Hi,
this is a minor issue, but I bump into it every time I log off. :)

I am using Linux, but I am sure this applies to other OSs, too.

VO is a truly immersive experience, but I do not like the way a VO session ends. Hitting "log off" in the options brings up the atmoshperic login screen with the station spinning in the background and music playing; hitting "quit" now however quits the game immediately, interrupting the music and *bang* dropping you to your desktop, like pulling a plug. I have always felt that this is a kind of disappointing ending for an hour-long VO session.

I very much would like to see a fade to black of the login screen upon "quit", accompanied by a fadeout of the music. Not too long, just 0.5 - 1 second would be fine. I'd just vote for a smoother leave from the VO universe. :)

Thanks for considering,
Florian

This raises something useful, though I see the OP's actual suggestion as pretty silly.

When a pilot is in the process of logging out, their ship should start to become translucent, or flicker in and out. This would help to prevent pirates from blasting anyone taking too long to pay.

A similar, though perhaps different, effect should be implemented for the /explode command, again allowing a reprieve for those who are slow to pay.

Ship glows as the hull begins to heat up?

Lecter, I like the idea of a visual cue that indicates when a player is /exploding or /logging.

Approved...

Lecter, you hijacked my suggestion. ;)

It is by no means silly if you consider a VO session as an experience as a whole. Sure, TV made us think everything has to end all of a sudden (maybe followed by a commercial break). However, a fadeout would be much more graceful and true to the atmosphere.

This is an aesthetic issue for sure, but that alone does not make it invalid (or silly...).

Florian

You know what, you're right.

Silly was too euphemistic.

He hijacked your suggestion because, for the most part, it is silly.

I personally play VO windowed. If you added the fade in/out, you would be making the ending more distracting and weird for me, while making it less for you. So you either make it an option with one set as default, and have 12% of people change it, or you don't bother.

EDIT:
Visual cue for logging off might not be bad... better then "Blah-blah-blah is logging off." It's still kinda odd to that we'd know if someone is logging off.

You have a point for the windowed mode, Phish. A disappearing window without any fancies is much more easy to accept.

Anyway, Lecter, you can not be blamed for never having heared of Csíkszentmihályi or the implications of his work for game design. You most probably couldn't even be blamed for having no idea of audiovisual design in general. But even then, mocking ideas, especially in a suggestions forum, would be considered bad practice in most other communities I know.

Assuming that my disagreement with your point flows from an ignorance of its basis is, I would say, the sign of a small mind. Moreover, florib, I note that the only other commenter in the thread to address your suggestion -- the others were praising my alternate idea -- agreed with me that it was silly.

Ignoring a silly idea, much less using it as a launching pad for a useful one, is not frowned upon in the sorts of communities within which I move. Mocking the advocate of a silly idea, who continues to press it forward after being informed of its fatuous nature, is likewise appropriate.

So, welcome to the VO community. Anything else you'd like to add?

I love Lecter's idea! I've shot people way to often for suspected loggery. ;-)

That's why you bump them.