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Thread: re: Multi Player Ships
Fidgiter wrote:
Being the Pilot of an MPS will not be rewarding for everyone. The type of Pilot who likes it are the types who play the Support Role and are goal oriented players. Fun to them is being the center of attention and having people in their crew having fun. Fun for them is having people eager to team with them in space.
Basically, the antithesis of the play-style required to become an Ace pilot? (BTW, I don't object to playing support roles, consider myself goal oriented, and enjoying teaming with others... I'm still not having fun... what am I doing wrong?)
Can the MPS be made more fun to pilot without slaving turrets? Yes, it can be but ultimately if you are a fighter jock you will not find the MPS fun and thus you should choose one of the many SPS that are available and not try to impose your style of play on those who want the MPS to be a MULTIPLAYER ship.
Who is imposing a style of play here? How would making the MPS more fun for both solo & group flight be mutually exclusive?
The B-Wing is slower and less manueverable than a Nova =>P I'll also add that they do not have to give up anything. They can still pilot any number of SPS ships if they don't want to make sacrifices to be the pilot for a group in a MPS.
Respectfully, that is incorrect. Though it's only by a very slim margin, the B-Wing is superior in speed and maneuverability to the Nova (the only exception being roll). Furthermore, the B-Wing doesn't require additional crewmen to fire its guns; it doesn't require additional crewmen to execute droid programs & pilot specials; it doesn't require additional crewmen to wander around in a windowless void to repair internal components; it doesn't require additional crewmen to heal aforementioned party members attempting repairs.
There are many SPS. There is no need to make the MPS more viable for a single pilot and fly solo
I disagree. I paid a considerable amount of game currency for the privilege of owning a YT-1300. Heck, I choose Privateer faction specifically for this reason. I'm dissatisfied that my ultimate reward for this endeavor is ownership of what is essentially flying "eye candy" - a ship that relegates me (and my crew) to a very limited duty and is a liability to take into anything more challenging than tier 1 space.
From my experience people are eager to go up and be the crew in an MPS
In my experience, for all of about ten minutes. Then they become bored, frustrated with their limited roles and anxious to get back to the starport (including the pilot).
There are choices to be made. Do you improve the MPS for Multiple Players or do you use those resources to turn the MPS into a flghter on steroids? What are the gains and losses by both choices? There are alot of options for a pilot to go up without a crew while there are few options for a crew to go up in a MPS. Therefore the choice is obvious; the MPS should remain a distinct class of ship retaining it's intended purpose with efforts made to make it more effective in this intended role.
Fighter on steroids? You mean like by creating Mark VI gear that has potentially twice the stats of Mark V components? Shields and armor that are doubly effective? Weapons and ordinance that are doubly effective? Engines and boosters that have double the top speed and PYR of Mark V components? Honestly I think that would pose a larger determent to the game (and need for a full crew) than automated repair droids and turret AI.
Furthermore, though I may be mistaken, I don't believe automated repair droids and turret AI would take a considerable amount of developmental resources. Turret AI is already in the game. Dumbing down the NPC turret AI accuracy and slapping it into Multiplayer ships shouldn't require tremendous effort. And as for automated repairs, we're talking about at most adding a timer to incurred damage, status check that the droid is functional & adequately supplied with repair material, and perhaps pathing algorithms for the droid to navigate the ship's interior (which frankly is just superfluous eye-candy, and not necessary). All of this could (and should) be inferior to having live, human players operating these tasks; just the bare minimum to make a lightly crewed or solo piloted ship viable.
The bottom line is that there are many choices for the solo pilot. The MPS comes with many perks and advantages such as inflight repairs, loot storage and massive mass. The cost of these advantages is that the pilot plays a support role. Efforts towards enhancing the MPS should make it funner for everyone on the MPS. If the MPS is turned into a fighter on steroids would introduce balance issues for other enhancement options.
The cost is EVERYONE (including a contingent of escort pilots) is playing a support role for a ship that lacks a true purpose and is significantly inferior to the sum of its parts. I beg to differ that in-flight repairs are a "perk." Essentially, they are an additional burden that single player starcraft don't have to contend with. Ever get black-barred trying to fix a phantom plasma leak on your X-Wing? I don't think so. Heck, Alliance pilots already have the option of in-flight repairs on any ship they choose (/inspacerepair).
Loot storage? You mean that box I have to consistently get up from my pilot's chair to empty, since it effectively has less storage than me wearing a backpack? That same box I have to give anyone on board administrative access to my ship and ALL its contents in order for them to use?
Massive mass? With the exception of 50k mass armor I had the luxury of slotting, all of the components in my YT-1300 fit quite comfortably in my 190k mass TransGalMeg "Rihkxyrk" Attack Ship (and it's a hell of a lot more capable in virtually all combat encounters). Regardless, I'm still effectively gated by the reactor generation rate (even with overdrive).
I'm not bucking for Multiplayer ships to be turned into "fighters on steroids." I'm merely asking that they be made slightly more viable for a solo pilot to operate, even if still less effective than a moderately equipped TIE Bomber. I'd also like to see the roles for a crew revised and (vastly) improved upon so that they are significantly more compelling and fun to play. The sum of the parts should exceed the whole; a team of players operating a Multiplayer ship should at the very least be comparable to them acting individually in single-seat starcraft.
Multiple players on a Multiplayer ship should be both fun and advantageous; not a boring necessity.
KaiaSowaPit wrote:
- Stop the alarm problem!
- Mark 6 gear so it has more shields, armor, power, etc.
- Gyrosopic adjutments forturret so pilot can maneuver the ship without making the turret operators sick
- Copilot option to target and fire missiles and countermeasures as well as help with ship targeting and damage control
Adjusting the Multiplayer Ship so you can use it Solo would either take away from efforts to make it better in it's intended role. It is better to make it so you can hop into one of the dozens of solo ships available and the MPS is made better group enabled.
Message Edited by Fidgiter on 12-05-2004 12:48 PM