Can we make "Claim" a queued command?

[Scoob]

Hey all,

This topic has been raised before, but I really think how "Claim" works needs to be changed from an instant, non-queued command to one that can be queued like a regular command.

Currently, in order for Claim to work reliably, I have to order a ship to fly to a position near the target bailed ship and, only once it arrives, issue the claim command. This is far from ideal.

Now, I know we can set ships to automatically claim any derelict they see but this is clunky for several reasons:

1) If relying on automatic claiming, the ship with the Marines on board will often launch the boarding pod at extreme distances. I've seen them launch *just* as the derelict is detected by them almost 40km away! Remind me, how fast do boarding pods travel again? lol.

2) Often auto-claiming simply isn't triggered. It's like the game knows *I* - the one who likely made the ship bail - have already seen the ship, so the "Claimer" ship never does the "I've found something" thing, triggering the auto-claim.

3) When a boarding pod is automatically launched at a distance it becomes exceedingly vulnerable to, well, everything. I've seen them shot down by Drones or a random passing ship taking a pot shot because they're exposed to too long.

4) Even when the pod makes it to the target, I've noticed that they'll often "fizzle out" and NOT claim the ship if the player isn't close by. If he pod is deployed when closer to the target, aka manually, then it's MUCH more reliable.

5) If I keep ships with Marines for auto-claiming hanging around an area, they become vulnerable themselves of course.

It would be wonderful to be able to simply order a ship to move to a location then *queue up* the Claim command. Either that, or have ships only launch the boarding pod at very close range. So, queuing up a move command to near the target, followed by a dock command (for example) or have default behaviour be to dock, would be much nicer.

It may seem like a small thing, but when playing a certain way - someone who liberates ships from their original owners - it feels very clunky to have to manually wait for a move command to finish before manually issuing the Claim order.

Note: I'm aware I could have Marines aboard my personal ships and claim directly. However, having dedicated ships FULL of good Pilots disguised as Marines - I find a good Pilot, then re-assign them as a Marine - is much better, so I can keep good repair crews aboard my ship.

What do people think? I for one would very much welcome being able to *queue* the Claim command.

[Zloth2]

I think that, in almost 600 hours of playing, I've only used the claim mechanic 3 times. The rest of the time, I get out of the ship and claim it myself.

Do other people use this mechanic more? The Liberator achievement only requires 10 captures but only 3.2% of players got it.

[Scoob]

I think that, in almost 600 hours of playing, I've only used the claim mechanic 3 times. The rest of the time, I get out of the ship and claim it myself.

Do other people use this mechanic more? The Liberator achievement only requires 10 captures but only 3.2% of players got it.

I think I've done nothing but order one of my ships to claim the target in may, many hours. Even right at the start of the game, I'll have a Marine on my one and only ship, so will send them over to Claim the ship rather than myself.

I can only speak for myself, but I do indeed use Claim an awful lot.

[dtpsprt]

OK... suppose the "Claim" command is made sequential. This means that the player will have to issue a "go to" command and then claim. As it is now the player can issue the "Claim" command and just make an intermediate point close to the ship manually which is the same.

The fact that the ship may release the Marine to claim a ship some 40 km out is an issue that has to be addressed by the devs regardless of the command being sequential or not.

Personally I prefer to have "Protect the ship" in the general options for abandoned ships. This way my ship will come really close and then I can issue the claim command at will with no hurry...

To be honest, using the "claim" command inflicts damage to the claimed ship so the ones that the pilot has bailed out will get even more damaged, some even just destroy killing the marine in the process. This is the main reason I prefer to do the claiming myself, having the ship "mark" the empty ship with "Protect" for me to decide what happens next (usually teleport there and claim it myself).

[Scoob]

Unless I have ships on stand-by in an area where I, or any of my ships, might force a pilot to bail, I'm always going to need to order a Fly to type order to effectively snag the ship.

I've experimented in the past with having one ship in a group (for example) with Marines on board and set to automatically claim ships. However, it simply does not work well. It'd try to Claim things when there's still a large fight going on, send boarding Pods from waaay to far away, losing them or it simply doesn't work at all and a pod is never sent. I've even had cases where the pod is send, contacts the target but control is never passed to me. After trying the current way a lot - I really like forcing ships to bail at certain stages of the game, then I like it when members of my various fleets force ships to bail - me manually issuing a move order, waiting, then manually issuing the claim order has been the most reliable method by a very long way.

Note: I used to claim everything myself to ensure the ship was as intact as possible. As time's gone on though I've preferred to send a ship to do the job. When you go modified (not that it's really relevant here) there are more options when it comes to this sort of Piracy and not being able to queue Claim is just highlighted further.

In many ways this is similar to when they made the "Change Equipment" command instant, deleting any other orders. It was better when it was simply queued, at least Claim hasn't been change to delete all existing orders like Change Equipment has. Why some orders are queued and others not, well, I don't get the distinction at times. Manually issued orders should all be queued, and we have special behaviour options for automatic stuff while the ship in undertaking other duties.

I have mentioned in previous threads how I'd be happier if a ship that's configured to auto-claim bailed ships, actually flew close to the ship first, that'd help a lot in many cases. Not so much when there's stuff a huge fight going on though, hence the manual orders. Note that I have nipped in might-fight to snag a ship myself, but that's not always practical where I'm elsewhere.

Regardless, to reliably claim ships I need to issue a move order, then issue the claim order. Sure, I can do it myself, but that's really really not the point here.