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+--- Thread: NPCs kinda suck (/showthread.php?tid=128993)
NPCs kinda suck - boxcartenant - 05-03-2015
Hi all!
I'm back in the game
So.... I was playing with a friend today, and we both started with new characters just for fun. We decided to start by buying and selling commodities, and we had to travel to a nearby system as part of our trade rout.
When we got to the new system, we were immediately attacked by hostile NPCs. At first it was exciting; we flew back and forth dodging bullets. It didn't take long to notice that we weren't doing much damage to the enemies with our starting weapons. That's no problem -- we can trade until we have better weapons -- but then we got hit a couple times and noticed that the enemies weren't doing any damage to us either.
That was the starting ship. There shouldn't be any enemies so weak that they can't even damage the starting ship; and if their offense is that weak, then why is their defense so strong?
Now, I know that many of the RP rules are intended to cater to wimpy, fight-scared gamers, but it's like the NPCs are intended to be just background objects. Does this lack of danger subtract from anyone else's game experience, or just mine?
Is this game a space trading game, or is it just a trading game? If I wanted a "just trading" game, there are plenty of alternatives. If I wanted just the pretty space view, I have plenty of alternatives. But if I want a a "space trading game", then I have to realize that space is a frontier full of pirates. It's a dangerous place, even (and especially) the freelancer universe. Weak fight-scared Freelancer doesn't do the game justice. In the words of Q (TNG):
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross, but it's not for the timid."
ETA: Before someone points out that I can be killed by other players, I want to point out that the universe is huge, and there's usually less than 100 people out there. You have to admit, it would feel pretty empty without NPCs. But to be honest, I'd prefer that they didn't exist than that they sucked so bad. Also, the RP rules basically say that people have to ask my permission to fight me.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - FynnMcScrap - 05-03-2015
There was a discussion about this one time, long ago...
I never got the idea why the NPC´s are so weak either :-)
Fact is that all people tell you you can ignore the free spawning NPC´s , even for RP sake.
("What ?!")
And the only place where there is some danger ... but not too much... is in certain borderworld systems classified as battle zones.
( "oh, great... not too much ? And where ?!" )
Also fact is that you can cross through these systems with a freighter and survive easily enough, and you might even start "farming" the weaker enemies for loot.
*sigh*
Thanks for opening up the discussion again, I will watch this closely.
But I dont think anything will be rebalanced, because the focus is on PvP and interaction between players in this Mod.... for better and for worse.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Sabru - 05-03-2015
A few updates earlier, NPCs were quite OP and people were getting instagibbed by hostile NPCs while trying to RP with other players. So they were made a non-issue.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - icedsdcard - 05-03-2015
They don't have to ask permission, if you're a transport they have to issue a demand, if you don't give, they can destroy you. Depending on IDs(if you're not a transport, even then some ids), they can just drop a couple lines and start shooting(which can be done quickly with commands).
(If you're under a certain level, people can't touch you.)
The NPCs are just decoration, really.
The universe being too big is a problem that's been around for a long time.
There are a few systems with somewhat challenging NPCs, I think.
The thing about some rules is that without them, people would abuse something/not ever RP/etc.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Fluffyball - 05-03-2015
On my side, I took 300k mission - pressumably the safest with easy difficulty - on a Lynx. I ended up cancelling the mission after 20 minutes on second WP, since I got dry on seven 19lvl Mollys and I had like 2% of hull.
No one warned me about mission NPCs as strong as player characters.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Neonzumi - 05-03-2015
NPCs overall do suck but they are meant to suck.
Nomad NPCs in some Omicrons are good.
Mission NPCs are usually good outside of Liberty.
The point of regular NPCs is just to make the space not feel empty.So making them strong as a player wouldn't make sense.
Nomad NPCs are weak,but the ones that drop remains are really Strong.
Mission NPCs are balanced,not too strong,not too weak,but it depends on the dificulty of the mission you take.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Fluffyball - 05-03-2015
Quote:Mission NPCs are balanced,not too strong,not too weak,but it depends on the dificulty of the mission you take.
Look at post above. I almost got massacred on 300k mission and I had to cancel mission, because eight level 19 Molly NPCs in Werewolves(?) popped out during it, dealing damage as if I was surrounded by other players.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Neonzumi - 05-03-2015
(05-03-2015, 12:11 PM)Toris Gray Wrote:Quote:Mission NPCs are balanced,not too strong,not too weak,but it depends on the dificulty of the mission you take.
Look at post above. I almost got massacred on 300k mission and I had to cancel mission, because eight level 19 Molly NPCs in Werewolves(?) popped out during it, dealing damage as if I was surrounded by other players.
"Depends on the Mission Dificulty you take."
300K for a Snub mission is high dificulty i guess?
Honestly i'm not an expert my previous post was just my own opinion.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Crackling - 05-03-2015
Try some expensive missions. Few million ones. You gonna have bad time.
RE: NPCs kinda suck - Whenawhere - 05-03-2015
(05-03-2015, 01:03 PM)Crackling Wrote: Try some expensive missions. Few million ones. You gonna have bad time.
I strongly recommend 1M+ mission against titans using bomber. It can be quite challenging.