Should distress calls be disabled by default?

Post by **Vice** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:20 pm

Please vote for the selection you want. Should distress calls be disabled by default and only enabled by the player when they want to receive them?

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:37 pm

How about the ability (in Game Options) to adjust the time limit for both distress calls and taxi contracts.

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:42 pm

I voted to leave them as is due to new players not realizing they have the option to enable them if it changes.

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:44 pm

Btw, I voted to leave them as is ... because it's easy enough to turn them off. But I like Tbirds reasoning better.

countjimula · Post by **countjimula** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:56 pm

Another option would be to make it a question when you start a new pilot.

Rubber Chicken · Post by **Rubber Chicken** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:18 pm

I'll turn them off manaully if I don't want to view them. Countjimula has a good suggestion too.

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:25 pm

Voted to leave well-enough alone. Am just on the border of perceptive enough to toggle the DC off, as desired.

Munshine · Post by **Munshine** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:55 am

I voted yes . But the real issue is why whenever you load a save, the game didn't remember your last choice ? If distress calls were muted, disabled or enabled last time, you shouldn't have to manually set it again.

Twilly Frost · Post by **Twilly Frost** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:39 pm

Don't be a'feared of change. Turn them off! At least have it remember that you disabled them, like Munshine said.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:29 pm

Adding additional data to the "save" file might bork older pilot profiles.

Post by **DaveK** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:26 pm

From post: 134666, Topic: tid=9176, author=Marvin wrote: How about the ability (in Game Options) to adjust the time limit for both distress calls and taxi contracts.

I'm with Marvin on this

At the moment I don't try them - it takes a civ ship prepped with the main required goods to have any chance of getting there on time. Consequently I turn them off

If there was more time or a "hard - medium - easy" switch with appropriate times and rewards then at this stage of my gaming I would be very tempted to zoom around Evochron helping the needy

In terms of switching them off manually each time - it's not hard since the control is in the nav map screen, but having the game remember the present state would be nice. However if they are off by default or the state is remembered by the game, some newer players may not realise they exist (option 1) or switch them off early on when they don't have the resources to manage them and then forget that they exist (option 2)

Overall, for me, making them more attractive to take on by giving more time and/or having a reducing reward as the time taken increases is more relevant to their attractiveness than whether the game shoud remember you last choice

Post by **Vice** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:10 pm

Thanks for the feedback and votes. By a narrow margin, leaving them on by default wins and the setting will be stored with the profile (that way, players who don't want to receive them can just turn them off indefinitely).

MentalParadox · Post by **MentalParadox** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:15 pm

I get the feeling these pesky things keep re-activating themselves every hour or so. Very annoying when all you want is to fly around in peace.

Rubber Chicken · Post by **Rubber Chicken** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:11 pm

I got a chance to answer a distress call last night. As I recall, for the first time.

I thought it was fun! Racing against time, realizing you've entered the wrong coords, and finally finding the stranded ship with seconds to spare! The only thing is that I thought I would have to trade a fuel pod or something. All I had to do was fly within range of the stranded ship. When the message appeared in the text that I completed the rescue operation, it was reather subdued. I was left to wonder for a moment whether I made it on time or not. Maybe a slightly more blatant 'mission complete' could be added for those of us who don't mind the calls?

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:41 pm

Unless I'm taking screenshots, I almost always leave the distress calls turned on. And ignore them ... except on the rare occassion where I realize I'm nearby and either have the material on board or can quickly purchase it at the station where I'm docked. Is it satisfying to complete one of these things? Yes. Is it frustrating to miss doing so by a couple seconds? Totally!

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:04 pm

Question for Vice, If we ignore a call and it fails, does that failure reflect on our crews Loyalty and Knowledge level as it does when we fail a regular mission?:o

Post by **Vice** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:18 pm

No, not completing a distress call does not negatively impact your rating score or crew values.

Cargo · Post by **Cargo** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:39 am

If the distress calls were OFF by default, the pilot would be presented with the fairly easy decision on whether or not to take time out of their day and help people. With it ON the pilot is forced to make the 'moral' decision of ignoring it.

I made the decision that Platinum mining was more important than the poor saps asking for help and that's how I like it.

fabittar · Post by **fabittar** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:16 pm

I say leave it as it is, but PLEASE give us more time. I have to find/buy the stuff, then I have to locate the right system/gates/shortcuts and only then I get to fly to my destination. The time runs out almost always.

frontier204 · Post by **frontier204** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:32 pm

I'm a new player (trying out my first attempt at system reputation shifts) but I like the distress call feature. If they were off by default I certainly wouldn't have known they were there. They let the player know the Evochron universe is dynamic, and the player and/or the player's target isn't the only one who gets into trouble

However, can you change the default alarm sound? Whenever one of those pops up in battle I'm looking for a missile because the sound is the same.

Another option for the time is to slowly decrease the reward as time passes, or even more interesting would be to list a ship that's responding to the distress call and you compete with it (or attack it!) as you race to be the first responder.

westernnomad · Post by **westernnomad** » Thu May 03, 2012 3:48 pm

Although my experiences with distress calls have been entirely failed, I voted no.

It's a good concept that needs tweaking.

Perhaps limiting the notifications to the current system by default, but having the option to receive all distress calls or limited to a preferred radius. Also, we need at least 10 minutes and preferably 30 minutes to respond. It's another career possibility to do emergency response to distress calls.

As it is, you have to be in the system with the goods already in your hold and take the risk of burning up in the atmosphere to satisfy the distress call in only 5 minutes. I've been in that situation and took the risk. Time expired before I could "call the ball" on the landing platform.

Post by **DaveK** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:03 pm

I did manage a distress call once - I had the required goods on board and if you know where the gates are you can get from one end of the core to the other in a couple of minutes. Awed the inhabitants of the planet who must have thought a meteorite was heading in their direction! Landed and got my just reward.

I went back to 5 waypoint combat contracts with 25+ hostiles after that - less stressful

:P:P:P:P

Post by **Marvin** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:33 pm

From post: 136626, Topic: tid=9176, author=DaveK wrote:I went back to 5 waypoint combat contracts with 25+ hostiles after that - less stressful :P:P:P:P

That's gotta be the understatement of the week.

light487 · Post by **light487** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:50 am

From post: 136574, Topic: tid=9176, author=westernnomad wrote:Although my experiences with distress calls have been entirely failed, I voted no.

It's a good concept that needs tweaking.

Perhaps limiting the notifications to the current system by default, but having the option to receive all distress calls or limited to a preferred radius. Also, we need at least 10 minutes and preferably 30 minutes to respond. It's another career possibility to do emergency response to distress calls.

As it is, you have to be in the system with the goods already in your hold and take the risk of burning up in the atmosphere to satisfy the distress call in only 5 minutes. I've been in that situation and took the risk. Time expired before I could "call the ball" on the landing platform.

I agree with all this.

5 minutes is barely enough time at the best of times/situations, making all the calls I've seen basically an annoyance and I've since turned it off now. in SP they need to be relevant to the individual player, in MP they need to be possible by at least one person on the server but preferably possible for more than one so that it leads to competition to "race" each other to complete the task.