Estam_nar wrote:
Agree, the fact that my colony ships die when passing through a system with pirates, yet scout ships can zip through my fleets and i can only catch them if im looking at them and ready to click the attack button, irks me. Why the hell cant I just say, "Hey, admiral, could you do me a favor and kill EVERYTHING that comes through here? Thanks bro."??

HELL YES!! I get pissed when my colony ships get blasted before I can do anything...

A module that allows a ship to slip past enemy blockades as long as it's below a certain tonnage (a "cloaking" system?) would be great, in my opinion. As of now, the inability for us to blockade an area is a confirmed issue. Hope it's fixed soon.

Don't underestimate scouts

It will be great when this issue is fixed :P

I actually have a haggard little colony that fell behind the others in terms of development thanks to it being blockaded by a scout... from a faction I was only in cold war with :P

Lyability wrote:
Its a confirmed bug: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30614623&postcount=6

great to know. I *thought* that borders weren't working properly

EmperorLorien wrote:
I agree that the blockading is an annoyance, but I think an even larger annoyance is it happening for multiple turns without even knowing about it. There have been several times that I was focusing on some other systems and just happened to be looking through my system list and discovering that one of my systems was blockaded. If this is going to have such a negative impact (happiness, money, etc), the game should really make it more of an issue. I would like to get a notification when a system is being blockaded, and what the impact is on my economy (and contentment level) every turn it continues.

Check your empire view (with the list of all you solar system) and at the left, red planets are under ennemy attack.

Its a confirmed bug: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30614623&postcount=6

It's one thing to zip past outposts and small colonies (though still very annoying), and a whole another that a single scout vessel creates a blockage on my home world. You'd think there'd be some sort of defensive systems - ground-to-orbit or just orbital. Could make a decent addition to one of the research trees; automatic (orbital) defence network.

I agree that the blockading is an annoyance, but I think an even larger annoyance is it happening for multiple turns without even knowing about it. There have been several times that I was focusing on some other systems and just happened to be looking through my system list and discovering that one of my systems was blockaded. If this is going to have such a negative impact (happiness, money, etc), the game should really make it more of an issue. I would like to get a notification when a system is being blockaded, and what the impact is on my economy (and contentment level) every turn it continues.

Good to see there's agreement

This issue is significant, the only way to protect your planets is to have a fleet in single one of them. so Frustrating

I agree with the fact that sometimes, ennemies can travel by our star system, avoiding our fleets, and that's impossible for us...



And for blockades, I think it would be better to have an embargo when invading a star system, and it will be the only way to block luxury for a star system.

madgiraf wrote:
I would say, all the possibilities (1-2 and alts) you've mentioned should be prerequisited to set up a blockade... I would rephrase like this : If there is a fleet defending the system and you're not in a 3:1 MP ratio then you'll need to destroy it if you want to setup a blockade. If the blockade doesn't become a player/AI specific action (with diplomatic and economic consequences) that have to be "triggered" and stays automatic, then all the conditions you've mentioned should be applied as necessary prerequisites.

nod nod !!!

Thats sound about right, better would be an 6:1 ship ratio, after all we are in an 3d environment and you need at least 6 units to trap 1 it isnt perfect but would work in 90% of all cases, with an 12 : 1 ratio its an sure deal.

Agree, the fact that my colony ships die when passing through a system with pirates, yet scout ships can zip through my fleets and i can only catch them if im looking at them and ready to click the attack button, irks me. Why the hell cant I just say, "Hey, admiral, could you do me a favor and kill EVERYTHING that comes through here? Thanks bro."??

Thx man just spilled my tea

I agree with this entirely, scouts are so annoying.

I really don't like how the current implementation of "Blockading" a system is working.



As it stands, while in a war or cold war, every pissant single-scout fleet that zips through my system without hindrance (and I won't really discuss the issues of border control, which would help alleviate the situation) ends its turn over one of my system and cuts off my luxury/strategic resources for a turn. Or else I'm controlling one end of a wormhole, and the same lame single-scout fleet will hop back and forth doing the same thing to my border system. It's really annoying, particularly when that one system makes the difference between having a monopoly or not. This often happens even when I am guarding my border with full fleets. Because of the silly simultaneous way the AI gets to move currently, you can't often manage to attack and demolish this lone scout without them just warping away.



I'd really like to see this changed in some fashion. I can see it going one of two ways (or both)



Possibility 1: I don't think blockades should be possible if there is an opposing fleet. How can a single scout prevent all trade from my system when I have a battalion of multiple death-ships patrolling the whole sector? You should be required to destroy that system's fleets before blockading takes effect.



Alternative to 1: Blockading is possible if there is a defensive fleet in the system, but the blockader has to have at least a 3:1 ratio of military power - meaning I can't prevent a blockade by zipping a single scout of my own to that system versus a major attacking force.



Possibility 2: Blockading should only take place on a turn in which the enemy fleet has both begun AND ended its turn in that system. In other words, it requires the entire movement point allotment of the fleet. Perhaps even make blockading a specific action, similar to invasion or attacking.



Possibility 3: Allow fleet interceptions - this seems to happen to ME when I'm exploring enemy zones, why can't I do it? Allow me to set a fleet in a friendly system as "On Patrol" or "On the Defensive" or something and make it auto-attack any viable target that moves through the system, so these stupid scouts can stop freely moving past my planets and forcing me to play merry-go-round with them in my systems.

nefloyd wrote:
Never said it was a bug. Just annoying. And no, we shouldn't have to play "Hit the turn button and pray you can engage before the AI moves". Yes, I already do that if necessary.



As it is, the only good defensive and peace-loving situation to be in is where you control entire constellation(s), with the wormhole links placed facing the galaxy center, and the systems "behind" them substantially distanced from neighboring constellations - far enough that the AI cannot warp to them without the space lanes. Because wormholes use up the entire movement allotment, your fleets on the defensive end can destroy ships that come through.



Otherwise, it irks me not being able to effectively guard my borders and prevent these lame 1-turn blockades.

I'm pretty sure this is all just an alpha problem and the dev's will get around to doing whatever they're going to do about it when they do

And geez, I had the 3:1 idea in my OP. Credit where credit is due!

Estam_nar wrote:
So far its part of the game mechanic. You CAN catch the scouts, but you have to be fast. End the turn with your fleet(the one that is at the system the scout is going to pass through) selected. Once the turn-over counter is done, the AI will move. As soon as the "attack" button lights up when the scout gets in the system, click it. It will trap him and you can engage. If you miss it, or didnt see him comming, he will just breaze on through. Its irritating, but not really a bug.

Never said it was a bug. Just annoying. And no, we shouldn't have to play "Hit the turn button and pray you can engage before the AI moves". Yes, I already do that if necessary.



As it is, the only good defensive and peace-loving situation to be in is where you control entire constellation(s), with the wormhole links placed facing the galaxy center, and the systems "behind" them substantially distanced from neighboring constellations - far enough that the AI cannot warp to them without the space lanes. Because wormholes use up the entire movement allotment, your fleets on the defensive end can destroy ships that come through.



Otherwise, it irks me not being able to effectively guard my borders and prevent these lame 1-turn blockades.

I agree i Like Madgirafs idea about the 3.1 MP ratio it seems like a very reasonable solution both from a military stand point and a game mechanic one.

madgiraf wrote:
If there is a fleet defending the system and you're not in a 3:1 MP ratio then you'll need to destroy it if you want to setup a blockade

I like this idea!