Why is staying still such a good advantage in Galactic Starfighter?

[NathanielStarr]

Ok first off staying still in space is dumb, and should be reserved for the Death Star and other space stations, but I digress....

 

People just staying in one spot and being harder to hit than moving targets is ridiculous and by harder to hit I mean stuck under cover and you have to stop to get a good hit on them. I thought Star Wars was about dog fighting and not about a ship hiding under a satellite. It should be fast moving, and exciting not sitting and waiting. I think this is part of the reason this part of the game is already in decline. It is not as exciting as it should be and is in no way Star Wars like.

Edited December 16, 2013 by NathanielStarr

[RCSlyman]

It really isn't an advantage, except for protection against getting sniped. Any pilot worth their salt can get up on a cover-ducker, stop short, and blast them to bits. Of course, any pilot worth their salt that's doing it will be paying attention, draw a bead on someone approaching, and blast THEM to bits before they can even stop.

 

Also, another benefit of standing still, you have no tracking penalty. Meaning you WILL hit what you're aiming at. Gunship mechanic that applies to everyone.

[Trishlicious]

Staying still is a tactic, sometimes you need to get in cover to recharge and staying behind cover to not get hit by multiple snipers is safer. Plain and simple, people do it to to stay alive. Plus when snipers are attempting to shoot they stop dead, now that is what I find silly.

[Laurreth]

Ok first off staying still in space is dumb

 

Only if Bioware mans up and implements gravity for immobile objects.

 

OMG brb, submitting feature request

 

Staying still can be pretty good against people who don't know how to "counter" it and then overshoot you, preferably facebutting the satellite you're guarding or the rock you're hugging for sniping.

[Wainamoinen]

If you stay still, you'll die. It isn't a good strategy. Someone tucked in under a satellite can help cap if their opponents are asleep. But you're a free kill for a gunship or Pike/Quell, and an easy target for any fighter who can just turn on you and unload.

 

Using obstacles as cover to stop enemies being able to hit you, on the ohter hand, is smart. That's not the same thing. I've seen a few people saying they want no obstacles - I assume that's because they keep hitting them, and want the classes (rocks) that kill them nerfed. Empty maps would be rubbish. Maps with terrain require more skill, more decisions, and so are more interesting.

 

Sure, gunships have to stop to focus before they can do their big hits, and this is fine. Because it's a disadvantage. All the time they're sat still and charging they're waving a big flag and shouting "Over here! Come kill me!" Gunships that were able to charge around doing their 1.6k hits while on the move would be a bit unbalanced.

[Cashal]

Only if Bioware mans up and implements gravity for immobile objects.

 

OMG brb, submitting feature request

 

Staying still can be pretty good against people who don't know how to "counter" it and then overshoot you, preferably facebutting the satellite you're guarding or the rock you're hugging for sniping.

 

So as a Gunship: A tact that most don't know. .. Mid Barrel roll, if you right click to zoom in with your railgun. This will stop you from Barrel rolling further.

 

I can't tell you how often I've started to barrel roll, stopped with aiming my rail gun and watched the two pursuing scout/fighter to crash into the wall infront of me. (Hilarious)

 

 

To the point of the thread:

 

Staying Still : Dumb

 

Stopping momentarily: Smart when used in the right situation

[Serrit]

So as a Gunship: A tact that most don't know. .. Mid Barrel roll, if you right click to zoom in with your railgun. This will stop you from Barrel rolling further.

 

I can't tell you how often I've started to barrel roll, stopped with aiming my rail gun and watched the two pursuing scout/fighter to crash into the wall infront of me. (Hilarious)

 

I've used the Gunship's railgun mode to save myself from a poorly judged barrel roll collision a few times, but I'd never thought to use it to attempt pursuing ships to crash - full marks for deviousness!

[Soul_of_Flames]

What they should have done is make your ship's total evasion stats dynamic based on your ship's current trust speed.

 

If you're maxed thrust + afterburner, then your ship's evasion is at its maximum stat. But as you let up on the throttle, your ship dynamically loses its evasion steadily. When the ship is stationary, it should be at it's lowest stat (or possibly even 0).

[MCaliban]

Why is staying still such a good advantage in Galactic Starfighter?

 

Because people are still learning the game. For the first week, I found still targets a challenge; now I find them much, much easier than moving targets.

 

What they should have done is make your ship's total evasion stats dynamic based on your ship's current trust speed.

 

If you're maxed thrust + afterburner, then your ship's evasion is at its maximum stat. But as you let up on the throttle, your ship dynamically loses its evasion steadily. When the ship is stationary, it should be at it's lowest stat (or possibly even 0).

 

This would make scouts, the class with the highest evasion, even harder to hit, as with the right upgrades they can boost and barrel roll from one side of the map to the other.

Edited December 16, 2013 by MCaliban

[RCSlyman]

Because people are still learning the game. For the first week, I found still targets a challenge; now I find them much, much easier than moving targets.

