It occurs to me that there really should be a more efficient way for players to make a payment to a pirate. I'm sure it could be done via plugins, but that imo is a bad idea.

Create a new messaging option of say

/demand %target% Give me monies 1,000,000

And let tab autofill do the following for the targeted.

/buyransom %salesperson% 1,000,000

The player could then press enter to complete the transaction.

Backspace and change the amount to something they are willing to pay.

/buyransom %salesperson%1

Or change it to a message back to the pirate.

/buyransom %salesperson% I'll never pay you filthy pirate scum. I hope you die being slowly lowered into a vat of boiling acid!

The targeted player isn't in any way affected by the messaging any more than they would be from a hail unless they open their chat and use the tab fill function to respond. No pop up windows, nothing that inhibits their ability to pilot.

+1

1. Target the recipient
2. Use the /charinfo command (bound to 'k' by default)
3. Select Give Money

That works great for PC uses, but since most of the new players are on mobile devices, it doesn't seem like a realistic solution for players that don't have a decent implementation of droid buttons.

Just using the default settings on my phone, I could not target non hostile ships in my area in the same way I can on my pc. I had to select the missions button, then select Sensor Log in order to select a ship. And as far as figuring out where the charinfo button was, forget it.

I could however, tap the chat area and bring up a text window where I could type. I don't think it's reasonable to expect new players to have droidbuttons set up so that they have a 'target front' button and a 'charinfo' button easily accessible, and they are the ones most likely to get pirated.

-1 ... it's easy enough to type /givemoney Hegar 1000000 on an a touch screen keyboard. I've seen how fast many of these people type on their devices.

+1 to pirates being patient while new players type

The problem with patience is that the game gives us no indication whatsoever if the person is trying to log off, and hailing them only resets the timer once. Shooting them is supposed to reset the timer every time, but it also risks spooking them into thinking you're actually trying to kill them which makes them either run (and die) or turn to fight (and die) rather than finishing the payment. Spamming them with an explanation doesn't help; they have tiny chat windows that don't hold much, short attention spans, and poor literacy. And the last time I checked, the system was broken anyway and damaging people wasn't resetting the logout timer. Maybe that has been fixed though?

Also, not everybody has simple names like Hegar. It is significantly more effort to use /givemoney "Joe McPirate" 100000. The newb has to realize he needs quotation marks, jump through hoops to actually type them in, and also get the capitalization of McPirate correct. Or magically figure out how to use the buggy mobile implementation of tab-complete.

Anyway. Regarding the OP, why introduce a separate buyransom command? It should just use givemoney. That way traders can use /demand to send a bill to their clients, for example.



Of course, case sensitivity should be fixed regardless. Game commands should be consistent, and it is a trivial bug to correct.

That was more for illustration purposes as to how an implementation might work. The primary idea being that hitting the tab key in the text field would autopopulate a /givemoney type of command without actually completing the transaction until the player confirms with an 'enter' key press. Working the similarly to the /msg command where tab autopopulates /msg Fluffy (text to be added by player). I am suggesting that it also default to the amount demanded / requested by the sender.

-1 to magic auto typed text replies for pirates that give them money or magic popup windows for Pirates. I think this would more likely cause pirates to paid by accident if the text field is populated automagically. If the player cant type it, tough luck. Things happen in space. They'll learn to type your name faster next time they run into you.

Maybe pirates who want to be paid more quickly should have simpler names that are easy to type.

+1 for more trolls pretending not to understand simple concepts.

"Maybe pirates who want to be paid more quickly should have simpler names that are easy to type."

Or maybe the game shouldn't penalize people who bother to have sensible RP names instead of idiotic nonsense like killer1998.

Fluffy, I'm not trying to troll your idea, let's agree to disagree. I never want my tab key to type what you propose in your op. Funny how the tab key is also the turbo key. Pirate gets paid if the person meant to turbo away, but hit the t button first? Can you see my concern? The givemoney command is simple enough and works well enough.

Fair enough. You are certainly welcome to disagree with me as many folk on these forums do. However, I feel your argument or concerns do not fit my suggestion. There is no magic involved, merely convenience. I am merely offering a suggestion to streamline a common player to player transaction in a way that makes the game a bit easier for newer players. The labor is on the pirate to type the command or create a bind / plugin in order to use it effectively.

Now sure, you could say that someone could unintentionally pay a pirate with this. However it is as unlikely as unintentionally messaging another player. This would be no different than any other inattentive blunder players may make playing the game- such as unintentional selling all of ones cargo when docking if they don't have that function disabled- as I have done multiple times to my frustration.

Your concern that hitting the t for chat will cause the player to be unable to turbo is in a sense real. But this would not be because of the demand received, but player error. I have died many times because of this whether it be t, T, g or G opening my chat box. It isn't the tab feature that would cause the problem, but the opening of the chat text field. In the rare event that someone manages to open their text field and press tab they still would have to finish with the highly unlikely event of confirming the transaction.

Nor does this create a pop up window or force some sort of auto pay. The player would have to open a text field and then press tab or it's equivalent in order to populate the suggested command. The player would then have to press enter or the equivalent in order to complete the action. A demand from another player would not force open this text field. If you are concerned about people paying unintentionally then a follow up dialog box of 'are you sure' could be used after the enter key has been pressed.

In sum, this would work exactly like the tab function when responding to a message from another player. And cause no more problem to the players ability to control their ship. It doesn't help the pirate get a ransom, rather it helps the new player caught in a situation where they are unfamiliar and may have a rush of adrenaline clouding their ability to think and act. It also gives a cleaner framework for the pirate who is trying to explain to the player how to pay.

If VO was still PC only, then I would probably agree that /givemoney is enough. However, I don't agree that it is enough any more. This suggestion is about improving the experience for the new player. Players like myself don't need it. I've paid my fair share of pirates. In my experience, even pc players that aren't familiar with the tab complete function on a name (which only works 70% of the time anyway because of so many similar names) have trouble. I've had trouble with that myself.

Perhaps a better dissent would be to suggest that players have the option to opt out of this feature. I don't think telling new players to type faster or pirates to have simple names is a realistic or wanted answer. I did like Pizza's comment about the phrasing and how it could have uses in player to player transactions beyond piracy.

Frankly there is a LOT wrong with the player interface imo. Sure it works well enough, but it isn't as user friendly or intuitive as it could be.

"I never want my tab key to type what you propose in your op. Funny how the tab key is also the turbo key. Pirate gets paid if the person meant to turbo away, but hit the t button first? Can you see my concern?"

I can see your concern, but I don't understand it. To accidentally pay, they would have to press t, then press tab, then press enter without having pressed any other non-numeric keys during the panicky "why won't it work omgomgomg" phase. Generally in this scenario, they'd press escape, since their right hand is probably not on the keyboard if they're trying to run and since pressing enter might do undesirable things. Escape is both more convenient and safer.

I wouldn't have a problem with the confirmation box fluffy mentioned either. It could even display what their new balance will be, in case there are more zeros than they think.