Dropping cargo to run is already an option for everyone (though one rarely used since dying was so much cheaper before) so acceleration is already tied to mass. The epitome of this is the Marauder which is spry enough unloaded but handles like a hungover pig after a weekend tequila bender in the local pig bar.

In any case, if a light ship can't catch and shootup a fully loaded heavy ship, you have other problems than an inadequate ship. As for catching light and medium ships, I'd say the balance is pretty good now - it all depends on the circumstances and, to a certain degree, the skill of the pilot involved in true VO fashion.

The Ineubis Raven was introduced earlier to help fighters with their mass problem and it seems to have helped some. If anything, it's slightly over-powered for what it does.

If you really want a dedicated interceptor it shouldn't also be an agile fighter. I point to the Raptor as a good candidate for the starting point of such a ship which embodies this principle - good acceleration with long legs but not very maneuverable. Couple the Raptor with a Cap-ship torpedo (which only it can carry) and things start to get interesting.

I like the idea. Like Inc mentioned though, pilots in light fighters will still be able to run just as easy. The faster ships are always going to be able to run from the slower ships, there's not much anyone can do to get around that. I mentioned briefly in another thread that the best way to prevent running is to give the players a reason to stay in the sector. Missions or sector control type scenarios are going to be of a big help in this area.

I really DON'T like the idea of something to disable or cripple engines AFTER someone has started to run. Lighter ships are already more maneuverable and can frequently tear a bigger ship apart even with the greater armor. Once someone has managed to get past the critical point of getting shot up while running, they deserve to escape, it's your skill to keep them from reaching that point. Piracy, especially, should never be 'easier' than trading, or you wind up with a ton of pirates and no traders.

Now, what might have more merit are some WEAPONS that travel faster, say, above maximum boost speed, to give you a longer 'window' to stop a runner instead of starting the 'webifier/dewebifier' arms race. Of course, you'd have to give up something, say damage, to get that extreme weapon travel speed, but that can be compensated for with skillful shot placement.

I just don't like people having an 'I win' button for something that can be as...discouraging, as piracy. Merchants especially, need to feel like they have a fighting chance... or you will have no merchants, and that will take a lot of fun out of everything.

In the short term, how about a weapon that's similar to the rail gun, but doesn't consume energy? No autoaim and a very slow refire would make it very difficult to use in actual combat, but ideal for placing a shot up the tailpipe of a fleeing ship.

That would rule, Ghost. Also it should have low mass.

And I'll put in a vote for making the Raptor an interceptor ship. Maybe take down the mass slightly and lower the turbo drain? And then you can slash the spin torque to make up for this. Not only does that solidify it more as an interceptor than a fighter, but also it makes it a better chasing ship than a chaser one (since the runner would have to turn all the way around before they boost off, and the chaser is already pointing at them)

Make it so that if you're close enough to detect where someone is warping to, you can follow the jump without any energy cost as well.

By no means a fix by itself, but it means the pursuer can expend weapon and turbo far more than the runner.

First, something along the idea presented by incarnate, where mass has greater effect on thrust. It is a sad situation, where a widowmaker valk can not catch a triflare valk. Overloading a light ship with heavy weapons should be a distinct disadvantage.

Second, stop the warp out. Make it so that if you take damage during a jump, the jump is canceled, and all power cell energy is lost. You either have proper distance for a jump, or you don't. It should not be a get out of jail free card.

Third, certain ships are problematic, due to a combination of acceleration, top end, and turbo drain. Namely, atlas x, valk, ec-107. The ec-107 is such a poor fighter that it can be skipped. If you don't fix the valk, at least fix the atlas x, due to it's cargo space.

Forth, add a stutter to turbo start up. Runners dodge with minimal impact on top speed by briefly releasing the turbo button. Valks turbo tap to effectively gain infini turbo with a high top end and the ability to maneuver. Make turbo stutter slightly when turned on, and gradually smooth out as it is held. This has a minimal impact on a trader, who is going to hit turbo and hold it, but makes a runner pick between dodging, or running. (It would also add nice sound effects and immersion to hear your turbo struggle to get fired up, but then smooth out as it winds up). This will have some impact on chasers, but at least they can make the runner pick between dodging, or strait out running. It will mostly make running a strategic decision, not a tactical one. fight, or run, but no more of this fight and then run.

Ouch, you know what a huge effect that would have on botters, right?

I am wondering if the problem lies, perhaps, with infini-turbo.

Ehm, maybe we should get back on the track.

IMHO this thread is NOT about making PKers life easier and enabling them to rack up more PKs fast. Roda is a fine example of a very greedy PKer.