 

 

 

This would make scouts, the class with the highest evasion, even harder to hit, as with the right upgrades they can boost and barrel roll from one side of the map to the other.

 

I think he meant your ship's evasion rating, reduced by percentages based on thrust. So like, for my Flashfire at a 41% evasion (loadout baseline), if I'm thrusting at 100% speed with power to my engines, my evasion is at 41%. Balanced power at 100% thrust, 39%. Power diverted to another system, 37%. 75% thrust (your "normal" speed) would take that percentage, and reduce it by 75%. Throttled back would be cut in half. Stopped would be 0 (you aren't moving, you can't evade).

 

If I'm understanding this right, there are two problems with this line of thought. First, engine abilities (K-turn, retrothusters, etc) could potentially kick that evasion up further for their duration. How would boost fit in? Would that be what you consider as "max thrust" for the 100% of your evasion?

 

Second, you're equating "evasion" with "movement". It's not. Or, at least, it's not totally based on movement, but an ability to avoid or mislead. ECM (Electronic Counter-Measures) play a huge role in that. That's why Distortion Field carries a huge bonus to evasion... you're playing a massive ECM against your enemy that doesn't allow them to target you properly. That's also evasion.

 

So you'd effectively have to separate evasion bonuses out. Some are based on movement. Some are based on electronics. Movement-based evasion is actually very little of the overall bonus if you're doing an evasion build... most of mine comes from Distortion Field, either passively or actively, as ECM effects. That's not something that would be affected by my movement... it's fooling the enemy's targeting sensors.

 

Now you're running into a coding issue, because you've got to rework the system, change things around to separate one bonus into two parts, write all kinds of conditionals on that bonus based on thrust, rework it into the overall bonus, all dynamically, for something that changes constantly... and do it without bugging something else. Or you just nerf the whole thing, make it useless, and call it a day (seriously, if you're going to count boosted as the 100% benchmark, the highest evasion percentage at normal speeds is going to be right around 25%, and completely useless). Or, you leave the system as it is, because the only evasion remotely based on movement is Lightweight Armor and doesn't account for much of the overall evasion of a ship built for it, and players learn to work around it.

[Gavin_Kelvar]

It really isn't an advantage, except for protection against getting sniped. Any pilot worth their salt can get up on a cover-ducker, stop short, and blast them to bits.

 

So much this. It's incredibly entertaining to sneak up, rip away their shields with ions, and then destroy them with blasters as they frantically turn and try to defend themselves. Occasionally you get the added fun of watching them panic and boost right into the cover they were hiding by.

[Armonddd]

I love it when people stop in front of me - point blank lasers (of almost any type) shred things.

 

Sure, gunships have to stop to focus before they can do their big hits, and this is fine. Because it's a disadvantage. All the time they're sat still and charging they're waving a big flag and shouting "Over here! Come kill me!" Gunships that were able to charge around doing their 1.6k hits while on the move would be a bit unbalanced.

 

Actually, in that specific case, it's not nearly so much of a disadvantage. A stopped ship has massive sensor dampening, on top of the gunship's already huge sensor dampening. And when a ship comes for them, they get that stupid barrel roll of massive speed.

[CKHelseth]

I stay still when defending a satellite. With my strike fighter I can let a lone incoming get in range, start my lock, start firing blasters, the station turrets soften them up some more. Let the missile fly and I blast them out of them out of the sky in a matter of seconds. Most players target the turrets first and don't realize I am there until it is too late.

 

That strategy is limited though as once I start firing any and all can see me, that is why with two or more incoming I am moving using the satellite and its turrets to provide offense and defense until I get a clear shot.

[JediNg]

They're not harder to hit. It's camera parallax

[Hitomo_x]

staying still is the dumpest you can do ... it cuts your turning Speed to 10% or so,

 

unless you Need to stop right next to this satelite its useless

and makes you lose fights in an instant

[mtsr]

Ok first off staying still in space is dumb, and should be reserved for the Death Star and other space stations, but I digress....

 

People just staying in one spot and being harder to hit than moving targets is ridiculous and by harder to hit I mean stuck under cover and you have to stop to get a good hit on them. I thought Star Wars was about dog fighting and not about a ship hiding under a satellite. It should be fast moving, and exciting not sitting and waiting. I think this is part of the reason this part of the game is already in decline. It is not as exciting as it should be and is in no way Star Wars like.

 

Actually in Star Wars lore I will quote you instances of stopping and being still in space battles

 

1.) millenium falcon in the asteroid cavern (which turned out to be the belly of a beast) thanks space mynocks!

2.) milllenium falcon stops on the backside of the :csw_destroyer:destroyer's bridge tower ( then releases and floats away with the space garbage before the destroyer jumps to hyperspace) thank you strict standard imperial procedures before initiating a hyperspace jump. *note boba fett is wise to this game

 

I will gently suggest you focus your anger towards adapting, improvising, and then overcoming those crafts using stopping behind or in cover to their advantage. Focus your anger and use it, give in to it and the darkside will make you strong