An idea (yeah i know - probably has been proposed before, but still).

Every ship should have an option to "track" another ship, which when activated, tries to follow targetted ship, match its travelling vector, velocity etc and jump to the same location it jumps.

This could be extremely useful for convoys and for general group travelling. Only the "convoy pilot" would have to actually steer and the rest could just sit & enjoy the ride.

" just sit & enjoy the ride."

step 1: play eve
step 2: run autopilot....

seriously dude.

Personally, I use tridents as buses when I don't feel like flying there myself.

On the plus side, this would basically amount to a built-in Auto-Pirate computer function.

+1

@Lord~spidey

[[[step 1: play eve
step 2: run autopilot....
seriously dude.]]]

The last time i checked, EVE didn't have twitch - based combat.
When it does, I might reconsider.

This idea does seem to circumvent the need to actually pilot your ship.

@ryan reign

[[[This idea does seem to circumvent the need to actually pilot your ship.]]]

This is for convenience.

Let's say you have a group of 10 people, who want to do something together in some place and only one of them knows the place. So, they just follow him automatically until the destination is reached.

Also, this is extremely useful for Ion storm/general danger avoidance. One pilot sets a "safe route" to the destination, and whole group ships can just follow, instead of entering the route themselves into the navigational computer.

Simple, quick & effective.

"Let's say you have a group of 10 people, who want to do something together in some place and only one of them knows the place. So, they just follow him automatically until the destination is reached."

I'm not convinced. See, I have eyes, ears, vocal chords, and the ability to type. So as long as I can see where the ship is going, read or hear directions... I don't see the point.

@ryan

[[[I'm not convinced. See, I have eyes, ears, vocal chords, and the ability to type]]]

...which is nowhere near as fast, effective & robust as simple "follow that ship".

Do I really have to tell you why what i have said is true, or can you figure it out yourself ?
Because i think that is actually pretty obvious and you know it, so you're just having fun here / making a discussion just for the sake of having a discussion.

I'd say that eyes, ears, vocal chords, and the ability to type are significantly more effective as the player has total control over their ship as opposed to hitting cruise control and opening themselves up as nice juicy death magnets.

I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever to this. In VO, we pilot our ships.

-1

Well, the Itani and some UIT do anyway. The Serco, on the other hand, become their ships. :)

-1
Waste of resources for a small return. Better would be NPC convoys that follows the player escorting, to avoid storms. But only after faction fix and giving memory to convoy members.

@ryan

[[[I'd say that eyes, ears, vocal chords, and the ability to type are significantly more effective]]]

More effective - yes, but only in means of precision.
Faster - never.

Do i really need to make this example here ? OK, i will do it:
The convoy pilot sets a route which takes whole group around the ducking universe.
Do you actually expect everybody to copy all the coordinates into their navigational systems faster than they can use a single "follow that ship" command ?
.
.
[[[as the player has total control over their ship]]]

For a boring journey (safe route avoiding storms/dangers), nobody needs total control over the ship, just the convoy pilot.
.
.
[[[I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever to this. In VO, we pilot our ships.]]]

This idea is widely used in real life, so i really find it hard to understand how can you find "no benefit in this".

Whether you like it or not, a peaceful, steady flight ** IS BORING **, and there is not much anybody can do about it except engaging some kind of autopilot.

This is one of the reasons why pilots IN REAL LIFE have autopilots. People should SAVE ENERGY not doing things machines can do for them. It is the damned conception that our whole ducking civilization is based on.
God, why the hell am I explaining such an obvious thing ? This is madness.

Madness? This is the Internet!!!

/me gazes at the spartan bobbleheads outside his window

I am opposed to this simply because it would make doing escort missions automatic. Launch escort mission, set ship to follow one of them, and go take a nap. If escort missions were significantly more dangerous, or if they detected autopilot and yelled at you like they do for riding the cappie, or if they insisted on following you as Alloh mentioned, then I would not be so opposed to it.

As for sharing routes, that could be done easily enough via plugin. There may already be one to do that, not sure. I don't think there is though. But it could be done.

What we do have now though is a plugin that detects where somebody jumps to (if you're within 1000m) and automatically sets that as your destination. It's called AutoNav and is part of TCS. Very useful for chasing people. :)

"Better would be NPC convoys that follows the player escorting, to avoid storms. But only after faction fix and giving memory to convoy members." +1

@Pizzasgood

[[[If escort missions were significantly more dangerous, or if they detected autopilot and yelled at you like they do for riding the cappie, or if they insisted on following you as Alloh mentioned, then I would not be so opposed to it.]]]

Well, this is a valid argument.

However when that will be fixed some day, my idea should be valid.