Forums » Android
Disadvantage on Mobile
So I just finished the basic tutorials. I accepted a courier mission. On the return trip I get ambushed by some ass as I'm about enter the landing bay. After being blown away a second time, I thought to myself - it sure would be handy if I could tap on the "target" button and cycle through, let's say, all ships within 2k meters. Then when his ship was selected I could at least go out in a blaze of glory in my little starter ship. After some reading it seems like on a pc you can do something like this. What other disadvantages exist playing the game on a phone?
Strait out of the training sector and VO can be overwhelmingly hostile. It will stay hostile not just to mobile, PC players are affected too. Player vs. player is a big part of the game. As you gain experience playing and interacting with others your perceptions will change. As far as your question regarding disadvantages playing on a phone they do exist, but do not limit a players ability to succeed at any game activity. Search here and player run forums. Chat in game, make friends. You suffer from being new and inexperienced at playing VO, not a hardware limitation.
Technically, the only difference between the PC and Mobile versions is the default user input device (i.e. the touchscreen). Everything else is the same, and there are no real advantages to either platform beyond that (though some might argue screen size from larger monitors is an advantage).
The touch screen interface can be customized by using the DroidButtons plugin.
The touch screen interface can be customized by using the DroidButtons plugin.
The issue for me was: I was in the sector of UIT Capitol a guarded sector which I thought meant it's a safe place for a new player to learn the game, I would even be okay with having to make a dash to within 1k meters. I thought that a no fire zone extends to 1000m from any station and that any combat occuring within results in the station weapons opening up on the offender and BOOM. After searching the forum it appears that the only difference from blasting away a dumb noob who ventures in to grey space and killing him in guarded space is that doing the latter only results in the loss of rep pts which I guess if you have enough banked is only a minor inconvenience. Anyway I hope that soon enough I'll get proficient enough to give as good as I take.
I actually enjoy playing VO on my phone/tablet more than my PC. I use a Moga Pro Power controller. Haven't tried playing with my HOTAS on my PC (I use that for Elite/SC), but I think it would be harder on a HOTAS than a keyboard/mouse or controller.
I was in the sector of UIT Capitol a guarded sector which I thought meant it's a safe place for a new player to learn the game
It is, provided you yourself are UIT. Other UIT players cannot harm you within the capitol system (let alone sector) and foreign players will incur massive standing loss if they destroy you, provided you really were at the UIT capitol and haven't done anything to fall out of your own nation's favor (like destroying a station guard).
I thought that a no fire zone extends to 1000m from any station and that any combat occuring within results in the station weapons opening up on the offender and BOOM.
It does.
The only uncertain part is the "BOOM"; station defenses were recently buffed, however. As an easy experiment to see what it's like when the station defenses come online, try firing on a convoy that's either docking or departing within the NFZ.
the only difference from blasting away a dumb noob who ventures in to grey space and killing him in guarded space is that doing the latter only results in the loss of rep pts which I guess if you have enough banked is only a minor inconvenience.
It's a bit more than that; if the player who killed you did so while you were at a major nation's monitored or guarded space and you were in good standing, they might have incurred a faction penalty. To give you an idea of how serious such a penalty can be, "enough banked" might mean up to 300 million credits. Lesser corporations will allow you to repair faction standing with them for "only" 20 million credits, and Corvus doesn't mind who you kill at all. So, it's generally a bit more than a "minor inconvenience".
Also, the player might have earned a temporary (24 hour) lockout from all stations of the faction you were at if s/he killed 2 other players within guarded space of that faction within a week. It may even be a bit more strict than this, but I am not sure.
The long and short of it is, unless you were out of your home territory, I'm guessing the player that killed you really went out of his/her way. I must not have been online at the time and obviously don't know all the details of the encounter, but I just wanted to offer my perspective. You would know if a faction penalty had been incurred because you would have seen a pop-up window asking if you wanted to "forgive" the kill or not. If this did not happen, you either did not have enough standing at the station where the kill occurred (you start out with enough at your home nation) or the offender was already flagged as "Kill On Sight".
It's pretty unusual, I think, but it does happen. Welcome to VO. One of my favorite, earliest memories playing from 2003 was being destroyed by the pirate Icarus and learning that the (then 18 sector) galaxy was indeed a dangerous place. Also bear in mind that of the three major nations, the UIT are the least secure. It comes with the territory of trading to both sides in a centuries-old interstellar conflict.
It is, provided you yourself are UIT. Other UIT players cannot harm you within the capitol system (let alone sector) and foreign players will incur massive standing loss if they destroy you, provided you really were at the UIT capitol and haven't done anything to fall out of your own nation's favor (like destroying a station guard).
I thought that a no fire zone extends to 1000m from any station and that any combat occuring within results in the station weapons opening up on the offender and BOOM.
It does.
The only uncertain part is the "BOOM"; station defenses were recently buffed, however. As an easy experiment to see what it's like when the station defenses come online, try firing on a convoy that's either docking or departing within the NFZ.
the only difference from blasting away a dumb noob who ventures in to grey space and killing him in guarded space is that doing the latter only results in the loss of rep pts which I guess if you have enough banked is only a minor inconvenience.
It's a bit more than that; if the player who killed you did so while you were at a major nation's monitored or guarded space and you were in good standing, they might have incurred a faction penalty. To give you an idea of how serious such a penalty can be, "enough banked" might mean up to 300 million credits. Lesser corporations will allow you to repair faction standing with them for "only" 20 million credits, and Corvus doesn't mind who you kill at all. So, it's generally a bit more than a "minor inconvenience".
Also, the player might have earned a temporary (24 hour) lockout from all stations of the faction you were at if s/he killed 2 other players within guarded space of that faction within a week. It may even be a bit more strict than this, but I am not sure.
The long and short of it is, unless you were out of your home territory, I'm guessing the player that killed you really went out of his/her way. I must not have been online at the time and obviously don't know all the details of the encounter, but I just wanted to offer my perspective. You would know if a faction penalty had been incurred because you would have seen a pop-up window asking if you wanted to "forgive" the kill or not. If this did not happen, you either did not have enough standing at the station where the kill occurred (you start out with enough at your home nation) or the offender was already flagged as "Kill On Sight".
It's pretty unusual, I think, but it does happen. Welcome to VO. One of my favorite, earliest memories playing from 2003 was being destroyed by the pirate Icarus and learning that the (then 18 sector) galaxy was indeed a dangerous place. Also bear in mind that of the three major nations, the UIT are the least secure. It comes with the territory of trading to both sides in a centuries-old interstellar conflict.