I have to admit I laughed my ass off at your expense when I saw that deathsight, especially when Gero's followed soon after.

For all those that are making comments on automation, I'm going to break it to you. There is very little you can't automate in a text based game.

Please, you can barely automate attacking and sipping from Celina's spring son!

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Personally I see no issue with automation, if you can automate it, why the hell not?

I have scripts which probe every word in a room desc, check for secret exits, bash, autowalk, empath, turret, siphon, forge, condense my vials, alter my prompt etc. All to make my life easier in the general day to day things like questing, nevermind all the combat stuff.

And I'm just stating a fact, Othero. We're not discussing what is right or wrong here. Just what is possible. People are saying that things are simple and aetherbashers are sitting in aetherspace afk. I'm saying that you can make it more complicated and it still can/will still be automated by people who want to write a script and triggers for it.

I think people are confusing writing macros and scripts with botting. There's nothing wrong with scripts and macros to make life easier. There's a whole lot wrong with creating a system that allows you to go to bed and wake up the next morning with lots of gold and xp.

I like the change (esp. after the attack speed was decreased!)... It was kinda funny, though, in the Aetherfoal after the Shield imploded, wondering of we were the only ship still flying.

Overall, I like the system. Does it need another XP nerf? Probably. Maybe scale everybody down 1/2, and the collectors up to that? That way, it's still easy XP, but it's not the crazy-good XP that it is, plus, it gives an incentive for people to come along on a siphon instead of bashing solo, thus encouraging teamwork/meeting people.

Ultimately aetherspace is the kind of thing where they are identical with each other. I have like seven half-arsed nexus triggers for combateering and while I don't afk for more than a couple minutes out of principle I sure don't need to press a bunch of buttons either. If I wanted to and didn't think I'd get caught I could do exactly what you described.

We have rules against it, but that's the only thing stopping everyone - even random newbies who can do if/then triggers, not people with properly automated systems like you would need to automate real bashing - from farming the hell out of the place.

Collectors, who also get experience, need all of one trigger. Maybe two.

The main issue I have is that people write these scripts and just sit there not typing a thing.

As to the ranged attack update, I personally see that if the pilot and gunners (assuming there is three) are doing their job correctly and good then the empath should not be healing all that often. Perhaps the ranged attacks be only going on when you are running away?

What if when the aethership gets damaged, there's a possibility that people locked in modules could get damaged and/or get randomly afflicted? This would make aetherhunting harder to "automate" and make people more inclined to be on their toes lest they get tripped up by afflictions or even die at their post.

Comments?

Then people might stop doing it altogether.

Alternatively, all the people with the know how to further implement this automation will do so, and all the nubs and stuff who can really benefit will be left in the dust, creating social cliches of elite 'aetherhunters' and Prime dwelling dirteaters.

You've also removed the standard prompt to cut down on spam, which would make that very annoying even if you are paying attention (oh no the grid modules spam disguised that I got hit!) unless you added the standard prompt back in, at which point it'd likely just be auto-cured by systems.

EDIT: Even if you aren't seeing the prompt, so long as the attacks had an individual message it would be easy enough to rig up a read healing scroll/diagnose thing.

People already having curing systems. They'd just add aetheraffs in as another affliction type.

Being honest, this probably wouldn't be too hard to code around. Since you can gun/empath/use the command chair whilst off balance and equilibirum its easy to just diagnose, cure and relock the module automatically. Don't really think theres much point in doing it, as all we'd do is code around it.

If it was serious damage/affs then as someone has already pointed out, aetherspace would just go back to being unused, due to the requirement of getting together 5 people and often having to use newbies in the crew who'd die too easily.

PS Issue 141 was a serious request

Sounds like a neat storyline! The Elite Hunters who live in the clouds and the plebian troglodytes stuck on terra firma...

If people have other suggestions, I'm open to it. However, for all the outcry at how easy it is to automate, I'm warming to the idea of feedback from modules.

I'm open to other ideas, if you have them. If not, we go with the ideas we have!

Oh God, quickly, someone think of something other than aether affs.

This is a terrible excuse and it is used far too frequently. If you still get the good XP and gold, people would be willing to put up with a lot more than a bit of damage or a random affliction or two.

Does aetherhunting necessarily have to be accessible to nubs? Wasn't there some complaints that you get just get any nub, have them learn 7 lessons stick them in a turret and they're good to go for most anything out there.

Think a problem is that, aetherspace was so unused before, and now it's getting so much attention and people aren't entirely sure what it should be. Should it be highend bashing with lots of requirements to get into, or something simple that anybody can do together, or what?