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.
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.
Sounds like a good idea to me. It would make some missions less agravating.
Just thinking this my self.
I was watching some APB vids on youtube. In that they have a backup system. If you think your in trouble you call for backup and some one nearby gets a mission to come and help.
With STO if your in trouble you send a distress call that alerts anyone around in the area of that sector.
The other people then get a mission to go to your location and help
perhaps the distress call can also go out to fleet and friends and if they are far away from you they can transwarp there.
That would be very exciting, to be flying around in sector space and have a distress beacon pop up. I would absolutely respond to the call for more lasers.
hmm i might recall wrong, but i think a similar discussion was done on pre beta boards or so back in 08 or so.
Anyway the idea still have merit, but the practicality is another story, but as long as a player can disable this feature then i guess it will be good for most.
I love that you suggested this. I've been pondering this myself. The idea would be to send out a distress signal to anyone in your zone of appropriate lvl.
Anyone that fits into those requirements would receive a small tab at the bottom right hand corner, similar to mission tabs. If they accept, they join your team and jump to your mission/instance. This could even be bypassed with lvl scaling to the team leader if they happen to be cruising through your zone.
I'm not sure how to address issues of enemy scaling other than to let them call for backup in response to your actions.
Considering, I've heard that some players have had a hard time finding others to team with lately, this may go a long way to bring Captains who are just floating about more of a feeling they are getting involved with others. I'd love the idea of coming to the rescue of other Captains and I'm sure many others would feel the same way.
With STO if your in trouble you send a distress call that alerts anyone around in the area of that sector.
The other people then get a mission to go to your location and help
Fantastic idea! This would really add to the realism of flying around in space.
Not only do I think this is a great idea for players to be able to use to contact other players for help, but I also think this could work for NPC's as well.
Heres what I mean... Lets say your flying along headed to DS9 to play some dabo, and as your passing by the DV cluster you get a "hail" from some sort of friendly supply ship that is under attack, or whose life support is failing. You can either choose to ignore, and the "signal" will move on to the next closest player, or you can reply to the hail and tell them your coming to help. So you set a course to the DV cluster and as soon as you get in there you get some kind of popup that says assist and the name of the ship. So you click that and then your in a "normal" exploration map and its basically a render aid mission from there.
The interesting part about doing missions this way is that since they are unexpected and you have a choice whether or not to do them you could give out unique rewards. (I didn't say great, just unique).
This would be Great because everyone is seperated out in the other instances, if you could respond to a distress signal it might help the game feel more...populated.
Also on that same point....dont let people spam for help requests. And dont let every member or a team spam for help requests or distress calls calls would forever be ignored helping no one
Cryptic this is a good idea, I hope this gets passed along to your ears sooner then later
As I said in my own Distress Signal thread, I think it would be really cool if you could send a distress signal on your 3rd respawn. A "Distress Signal" icon would appear at the system in Sector Space where the distress call was made. Someone flying through sector space would see that someone in system 'x' is requesting assistance (by seeing the icon), and once they arrived at the system they'd be presented with a "Enter System X" and "Respond to Distress Call" screen. Choosing "Respond to Distress Call" would take the player to the same instance as the player in trouble and they'd be auto-teamed. It would certainly give the game a better MMO feel.
Could work, however people receiving the signal in sector space should be able to get a popup that instantly zones them into the other players instance so you wouldnt have to travel too far and be late.
I don't know though, think about how treky that would be. THe suspense of not knowing weather you will get there in time to save the distressed ship, that would be pretty cool...
I posted a similar idea several weeks ago in another area. Here's a little addition to the proposal---
The "Distress Call" is initiated at a given threshold inside any enemy signal contact. If your damage gets below a certain level, you've been killed X times, etc. When activated, the red "cloud" turns blue instead, notifying anyone in the sector that a ship is in distress and needs help. Entry into the cloud would be limited to a number of ships based on the distressed ship's level -- Lt. = 1 rescuer, Lt.Cmdr=2, etc. The first ship to reach the cloud "wins" entry.
Another option would be to create a "Fleet" distress based on the same criteria. In this case, an IM is sent on your Fleet channel with a pop-up presented to all online fleet members. Entry here is based on a limited queue based on your rank, as noted above.
Either of these methods is certainly within current capabilities programming-wise and should be relatively easy to implement. The positive and immersive aspects of this make it a "must have". Think of the other MMO's where group members are invited into various instances and this is far less complex to implement.
Could work, however people receiving the signal in sector space should be able to get a popup that instantly zones them into the other players instance so you wouldnt have to travel too far and be late.
Well you'd see the distress call as you're flying by. The system would have an icon beside it indicating a distress call had been sent. If the distress call is within sight, it won't take long to get there.
