends are shown on the instance window. This loads the server once to move me to the station and again to change instance.
I think it would be easier to allow players to select an instance when they dock.
Big buttons to dock as normal but a smaller button away from the main ones that allows players to dock into a specific instance. This only needs to bring up the instance window.
I believe the reason it is setup this way is so no one instance has an extreme amount of people on it at once. You wouldn't want 5 instances, 4 with only 10 people and one with 40. The one with 40 is going to start lagging worst then the rest. The game tries to even out the numbers. If you want to be with them, team up before you enter and the game automatically puts you in their instance.
Champions used to be like that. When you changed instances, you would get a screen allowing you to pick which one. It also showed which instance your teammates or fleetmates are in. I really liked it.
I thought there was a way to set the "Choose Instance" screen to pop up on Champions. I could be wrong, though. Is there an option for this on STO maybe?
I am pretty sure that if you try to join an instance that is "full" you would be allowed to do so. As I recall in Champions, if you were in a group you had to each choose the same instance which may not be the one that most are already in. In fact, I am pretty sure it is that way with STO as well. I do know that there is a cap on total players in an instance and that full instances do not appear.
The friends list tells you where they are. If it's ESD, even a "Join my friend" button that gives a list of non-full instances that have friends in.
Having to team up is okay if you are going to take on a mission but if it's just a bit of after work banter or trade, you just want to meet up somewhere and do what you want to before logging. Having to team up for this is pretty pointless and also puts unnecessary load on the server.
The friends list tells you where they are. If it's ESD, even a "Join my friend" button that gives a list of non-full instances that have friends in.
Having to team up is okay if you are going to take on a mission but if it's just a bit of after work banter or trade, you just want to meet up somewhere and do what you want to before logging. Having to team up for this is pretty pointless and also puts unnecessary load on the server.
But its what, right click, left click, they left click and your a team. Even while on my friends list, I have not seen it show the instance number they are in. As a team you can see distance from each other and if one of you moves, when you follow you go same way.
Also, I don't think there is a cap on each one, but the system tries to even the numbers out. If you do click to change instance, it shows how many fleet members, friends and teammates are in which instance.
STO used to have that back in beta - every map change with multiple instances would ask you to pick one to load into. Unfortunately, people used it to bypass DSE encounters, thereby nullifying their purpose in game, so the automatic choice system got put in place instead.
you can still click the name of the map you are in above the mini map to select any instance you want to go to, beside that the game auto balances the instances, not a bad thing, but seeing I think it is awfull a game as STO has instances...
Yes, but imagine trying to run around ESD with 200 people on at once. That lag is going to be crazy. Same with just outside ESD. I'd prefer it keep the numbers down to run the best without lag.
I can understand the DSE problem but this is a seperate issue that doesn't involve combat or exploitable circumstances. Stations such as DS9, Memory Alpha, ESD and such (and whatever the Klingon equivalents are), it's more a social aspect than a combat one. The modified "Join my Friends" button idea above won't come up every time and you would only use it when you arrive at a station when you know a friend is there. It just saves having to team with them beforehand. It would only show a button for stations, not DSE's. If you make a mistake and there are no friends on the station, it by-passes the instance window and throws you into a random instance as it does now.
How to reduce server loads: Unplug them from the Internet.
Problem solved.
I would vote that people who make unhelpful remarks like this, intended to derail the thread, are banned from the internet. That would reduce the laod a lot and make our lives a lot more pleasant.
I can understand the DSE problem but this is a seperate issue that doesn't involve combat or exploitable circumstances. Stations such as DS9, Memory Alpha, ESD and such (and whatever the Klingon equivalents are), it's more a social aspect than a combat one. The modified "Join my Friends" button idea above won't come up every time and you would only use it when you arrive at a station when you know a friend is there. It just saves having to team with them beforehand. It would only show a button for stations, not DSE's. If you make a mistake and there are no friends on the station, it by-passes the instance window and throws you into a random instance as it does now.
I would vote that people who make unhelpful remarks like this, intended to derail the thread, are banned from the internet. That would reduce the laod a lot and make our lives a lot more pleasant.
How was that unhelpful? It is one very real, very valid way to reduce server loads.
Myself... I would suggest that you have your sarcasm detector re-calibrated. It is obviously out of adjustment. Oh yeah and.. get a sense of humor. I hear Lowes has them on sale for $1.99 (the above is me being friendly)
(the below is me NOT being friendly)
Have a nice day. Cupcake.
