Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: Euphytose on February 20, 2016, 12:02:50 PM
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I usually run with transponder off because it apparently works like sugar for wasps, or honey for bears. Lots of small fleets just "attack" me instead of running away and that's free supplies and fuel.
Anyway, at some point I have to unload the loot, and Jangala is my HQ since I'm cooperative with Hegemony. And of course, I always forget to turn the transponder back on, which doesn't go unnoticed for long and someone reminds me that "I won't get off so easily next time". Which also nets me -3 rep, fine.
The problem this time is that I ran into somebody I had already met, so he did the logical thing to do, he actually attacked me, which then got me the hostile status.
Now, considering that I "know some of Hegemony's leaders personally", why would someone like him not immediately ask for pardon for not recognizing me, or something like that? Why do I even get fined for not having the transponder on? "Oh it's you? Ok sorry you can go." I can understand smuggling, but this rule is very annoying. It even got as far as me having the transponder off, turning it back on to quickly help an ongoing battle, and then the fleet I had just helped went back to tell me to turn it on.
When you have access to secure channels of a faction I think they should cut you some slack.
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Running transponder off, yes, it was one of the first tricks I learned in the update, And it should not happen, they shouldn't do that in case you're a pirate if they haven't ID'd you already.
The auto attack is a pain too.
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Yeah, I had that happen - had transponder off but happened to see a Hegemony fleet in major trouble that I totally saved from death. What happens right after the fight? That fleet I just saved from certain destruction came around and nailed me for some rep loss due to no transponder. I was in Cooperative status too.
There should totally be warning type system where once you get high enough faction rep they'll go: "Oh, its you Mr. Extremely-Valuable-Ally-Who-Has-Done-Many-Bounties-For-Us! Well, we'll let you off with a warning this time but do remember to turn that transponder on next time!"
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maybe you should be able to get off without a rep hit like once per month or so, at least if you've already got high rep. it would still be a good idea to have it enabled while in allied systems, but it wouldn't be a problem if you forget to turn it on every now and then.
it makes sense that patrols aren't happy to see anyone with disabled transponder, as it makes their job of hunting down pirates and smugglers more difficult, but there are certainly situations where it feels weird.
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I think it make a lot of sense: Having an fleet of unknown military ships flying in you local space is bound to make a lot of people nervous... The kind you get shot down first and then the inspectors check the wreckage. As a matter of fact, I think the reputation penalty should be much higher, like -20 points. On the other hand I also think the "local space" should be somewhat limited around the markets with a clear visual indication, and maybe the beacon icon should be flashing red once you are inside.
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yeah, getting a clear visual warning whenever you've got your transponder disabled in allied territory would be very helpful. it would have to only show under rather specific circumstances, though. if it shows all the time while you're somewhere deep in an enemy system, you'll just get used to seeing it and again forget to turn it back on when near allied markets.
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Having a clear visual would perhaps be in order. Maybe a little blinking red icon or something in a corner of the screen.
I don't think it should hold your hand or auto-enable it, though. Basically, what the OP is describing is a very sly and dishonest thing to do. Nothing wrong with that from a gameplay perspective! But pulling in to dock with an IFF off should definitely carry a stiff penalty. Viewing it from the perspective of law-enforcement, you're a weasel that's obviously been conducting some shady business somewhere...and now you've brought it into their territory. Even if they can't prove it, you're not liable to make many friends.
I like the aspect of having to be careful with illegal activity. One more layer of challenge!
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Maybe a small, yellow exclamation point in the corner that shows that the system authority won't take kindly your running with the transponder off and a red exclamation point for when you are in hostile space. Small and unintrusive that fits on your TriPad.
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I remember this being confusing as *** when I first started playing. Now I just roll with it. It can even be exploited if you have a large pirate fleet, since the transponder checkers will try to start a fight regardless of how many ships they have.
Another way to use it is to lure a fleet into hostile space or feed it to a pirate armada.
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I remember this being confusing as *** when I first started playing. Now I just roll with it. It can even be exploited if you have a large pirate fleet, since the transponder checkers will try to start a fight regardless of how many ships they have.
Another way to use it is to lure a fleet into hostile space or feed it to a pirate armada.
What's hidden behind the asterisks, the all three of them? "Ass"? "Confusing as ass"?
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It can even be exploited if you have a large pirate fleet, since the transponder checkers will try to start a fight regardless of how many ships they have.
i think that's something that needs to be changed. it's fine that patrols check every contact, but a clearly inferior patrol force should still try to disengage when said contact turns openly hostile.
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I remember this being confusing as *** when I first started playing. Now I just roll with it. It can even be exploited if you have a large pirate fleet, since the transponder checkers will try to start a fight regardless of how many ships they have.
Another way to use it is to lure a fleet into hostile space or feed it to a pirate armada.
What's hidden behind the asterisks, the all three of them? "Ass"? "Confusing as ass"?
