Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Except that the afk cloaker enjoys 100% safetey while he 'disrupts the illusion of safety.' This argument that AFK cloaking doesn't hurt anyone is just a distraction from the fact that AFK campers really don't have to risk anything to hole up in a system, which shouldn't be the case. Sit cloaked up at a safe long enough and there should be a reasonable chance that someone can somehow find you- even if it is a difficult thing to do.

As far as I'm concerned this is the only real argument to be had here. Whining about not being completely safe mining or ratting in null, and lazy gankers looking for free kills or abolishing local is really starting to get old. This thread discussion doesn't change it at all and the communitie's line is too hard to have any kind of meaningful discussion about it here.

AFK Cloaking has been a broken mechanic in K-Space for years due to cyno's. The ability for a character to sit cloaked afk for hours/days/years then hot drop someone at a time of their choosing or entirely shut down a system is broken. It promotes stagnant gameplay on both the aggressor and the defender in most cases since the only way to get them to leave the system is to also leave the system and not utilize it. While there is the ability and potential to bait and kill the cloaker when he does do something it means having an equal or larger number of people constantly on standby and performing the act while the AFK cloaker is infact not AFK, largely leaving these avenues of gameplay as a waste of time. The best counter is to keep eyes on the staging system of whoever is cloaky camping, when they have activity raising the alarm while they prepare to drop either form a counter-drop.

The metagaming of cloaky camping is also highly effective when combined with a spy, this further makes the cloaky camping meta even more one sided towards the aggressor.

The only major indirect change to afk cloaking has been the atrocity of force projection changes which will effectively limit you to 1 Hot drop per ~20min at minimum assuming you can safely fly your cloakys back to a black ops ship to reload or ~45min if you bridge yourself back.

As for any potential changes to afk cloaky camping there's been a lot of discussion over the years on how to balance it, the best / simplest theory i've heard is to have the covert ops cloaking cloaking device burn liquid ozone at a small consumption rate to reduce the loiter time to 8-12 hours while burning their reserve fuel for cyno's, But again the force projection changes have already taken a lot of the wind out of the sails of the AFK cloaking meta.

I agree that its about removing AFK game styles. If you want to be AFK you should be in a POS or station, or susceptible to getting attacked. Maybe introduce a fuel to the cloak mechanics.

I think this myth has been thoroughly busted (see Bullet Therapist Posted: 2015.01.09 22:27 in this thread as an example) and is just used to misdirect the conversation. Indefinite cloaking is about being AFK and not having any risk to be holed up in the system.

Also, trying to tie indefinite cloaking to local chat is apples and oranges. Whether local should be changed or not, doesn't negate the immunity the cloaker has to sit indefinitely without threat in a hostile environment. Yes, both provide intel, but if you really wanted intel you could cycle your alliance members through the system each taking turns cloaking (or your alts) to offset whatever mechanic is put in place to limit indefinite cloaking.

This is really all that needs to be said on the matter.

Remove local or delay it. Afk cloaking fixed.
Forever!

A bin for all of the terrible ideas on afk cloaking. ISD are getting lazy

Ask yourself one question.

What mechanic are they using to interact with you, whilst they are AFK?

It's not cloaking, or being able to remain so indefinitely that is the issue. It's the reliance people have in instant intel.

The fact that you can AFK without a cloak and gain the same psychological effects, should speak volumes here.

And can anyone point out that whilst the cloakers are supposedly 100% safe at their safe spot, you are 100% safe from them?

I demand everyone AFK in a station should be forced to undock so I can kill them.