Princess Jodi
Vendetta Underground
Rule of Three
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Posted - 2007.06.14 14:58:00 -
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I'm gonna make another attempt to be reasonable here... and I'm doing it in the hopes that those who think AFK Cloakers are not a problem will at least try to understand the issues.
1> Ratters that cloak: If someone is ratting in your space, I understand that you'd like a way to remove them. But realistically, you have the ability to shut them down by hanging out in the system. They will eventually run out of ammo. They can't loot all the cans or they will fill up in minutes. So while it is annoying and a violation of your space, you have counters or limits on their choice of play.
2> Large ships cloaking: While some logic supports the idea that a large ship should be easy to find (and therefore can't cloak), just as much precedent exists for ONLY large ships being able to do it. Regardless, we currently have no modules that are limited to shiptypes - everything is based on whether you can fit it or not.
3> Covert Ops should be exempt from any Nerf: I agree that Covert Ops are the ships designed for stealth. However, any solution which excludes Covert Ops is no solution at all. While it may address a few of the cloak issues, it does not address them all. Covert Ops can Warp while cloaked - be happy with that.
4> AFK Cloakers: This is the one issue that people seem to be extremely polarized on. Most of the nay-sayers seem to think that someone AFK does not pose a problem at all. This is incorrect - monsterously so. I recognize that you may have a strong opinion formed already, but please try to envision this scenario:
You are in 0.0, with a hostile alliance nearby. From time to time each of you forms gangs and attacks the other. When combat time is on, scouts and gangs provide a measure of security. But what about the other 95% of the time? You'd like to mine or rat to replace that BS you just lost. You need to make money so that you can play PVP.
Now imagine that there is an AFK cloaker in system. He's there 23/7, in a safe spot so far out that the Sun looks like another star. Sometimes he's at the keyboard - most of the time he's not. If he is there, and you've got a 10-man Hulk gang exposed in a belt, he can tell his alliance exactly where and what you got and they'll be here in 5 minutes. The problem is, you never know if he's AFK and you can't find him by any means.
After a few billion isk worth of Hulks get blown up, you're not gonna get anyone to mine anymore. After enough Ratters get wasted that form of income is gone too. Your alliance is being slowly bled to death by one guy's alt that he looks at a few times a day.
If you think this is farfetched, won't happen, or has a counter to it then you are dreaming. This is exactly what RA did to KOS in the C-J area. RA was down to one remaining 0.0 station, and many were predicting their death. I was based out of the newly-liberated N7- station 5 jumps from C-J, and RA had one or two AFK cloakers in system 23/7 for weeks. There was nothing we could do - if we had the firepower to challenge the RA fleets that came by then we would have been camping them into the C-J system. Most times we tried to mine or rat, a sufficient gang of BS's would be there in minutes. The entire system became useless, because one AFK alt *MIGHT* be watching.
I consider this type of activity an exploit because there was no way we could counter it. I prefer for ALL cloaks to be non-repeating, instead of the other nerfs which all have loopholes.
If you have a civilized response to the AFK cloaker problem, I'd love to hear it. But please try to understand that AFK Cloakers are indeed a problem. Just give me some counter to it and I'll be happy.
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