Recently, a couple itani guys and I went on a suicide mission through Serco space. Most of us were either KOS or within 50 standing points from KOS, so we knew that we were going to have strike force on our tails.

It was pretty fun, (the kind of fun one would have on a camping trip with friends being chased by a pack of wolves), and our plan was to kill as many strike force as possible (and tank our standing).

We managed to kill a few, but a problem arised - aerna seekers.

Now, in this post, I'm not arguing against a strike force (they're fun) but only against the seekers.

The seekers are so friggin fast that it's nearly impossible to escape them. And they're explosive sobateur tactics are deadly. Not only did the little kamikaze torpedoes ruin our suicidal romp through serco space, but they also mean almost sure death for anyone who goes through enemy territory. (well, not sure death, but pretty sure death for anyone that wants to do anything in enemy territory).

Now, I know that running into Serco space attempting to kill strike force was stupid (very, very stupid...and expensive!), but it reminded me that these seekers were unfair.

So my suggestions:

1. Keep the seekers in, but make their explosion not do damage, just 'force.' Almost like fast-moving concussion mines. That way it slows you down and the strike force has a chance to get to you.

2. Take the seekers out entirely. Compensate by making the strike force faster (top speed, say 240).

Please don't just reply to this post with "Well, you shouldn't be running through enemy space." With the seekers gone, bands of itani or serco could go into the opposing territory and 'take over' by killing off the strike force and securing sectors. That'd be fun! But seekers make that impossible.

Actually, in my opinion, I think the arena seekers/strikeforces are not enough, see this thread...

http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/7794#91429

I was there, and without the arena seekers, a n00bs life would be even harder...

tboyz, if you want to play around in enemy space ignore the def bots and seekers. They're a waste of time to kill more will come. Turn on your turbo lose them, and kill what ever your targets are. The seekers in fact will most often blow themselves up without damaging you, you just have to watch out for actually turboing into one.

tboz without adequate protection people would station-camp n00bs and do all sorts of other mischeif that is bad for the game.

Iunno if anyone can dodge seekers as nicely as Eld here, but here's a way:
If you time your wormhole jumps correctly, you can cause the seeker to blow itself up on you while you're invulnerable from the WH jump. However, then the SF is right on top of you on the other side. If you can deal with that though, then it's a winning tactic.

Anyway, seekers are the only thing that save complete rule by skilled pilots.

I have to agree with yodaofborg, Eldrad, ananzi, and Fnugget on this one, tboyz007.

One time, I actually managed to run around a gray space station for 20000+ meters in a lumbering Ragnarok MkIII after accidentally being rammed by a station bot being finally being destroyed. Although at that time, I deeply resented being attacked by a station bot when it wasn't my fault, the fact that it took so much time for the bot to destroy me also showed just how weak it was.

If you remove the Aerna Seekers, experienced players will easily avoid the rest of the Strike Forces and pick on newbies even just outside stations.

Believe me, the one time I encountered a Serco Strike Force in a Centurion IBG at a guarded wormhole, the only thing that really made me turn back was the group of Aerna Seekers! If they hadn't been there, I would have probably continued on to Serco territory to seek revenge from whatever I could blow up! Remove them, and no station anywhere will ever be safe again from experienced pilots!

-- DekuDekuplex Ornitier

seekers are fine the way they are!

dont make them faster, i wanna be able to outrun them with infiniturbo!

If Seekers can be outrun by any ship, they might as well not exist.
-:sigma.SB

When I posted this, I didn't realize that experienced players could station kill n00bs easier without the seekers. I was thinking along one line, and I didn't realize the other affects of getting rid of seekers.

I guess you guys are right. But still, it'd be fun to be able to just fight strike force without anything else. It'd be a change from bots...

Indeed.
-:sigma.SB

Station bots aren't like strike force, AFAIK. Strike force seem to spread out (and even go BEHIND you), unlike Station guards. As for fighting Strike force alone, I suggest you follow my method of wiping out the seekers. I think the strike force & seekers out run infiniboost 200, and they should. Vult mk1's go 210 infini, and who knows how fast the seekers go (215?). Currently, they're strait out runnable to the 3000m mark with a medium infiniboost 200 (might take one in the rear with a heavy).

But as always, I advocate border bot wars, at least until we get a good amount of active players.

I've clocked Seekers at ~250 meters per second. They have insane top speeds, and really not-insane turbo acceleration. Same with station guards. With this knowledge you can stationcamp to your heart's content.
-:sigma.SB

it would be stupid of the serco to employ a defense system that would allow anyone right in, and would reduce their credibility as a nation to do so. i like the idea of real border protection.