Proposal to add distance rule to the "leave battle" mechanic

[BlackWaterHops]

PROBLEM:

In PVP Battles, the "Leave Battle" mechanic allows ships to exit battles at point blank range if not fired on for 90-120 seconds.

 

CONSEQUENCE:

Players can "jump" out of battle even at 0% sails and does not reflect intended gameplay mechanics of escaping the pursuer.

 

SUGGESTED FIX: 

Add a distance component to the "leave battle" mechanic. Thus, make the mechanic dependent on at least two conditions:

(1) 90-120 seconds without contact (as is the game currently)

(2) Add a distance component (e.g. 800-1000 meters)

 

In pseudocode, this would read like:

[iF player hits = 0] AND [distance radius from nearest enemy combatant > 1000m]

     -> Player can leave battle

 

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A diagram is included below. Basically one should not be able to jump out of battles at point blank range to escape a kill or cap. By adding a condition such as distance, players can focus on the PVP engagement without having to worry about tagging a player every 90 seconds.

However, to preserve the escape mechanic, players can still leave once both conditions are met. That is, when they get beyond the minimum distance away from the nearest enemy combatant (1000 meters in the examples) and have not been tagged for 90-120 seconds, they can still jump away.

 

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TL/DR: PVP should not allow players to jump at point blank range as an escape mechanic. This preserves neither realism or playability. A small change, when properly tuned allows players to finish close-in PVP engagements while still allowing for a fair and reasonable escape mechanic. 

 

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[Anolytic]

I think this is a necessary change. With ships that don't have chasers you have to turn your ship to keep someone tagged, making it difficult to catch up, even if you would have easily caught up if you just sailed straight towards them.

[Skully]

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12189-chasers-should-not-lock-people-in-combat/?p=218375

Proximity based timers will create some problems with stalemates (a-la small battles 1.3 old timer)

If you are 750m from the enemy and cannot shoot but within proximity timer - you can keep enemy in battle for 1 hour and a half

Previously he will just exit if you are not shooting

With proximity timer you do not need to shoot at all and his only exit is surrender.

 

Hence I proposed http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12189-chasers-should-not-lock-people-in-combat/?p=243502

 

Looking at it again, it is too complex. Looking at yours it is troll prone.

 

How about:

1. If the distance between you and an enemy decreases, your timer is reset to 2 minutes. (Maybe even with a minimum difference.)
2. If the distance between you and all closest enemy remains the same or increases, the timer runs down. (Barring you being damaged in such a way to prevent escape (sinking, fire, zero speed)).

Edited June 20, 2016 by Skully