Discovery Gaming Community

(09-16-2013, 10:37 AM)AlphaWing Wrote: [ -> ]The real problem is that they fly in groups...if one NPC attacks you no matter his equipment...you can dodge him easily and fly away or shoot him and kill him.

But when you get attacked by a group of em (Say 3v1..or even worse...6v1 - Happened) thats where it gets really annoying.

This is easy enough to fix actually. The amount of NPCs is controlled from the encounter files that spawn them. I believe scouts are 1-2 ships, assault/defend 2-3, trade ships 1-2 haulers with 0-2 escorts.

Could lower all those by one, to reduce the amount of NPCs per random encounter. That should reduce the cluttering.

[Edit] And determining encounter strength per faction per system (or even per area inside a system) would be a mammoth job. Harmonising them already took well over 2 weeks. I am not prepared to spend that kind of time again (if someone else feels called to do it, feel free).

Well, I don't really see NPCs as problem. If you need to grab a drink, just thrustlock and go in circles, it helps. Just don't turn on engine kill.
Alternatively JGs have blind spots, where even NPCs don't bother you much (or even at all), as I recall.

Though you're right to some degree, NPCs shouldn't be buffed much, unless it's certain restricted spot, like Z-21, Alaska, all these military areas we're not aware of...

Very powerful NPCs should be limited to capital planets (or at least populated planets), and major stations like shipyards and such, to prevent hostiles from loitering around those areas.

Otherwise, I agree with others that have said that NPCs shouldn't have a major impact on gameplay - this is a multiplayer game focused on RP and PVP, and NPCs do not contribute to that.

Well I would join the others on this one.
NPCs are must but they should not stop or hurt the interaction between players.
My main problem is not with the power of the NPCs but with their number and their frequency. As pirate in bomber for example the game becomes boring and really hard because the huge swarms of NPCs does not end- you kill bunch of them and new appear instantly. This is not fair because the Lawful side gameplay is not hurt at all by the buffeed NPCs just because of the game play nature- traders move along while the pirates need to sit at one place and they get hammered again and again.
None of the both lawful or unlawful side should have advantage.
The Unlawful side is anyway severely nerfed by the increased transport speed, no need to make the game more dull for unlawfuls and easier to the lawfuls.

My Proposal:
The solution in my books is really weak mass npcs like the former Liberty ones in all systems. They are annoying flies that give however the feel of living universe.

Additional there should be really powerful NPCs in very limited numbers/spawns at specific places like capital planets and such.
Very powerful NPC Patrols (BOTH LAWFUL and UNLAWFUL) fully equipped with TCDs,Novas,Snacs,class 8 guns and missiles on fighters showing up at random places once or twice per Hour and destroying by surprise random enemies. This make the space dangerous instead of dull and repetitive.

I vote we make NPCs even stronger. I'm not kidding here.
People can cry all they want, but inRP, players and NPCs are the exact same. The NPCs don't discriminate between player or NPC, they just shoot them. You can use this to your advantage. Example, if you go pirating, use the patrol routes used by NPCs so that YOU can get backup from YOUR npc faction (and stop crying about how tough you have it).

I just want to say I'm VERY against giving npcs access to CDs. They are beyond annoying when they can cruise disrupt.

I vote: back to .86 level, with the exceptions (IMG and such) fixed to be at the same level "average" NPCs were at.

Why? I'm playing Multiplayer because I want to talk to other players, trade with other players, shoot other players, be shot at by other players. The fact that NPCs are actually interfering with player-player interaction to the extent that they significantly impact the outcome of encounters is.. Ridiculous.

I'm fine with them being there to make early morning (or late night) powertrading difficult or something. But please, don't force me to thrust in circles everywhere just to keep my bots/bats at "full".

Also, if you're going to have lawful NPCs spawn near unlawful bases (BHG at Buffalo, NY for example), it'd be nice if they weren't so strong that they instantly drop your shields and a portion of your hull when you undock.

Key word: Multiplayer. Not Singleplayer. Thanks.

Can't deny, that I was suprised when the Stuttgart gate did eat half my Wraith's hull with two shots before the undocking animation was barely over.

However, guess that shall count as warning to not use gates you're not friendly with.

For those buffed NPCs, I'd suggest to cut down the spawning numbers a bit.

Ah, so we're voting now?
Make NPCs as pathetic as possible please. All we need them for is their precious pilots. Nothing more, nothing less.
They don't NEED to be able to kill things. They don't NEED to be able to fill in the void where players should be.
Same applies for gates and tradelanes. It's the players (keyword players) that need to be the ones who shoot Pirates and the like, not the Servers own AI. There's nothing more annoying than being coaxed into a fight with a gate nearby and it's spamming pulses at you so you need to dodge even more.
As Hasteric said, these things should never affect the outcome of a player-player encounter.

My Vote:

Revert NPC power to .86 levels. Sure people mowed them down in droves, but there also wasn't as much of an issue of pirates dieing from them while interacting with players (Unless you were careless, then you got shot to oblivion).