I think your asking for the game to do more then it should. Your okay with the random instance if you have no friends on. Then why should they add a special button if you do have friends on? Teaming take 3 clicks and can be done as fast as a loading screen. Also, if you really want to hang out, visit your bridge and just invite them to your bridge. No changing of mulitple instances and its just you and your friends.
It was taken out of STO because there was a bug/potential exploit where you 'warped out' before actually selecting your destination instance, so you could hang around and be untargetable and stuff indefinitely.
Apparently they couldn't just set it to trigger on instance selection or put a time limit on the window :rolleyes:
STO used to have that back in beta - every map change with multiple instances would ask you to pick one to load into. Unfortunately, people used it to bypass DSE encounters, thereby nullifying their purpose in game, so the automatic choice system got put in place instead.
And they're still trivial to bypass, just more annoying but still as pointless and poorly-implemented.
I vaguely recall something about being able to be warped out and unattackable while sttill getting credit for the DSE, but that could have been addressed by changing the order of execution.
As we've seen from beaming out of our bridges, map transitions cannot be modified on a per-map basis. The entire system is hard-coded together. Creating a separate transition system for a few select maps/zones is not a wise use of development time when a good solution already exists.
Also, the server "load" to move your character from one instance to another is so little as to be laughable, even once you multiply it by all the players that load into each server cluster every second. The server infastructre the devs put in place was designed to handle all the players who were in the headstart period, which is significantly more than we have ingame currently.
During closed and some part of open beta we had to choose the instance we was beaming in to and it got annoying after a while because instead of 1-2 clicks, you had to do 4 clicks per map change.
The server should automatically put you into the same instance as your friends, fleet mates or people you are in group with are located in...atleast that was the way it was changed to after they made the instance to be automatically picked by the system.
During closed and some part of open beta we had to choose the instance we was beaming in to and it got annoying after a while because instead of 1-2 clicks, you had to do 4 clicks per map change.
The server should automatically put you into the same instance as your friends, fleet mates or people you are in group with are located in...atleast that was the way it was changed to after they made the instance to be automatically picked by the system.
The idea I had was that it wouldn't FORCE you to select an instance. Rather it allowed you to opt to select one if you know friends are already there. If you don't hit the button, it just docks as normal in a random instance.
Like the two normal buttons to dock or not and a smaller square one top left of the window to choose an instance if you wish. If you click the smaller one, it lists ONLY the instance(s) where your friends are or, if your friends are not there, it acts as a dock button and dumps you into a random one. If only one friend is there or they are all in the same instance, it puts you automatically into their instance without having to select. See Flowchart below.
As we've seen from beaming out of our bridges, map transitions cannot be modified on a per-map basis. The entire system is hard-coded together. Creating a separate transition system for a few select maps/zones is not a wise use of development time when a good solution already exists.
Also, the server "load" to move your character from one instance to another is so little as to be laughable, even once you multiply it by all the players that load into each server cluster every second. The server infastructre the devs put in place was designed to handle all the players who were in the headstart period, which is significantly more than we have ingame currently.
I wasn't suggesting a per-map basis - the order of execution didn't really make sense on any map. The ship was going before the player decided where, or indeed if, to go.
And the devs have stated explicitly before that one of the reasons ESD can and does become a little unglued at times is the double-move required to get aboard (sector->earth space->spacedock interior) and the frequency of people switching around once they get there.
As I recall, when they had this in STO, it confused people.
I think the UI could use some cleanup. I regularly have to reset buttons. If I change ships, the configurations get jumbled. And having to load the map to change instances is less intuitive than it could be.
As I recall, when they had this in STO, it confused people.
I think the UI could use some cleanup. I regularly have to reset buttons. If I change ships, the configurations get jumbled. And having to load the map to change instances is less intuitive than it could be.
UI jumbling got worse sometime around season 2, too. Used to be that kit and device slots would preserve UI positions when the player swapped out their occupants, even though bridge officer powers wouldn't. Now everything shuffles to the lowest-numbered available opening when switched out.
As I recall, when they had this in STO, it confused people.
I think the UI could use some cleanup. I regularly have to reset buttons. If I change ships, the configurations get jumbled. And having to load the map to change instances is less intuitive than it could be.
