Too much NPCs

[Connor]

So afaik the NPC spawn rate is determined by the server load. The higher the load the less NPCs spawn and vice versa. As a result of the new server the server load has been reduced significantly thus having a direct impact on the amount of NPCs spawned.

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[LuckyOne]

^ So you're telling me that the zone configurations have no impact on spawn rates in multiplayer, it's all in the server load?

One would think that the load only serves as a "throttling" mechanism...

[Grumblesaur]

To this day I'm not sure if I'd prefer npcs always having real guns or not. Back before they were nerfed I never had serious problems with them (minus of course the capital ship patrols) and whenever I see an npc with a 2.00 laser that does 12 damage it sort of brings me out of the experience a little bit. At least if those NPCs had guns that mirrored the player variants in refire only and their hulls and shields were low enough so they could kill eachother.

I think this would be best approached with some high-danger and low-danger zones. Every faction should have some dangerous NPCs to ward off foes from an area of interest, but also to give players some emergent PVE to do that doesn't involve starting a mission. Allowing opposing factions' high-danger areas to intersect would create little NPC fight arenas that wandering players could dip into for some credits, and carry on their way.

I think it's important to avoid putting all of the high-level NPCs near bases. Having a defense grid made up of VHFs with stupid-accurate shotguns would only encourage players to camp their bases (as we see with the already excruciatingly well-defended lawful house planets). Normal wimp NPCs should be in zones where player interaction is common and expected, while the beefcake murderhobo NPCs would be better off the trade lane grid, at points where the lines between jump holes or mining zones intersect.

This would emphasize the "space is dangerous" idea that the community likes to talk about without making a stray CD in a populated zone an instant death sentence for someone who fatfingers their keyboard while they're talking to another playet.

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A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,
brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

[Lemon]

This is awesome
with 60 people at the server
you can camp a base and npc's keep spawning as if there were 10

[Pepe]

NPCs are evil. Toxic sometimes. They shoot lanes. Two lines of RP and they shoot on nice players, lines mostly given after shooting. I reported a bunch of them.

But missions are cooler than ever. Would be more cool if every base could offer a ships to pew choice, maybe even at 2-3 levels, instead of dicing random levels. I'd pew bombers in my fighter, to molest damn bastards.

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[Shryke]

If you're flying a Nomad or a pirate in House space, especially near the major traffic arteries, then you should get blasted by law enforcement patrols.

Yes they should, but not by NPCs. They should be blasted by lawful players.

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[darkwind]

I, personally, would rather have NPC removed from the game at all. Keep them for missions and maybe for the new nomad remains to obtain system (I don't know what it could be, sorry) only.

I came here to interact with players, not with bots.
all NPC patrols should be removed.
NPCs could be interacted at choice during missions.

Or at least trade lane NPC disruptors should be removed
with some sort of solution created against ship flipping by NPCs.
Can we make special anti-bumping shield?

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[Lambda 4]

NPCs are evil. Toxic sometimes. They shoot lanes. Two lines of RP and they shoot on nice players, lines mostly given after shooting. I reported a bunch of them.

But missions are cooler than ever. Would be more cool if every base could offer a ships to pew choice, maybe even at 2-3 levels, instead of dicing random levels. I'd pew bombers in my fighter, to molest damn bastards.

I agree. I personally would leave the PvE for missions, and create some new missions, yeah, like bombers, and sort them. Like, it should write by mission what are you fighting with like fighter, bomber, gunboat etc. So you can choose to fight like 4 bombers with your gunboat for example. Or create some dangerous zones with all ships included, take like 2 sectors and spawn them there. Or make a systems for NPCs, like Guard Systems Alaska, Virginia...or next to shipyards. Or simply leave like this but but replace their guns with "Small / Large Station Turret". For example, I tried to rob a transport that was near West Point, and the Battlecruiser spawned next to us, and what are we supposed to do, to let the transport to get away...For factions that are hostile to Houses, NPCs are NOT GOOD, and there are many of them.

[darkwind]

NPCs are evil. Toxic sometimes. They shoot lanes. Two lines of RP and they shoot on nice players, lines mostly given after shooting. I reported a bunch of them.

But missions are cooler than ever. Would be more cool if every base could offer a ships to pew choice, maybe even at 2-3 levels, instead of dicing random levels. I'd pew bombers in my fighter, to molest damn bastards.

I agree. I personally would leave the PvE for missions, and create some new missions, yeah, like bombers, and sort them. Like, it should write by mission what are you fighting with like fighter, bomber, gunboat etc. So you can choose to fight like 4 bombers with your gunboat for example. Or create some dangerous zones with all ships included, take like 2 sectors and spawn them there. Or make a systems for NPCs, like Guard Systems Alaska, Virginia...or next to shipyards. Or simply leave like this but but replace their guns with "Small / Large Station Turret". For example, I tried to rob a transport that was near West Point, and the Battlecruiser spawned next to us, and what are we supposed to do, to let the transport to get away...For factions that are hostile to Houses, NPCs are NOT GOOD.

Completely agreed.

Feel the pain, when your hostile capital ship to everything would be dying because it's flipped by hostile NPC snubs all around, and you can't even keep guns directed at the right direction for a time more than few seconds.

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[Genocide Jill]

NPCs are evil. Toxic sometimes. They shoot lanes. Two lines of RP and they shoot on nice players, lines mostly given after shooting. I reported a bunch of them.

But missions are cooler than ever. Would be more cool if every base could offer a ships to pew choice, maybe even at 2-3 levels, instead of dicing random levels. I'd pew bombers in my fighter, to molest damn bastards.

I agree. I personally would leave the PvE for missions, and create some new missions, yeah, like bombers, and sort them. Like, it should write by mission what are you fighting with like fighter, bomber, gunboat etc. So you can choose to fight like 4 bombers with your gunboat for example. Or create some dangerous zones with all ships included, take like 2 sectors and spawn them there. Or make a systems for NPCs, like Guard Systems Alaska, Virginia...or next to shipyards. Or simply leave like this but but replace their guns with "Small / Large Station Turret". For example, I tried to rob a transport that was near West Point, and the Battlecruiser spawned next to us, and what are we supposed to do, to let the transport to get away...For factions that are hostile to Houses, NPCs are NOT GOOD, and there are many of them.

You said it yourself what you did wrong - you tried to pirate a transport close to a station. These places are supposed to be dangerous for unlawfuls.