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.
It would be a really neat feature if you could make a distress call while in a mission. Doing so would place an icon on the sector map indicating that someone is requesting help in a particular system. People flying around in sector space would see the icon while flying by, and could offer assistance. Once a player flew to the system, they'd be given the option to enter the system normally, or "Respond to Distress Call." Selecting that option would bring the player into the same instance as the player who made the distress call, and they'd automatically become part of a team.
In order to prevent everyone from just clicking "Send Distress Call" as soon as they enter a level, a threshold could be set for when the function becomes active.
This is an excellent idea! I think it would make the game more immersive and give it more of an "I'm part of the big Starfleet (KDF) family" kinda feel.
I would give me a little something extra to do at VA and also help build the community.
Comments
Sounds like a good idea to me. It would make some missions less agravating.
I was watching some APB vids on youtube. In that they have a backup system. If you think your in trouble you call for backup and some one nearby gets a mission to come and help.
With STO if your in trouble you send a distress call that alerts anyone around in the area of that sector.
The other people then get a mission to go to your location and help
perhaps the distress call can also go out to fleet and friends and if they are far away from you they can transwarp there.
I.e. even if you have auto-grouping off, this could be a way to temporarily turn it off and get an instant result!
good idea
Anyway the idea still have merit, but the practicality is another story, but as long as a player can disable this feature then i guess it will be good for most.
Anyone that fits into those requirements would receive a small tab at the bottom right hand corner, similar to mission tabs. If they accept, they join your team and jump to your mission/instance. This could even be bypassed with lvl scaling to the team leader if they happen to be cruising through your zone.
I'm not sure how to address issues of enemy scaling other than to let them call for backup in response to your actions.
Considering, I've heard that some players have had a hard time finding others to team with lately, this may go a long way to bring Captains who are just floating about more of a feeling they are getting involved with others. I'd love the idea of coming to the rescue of other Captains and I'm sure many others would feel the same way.
I still want this. It is still applicable.
(See link in my signature.)
Fantastic idea! This would really add to the realism of flying around in space.
Heres what I mean... Lets say your flying along headed to DS9 to play some dabo, and as your passing by the DV cluster you get a "hail" from some sort of friendly supply ship that is under attack, or whose life support is failing. You can either choose to ignore, and the "signal" will move on to the next closest player, or you can reply to the hail and tell them your coming to help. So you set a course to the DV cluster and as soon as you get in there you get some kind of popup that says assist and the name of the ship. So you click that and then your in a "normal" exploration map and its basically a render aid mission from there.
The interesting part about doing missions this way is that since they are unexpected and you have a choice whether or not to do them you could give out unique rewards. (I didn't say great, just unique).
But anyway, yes, distress signal, its a must!
I guess it isnt.
I wandered into a battle last night I would have soundly lost last night if it werent for some allies popping in to help me out.
To be able send a distress signal would be awesome. Rushing to answer one would be super-awesome.
Also on that same point....dont let people spam for help requests. And dont let every member or a team spam for help requests or distress calls calls would forever be ignored helping no one
Cryptic this is a good idea, I hope this gets passed along to your ears sooner then later
The "Distress Call" is initiated at a given threshold inside any enemy signal contact. If your damage gets below a certain level, you've been killed X times, etc. When activated, the red "cloud" turns blue instead, notifying anyone in the sector that a ship is in distress and needs help. Entry into the cloud would be limited to a number of ships based on the distressed ship's level -- Lt. = 1 rescuer, Lt.Cmdr=2, etc. The first ship to reach the cloud "wins" entry.
Another option would be to create a "Fleet" distress based on the same criteria. In this case, an IM is sent on your Fleet channel with a pop-up presented to all online fleet members. Entry here is based on a limited queue based on your rank, as noted above.
Either of these methods is certainly within current capabilities programming-wise and should be relatively easy to implement. The positive and immersive aspects of this make it a "must have". Think of the other MMO's where group members are invited into various instances and this is far less complex to implement.
Well you'd see the distress call as you're flying by. The system would have an icon beside it indicating a distress call had been sent. If the distress call is within sight, it won't take long to get there.
This is an excellent idea! I think it would make the game more immersive and give it more of an "I'm part of the big Starfleet (KDF) family" kinda feel.
I would give me a little something extra to do at VA and also help build the community.
It's the Fleet Channel.
You should know that that is not at all what I mean.
I pretty much answer questions, give advice and assistance all day long.
Just select Fleet and tell me your problem.
I can be at Sol or DK7 instantly now.
Slipstream Drive for the rest.
You can also call in another ship to be the target for awhile so you can heal a bit.
But I know what you mean.
I would respond to a nearby distress signal.
You could earn rewards for assisting or even diplo points.