Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

General discussion about the game.
Perfect Faro
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Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby Perfect Faro » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:48 am

So, I'm cruising across the second sector, and I'm feeling pretty good: I've got my shields up to level 2, some decent weapons, etc. Suddenly, I'm ambushed by a ship; "No problem," I think, "I just fought an identical ship a few encounters back." Unfortunately, before I can do anything, the ship tears me apart: the first volley destroys my weapons and shield. After that, each succeeding volley takes out another system. Within 3 or 4 attacks, my ship is destroyed, and there was absolutely nothing I could to attack or defend myself.

So here's my question:

Are "instant death" encounters a common part of the game? Because if they are, I don't think I want to continue investing time in it; I don't mind difficult games (even extremely difficult games), but grossly unfair games? That's not any fun at all. I was essentially doomed before the encounter even began, and there was nothing I could do to prevent my ship from being destroyed. If the game is going to kill me without giving me a chance, even a small one, to turn the tide, then I think I'm going to have to look elsewhere. I'd just like to know if this was some weird fluke, or if "instant death" is a feature rather than a bug; if it is, how do you deal with it?
agigabyte
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby agigabyte » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:13 am

That has only happened to me on flagship stage 2.
BKT
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby BKT » Wed Sep 18, 2013 3:57 am

Unless you're on the DA-SR 12, 'Instant Death' situation is actually very rare.

'Mistakes', though, is an extremely common occurrence and is an integral part of the game— this is by design! :twisted:
Perfect Faro
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby Perfect Faro » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:09 am

Punishing mistakes is fine; not even giving the player a chance to make a mistake is not. As I said, I was killed without having a chance to do anything. What I'm hearing isn't encouraging; I had heard that this game had great design, but if this sort of thing is going to blamed on the player rather than on poor design decisions, then I guess this isn't the game for me.
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5thHorseman
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby 5thHorseman » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:21 am

I'd have to know the details. In particular, HOW did they destroy your weapons AND shields in the first volley? 2 missiles? How did they do 3 damage to your shields and ... at least 2 I'd guess damage to your weapons in a single volley? That seems unlikely to the point of being impossible in sector 2. You should be facing people with 2-4 weapon power, which means MAYBE one really powerful missile or, if you're EXTREMELY unlucky 2 Burst Laser 2s.

No, this sort of thing is not common. I would say I have never, ever taken enough damage in a single volley in sector 2 to get through 2 shields and then deal 3 damage to those shields and enough damage to also take out my weapons. Sector 7? Sure. But by then I've got 3 or 4 shields and my dodge is scraping on 50%.

I suspect either you missed something important (like not powering those shields) or you got excruciatingly unlucky. But yes, this game is designed to sometimes be unfair. Winning is even sweeter because of that.

EDIT:
I have played this game hundreds of times, and by now I'm good enough that I expect, on clicking "start," that I will beat the final boss. I do it well over 90% of the time. However, I still get killed in the first few sectors. I can guarantee you that you will never be good enough to win every time, even with perfect play. I can also guarantee you that if you lose every time, you're not playing the game to the top of your potential. If you simply cannot live with the idea that you could play perfectly and lose, then no, this is not the game for you. But if you're worried that you'll lose every game due to dumb random number screw, then no. That is simply not the case.
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Perfect Faro
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby Perfect Faro » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:48 am

Trust me, the shields were fully powered. This wasn't my first game; I have gotten much further into the game than this level, and I have beaten dozens of ships with little to no difficulty. That's why this event was such a shock to me: it was completely unlike anything else I had ever experienced in the game to date. That's why I made this post: to see if this was something that was likely to happen frequently.

Look, I understand that different kinds of games appeal to different kinds of people; if the general response here were "Yeah, instant death is always a possibility, and it's awesome; it really ramps up the tension!", my response would be that I'm glad you like that sort of thing, but I'm not going to waste any further time on it. On the other hand, if this was just some bizarre random occurrence and not indicative of the design philosophy, then it's worth giving the game another chance. Looking back at the responses I've received here, it doesn't sound like this is a situation people encounter very often, which is encouraging; up until this happened, I had really been enjoying the game, so hopefully I can chalk this up to freakishly bad luck and give it another try. In any event, thanks for your response; it was actually very helpful.
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5thHorseman
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby 5thHorseman » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:55 am

Glad to hear you're going to keep playing :)
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BKT
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby BKT » Wed Sep 18, 2013 5:52 am

I do have a fair share of instant death in the past, including a dead in a single battle in a nigh-invincible ship and full hull. But every time when this happen, there's always a way out of it; I just didn't thought of it at the time and only see it in retrospect.

From the way you told it, it sound to me like you did a very common mistake that happens to everyone :

0 - Underestimate the enemy
1 - Getting shot at an important system rooms, something you didn't expect
2 - Have no prior experience to properly deal with it or have a plans to deal with it in place beforehand
3 - Getting shell shock / panic and couldn't think properly— many ended up getting so confuse that they forget the pause button altogether...
4 - Dazed, you stare helplessly at the screen watching bullet flies left and right and and got blown to pieces

... And this is precisely what happened with my aforementioned dead in a godly ship! :oops:

Not that the situation that there's simply no way for you to survive do not occur in this game— it does happen. But this is extremely rare and usually results in a slow, painful, and very dramatic dead, not an instant-failure in 1 battle by a single missile/something hit sort of situation.

You live and learn... You'll getting better at it in no time! ;)
UltraMantis
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby UltraMantis » Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:44 am

Sometimes the RNG just decides you have lived long enough and need to die. Quickly. And possibly humiliatingly. If that's even a word.

We have all had moments like that. ;)

Spare a thought for this poor soul who got trounced when he really should have lived. Pity his engines were crap but he must have made a good effort since reached the last stand...
From full HP + 4 shields and an army of drones, to dooooom in under 2 minutes: http://www.twitch.tv/khaiine/c/2931710

Completely unsuprisingly it was a Rebel Rigger that got him. :lol:
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BKT
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Re: Is "Instant Death" a Common Part of the Game?

Postby BKT » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:59 am

That was ... painful to watch... :(