There is a shortcut above the minimap where it shows what instance you are in now. Click on that and it goves an option to change the instance from there. No need to load the map.
There is a shortcut above the minimap where it shows what instance you are in now. Click on that and it goves an option to change the instance from there. No need to load the map.
By 'load the map' what Leviathan99 meant was "you have to load into one instance of where everyone else is, and then pick from that list, thus loading into it again". Which is accurate. And wasteful.
By 'load the map' what Leviathan99 meant was "you have to load into one instance of where everyone else is, and then pick from that list, thus loading into it again". Which is accurate. And wasteful.
Ok, my mistake. That what I was hoping to bypass by allowing people to use a button to load into an instance where there are people on their friends list.
There are times when I want to get in, use the bank or mail to send bits to my alt and leave so I don't care what instance I'm in. Other times, I may want to meet up with a friend or some of my fleetmates.
Comments
I thought there was a way to set the "Choose Instance" screen to pop up on Champions. I could be wrong, though. Is there an option for this on STO maybe?
Having to team up is okay if you are going to take on a mission but if it's just a bit of after work banter or trade, you just want to meet up somewhere and do what you want to before logging. Having to team up for this is pretty pointless and also puts unnecessary load on the server.
But its what, right click, left click, they left click and your a team. Even while on my friends list, I have not seen it show the instance number they are in. As a team you can see distance from each other and if one of you moves, when you follow you go same way.
Also, I don't think there is a cap on each one, but the system tries to even the numbers out. If you do click to change instance, it shows how many fleet members, friends and teammates are in which instance.
Problem solved.
I would vote that people who make unhelpful remarks like this, intended to derail the thread, are banned from the internet. That would reduce the laod a lot and make our lives a lot more pleasant.
How was that unhelpful? It is one very real, very valid way to reduce server loads.
Myself... I would suggest that you have your sarcasm detector re-calibrated. It is obviously out of adjustment. Oh yeah and.. get a sense of humor. I hear Lowes has them on sale for $1.99
(the above is me being friendly)
(the below is me NOT being friendly)
Have a nice day. Cupcake.
Apparently they couldn't just set it to trigger on instance selection or put a time limit on the window :rolleyes:
And they're still trivial to bypass, just more annoying but still as pointless and poorly-implemented.
I vaguely recall something about being able to be warped out and unattackable while sttill getting credit for the DSE, but that could have been addressed by changing the order of execution.
Also, the server "load" to move your character from one instance to another is so little as to be laughable, even once you multiply it by all the players that load into each server cluster every second. The server infastructre the devs put in place was designed to handle all the players who were in the headstart period, which is significantly more than we have ingame currently.
The server should automatically put you into the same instance as your friends, fleet mates or people you are in group with are located in...atleast that was the way it was changed to after they made the instance to be automatically picked by the system.
Like the two normal buttons to dock or not and a smaller square one top left of the window to choose an instance if you wish. If you click the smaller one, it lists ONLY the instance(s) where your friends are or, if your friends are not there, it acts as a dock button and dumps you into a random one. If only one friend is there or they are all in the same instance, it puts you automatically into their instance without having to select. See Flowchart below.
http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/1848/flowchart.jpg
I wasn't suggesting a per-map basis - the order of execution didn't really make sense on any map. The ship was going before the player decided where, or indeed if, to go.
And the devs have stated explicitly before that one of the reasons ESD can and does become a little unglued at times is the double-move required to get aboard (sector->earth space->spacedock interior) and the frequency of people switching around once they get there.
I think the UI could use some cleanup. I regularly have to reset buttons. If I change ships, the configurations get jumbled. And having to load the map to change instances is less intuitive than it could be.
UI jumbling got worse sometime around season 2, too. Used to be that kit and device slots would preserve UI positions when the player swapped out their occupants, even though bridge officer powers wouldn't. Now everything shuffles to the lowest-numbered available opening when switched out.
There is a shortcut above the minimap where it shows what instance you are in now. Click on that and it goves an option to change the instance from there. No need to load the map.
By 'load the map' what Leviathan99 meant was "you have to load into one instance of where everyone else is, and then pick from that list, thus loading into it again". Which is accurate. And wasteful.
There are times when I want to get in, use the bank or mail to send bits to my alt and leave so I don't care what instance I'm in. Other times, I may want to meet up with a friend or some of my fleetmates.