Player Features and Ideas Discussion

The solution is to get rid of local.

I have never seen a wormhole resident complain about afk cloaking and we get a long fine without local. There are even carebears in wormholes as well. So clearly a lack of instant cook microwavable intel doesn't actually damage things.

You also can't cyno people in to hotdrop in WH's which is why they don't have that problem.

There is no more Cloaky T3 campers anymore, it's just hotdroppers, nothing more.

So your conclusions here are wrong.

But hotdropping is also helped greatly by local. So that supports his conclusions.

I feel I have a rebuttal for the main point made against AFK cloaking. I'll go through a phantom conversation and see if anyone sees my point.

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"AFK cloaking is fine and does not need fixing. There is no problem since an AFK cloaker cannot affect any other players while in that state.".

Under such mentality, you would have no issue if CCP were to introduce a new class of battleship that only works in L4s and cannot be ganked or attacked by other players. It also cannot lock onto anything but L4 NPCs.

Why would they do that?

Irrelevant. Suppose they did; do you have an issue with it?

Yes.

Why?

Anyone in space should be free to attack or combat against if they can and are affecting other players.

How can he affect you? How is he affecting you? He cannot lock any ship but NPC ships and his site is infinitely respawnable through NPC agents.

He is affecting the market with the loot he gains and the ISK he eventually spends.

The act of fighting NPCs is not either of those things.

Is it your point that he is ratting for any other reason?

True. So your point is that his undeniable intention is to sell his loot and spend his isk, hence he will clearly have an affect on you?

Yes.

What is the intention of the AFK cloaker?

To disrupt the ISK making activities of the residents of the system.

Is the actual act of AFK cloaking having an affect on anyone?

No.

Is the actual act of shooting NPCs in the above scenario having an affect on anyone?

No.

And you agree both players are intending to affect other players?

Yes, that is their clear intention in both cases.

Why then should the AFK cloaker be unable to be combated, while the ratter can be combated?

dot dot dot

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This whole argument of AFK cloakers not actually affecting any players is rubbish. Psychological warfare is real.

It's not so much an AFK cloaking issue as it is a cloaking issue. There should be a way to detect the position of cloaked vessels. It shouldn't be something you can use every minute, and it should be weak enough so if they aren't AFK they can still reposition themselves properly.

I know there are already ways to fight AFKers. But local plays a huge role in hotdropping. Without it's intel, you'd have a far greater issue with enemy numbers.

Edit: I hate posting from my phone to this site.

The last few posts rehash things already discussed in previous posts, where people agree to disagree. There are clearly various strong opinions about afk cloaking..

My point in that thread is not to discuss solutions like say get rid of local, or implement an emp type decloaking burst, or any other previously suggered "solutions"

I d like someone to tell me why CCP considers that AFK clockers generates content, as it seems that they may have explained before..
Is that true? And if yes, how afk cloakers generate content?

If they don't generate content, why are you here complaining about them?

Is it? That's news to me.

Hunting null ratters is content.
Because of local and the aversion of ratters the meta of hunting ratters has evolved to AFK cloaking.
Its still content however. AFK cloakers still create risk for ratters, and they still damage an alliance's income.

Things would probably be more interesting for all involved if intel wasnt so flawless and there was a way to counter cloaks. But ppl are still figuring out the former, and to do one without the other would be horrible.

I expect afk cloaking will stay and will be ok as long as local stays as it is and is ok.