Yay, keep focusing on EVE vs VO.

We need more to do, even if it's something like lua!

Anyways.. I did some more playing, I met a few veterans and realized what everyone here was talkin about.. Pirates do kinda enjoying traders.

I realized how terrible autopilot would be but, there could be some positives and negatives about Autopilot:

Pros: Somehow, it would be hard for Pirates to find you (cloak etc)
Cons: SLOWer to get to places by 20% atleast. I remember in EVE it kinda sucked to get to 13 jumps on auto, but when I wanted to cut time in half, i did it manually. (sorry, i keep mentioning EVE, but i swear to you I don't like it, I actually love this game 10 times more.)

Another thing: The point of an autopilot that has to be baby-sat is really idiotic. And with VO, it has to be baby-sat. If you hit a storm, chances are that a bot is close to your warp-in position. And if you're flying a fully loaded centaur, you might not be fast enough to escape, but you might be able to kill the bot (you are carrying weapons, aren't you?).

The same thing applies for players camping the wormholes. You can maybe outrun them, or detour. An autopilot can't. And if you're going to say now "Well, those are the consequences when running on autopilot," you will perhaps realize that this does not work. People don't want to be frustrated by something that should help them.

Please keep in mind that I specifically worded this with a 'larger audience' in mind. Because then, pirates will also be more numerous, and should be waiting at every wh, not just a select few. Maybe they'll even wait in storms, ohnoes...

Actually, toshiro, I am going to say that those are the consequences for using autopilot. You know why? Because the autopilot is, by design and definition, merely a tool to automate transit from point A to point B, there is no combat programming (that's the pilot's job).

Now, your argument about storms is unfounded, because a well-written autopilot would simply avoid the asteroid fields. And being ambushed at wormholes is only really a problem in grey-space and border zones, where the pilot should really be at the helm anyway.

The case where the autopilot would be most used would be in the core systems of each nation, where ferrying cargo is most prevalent and boring. Raising faction for Territories, Itani, Serco, or whoever is a terribly repetitive, mind-numbing task when performed in a non-combat capacity, and this is largely the capacity in which it would be used, not making runs through the B-8 corridor.

Now, things like docking would likely still be manual, but warping can be automated fairly easily (a simple matter of range-checking the WH). Players could be notified with an alert or klaxon when the autopilot has encountered a situation it can not handle (docking, combat, storm in an unmarked 'roid field, etc). Now, if the player is off in another room eating cup-o-noodles instead of nearby paying attention, its their own fault for going boom. Thats the risk you take when you put trust in the computer instead of your own intuition.

Serious players would not use the feature much, but it would be invaluable to newbies when they're getting off their feet.

Of course, the Devs have vastly more important things to do than writing an autopilot script. It is merely a suggestion for something to do once they run out of the proverbial 'low hanging fruit' they keep referring to. That won't, of course, stop players from writing Autopilot Binds, however.

Great Post Psyra

New players would do better to watch their ship than use the autopilot and not learn how to plot around storms. Practice makes perfect, and it is better if they start early than late. You may say that my argument about storms is unfounded, but it really isn't.

And if the autopilot's main merit was the core systems, where the profits will be so minuscule (with a larger populace in mind, remember?) that it's hardly worth it... Then it's hardly worth thinking about it, right?

I never said that people should not write autopilot scripts. But so far, no project has seen common practice. I think even using displayshippos was not fun because it displayed the position in coordinates very difficult to disassemble for non-developers. I might very well be wrong on this last thing, though.

It displayed it in quaternions, and if you didn't know those, you couldn't really do much with the info.

I remember FireMage trying to break them.

So is it really just a question of knowing the theory behind them?

I don't think so Tosh, autopilot leaves room for an escorting business. Someone who will take care of your ship as you travel.

Point taken. I still really don't think fighter craft need an autopilot, though. Big, slow, fat-assed cargo haulers might, agreed. But new players would not really profit from that, since they would not be able to get at those transports.

And sending new players to escort convoys, I don't know. Perhaps under the surveillance of a seasoned player? But then there's the problem of obedience, which opens another can of worms entirely.

Great Post Psyra

oooh 3 times, I think this means you need to start a cult or something?

anyways...I have to say I agreed with pretty much every thing you said, but I have the over whelming urge to point out the proper spellin is "purist"

Thanks Ryan, post edited.

I'm all for an auto pilot that could take you from one sector to another, long as it can't dock. If the player is off in another room on auto pilot and I blast them, tough shit.

Hmm, an automated docking command could easily be accomplished by scripting.

In any case, if this were to be implemented by the developers (and not players), it should be an add-on that can be bought and equipped, but it should have some requirements. I really see no point in giving the new players this kind of help right off the bat, because there's loads of stuff to be learnt from flying around space.

well, level reqs for an autopilot would work then...

I don't think an autopilot needs any other requirements besides the player being logged on.

You *might* be interested in this lil' bind I constructed. It demonstrates that it's possible, atleast in some (and thus far most if not all) systems to draw up a set pattern of moves that will bring such and such a ship from point A to B, even across wormholes. In this case, an EC-89 from Eo to Cantus. Thus, by collecting the right data, and inputting the right variables, one can surmisably construct a full fledged autopilot system that could take you from one point of the universe to the next, via nothing more than predetermined binds. Probably more so with the LUA interface, although as ever, that stuff remains a mystery to me.

For those curious, I am still working on the bind, and especially so once I find more time and computer(s). Credit will be dished out to contributers accordingly.

maybe i'm a little late, but:
PsyRa's post FTW

[EDIT] "Maybe they'll even wait in storms, ohnoes..."
way ahead of you tosh :D