NPC Balance

[Jinx]

about the CDs on NPCs - we asked for that NPC ability - and i still think that it is a good thing that NPCs do have them. They are NPCs, not sparring dummies. they are meant to be avoided sometimes. i cannot run through all sirius - flying past red battleships and expecting to shoot them down. - i think the armor modifier is good on them right now. it takes a long time to take down a NPC BB/cruiser - but i think it is MUCH better than people "farming" easy NPCs. now it takes long - you cannot just collect your fleet admirals as if it was nothing.

about NPC missions - yes, they take long, and missions encourage players to fly capital ships. can t say more about that - but i don t think its really possible to differentiate them regarding to the players ship ( that means, fighter or capital ship ).

about NPC power - i think i wrote it in another thread - imo, we can turn NPCs to playerlike defensive stats - but then, boast their offensive to playerlike stats, too. that means - they would shoot like 5 times more. i don t like the idea of NPCs being cannonfodder. the more players are there - the less NPCs. so when there are few players, - there are still serious and fun enoucounters.

personally, i would even give some BB encounters allmost stationary weaponpower. those ships are meant to be the "checkmate move".

---

Shipdesigns made for DiscoveryGC

[lawbar]

Since adding my last comment Ive managed to sort out my guns, I now find i,m getting through a lot more mission with out getting blown up and as for the time factor, there been an improvement there also. so I'm happy now.:)

---

[Envomni]

Uh No.. I'm talking 20 minutes to kill one NPC in an Assassin mission, not the entire lot. I tried a few missions where you were supposed to eliminate the entire npc group for the payoff, and got fed up with chasing them all down after more than half an hour, and having only killed 2, with 2 to go, and another wave (or 2) yet to come. No way I'm going to play for an hour for one mission, which could be cut right dead if the server dropped me unexpectedly.. losing all the effort just like that.

As can be seen, many others are feeling this same trouble. I'm flying a Spatial, with level 10 weapons, not facing any problems with having to wait for weapons energy to let me re-fire rapidly. Yet I can pound, and pound again at an NPC that has no sheilds, and what looks like 30% hull, and hit after hit - he shows NO decrease in hull strength, when 4 level 10 weapons are hitting him. The damage per second is easly 4,000 units from those weapons alone, and still he flies on happily. Its just not right. If you strive towards these power weapons, and you see them do nothing of the damage they are rated for - what's the point? The game has no value when you know the impact your guns are rated for, is being ignored by a cheating npc. It means you're now playing a sequence that is so scripted, it doesn't matter what you do, you don't get to win until a certain magic moment (time? total # of hits rather than total damage? who knows!) is surpassed. There is nothing fun about that. That's old Wing Command programming.

My weapons load works great against NPCs. Have you even tried pvp? It took me 20 min just to kill another player with the same skill level and ship. That's only one warm blooded human sitting at his computer like I was. So, please don't complain about it takes 20 min to kill multiple NPCs. Take along a friend on your missions to help out if it's that hard. Don't leave the server over some stupid computer that gets under your skin. It's just a game.

[looter]

:rolleyes:to the post above: one NPC is not same as the other. Which kind was it?
But your point about the long missions & crashes is good.

Now... about the Freelancers.
Most of the lawful players don't and won't care about this, since the only way you get the Freelancers hostile (except shooting them) is blowing up the Bounty Hunters Guild targets. For you, it's just nice and fun to see them being around. But for any at least a bit unlawful, i.e. Junker player, they are VERY annoying. They frequently show up near Beaumont in Texas, spoiling any black market business most of the time. They have an UBER armor multiplier. Just because the FL Pilot is worth 15000 credits? Sorry, but that's silly. I won't occasionally kill a Freelancer just because of the money. They're even harder to kill than players. I'm flying a Stiletto myself. The only way to get rid of a freelancer encounter is to bomb him with several torpedoes to shoot his weapons off.

I absolutely don't understand the reason for a NPC Freelancer faction being in there.
Aren't they independent and work for themselves to such level that they don't behave as a faction?
Aren't there also Freelancers that work for unlawful factions preferably?
Moreover: Check the game title - the players are meant to be freelancers.

---

The Frozen Family History - Character Biographies

[Bjorn]

I must agree with looter. Freelancers are real pain. By gods, Ive never shoot single one of them, yet i have them on red because Im shooting BHG? Arent they supposed not to have allies or enemy. Add to that 2 freelancers equal rouge gunboat npc. They have super weapon, super armor and good shield. Not to mention full hold of NB/B. Even that they are worth 15K on every freakin base in sirius, and they usually drop some goodies as well, they are overpowered.

As for other npcs... Take it this way, If you are taking only base blow up and assasination missions, you make same money as trader of your level (ones without 1000+hull space) in same time.

---

ISS-Zapotec

[Quigs]

My only problem with freelancers is what they're flying in. They're hostile to unlawfuls, yet they're flying ships you can only buy on pirate bases. Whaaa?!

I like that they're a "boss fight" since they're one of the rare opportunities to get shield busters as loot.

Agree with the knock on small Corsairs, though. Missions to kill Legionaires aren't worth the hassle until you're so well outfitted that you can drop lower lvl Titans instead.

CP

[Brahmin]

funny situation is in Rheinland space. There are more pirates than police and naval ships togeather. Funny on that is, it is much safer use "unoficial" jumpholes than oficial. It is much safer jump to sigma 13 from "wild" gate in New Berlin than go throught Frankfurt.:laugh:

---

beware... there are screenhunters waiting on your mistake... they need only 1

[McNeo]

What... ?

I can understand people's frustration with the NPC's, I do believe myself that they have become too powerful. I dont have problems with any NPCs at the moment personally, but I am aware that they are very powerful for a new player.

Because the majority of the players here aren't ridiculously good in a fighter, I can see the problem straightaway. However, I think that Missions have been made into less of a grind, because you dont kill so many anymore.

Its a complex issue that I can't extract from my brain, but I think that the weaker mission NPC's (30-90k pay) should be made weaker still. Freelancers are okay now, but I would prefer if, every once in a while, a wing of them came along instead of one going solo. I know Freelancers are meant to work on their own, but in the current Sirius climate, going solo just isn't viable anymore, so the Freelancers should work in small teams I reckon.

NPC cruiser armour is too high, because they still dont have the potential to hurt a fighter spinning around them. Battleships do, and Gunboats do (NPC), but the cruisers dont... well, they do, but not to the same extent I feel.

Other than that, I think everything is good, though I would like to see the default swarms of Cavaliers in Bretonia replaced by fewer Hussar NPC patrols instead. Same for the other three houses. Would reduce server load and make NPCs have a small effect on a large battle taking place, say, above Cambridge. Whats the point of NPCs swarming about a battle if you dont get the default home advantage?

[Carlos_Benitez]

NPC battles take too long, PC battles take too long. All of these problems are systemic of a dramatic shift in the arms-race.
You develop better weapons, and better defences will be developed. Problem; defence has far overtaken weapons systems. We need a weapons breakthrough.
It's certainly more rewarding to kill 5 bounty hunters in 5 minutes than 1 Bounty hunter in 5 minutes, even if youre getting the same reward and pay.

---

[pchwang]

I think that NPCs are fine at the moment...to a certain extent.

I don't really think that we ought to increase weapon power, but instead, we should get rid of the armor upgrades on the NPCs.

I mean, at the time, it is taking way too long...I mean, as much as I enjoy explosions, it is really annoying.

---

[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<

Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?