1 Reply by Blink

(6 replies, posted in Feature discussion and requests)

I like the idea although in some cases it's fairly obvious how the extensions work.  I will second the thought regarding production/industry--I thought I had those mostly figured out but last night I increased some industry extensions that did not do what I thought they'd do. 

Perhaps I reached a "cap" but I don't think there's any way to know the limits based on the numbers presented in game.  Further research is required...but that is perhaps part of the challenge/fun of not having the formulas (not that I wouldn't mind having 2000 EP back on extensions that didn't seem to have any benefit!)

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2 Reply by Blink

(5 replies, posted in Feature discussion and requests)

Thanks for the replies. 

There's no doubt that fixing the disconnects would be the best option.  I've seen only a few posts on the forums and a couple of people mention losing bots to lag (or disconnects) in general chat while I've been online.  It does seem that the vast majority of people don't have much problem with high lag or disconnects otherwise there'd be more posts.  I'd be the first to acknowledge a LAN/ISP issue (they do happen) but I've played a lot of online games over the years and the disconnects that aren't clearly caused by server-side issues are few and far between in my experience.

Which made me wonder whether the disconnect problem is harder to solve then an approach to handle disconnects.  Other games (that rhyme with stEVE) have a warp to safe spot in one minute if possible (i.e., not scramed) upon disconnect (I think it's 60 seconds--it's been awhile.)  Something along those lines doesn't seem undoable.  My experience is limited--I'm talking about mission mobs at this point in time and would hesitate to do anything to upset the PvP balance because that's almost certainly a team activity anyway.

As such, I wouldn't advocate anything exploitable (although perhaps I'm too naive in my approach to the "AI" concept.)  I simply suggest making the bot do what it would normally do for 30-60 seconds after a disconnect whether that be run away or activate defenses (although I heavily favor the run away mentally the way I currently play.)  If my bot is demob x3 and under attack by 5 bots and can't get away in 30-60 seconds--so be it.  I'd die anyway and that's fine.  But dying to one equal level bot is nuts....

I wonder if it would work to create a number of pre-determined safe spots so that the bot would immediately begin moving towards the nearest safe spot when a disconnect occurs.  The AI for moving is well-established and any hinderance wouldn't be removed.  I guess I would advocate starting the 60/120 second logoff timer when the bot reached that "safe" zone.

I'll also allow for the distinct possibility that higher level mob AI invalidates this idea (I'm only familiar with the level 2 missions.)  The concept  of "running to a safe spot" is somewhat pointless if level 4 mission mobs follow you across the zone.

In conclusion (because I'm in serious danger of TLDR), the disconnect problem is troubling at this point but isn't necessarily a game breaker with a Castel...but the idea losing a Waspish or better to a disconnect that isn't my fault in another month concerns me a great deal.

Thanks for your time.

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3 Topic by Blink

(5 replies, posted in Feature discussion and requests)

My suggestion would be to enhance the AI of the system when a disconnect occurs.  I've lost two castels when engaged in PvE because of disconnects and I can't help but think that just the tiniest bit of AI would have kept them alive until I was able to reconnect.  In the interest of fairness, this would likely only apply to PvE (so if another player has a lock on me then that's just too bad.)  I know this must be a problem for a limited number of subscribers or there would be more posts about it. 

I realize no solution is trivial but perhaps you'd consider having the bot flee for 30 seconds from the nearest (or locked) mob?  That wouldn't save the bot every time but it would probably exceed the aggro range of most of the spawns.  Or simply activate armor repair systems?  That might keep the bot alive long enough to reconnect and flee the area.

I'm simply looking for a chance to not lose a bot (and, more importantly, the modules) when I disconnect.

I've established the disconnect is not a LAN or ISP issue and, while I have a great internet connection, I am a long way from the game servers--14 hops at last count.  The suggestion to "get in a squad" is good but doesn't always work for me.  I realize that not playing is an option but this game has promise and I'm trying to find a way to make it work.

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4 Reply by Blink

(16 replies, posted in General discussion)

I have the same problem as do some others I've talked to in game.  Some of it may simply be related to overloaded game location but that's hardly the whole story.

As for me, I've lagged to the point of disconnecting three times in the first four days.  Yesterday was particularly bad as I lost two bots during my only two disconnects.  Both times I was running missions and no one else was in the area.  I know for certain that it wasn't my ISP the second time as I had normal (active) ping times to an out of state site when I disconnected but I wasn't explicitly pinging perpetuum.com at the time.  My ISP has a solid connection to the USA so I have a feeling there's a weak link somewhere else along the way.

I went so far as to contact a GM and they were sympathetic but couldn't do anything about it.  After all, pulling my network cable to save myself from a mob is the same as having lagged so badly as to disconnect.  I'd feel better if I had been close to death but when your armor's at 95% and Castels are dropping like flies...but I digress.

I hope it magically goes away--I'm liking the game so far but there are times I want to solo and a disconnect when solo is a killer.

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