Well as everyone already knows, ion storms are deliberately put in the game for obstructing pilots pathways through systems, but recently they have really become an epidemic in some systems. I don't mind seeing maybe three or four in a system, but when it gets to be 5 or 6 in in an area of about 20 sectors there is a problem. I was traveling from Initros to Azek, and the most prevalent system for ion storms is Latos. Within an area of 8 sectors there were 3 known ion storms that I found, one in C-5, one in D-4, and one in D-1. In other words there is absolutely no avoiding these storms because I even planned around it on the way back and that is where I discovered the one in D-1. If those were the only ion storms in the system that would not bother me, but there was bound to be more because I have ran into various storms inside Latos.

The next point I would like to bring up about this is that if these storms could have at least have a certain distance between each other. There are some occasions I will run into to three (very rare occasions 4) ion storms in a row just trying to get to a station, and all the storms seem to be within two or three sectors. I do realize that there are ion storm radars, but you can't always have that with you.

Thank you for listening and keep up the good work

-AsteroidX

You can always plot around storms. Avoid sectors with roids and use shift-click to plot multiple routes, that helps via your nav map. You'll eventually learn to travel around the verse and never hit a storm.

Ion storms were going to be removed or reduced to the point of near-rarity.

I could understand this complaint if the ion storms were still long and annoying, but they aren't. Since the exit point change, they're rarely ever longer than a 3000m run.

abortretryfail, the distance or time is not the issue I am trying to point out. The point is, even when I do plot around them, they are almost nearly impossible to avoid when there are 3 or 4 in an area of 8 or ten sectors. And the system that is prominent for having them is usually Latos.

You probably don't want to say, that Grey should be safer. I welcome danger in Grey. Don't change that direction! Don't make gray boring. Its grey. C'mon.

Make Latos and all grey systems full of hive, perhaps some tough ones. And aggressive!

Yesterday, flying through Latos, I met Hive Queen, with Milanar support around. Thats good!!! +1
Even more good: She was fighting with Orion(?) Light Frigate. It was just .... awesome!

I made some pews, then docked in the frigate and used turrets.

It was no mission, all this was driven by NPC. I welcome it +100000!

If this was intentionally there, thats the way to go. Not just eye-candies, it was random situation, i was thrown in. I enjoyed it very much.

sector0, Lets consider that you are travelling from Azek to Sedina. Open nav map, zoom in Latos, them
Shift-click on H1,
Shift-click on P1,
Shift-click on P13
Shift-click on O13

This is the safest route, more illustrative. Like this, you ensure that your route never touches any sector with roids, so you ensure never meeting another ion storm.

A more direct but not so safe route is shift-click H9,O13...

Or even better, request a escort from another player (VPR, EMS, UTM...) and he jumps ahead, on direct route, testing for storms.

P-2 to O-12 works.

Alloh, that is the most time consuming way to travel. I shouldn't have to go through 4 sectors just to have a 90% chance of not getting hit by an ion storm. Ion storms are 'minor' obstructions not supposed to be incessant road blocks of 3 to 4 in one deliberate jump.

Sector0, sorry, but your laziness exceeded my point of well-balance.

Ion Storms are good point for interrupting boring travelling in-system. I agree with that they should be not just blue-empty. But your opinion on Ion storms is very opposite as it probably should be.

If you jump to void space, you can jump to next one almost immediately. Tell me, why the heck, are you too lazy to hit four-times Activate and gain safe passage, and instead you're whining that its for 10 seconds longer to the forum?
Perhaps ion storms are not yet dangerous to that point, that some players even cannot imagine how they could be.

Devs, make ion storms interesting and dangerous sufficiently, for keeping players thank you they are allowed to plot route through different waypoints. Personally, I think you already did some measures, the event I described here (Fri 08:04AM) was right in the ion storm and was really brilliant.

Sector, you misunderstood.
If you plot a course only through empty sectors as alloh has suggested, it is 100% assured of avoiding ion storms, because the path does not cross any roid sectors. 100% not 90%.

So stop being a n00b and learn how to plot around.
Either the 4 plots (100% safe) or the 2 plots (90+%)
or take your chances with storms if you use a direct route.

BTW Odia too is a very stormy sector. As it should be.

Except when you're doing a mission, it presets the route. So you would have to go in to navigation and change it manually. Or am I missing something. Sure this is doable, but its hardly intuitive, especially for new players. Hitting an ion storm keeps things interesting, but three in a row is just pointlessly irritating.

Only convoys are stupid enough to allways fall on "same" storms... even newbies learn to plot around soon.

And I allways re-plot my routes, except when escorting voys, when I have to follow the dumb voys into all storms on direct route.

This does make what is already a monotonous journey, even more so. I guess I'm in the minority though.

LotusAspect, for me the storms makes no sense as they are now. They should be visible from neighbouring sectors. There are no "scientifical" explanation for it exist in normal space, but not hitting stations. I proposed that they were moved into "subspace", becoming an anomaly inside the space-time-tunnel or wormhole. It would become like one extra anomalous sector per system...

But even then lazy routes would lead you into trouble, and wise plotting keeps you safe, despite taking longer to complete same journey. A fair balance!

It is so deeply integrated into VO universe that most players don't even want to argue about any change to it. And believe me, it was much worse when we had the alternate exit bug... you were escorting and your voy jump away some 8km away from your exit point. Or more... as 30km away in dense roid fields.

One possible balance would be having the NavCom having option to select the safest OR the direct route. Probably that is possible to implement by a plugin. Or sold in-game as a ship upgrade (for credits, not dollars).