Combat usage of safe zones and how to fix it.

Im trying to perform the mental gymnastics it takes to think this is a good idea. This game is PVP oriented with the goal of outwitting your opponent to defeat them where the only limiting factors is ones ingenuity and strategic cleverness and Keen screws that ALL up by adding Safe Zones. Yes, players are going to get shredded, thats the price you pay when participating in a game where large scale war is likely. But thats the fun of the game. Working yourself and your faction up to a point to where you can battle your nemesis and feel the satisfaction of claiming victory. If you lose, you can only improve and learn the lessons from the mistakes that lead up to your demise. Then once you try again, you're that much more effective. With the implementation of Safe Zones, that entire dynamic is ruined in favor of the babies who dont want to risk their builds and bases in a PVP oriented game.

In your last paragraph, you're literally ENCOURAGING players to exploit the safe zone to give their attacker no chance of killing them. You're encouraging players to be scummy and decimate their opponent without risking loss themselves. Im trying to comprehend why you'd think that is a fine thing to do, let alone a good thing to have in the game to begin with.

There are 1 of two things Keen might as well do given how the Safe Zones mess up the game dynamic. They can either remove the weapons entirely, because PVP is ruined with the SZ blocks and is pointless in the long run because you'll never claim complete victory in a faction war, or they can remove SZ blocks and restore the PVP dynamic this game is supposed to have to begin with. Jesus at least give us ways to work around SZ blocks for the sake of PVP. But as of now, the implementation of the block is killing the very thing that made this game different from any other.

The thing is that the safe zones have at least improved by raising the timer. It makes combat zoning in an offensive way against other manned ships pretty much counter productive. HOWEVER against bases this is still far too much of a strong tactic, especially when paired with custom weapons. I have made ship builds (especially flaship builds) that can use their defensive safe zones as offensive siege and area lockdown platforms when paired with their long range weapons. A ship with a gravity cannon on a turret could simply anchor itself a killometer from a base and start shelling it, and if like mine they are equiped with missiles, then that potentially makes a bubble a few killometers across a danger to approach as you would be subjected to guided missile fire from a ship you cannot harm.

Safe zones are a good idea most of the time, but really, they must remain as a raid protection, not as a raid tool like they can be used now.

To mansuy adrien 100% agree, i would even be in support of a limit on moving a safe zone at all, it should not be used as a offensive weapon, but it's defensive capability should be immutable.

To Bri Johnston

I played the game allot the months leading up the Safe zone mechanics was introduced, the game was fun but Offline raiding was what killed if for allot of people.

There is no way to defend yourself from someone who find your base, none. and finding a base was (and might still be) as simple as reaspawning and searching the asteroids within 14km of your starting position until you find a base.

"Im trying to perform the mental gymnastics it takes to think this is a good idea." 2000h of game play is pretty much why i think this was a good idea.

"This game is PVP oriented with the goal of outwitting your opponent to defeat them" No it's a game about building and engineering, the PVP is an afterthought and if you want a PVP server where safe zones are disabled you can find them.

"Yes, players are going to get shredded" Most of the 'shredding' happens when a player is offline, find the base and wait until that player is offline then trash the base for craps and giggles and.

"Working yourself and your faction up to a point to where you can battle your nemesis and feel the satisfaction of claiming victory." Sure if that is your thing, but most people in the game do not go after other people who want to fight they go after players just to grief, usually players who are just starting out and most of the time they just crash a ship in someone base of docked ship grind down everything get board and log off.

"If you lose, you can only improve and learn the lessons from the mistakes that lead up to your demise. " No, you cannot whit out a Safe Zone defend yourself from greifing, there is no amount of turrets that can defend your base from an attack while your offline.

"in favor of the babies" I'm sorry should the game be inclusive or should the people who don’t want days of hard work get raid just because a guy log's on randomly stumble across a players base and decide to ram spawn ships in to it for a few hours?

"you're literally ENCOURAGING players to exploit the safe zone to give their attacker no chance of killing them." Yes, Yes i am... here is the thing, if you want PVP you can find "literally" hundreds of servers where it's the main focus, i am ONLY referring to the official build and the official servers, if you harass and attack a players base whit a safe zone maybe get the message LEAVE!

"You're encouraging players to be scummy and decimate their opponent without risking loss themselves." No I’m not, I’m merely suggesting that perhaps players who do not wish to be whipped out every 3 days can do so whit out player who are out to grief players can’t do so, the safe zone is a way to "opt out" of PVP or at least getting their base 'whiped' by a greifer, you can still attack ships when they are out mining.

"Im trying to comprehend why you'd think that is a fine thing to do, let alone a good thing to have in the game to begin with" Simple it makes the game better, And i know i played on the official server before and after (not keen messed up in other ways) but the game improved allot after the safe zones where introduced, Greifing almost disappeared over night players stayed longer built more and enjoyed them self ALOT more, my action was able to log off at night and sleep whit out having to worry about being whipped out the next morning, we had fun.

"There are 1 of two things Keen might as well do given how the Safe Zones mess up the game dynamic." I’m sorry you sure seem to have allot to say about a post i did close to a year and half ago, and it's a little pretentious to think you have an answerer to a problem that do not exist... find a server where there are no Safe zones, problem solved.

"remove the weapons entirely" or " or they can remove SZ blocks" and "restore the PVP dynamic this game is supposed to have" "Jesus at least give us ways to work around SZ blocks for the sake of PVP." Ok now you’re just being whiny, FIND A SERVER THAT YOU LIKE. This is not hard i have been on several different servers.

"But as of now, the implementation of the block is killing the very thing that made this game different from any other." yeah it is not different from most other multiplayer 'survival' games, grefing can be avoided if you work for it, and you will have to work for it, uranium and zone chips are not free, a base require constant upkeep or you will be able to do the grefing you so desperately sound like you want to do.