Inc's idea is brilliant and it will give a new dimension to gameplay, chasing and running, but how about we give traders something back to keep the balance.

If a trader is willing to sacrifice his cargo to get better acceleration and speed and tries to run, at least he can have warp invulnerability.
Why?
Lets get real, heavy equipped and cargo loaded ships will become easy prey for fast and light ships. If a skilled pilot manages to get out of chase to a jumpoint alive, he deserves a medal and not some Roda type pulling him out of warp and blasting him.

If a player wants to avoid combat or losing his ship at all costs, and we do have a fair number of quiet and peaceful traders in VO, I say give him a fair chance.
Successful running away from a scary Pker or pirate will add to his enjoyment and satisfaction with VO.
Happy customer is a good customer. :P

Roda's second and fourth points are two of the best (largely because they're easiest to implement) I've seen on this issue in a while.

Adding both may be too harsh, but point two alone is probably too weak. Just by itself, point four would really reduce the use of turbo to flee combat, while having much less of an impact on its utility to flee while hauling goods.

Point four would be very, very effective on many fronts.

One word fix: Flares

Line up behind him (her or it) and launch flares. I don't see why redo the entire game mechanics for a niche problem.

kindly demonstrate. your target: marcuse

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/stats/9903/

I like point 4. Not sure about the others. But it's true that for all intents and purposes, the valk might as well have infiniboost

And Shedu, the problem is that it's very easy to change directions while turboing with no penalty (until 4 is put in!), and a change of a fraction of a degree at the distances usually involved will make flares useless.

I think Bojan makes some good points too. It should be possible to escape from a fight, especially as VO moves further from space quake (once the transition is fully made, i wouldn't mind seeing light ships able to run easily and frequently). But for now, since PvP and getting Pks is still the main activity, running should be dealt with.

And I dunno about bringing back warp invulnerability, but the penalty of weight should be great enough that a trader dropping cargo ALMOST has a guaranteed escape. It shouldn't take extra measures if Inc's method is done right

I do like the hit-canceling-jump thing, that's an old idea we kicked around at various points, and I still have some concerns over it, but it still has a lot of potential.

I dislike adding a stutter to turbo startup, as initial turbo is so critically important to a lot of combat situations that aren't running. Like the "oh, crap, rockets!" use-case, among others.

If the issue is turbo-tapping at high speed, we could apply a curve to energy usage with respect to speed, across the board. Thus, drain would increase at higher velocities, negating the relative advantage of turbo-tapping until speed was reduced. The numbers would have to be tweaked right, and you would have to re-balance powercell capacities to offer "infiniboost" and such under desired cases. But, at least the initial turbo usage would remain the same.

Thoughts?

People are going to run anyway, and in some cases even more so with the new ship prices. I don't see any reason to penalize those who don't want to fight -- just provide more options for the chasers/interceptors.

Yeah, I'm not so sure that turbo tapping is that big of a problem. The hit canceling jump would be perfect though and it makes sense within the world of the game as well.

Then let's go with Inc again. :)

But do you mean "oh crap, missiles"? Cause generally, turboing is not a great way to handle rockets. And even if you are fighting missiles, if you're close enough that turboing or not is important for dodging, you are just as well off (or better?) by changing directions on some other axis.

And turbo tapping's not a HUGE problem. As a Valk pilot, I've got no issue with it! But it's just a fact I was agreeing with that it gives Valk pilots virtual infiniboost, for better or worse.

I don't think jump canceling, variable drain, stuttering turbo, or any of these additional solutions offer a lot of value compared to the mass-affects-accel option Inc mentioned a few days ago in this thread.

When was the last time a pure energy user ran from a fight? If he is firing, he doesn't have the energy left to run. It is the flare and swarm boats that fire and run.

In the end there will always be a fastest ship; and hit-and-run players will always use that ship. If you want to really stop runners, make repairs cost MORE than new ships at >50%. Make repairing a ship where it is not sold even more prohibitively expensive than it is. Above all, make swarm ammo cost a ton. Pilot behavior won't change overnight, but these changes would make hit-and-running far less popular.

.

EDIT: To heck with most of what I just typed, though it is still valid. Just make intra-system jumps require more energy! Wormhole jumps, at 100%, are far harder to use to make an escape. If in-system jumps cost more, running would be far harder.

Might I suggest a small-port version of Kaylee's Burn with less damage to the ship but less thrust as well (actual numbers would need to be adjusted pending testing, of course):

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/19523

This makes it a strategic choice whether chasing down those runners is important enough to sacrifice a port. Or if it's important enough to give up a port to run. More choices, more fun.