A Sith version of Notting Hill, starring Sarrah Jessica Parker, a young Jeremy Bulloch and an animated sidekick.
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A Sith version of Notting Hill, starring Sarrah Jessica Parker, a young Jeremy Bulloch and an animated sidekick.
you're right, that does sound confusing.
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i don't think factions should ever really be okay with you having your transponder disabled. regardless of your standing, you're still potentially endangering their space by diverting patrol time and attention towards yourself that could otherwise be spent hunting down pirates and smugglers, or even defending against intruding hostile faction fleets.
more importantly, it would almost completely elliminate the need for the player to ever use their transponder again once they've got a high standing with their main faction. i don't think just removing that part of the sensor gameplay is a good idea. if anything, i'd say it needs to be more forgiving early on than it is now, while still providing more of a challenge later on when your fleet is too powerful to be challenged by the vast majority of other fleets around.
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Maybe tie bounty hunting to missions? Having a bounty hunting mission would grant you the ability to fly "transponder off" around in the system for the duration of the bounty except until you get within a distance of a market, in which case you definitely should go "transponder on"
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Give stations and large fleets long range communications they. This way, they could send a message like "Hey, we know you're there and running without a transponder, if you turn it back on you're gonna be good.". The fleets that actually can mess with you have a way to poke you and say "hey, don't make us do something we don't want to". You turn it on and they like you, they assume you were doing something important. Turn it on and they don't like you, or don't turn it on, they'll treat you like a pirate or a enemy fleet.
Generally I think the relation between you and factions, AND the relation between a large and small fleet need to be ironed out a little bit more. With smaller fleets doing the hard labor and interacting with you more personally, and larger fleets just shouting "Don't make me come over there!" all the time until they find something that is actually worth their time.More on topic, transponder should have a different purpose for a large fleet to a small fleet and I think the AI should know that too.
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I think that if you turn on the transponder before the intercepting fleet arrives, you shouldn't take the rep hit.
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I think it make a lot of sense: Having an fleet of unknown military ships flying in you local space is bound to make a lot of people nervous... The kind you get shot down first and then the inspectors check the wreckage. As a matter of fact, I think the reputation penalty should be much higher, like -20 points. On the other hand I also think the "local space" should be somewhat limited around the markets with a clear visual indication, and maybe the beacon icon should be flashing red once you are inside.
uh no..it makes no sense.
The higher your rep goes with a major faction, the lower the hit should be until theres none at cooperative.
"Oh hey, thats such and suchs ships....Dont they take dinners with the high command? Yeah youre right, best leave them to what they were doing, besides, didnt they just capture those last 3 planets for us?"
It only gets worse when you factor in fleet force comparison...NO military commander is going to stop a force of 10 battleships plus assorted other stuff and dare to be huffy about a transponder, especially with anything less then a full invasion fleet.
Emphasis mine.
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uh no..it makes no sense.
The higher your rep goes with a major faction, the lower the hit should be until theres none at cooperative.
"Oh hey, thats such and suchs ships....Dont they take dinners with the high command? Yeah youre right, best leave them to what they were doing, besides, didnt they just capture those last 3 planets for us?"
It only gets worse when you factor in fleet force comparison...NO military commander is going to stop a force of 10 battleships plus assorted other stuff and dare to be huffy about a transponder, especially with anything less then a full invasion fleet.
Emphasis mine.
The only problem though is that without IFF they CAN'T tell that it is you and not some pirate that just salvaged your ship(s) and blasting you in atoms. And in this kind of situation, they WOULD be *** if it was a false alarm as they could be killing pirate scum or saving some civies
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Having a faction commission should give you an ability that lets you throw out a quick ping that makes fleets from that faction stop following you. Something along the lines of a command code you can send to all pursuing patrols to tell them "Yes, I'm running with my Transponder off but I'm on important Hegemony business, go away". Maybe have a 1 point reputation drop for using it too often or if they suspect you're using it to smuggle things.
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What makes this weirder still is when you see smugglers happily parked by a station, transponder off, completely ignored by patrols.
In the case of when you are in high enough regard with a faction to have access to their secure comms, wouldn't it be reasonable for their patrols to attempt hailing/identifying unknown contacts on that channel (giving you the option to keep the transponder off if you're not intending to dock anywhere they'd care about)? It'd be nice to also have them let it slide (no rep hit and/or hostility) if you had done something that would improve your standing with that faction within the last day or two.
I reckon that would take care of most of the strange behaviour the mechanic causes.
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Any ship with their transponder off (it's usually independent smugglers) should be occasionally hassled by fleets. If they're chasing you because they have no idea who they are, how do they know the smugglers aren't from another faction, smuggling in weapons for rebels or something else?
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Any ship with their transponder off (it's usually independent smugglers) should be occasionally hassled by fleets. If they're chasing you because they have no idea who they are, how do they know the smugglers aren't from another faction, smuggling in weapons for rebels or something else?
Agreed. It feels weird that it doesn't happen.