Suggestion: Nerf non-mission NPC's drastically

[Mímir]

So, player activity is at an all time low, which makes it extra annoying to have fights messed up by NPC's when you finally meet another player. As an unlawful in Liberty the NPC's spawn everywhere and it's just fine if you aren't occupied with other players and can just shoot them or fly away. Nearly every encounter I've had with other players in Liberty the NPC's interfere - and not just making fights annoying for me, but also annoying my opponent to the point where I've been sent oorp messages where they explain that they are throwing the fight and docking to avoid the NPC swarms.

It's everywhere you go, above plane, below plane. They are impossible to avoid and it seems no-one likes them other than to shoot some of them for a quick and easy payout (which is easily facilitated by PVE missions anyway).

The NPC's can't replace player activity or even attempt to make up for it. If the argument is that the NPC's are there to offer players protection in House space, that is pointless in that there's a POB or base with very big guns 30 seconds away at all times. If the argument is that the NPC's create atmosphere, then you can nerf them to the ground and it wouldn't make a difference.

I suggest giving the roaming NPC's weak guns and paper hulls and make sure they don't drop regens or credits, so that they are mostly a visual distraction and keep mission NPC's just as they are.

If people like to shoot at NPC's there are so many missions of every level on all bases, it's easy to have them spawn for you to shoot at all you want without it messing with player-to-player activities, I see no reason to have these swarms of beefed-up NPC's flying around annoying everyone else.

In about 50 percent of the (admittedly quite few) fights I have had the last couple of weeks, either me or my opponent has been annoyed by them to the point where it's mentioned. The roaming NPC's are just toxic for everyone.

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