Stargates are pointless IMO. Why bother?

[ToyotaSupra]

No really? Why bother making stargates when...?

1) they cost more to craft than jumpdrives.
2) use less power than jumpdrives
(I may be wrong on these points, but it's my perception)
3) take TWO MILLION CREDITS to build ONE STARGATE SYSTEM
4) Require you to judge whether the other is built too far away or not, and if it is, congrats on wasting 1 million credits.
5) jumpdrives charge relativity quickly even with little modules.
6) harder to build than jumpdrives.

Why? Why is this, like so many many things in this game, potentially awesome yet so underwhelming? I spent so much time and energy on a survival server building a stargate system when I realised it was simply easier to just slap jumpdrives on things. I mean, they both jump only 8 sectors...

What can be done? Well for one, make them different to jumpdrives. Make it so they have...Infinite range! I mean, you'll have to go the other way as well, so that can't be exploited. Not only that, for two million credits (yeah, try playing survival and then tell me ponying up that much dosh is easy. IT AIN'T) I'd expect it to sing, dance and make me a bloody cuppa builder's tea when I get there, especially when I can use the resources and time elsewhere. I'm a Yorkshireman, giving up money really isn't in my blood, so it hurt.

TL;R In my opinion stargates are trash, needs a' changin' and buffing right up before I give up my much more useful and cheap jumpdrive.

 

[The_Onion]

I thought warp gates had a jump of 8 systems, not sectors. I havent built one yet, so I could be wrong.

 

[Mariux]

I thought warp gates had a jump of 8 systems, not sectors. I havent built one yet, so I could be wrong.

That's true, they do have a range of 8 star systems.

 

[Incap]

Because it's an alpha and many features are still being balanced and fixed.

Warpgates may very well be less useful than a Jump drive, but a warp gate has a greater range, allowing instantaneous travel, even for ships that have no jump drive. Jump drives can take up a lot of room if you want something that's even close to instantaneous travel. If some of the restrictions were eased, and the range increased, then BAM! Warpgates are now useful.

 

[aceface]

they travel 8 systems! which is 128 sectors which is 192 km on the default configs.

what I however think should change is the fact that they are visible on the map. anyone can find them and blow them up - and all your hard earned modules down the drain. I think that you should only be able to see your own warp gates and allied warp gates on the map.

 

[FunnyBunny14]

We need a second type of gate to be able to travel between galaxies in a reasonable amount of jumps - four would be fine, and would still make the upcoming (in the distant future likely) hyperdrives useful. Because lets face it: the distance between galaxies is far larger than the devs previously thought. Our current gates need a lot more than four jumps to travel between galaxies.

 

[Comr4de]

they travel 8 systems! which is 640 sectors which is 960 km on the default configs.

what I however think should change is the fact that they are visible on the map. anyone can find them and blow them up - and all your hard earned modules down the drain. I think that you should only be able to see your own warp gates and allied warp gates on the map.

Errr, are you sure you don't me 128? I'm pretty sure star systems are only 16 sectors across.

 

[aceface]

Errr, are you sure you don't me 128? I'm pretty sure star systems are only 16 sectors across.

oops my bad xD

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Yep The_Onion and aceface they do, which STILL IS A VERY SMALL AMOUNT.
The point I'm trying to make is that they're more difficult than just slapping jumpgates on. But anyway, that's only my opinion.

And Incap that would be a great excuse, so much so that every single bloody indie dev and their fans use it all the time. Essentially it kills discussion. Meaning whenever someone points something out someone else can go 'kek and jej, it's an alpha fag deal with it.' instead of discussing other ways in which it can be improved. See what I'm saying here? I'm not criticising the devs, I appreciate the work they're doing. And I appreciate that it's early dev too. But all I want to see is if people agree with me, or suggest other ideas. Anyway:

They...really aren't useful if you're not using cheats. Not for their price. But that's just my opinion TBH, and I know that the game isn't being left alone, it's being constantly worked on. Like, wow. They must have taken half of columbia to stay awake. Coffee! I meant coffee!

 

[Lecic]

128 sectors is the equivalent of 16 jumps. Warp gates are a huge time saver if you need to go between two places often.

I think buffing warp gate range to 16 or even 24 systems would be awesome, but they're still pretty powerful as is.

They really need to not show up on the universe map, though.

 

[Incap]

You misunderstand. I call for patience, not to use it as an excuse. They have their priorities, and maybe right now, warp gates aren't that priority. Only time will tell.

 

[kupu]

Warp gate networks that are built and maintained by factions would be hugely more efficient than having to get everyone to traverse galaxies or large territories with jump drives. As a solo player? probably not. Sometimes balance discussions come up in which the issue seem to be "why can't i do everything at max efficiency at once all by my lonesome?".

