NPC - why they are ignoring the players

[Brain_Scratch]

I have finally moved my butt out of Zurich and checked what is what in Omicrons.
To be honest, I am now flying there without any guns... why, because NPC are so friendly.
I am harvesting Azure Gas (super easy), being surrounded by a swarm of Nomad NPCs. I wave to them, and they wave back to me. Looks like they don't care.

This is just one of the many examples.
What has happened to NPC? Why oh why did they start to ignore players?

I guess that someone already mentioned that, so sorry for not checking the history and wasting your time.

[JorgeRyan]

I think the short answer (back when we had A Lot More Players), is that it was thought that NPCs got in the way of player-player interactions, and so their behavior and weaponry was nerfed to not be a threat anymore. We are looking into adding their teeth back, in appropriate places.

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Feedback and comm bumping here

[LuckyOne]

Can the team please look into making NPCs interact with the players better instead of just making them always stronger.

One way would be to make them scared of military guns, but not civilian ones. Also maybe transport/freighter turrets.

If I remember correctly, at least in SP the chance they will run away is affected by what the player has equipped.

This would mean player escorts would have a purpose even with no player pirates around, because hostile NPCs would run away from gunboats and frigates, but not freighters and transports.

[JorgeRyan]

I remember seeing discussions around that, but Im not sure it was ever figured out how exactly that works, or if its some other feature/reason that caused them to run away.

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Feedback and comm bumping here

[Brain_Scratch]

I think the short answer (back when we had A Lot More Players), is that it was thought that NPCs got in the way of player-player interactions, and so their behavior and weaponry were nerfed to not be a threat anymore. We are looking into adding their teeth back, in appropriate places.

I'm really looking forward to that. I am not whining, this is still decades of fun, but the game has no level of difficulty.
You can visit any hostile territory without any risk of being shot down.
I am aware of the number of online players, and not everyone is constantly monitoring systems to quickly "switch" character because someone is lurking near Malta, and he can RP a "random patrol operation', to intercept and have some chit chat.

Once again, pleased to see that you have it somewhere on your long list of player wishes, and hopefully, you will add that teeth back.

Kudos and keep up the good work, guys.