Player Features and Ideas Discussion

You keep writing things that are misleading such as cloaking getting a buff. But intel in one way would be better. If there were, for example, constellation recorders, it would be like having a scout in every system that is an entry point into the constellation. With key systems with an IFF beacon it would be having an even better scout. So in this way your information would improve.

Yes, it is vulnerable to attack, but why should intel be impervious to attack?

See, you don't grasp the full picture. You ignore the parts that don't fit into your narrative. When they are pointed out you resort to name calling.

So, tell me again I should stop smoking crack cocaine.

Exactly what mechanic does the AFK cloaker use to be effective against you? Local. How does he know you are there? Local. Remove local and very mechanic AFK cloaking relies on is removed.

Of course, that is an overly strong solution by itself. Hence another mechanic needs to replace intel.

BTW, how did he kill you if you weren't ratting?

The mechanic is being cloaked all day the solution is a timer on the cloak..

he didn't kill me he killed one of your corp mates who was ratting which will make him stick around longer.

That is amazing.

How in the galaxy did you know he was in the system even?
To be confused with being both cloaked, and AFK, he had to avoid all sensor contact, as well as perform no actions to betray his AFK nature....

Are you psychic?

Why are you derailing your own thread? I thought this was a discussion on afk-cloaking not a discussion on fixing or removing local.

Even so if local was the problem with afk-cloakers, they could still warp while cloaked to each belt checking if there are anyone ratting or mining. Its even worse then wormhole space where as the mining sights at least needs to be scanned down revealing probes on d-scan. Here you would have cloakers show up, scope out the activity for a few minutes then decloak at there leisure giving them a easy kill. 0.0 would turn into 0.cloak and lowsec would turn into wasted space.

But still this is not about removal of local. Thats a different topic.

This is called playing dumb.

Gosh, why would someone bring up local, when AFK cloaking is the topic?

To assume it is not tied into Local Chat is a glaring failure to recognize the cause and effect relationship they share.

Actually suggesting that the problem begins with the pilot using AFK Cloaking tactics, ignores enough to be considered mislead.

I shall try to explain a few details that are usually glossed over crudely, but hold the truth.

AFK Cloaking: This is done in response to Local Chat flawlessly reporting pilot presence. It dumbs down the interaction between pilots by outright telling all parties who is present. Without this crutch, use of sensors, strategy, and cooperation would be needed to fill the void.
What does it achieve?
It creates a flaw in the usual flow of cause and effect for life in many systems. Often, a neutral or hostile pilot is seen entering, and activity is suspended until they leave. There is trivial risk, as standard procedure often involves being ready to get safe in the time frame provided by this instant alarm. Hostile pilots who refuse to leave are subsequently hunted down.
When the "AFK Cloaking" pilot enters, he disrupts this process, by not leaving. Further, since this intel tool persistently shows him present, the default response of suspending activity is perpetually pushed as chosen reaction.
This devalues the intel tool, as it is now being used against the native PvE pilots instead of helping them.
If local were removed, sensors strategy and cooperation would be placed as valuable means of protecting PvE income assets.
It would also be pointless to AFK cloak, as noone would be aware of your presence while you were passive.
It is widely anticipated that any change to local which stopped free cloaking awareness would also include a means to hunt cloaked ships.

Summary: That free intel tool favored by so many can be used by the hunters too.

Hot Dropping: Bridging is intended to bypass reinforced blockades and travel time. Here, it has been fine tuned to avoid advertising the presence of a fleet to the free intel tool as well by delaying the easily recognizable population spike till the last possible moment. The intention is to deny the warning local provides, although it still reports the presence of the cyno boat enough to be associated with AFK Cloaking instead.
Quite simply, while PvE pilots would never resume regular activities with a hostile fleet present, they are sometimes willing to gamble over whether a cloaked vessel represents that level of threat at a given time.

Sorry about the length, but the mindless repetition of "AFK Cloaking is bad mmkay" sounds foolish.

As I see it you are favoring hostile engagement above anything else. You clearly ignore the fact that organized opes to thwart off random hostile engagements and overcomplicated mining ops would reduce the income of 0.0 activitys driving more people into highsec.

Clearly reducing targets you can shoot at is bad for you in the long run. Specially as a pvper you rather want people to have good income to create more targets for you. Afk-cloaking or removal of local would make it less safer for your enemys making it more easier for you to swoop in and whipe them out. Unless that is the goal your aiming for.

But are you sure that is good game play for anyone? I would rather enjoy getting blown up in my pvp fit ship then helplessly go down in my moneymaker boat. Basic gist of it to make the game fair for all partys, sitting afk for hours and having a easy time picking off your pray when you see fit is a bit cheap. If you cant recognize the fact that your abusing to sit cloaked endlessly and having a very unfair advantage to spy and choose when to go in for the kill is lopsided. I can't see how that wouldn't be a game exploit like the nano domi/phoon or the deep space BMs.

I think CCP will eventually get around to fixing it. Till then its best join in on the fun and exploit the s**t out of it before its removed.

And how would you feel if someone made it there personal goal to blow you up at all cost, follow you around and sit afk in the systems you mine in. You would have no clue when he would attack or how other then with cloaky ships. Day after day mercilessly hunt you for the lolz. Best part would be if you managed to trap him and kill him. He would use his deep wallet, buy a new ship in Jita and head down to your system again. I wonder if you would still be so glad about afky coakers after being on the receiving end if all this would happen.

Or maybe your just trolling here on the forums and your afking in some system in 0.0 right now.

I was showing Nikk that there is nothing cost prohibitive about it.

And if that one guy in the cloaked stealth bomber (still comparatively cheap) has a cyno, then those 20+ players will not only be in your system, they will be right on top of you. With changes to local, there is NO chance of escape if the stealth bomber is already in system with you (which you can NEVER know) and if the cyno blob is not big enough to take you down (the best tanks fall easily to several well fit pvp ships). If the cyno blob is not big enough, they will hold until they can scramble a large enough fleet to easily take you down. And you can NOT know how big the enemy will organize for their hotdrop if local masks ships, even with stellar intel; except with spies, which totally sidesteps the current thread of cloaked cynos and the tangent of changing local to attempt a solution. Only the largest and best tanked incursions style fleets (or large bait fleets) would dare to do ops in such conditions in anything larger/more expensive than a cruiser.

You really should go back about 15-20 pages. I cover things like PvE income, expected risk vs. expected reward ratios, etc.

This is a game balance discussion and as has been shown local and AFK cloaking are inextricably linked. Hence the discussion of local and AFK cloaking.

And AFK cloaking nowhere fits any definition of abuse, harassment, exploits, greifing etc. That you don't like it is a completely insufficient criteria for determining if something is Bad™.

Oh and you should also read the link where a CCP dev is in favor or turning local into a chat channel and making intel a separate mechanic.