I don't think the "It's alpha" is relevant here either. The mechanic is in place and works as intended as far as i am aware. Sure things might get a little tweak further along in time, but they are viable and working here and now.
I think if you increased your warpgate distance in the config of your server, you'd perhaps see them as a more viable option (should you even need them). Most servers have done this and it works nicely. EE has a ridiculously huge warpgate range. It will, and should, vary server to server because it will have a large impact on colonisation rates and player interactions.

I'm a Yorkshireman.

Oh bloody hell, you'll never change your mind :p

I think that you should only be able to see your own warp gates and allied warp gates on the map.

A few people have mentioned this and it would only ever create a more stagnant pvp experience. A player should not be expected to scour the entire galaxy for a hint of player activity. Visible trade routes / warp gates / stations etc are all integral to encouraging player interaction.

 

[Mered4]

A few people have mentioned this and it would only ever create a more stagnant pvp experience. A player should not be expected to scour the entire galaxy for a hint of player activity. Visible trade routes / warp gates / stations etc are all integral to encouraging player interaction.

Kupu, what??

Dude, have you seen the MFleet server?

We've had two or three wars/large skirmishes in the past few months, and in every engagement, many, MANY warpgates were just demolished. Utterly destroyed. The enemy didn't have to scout them - all he had to do was find the indicator on the map, jump over, and kill it.

In three-dimensional warfare, defending a stationary object is the most difficult task imaginable. Hell, it's nigh on impossible. Even with turrets being the see all, kill all monsters they are today, a fleet of four-five good-sized vessels will wreck almost any station.

3D space revolves around finding your enemy and killing him. There is no defense. There is only ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK.

I've been raiding the MFleet Imperium's Warpgates very successfully for about 2 months now. I've destroyed at least ten or so in their intergalactic network. I use superjumpers (jump ships with a charge time of <4 sec) and waystations, then wreck their faces. I never attack the same gate twice, I never come from the same direction, and I usually fire a single, well-aimed shot at the warpgate computer, then jump away. It's almost impossible to stop me without interdictors and a mind reader.

*but we want to encourage trading and stuff, Mered! We want player interaction, not hide in your little corner of space and forget the world!*

So here's my solution:

Give us the option to designate our warpgates on the galaxy map. If I want to trade, I'll throw them up, along with a big sign that says "Goodies THIS WAY!" If I'm at war, I can have my secret network that helps us reach across the stars without being hindered overmuch by the enemy. Tbh, war should only be attempted by large factions - solo fighting is hopeless. In addition, there could be a scouting mechanic in place, so that if you scout a warpgate, you see it's destination.

Would this be acceptable for the purpose you stated?

 

[Comr4de]

At the very least you shouldn't be able to see the paths at first. Like, I get that the stations themselves should be visible. But like, the destinations shouldn't until you've traversed the gate, yknow?

 

[jorgekorke]

The biggest problem is that Warp Gates are visible and can be easily located and destroyed by anyone. I've made a thread about that before as well.

24 Agrees and 4 Likes

Devs, plz ? :D

 

[kupu]

Give us the option to designate our warpgates on the galaxy map. If I want to trade, I'll throw them up, along with a big sign that says "Goodies THIS WAY!" If I'm at war, I can have my secret network that helps us reach across the stars without being hindered overmuch by the enemy. Tbh, war should only be attempted by large factions - solo fighting is hopeless. In addition, there could be a scouting mechanic in place, so that if you scout a warpgate, you see it's destination.

Would this be acceptable for the purpose you stated?

It's a heck of a lot better than turning all warp gates off by default. But i really do fear for ideas that remove the visibility of other players actions.

 

[AtraUnam]

Make it so all warp gates are visible by default. You can toggle your warp gate to be be visible to Ally factions, Neutral factions and Enemy factions or a combination of these. Even if your warp gate is invisible to another player it should become visible to everyone for a second or two whenever someone goes through it.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Oh bloody hell, you'll never change your mind

Tha can allus tell a Yorkshireman, but tha can't tellem much...

Anyway, I did not know you could change the warp distance in the CFG. If I'd have known that I wouldn't have even made this thread!

It always seems to be you who corrects my embarrassing noobery...I think you should be called 'community rep' and not just 'colouring in guy.' You're almost a direct link to the other devs.

Also, Mered4 and jorgekorke I always thought that NOTHING should be visible, at least not until you run the scan, and then there you go. I never understood the scanner personally, just seems like a waste of energy. That's another thread though.

 

[jorgekorke]

It's just too easy to grief a whole network. The same happened to a public network on EE times ago, all destroyed by some lame sub-doom-borg-cube faction.

There should be at least some effort to locate them.

 

[Mered4]

It's a heck of a lot better than turning all warp gates off by default. But i really do fear for ideas that remove the visibility of other players actions.

I know quite a lot of people do this, but we can't keep comparing the gameplay and player interaction to minecrwft survival mode. We need to start comparing the warfare to games like Shallow Space, Freelancer, and others. That's what the game is at the moment, at least where trolls and wars are concerned.