This is from a development of ideas elsewhere :

One thing I find useful is to have sparring matches with players who are admired by the same nation as you . You can shoot each other without any damage , just for practice .

Maybe I should put it in suggestions , but in the long term an offical sparring mode could be added in the same form as duelling . Along the lines of /spar challenge "fred", a timed 3 minute bout , then a messge " fred did 10000 damage , Ecka did 8000 damage , fred wins.

This would encourage newer players to practice combat without the loss of a ship , and encourage more real pvp in the game.

Cheers

Ecka

And from Snax;

04:53AM Snax_28
That's actually a fantastic idea. Throw it together in a more comprehensive thread in the suggestion forum. It would complement the "removal of friendly fire" push (of which I'm an avid supporter) in an interesting way.

I would add: Make it so there might be two options, timed or health; where timed restricts itself to your guidelines, and health restricts itself to a finite amount of damage.

There could be a "board of champions" (purely nationalistic egotism and patriotism building of course) recording all the recent scores at every nation station (might be more interesting if it was "inflated" depending on which faction's station you were in [requiring the required faction fix]).

Anyway, good idea, post it.

[Stamp of Approval]

Seconded!

(Love the idea, as well as snax's addon.)

This is a great idea, and it doesn't seem too complex to add, either. I also give it the stamp o' approval, FWIW.

~D.
"Nigel"

A great idea. If nothing else, just have it function like a duel except it stops once one person reaches a low percent and automatically repairs both pilots once done. Great way for new players to train and old players to have some fun no matter where they're homed.

That's another idea that could work, Ghost, but it might take more to implement.

Is anyone else frustrated by a lack of programming knowledge? I never know whether the suggestions I make are reasonable expectations of the engine or whether I'm out in crackhead land. I think the "/spar ghost" command that simply makes it impossible to damage one another, but keeps track of damage might be easier to implement, but I don't know for sure.

ARGH! I need a programming class.

~D.
"Nigel"

i like the idea too.

I think we can all agree that this would be a fine idea. I myself would like to do some PvP as i've not actually seen anyone else on my travels apart from one lone pirate in grey space. Sparring seems to be a good way of PvP without the drawbacks of a nasty death, or even a good death!

Wonderful.

Or you could just not care about dying and fight like in a normal duel.

But don't you think Leebs, apart from not caring about death stats, that going out to take part in a practice that results in death for one of the participating parties, seems a little, well...

...either characteristic of an absolutely brutal warrior society, the kind of which I don't even think the Serco fall into...

...or stupid (from a realism/immersion sort of perspective)?

Well leebs , you and I would just have a fight, with no real worries about being killed or the cost of replacing a ship . The idea is to encourage newer players who may be concerned to have a go , and progress to the same unconcerned stage as the rest of us.

Cheers

Ecka

No, for a simple reason.
No consequences = no fear = no fun.
Noone's gonna want to lose a ship then if they can fight for free.

Well, I see your point Kix, but sparring wouldn't give PKs as such, merely allow folk to practice before joining in with real combat with its rewards and consequences.

Given that asssorted "combat simulators" are now a trade item it seems only fair that simulated combat should be part of the game.

Cheers

Ecka

I completely disagree Kix. Categorically!

Its a form of practice, essentially the exact same thing as sparring with a similair national pilot as yourself. Except this proposes that, instead of it just being mindless firing at someone you can't hurt and therefore useless as a form of practice, it records your hits, and those that land on you.

I don't agree that this can even be categorized with real fighting. If I'm a Serco, and I run into an Itani, I'm not going to challenge him to a practice session. I'm going to try to wipe him off the face of the sky box!

The subject came up again whilst talking to some new players...

Ecka

*casts skeletal longevity*

I'm all for it.

I was convinced last time I read this. It's all good.
(Eck's powers of persuasion have swayed me!)

totally with the idea.

That brings up another idea. Maybe if you wanted to see someone you could both go into an empty sector and PvP (with the no destruction idea) and then when you are inished you can jump back to your old position in one point. It's really annoying having to jump after jump after jump just to see someone.

With the influx of new players and the increased ship prices perhaps it would be a good time to resurrect this idea