OK, a little dismayed, got one of the Rare/Elite NPC's, started fighting it, shared it with my legion, right about then I lost my internet connection and when I got it back, the NPC artifacts were split up between three of my Legion mates, Nothing for me at all. Is this the way it is supposed to work? if so I'm going to ignore these NPCs from now on.

Yes it is unfair. The sharer should actually get something for sharing it.
If possible, do sufficient damage before sharing it so you will secure a reward for now...

Directed share (sharing with only specific people) would help too. If you sent out a help to only 2 others, then everyone who fought would get something.

Rewards are granted to the top damage dealers.

Is it shared equally? Does everyone get the same thing? Or is it done based on the damage dealt? I can take out these NPCs (even the big ones) by myself so I am trying to find weigh the risk/reward behind sharing.

Risk: I potentially lose artifact rewards and loss of experience from letting someone else attack for me. That loss of experience is a big one because I am out of missions I can do without artifacts.
Rewards: Less energy needed but I have more energy than I can use at the moment. Less damage received. I have to pay 1,000,000 to repair my ship whether I am 1/3 damaged or disabled so that really isn't a concern

Basically I don't see a point in sharing with anyone other than being nice or if you are really short on energy.

Not everyone gets the same thing. There is no published loot table so you don't even know what you need to get what or even what the choices are. The one we beat gave us two sensors (same for 2 top damage dealers) and an artifact for the 3rd person.

Without knowing how much damage I need to do/did, I might be left out on loot, I might miss it by only an attack or two, I have no idea how many people are battling, etc.

Thanks for the feedback. Would any of the following make more sense?

* The original sharer does not need to do any damage to the enemy to get an award when its shared. (I dont like this option)
* The sharer will first need to do X % damage to the ship before they can ask for help, but are guaranteed a reward when its disabled.
* The sharer is the only one that can finish off the ship (killing blow). When this happens, they are guaranteed a reward.

I like the 2nd one the best. Means so long as you can hurt it enough you can get it, while calling for help and not having to be there when it dies.

I'm not sure I like any of the options.

I think it makes more sense if you add random weak artifacts/money/research/etc to all people who attack. At the moment, there is no reason for anyone other than the top 3 to really be fighting. Everyone is SOL when it comes to the battle.

Give the original sharer an extra x% of getting a good item based on the percent they do even if they're not in the top three.

So sharer in top 3 gets an item.

If sharer damages it but not in the top 3, he gets up to a some chance of getting a good item for putting in some % of the damage on the ship. (Not punishing 1-3, it would be an added "sometimes sharer" slot).

The big problem I see with your option three is that if the sharer doesn't get back to the battle in time for whatever reason, everyone is screwed.

Before you could decide that, I think it would depend on how the loot is divided? If different people get different things is it done by who attacks first? Last? Does the most damage? Takes the most damage? Their Level?

I would worry that for some, it would take them too long to get to x% before calling to make calling worth it.

Loot is not "divided". Each person who is eligible for a reward gets a random reward from the NPC. Some rewards are rarer than others.

Well, all this really says to me is that there is no "ownership" of the NPC ,that basically unless you swing a sufficently big one, your going to be left out even though it came up on your slot, Yeah, until i get sufficently big, I'm not going to waste a bunch of artifacts and GP trying to fight one when I'll come up with nothing, so I won't even try these.

So what would you suggest? I thought the point of this thread was to make the process better.

I for one see nothing wrong with how it's setup now. The person sharing the ship should just make sure to do at least a third of the total damage to it before sending out the notification. If that's a problem for some, then tweak the timer to 48 hours. Surely people can muster up enough energy in that amount of time to get their damage in.

Make a finders award?

Some that even if you cannot take it on but share you you will get. This way the game gives you something for finding it after it dies. Though if you kill it yourself (with no help) you get the normal prizes. If you help out and have a chance to get a prize from being in the top three you still get the bonus.

This to me seems fair, you find it and get a peace of scrap (ore, XP, RP, artifacts, ect...) that is not as good as what you would get, but still a nice bonus.

Yeah, finder loot (special) would be good..

The main advantage of player who found the npc is the time.. That player easily can do some damage to get enuf damage done then share to others to ensure top 3 goes to that player..

The problem that the OP had was that he shared it too early.. He should have done is to do enough damage before sharing..

I don't like the concept of "free-ride" by player who share it and do no damage and get nice loot out of it. No way..

I find the current process ok ... Afterall it's to the finder to judge his strategy on how to deal with it.

Ok the guy lost internet just after sharing ... Sh*t happens, and you will find another ship someday, it's "just" a game you know

Yesterday I took a risk and shared a Vortul at 99% ... I warned 2 friends so they they got prepared, but dude the thing went down in less than 10 seconds ... incredible, we spammed the thing and we managed to finish all 3 at top ... But I never saw a ship going down so fast lol. Now I'll probably share when I will have damaged it at 66% so that I'm sure to be top 3.

I think there should be some kind of bounty for the finder once its destroyer. I agree with the rest though, to get a share of the disabling loot you should still have to do at least 33% of the damage.

That means 2 rewards, a bounty for the legion alert and one for winning the battle. Otherwise its in most higher level players' best interest just to pound on it by themselves.

How about when you share a ship, you gain an XP amount for every ship that hits the NPC you shared. To balance against the 'no hitters' you have to spend something to share.