Chasing anything besides a moth or loaded carrier ship is basically impossible, even in a valk, if the target has the slightest clue on how to evade. Running is gonna get a lot more common with the new ship prices, and if it becomes basically a get-out-of-jail-free card to turn tail and boost off, no matter what ship your opponent has, VO will be hurt severely

I think just increasing fighters/interceptors boost thrust would be good,
just like what they did with the hog td but do it to all centurions and vultures.

Uh wouldn't that give runners more incentive to boost off when they are losing?
Slime likes my idea! :)

Maybe not chasing using energy weapons? Though I wouldn't object to a boost thrust buff.

I think you mean "maybe not chasing using anything other than a tri-flare valk." Even then I'm not convinced that a determined ninny can't get away.

Slime: It's an interesting idea, but most running starts at least 200m away from the other person, which is where the problem starts. With VO mechanics as they are, it takes far too long for the chaser to get to an acceleration where they can even start to catch up to the runner. So unless the slipstream is VERY big it would be tough to get into. If you think about most instances of running, even if you're in a heavily favored situation (IE you're in a valk they're in a hog), it won't be until you're 400 or usually 500m apart that you start to gain ground on them. Of course, it is a really nice idea, and if done right could solve the problem (also I like how it makes mines more useful!). But it would probably take a fair bit of work.

As for just boosting thrust for all fighter ships, that makes a pirate's job easier but for PvP it doesn't really solve much. The only solution I can see is making a ship or weapon designed for chasing, but if a ship were made like that it could easily become an unbeatably cowardly ship (case in point, Space Hunter and Ayn Eziert in their valks).

And Steve, flares are great for pegging runners, assuming their nubs at running and just take one straight line out of the sector. The most annoying players are the ones who run enough to figure out how to fix this problem.

I once suggested a heat management system, but no-one seemed to like it. It would solve running, especially for traders, since they have more mass to accelerate which should result in more heat being generated, which in turn results in earlier overheating and forced cooldown.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/19706#246872
For those interested (shameless self-promotion).

Also, for the record, running from danger is perfectly normal. Giving people a hard time because they act normally is silly.Making running too easy, however, skews the balance. So I'm in favour of making running more difficult, partially because I like to think I'm good at running and would like to excel at one thing at least.

But how does this make running harder? If anything, it makes it easier, since the chaser has to worry about their turboing AND shooting.

There is no way to chase and catch any infiniturbo ship that has a top speed of 200 or above in VO if a fleeing pilot has any basic evading skill.

When valks had a top speed of 240 and TD hogs 250, that was doable.

Now we have glorious speed balance so you can all forget about chasing and practice shaking your fist at runners.

They should just make for the percent of damage to your ship the percent your thrusters are damaged. That or have a point were turbo is 1/4,1/3,1/2,2/3,3/4, 4/4 damaged due to damage on your ship.

i think that might be a bit drastic yuutuu, but its a good concept

how bout for every third of your life missing (i.e. 66% and 33%), your turbo or thurst capabilities were reduced by 10 and 20% respectively.

Bojan, it's doable(in a valk), but very difficult. Generally I tend to catch people through superior load times couple with guesswork of their destination if needed, which is unfortunate. The TPG Atlas X is pretty much impossible though.

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream `oppression!`
And the oaks just shake their heads

So, the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
the oaks are just too greedy -
We will make them give us light!
Now, theres no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law...

And the trees are all kept equal...
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw ...

(There's no way to stop determined runners.)

Kind of an off-the-cuff idea, haven't thought much about it, but we could dynamically vary the top speed and turbo drain of ships based on their current total masses. Ie, instead of a fixed drain of 50/s, it might have a scale of 48-57 based on current mass (the smallest drain corresponding to the minimum launch mass). At the same time, instead of a fixed top speed of 200m/s, it could vary between some other boundaries, like 170-210m/s, based on mass.

This would encourage traders to drop their cargo to run (which, after all, is arguably what pirates want, right?). It would penalize heavy bombers as much as traders, but perhaps not unreasonably so.

It would all depend on the boundaries set on the sliding scale, I guess. This sort of thing screams "balancing nightmare" to some extent, but it might be reasonable if done cautiously.

Umm, of course, this only addresses the disparity between massive ships and light ships. It won't prevent light fighters from running away from.. other light fighters. If the latter is the issue, then yeah, I guess I agree more with Leber's random Rush lyrics.

Great idea Inc. I love it. :)

That is an awesome idea, and I would love to see it implemented ASAP! After all, it sounds like the main issue with it is potential balance problems (as opposed to a lot of required development time?), and the only way to fix those are to get it tested as soon as you can!

It totally solves one half of the running problem, that is, traders. In addition it makes blockading MUCH more feasible, which is crucial for the dynamic economy.

I also love that it makes mass and mass management more important. Currently it's just how well you can dodge in a fight, and if you have to way 1 second or 1.5 seconds to reach max turbo speed. This will make travel easier, if the boundaries are set right, so that a centurion with nothing but a battery will cut down on travel times. That also helps fix roles, because the lower level centurions have always seemed like they should be the transport ship, and yet with things as they are now the infini boost hog fills that role just as well, if not better.

As for a way to get this to help with fighter vs. fighter running, I'm not so sure. Maybe make a set of VERY low mass weapons designed to help pursue? I'd be willing to sacrifice a port on my valk if it would give me a higher top speed, and/or some way to inhibit my target (like I think has been suggested before, maybe some rocket-type weapon that takes out or hurts their engine if you can land a hit?).

So yeah, it's an awesome idea. Can we expect the first stages of it Soon tm?

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Also the aforementioned idea of tying speed to damage would be nice. It makes sense that a 2% ship would limp along compared to a brand new one.

This idea makes me drool.

Incarnate; YES YES YES YES

DEVELOPERS !!!