I am 90 % lawful player, but I agree: NPCs are still too strong. Not by much and it has become a lot better by the last changes, but they are still.
Angering some in midfight can change the outcome really fast.
Roleplaying while under NPC attack is a pain. There is no way you can do it (and have fun), while thrusting around all the time.
I do think that the NPCs we have now should only be kept for:
House/faction main systems because these are the safe ones where the strength of the House is clearly visible. They are not meant to be raided easily (and cap patrols discourage that), and they are also meant to be safe for their own people.
Logic would also say that the systems before the main system, but these are often bottlenecksand they cannot have too strong NPCs for gameplay reasons.
I am torn between actually appreciating strong NPC snubs in mining fields (they slow solo mining down because you have to shoot them) and hating them. But they somehow make groupmining more attractive (the transport shoots the NPCs, miners keep mining), so ye. Keep them there.
About installation armament: Gates should have strong, slow pulses only to discourage caps camping there without harming snub too much. Cruiser and BS piracy right at the gate when you can do nothing is lame. If they cannot sit at < 1k, that danger has been dealt with.
