didnt commander braben himself say (i think in defending solo mode) that there will always be a solo mode so people can play how they want to? implying that they do not wish to force players to play a certain way, with only certain ships and loadouts?
i have only had three encounters so far with npcs in solo. far fewer interdictions even in anarchy systems. harmless and mostly harmless and one at my combat level competent. i handled them all in my asp explorer which i outfitted for general use trading/exploring and mission doing. so far i have not seen enough of the ai to make any judgement for the poll and i have already pointed out that the hardcore elitist snob gamers denigrating others who dont want to play pure combat are too small to support any game
i do see a looming problem in the future. if the encounters you get are based on your own combat rank, and each kill will eventually promote that rank, then eventually you will get to a combat rank where combat is no fun, where the chance of being interdicted means no missions, because you reached your limit of what you can do in your chosen spacecraft type.
this is the flaw with a combat rank that inevitably rises with each kill. eventually you will get to the point where you cant do anything due to having lost all your money rebuying because you keep getting interdicted by master level npcs whenever you look like you may earn on a mission or carry any decent profitable cargo. you wont be able to get to elite (unless you change how you play and buy a pure combat ship and join the pew pew and pker clique in open, and not everyone enjoys that. if i want space invaders i can play that elsewhere.) or maybe even past a certain rank be it master or dangerous or deadly, simply because eventually your combat rank is too much. you lose every fight. and before another clueless git gudder says it, you should not have to contact support to have a game rank reduced every time it gets too high. nor need to start the grind from scratch by clearing save.
i didnt enjoy the sidewinder 60 hour grind to get my cobra. i did enjoy the grind to my asp more, and am enjoying (or was, you never know) the grind to earn credits now with the new missions, although its to earn the 40 odd mill i need to finish upgrading my federal assault ship, and that plan is now on hold until i see what the ai is really like. but it is a grind. and unlike space invaders if you die you lose a lot. yes 5% rebuy doesnt sound much but its 1.5 million on my asp and eventually the credits run out if you get mercilessly destroyed. yes those super rich who can afford to pay out in one hit to buy a filly kitted corvette dont understand not everyone has billions of credits to throw away if they die. and i find having SOME combat fun - but not if there is no chance to win any of then due to my combat rank.
you set your goals in this game. the highest i was in old elite in the 80s was deadly. i want to try to become elite here - but not by being a combateer. the danger i see is while combat was still fun the 3 times i was in it in 2.1 my worry is that as combat rank grows it will be incessant death instead, never winning, not able to escape because they disable the FSD and thrusters. no chance to fight or escape and i will quit the game. games are supposed to be fun. not everyone is a snobby pro gamer sneering at people who have real life jobs other than playing games, who have families and real household chores and limited time to play. not everyone wants to lose everything every time they try to play with no chance to win. this is the reason we dont play open already. dont let solo become open with npc pker gankers.
hopefully the devs already are thinking about the combat rank problem. my own idea is, tweak the ai back down a bit for solo and open if players who like open want. the gamer snobs should be offered a special account where the AI they will face is always much more challenging. you can explain it by saying they have gained a certain reputation for being much more skilled at combat, there are rumours about them in pilots federation, in the bars of stations and outposts - and this leads others (npcs) with high skill to challenge them constantly. they get their arcade game space invaders on steroids and the rest of us get a game we can enjoy when we have time.
i have only had three encounters so far with npcs in solo. far fewer interdictions even in anarchy systems. harmless and mostly harmless and one at my combat level competent. i handled them all in my asp explorer which i outfitted for general use trading/exploring and mission doing. so far i have not seen enough of the ai to make any judgement for the poll and i have already pointed out that the hardcore elitist snob gamers denigrating others who dont want to play pure combat are too small to support any game
i do see a looming problem in the future. if the encounters you get are based on your own combat rank, and each kill will eventually promote that rank, then eventually you will get to a combat rank where combat is no fun, where the chance of being interdicted means no missions, because you reached your limit of what you can do in your chosen spacecraft type.
this is the flaw with a combat rank that inevitably rises with each kill. eventually you will get to the point where you cant do anything due to having lost all your money rebuying because you keep getting interdicted by master level npcs whenever you look like you may earn on a mission or carry any decent profitable cargo. you wont be able to get to elite (unless you change how you play and buy a pure combat ship and join the pew pew and pker clique in open, and not everyone enjoys that. if i want space invaders i can play that elsewhere.) or maybe even past a certain rank be it master or dangerous or deadly, simply because eventually your combat rank is too much. you lose every fight. and before another clueless git gudder says it, you should not have to contact support to have a game rank reduced every time it gets too high. nor need to start the grind from scratch by clearing save.
i didnt enjoy the sidewinder 60 hour grind to get my cobra. i did enjoy the grind to my asp more, and am enjoying (or was, you never know) the grind to earn credits now with the new missions, although its to earn the 40 odd mill i need to finish upgrading my federal assault ship, and that plan is now on hold until i see what the ai is really like. but it is a grind. and unlike space invaders if you die you lose a lot. yes 5% rebuy doesnt sound much but its 1.5 million on my asp and eventually the credits run out if you get mercilessly destroyed. yes those super rich who can afford to pay out in one hit to buy a filly kitted corvette dont understand not everyone has billions of credits to throw away if they die. and i find having SOME combat fun - but not if there is no chance to win any of then due to my combat rank.
you set your goals in this game. the highest i was in old elite in the 80s was deadly. i want to try to become elite here - but not by being a combateer. the danger i see is while combat was still fun the 3 times i was in it in 2.1 my worry is that as combat rank grows it will be incessant death instead, never winning, not able to escape because they disable the FSD and thrusters. no chance to fight or escape and i will quit the game. games are supposed to be fun. not everyone is a snobby pro gamer sneering at people who have real life jobs other than playing games, who have families and real household chores and limited time to play. not everyone wants to lose everything every time they try to play with no chance to win. this is the reason we dont play open already. dont let solo become open with npc pker gankers.
hopefully the devs already are thinking about the combat rank problem. my own idea is, tweak the ai back down a bit for solo and open if players who like open want. the gamer snobs should be offered a special account where the AI they will face is always much more challenging. you can explain it by saying they have gained a certain reputation for being much more skilled at combat, there are rumours about them in pilots federation, in the bars of stations and outposts - and this leads others (npcs) with high skill to challenge them constantly. they get their arcade game space invaders on steroids and the rest of us get a game we can enjoy when we have time.
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