I Partially Disagree.
No Offense Mate.
Its true that Many Pilots got Bigger Ships than they Should have.
Albeit thats not so much thanks to new Updates or Faster ways to Acquire Money.
People back then mostly Traded for their Ships meaning they had little Combat Skills as well *gg*
But the more Importand Problem is that the Skills of the Players is not so much of an Factor for the Problems this AI got.
1.
Your Suggestion there is not very Enjoyable.
Sorry but thats the Truth behind that.
People dont Play a Game to Tiptoe around and "get a Feeling" for things while Flying around in a Nutshell that wont cost them money if Wasted.
This sort of Mindset is an fairly common friction point between Casual Players and Professional Players.
Pro Gamers often come with this Mindset basicly setting Success and well "Professionality" on the Job to this Matters.
But the Casual Players just want to Play
They wont go ahead and do some Professional Training Route to Train up and then Fly like a Pro Maximizing Success Rate and Minimizing Losses
If a Game Requires Work rather than Playing to Survive. You can assume that at this Point you basicly Lost all Casual Players.
2.
Well. I agree that you should not Ragequit. Its a Beta and things are Changing Constantly.
FD has adjusted NPCs a few times already while testing and listening to Feedback. This is very good and hopefully will bring the Situation under Control.
But Mate. If Running away is the only way to Survive I would not Play this Game.
So dont Advise that. Many Players will rather Quit the Game than work while Running away. Its just not an Fun Game Concept you know.
As I said above. Pls drop the Idea that everyone comes with the Professional Mindset of Minimizing and Maximizing. This Concept is just not going to Roll with Casual Players who want to Enjoy some Fun after coming home from Work.
3.
Well. I like the Python as well.
Albeit I currently wont do so much with Engineers.
I am not yet at a Point where I can Equip my Ships how I want to.
While I do have 2-3 Rebuys in Storage to not take any Chances there. I rarely Start a Ship with enough Money to Equip it like I wanted.
And I think that would be Boring as well.
If that was how its meant to be Played they would not need different Equipment Grades
Also. Once more. Dont forget not everyone thinks of this in Professional Routes. Casual Players want Fun. Not Work! Surefire Way to lose Casual Players is to make a Game where you wont be able to get around unless your doing it like a Pro.
4.
Hmmm.
Thats Good. Well for you at least.
Albeit not too linked to the AI.
2.1 gave alot of additional Options.
Albeit I am missing a bit of Variety in the Options to Acquire the Things.
For example the Funny thing that one of the Materials needed for Exploration Engineer Upgrades is mostly Dropped from Security Vessels.
This stuff needs to be more Matched onto its Routes.
An Explorer should not have to Brawl with System Security to get Materials.
Also Materials should be Craftable from Ressources. Not only be Dropped by Killing Enemies.
An Explorer Generally is not too Eager to go Killing People for Materials.
Just like an Bounty Hunter will be very Advert towards going Mining.
Its Fine that for example Gun Upgrades need you to actually use Guns.
Its also fine that Cargo Rack Upgrades need Mining or Exploring or Hauling etc.
But this needs some Fixing here to actually Match the Jobs.
Its somehow Ridiculous that for Combat Upgrades you need to go Mining.
And for Explorer Upgrades need to go Kill System Security.
Not everyone wants to do more than one Job.
Most People Specialize on one Area. And then maybe go into the Neighboring Areas.
An Explorer will often also be somewhat of a Miner or Rare Goods Smuggler.
An Pirate will often be a Smuggler as well.
An Bounty Hunter will often do Data or High Reward/Risk Hauling.
An Trader will often also do Mining.
etc etc.
But you will usually not see that an Explorer goes Killing System Security.
So this sort of stuff needs to be matched up Properly. Currently some of the Cost and Materials are way Silly on this.
5.
And for the Final.
HERE it starts being Trouble.
No. People aint Attached to Old Paradigms
You see Mate.
I can hold my own in Combat. I can do so now as well.
But its not Fun.
No Offense. But the Problem here is. These NPCs dont have any higher Skill. They simply have Higher Stats.
Their Maneuverability is Insane. Even with Flight Assist Off its almost Impossible to Catch an Higher Ranked NPC in Maneuvering unless your Ship is Twice as Maneuverable by Default. Sorry but this is not Right. I dont want the. "NPC gets 50% Bonus on Stats" Difficulty. I want the "NPC is Skilled thanks to Artificial Intelligence" Difficulty.
See Mate. I can kill Enemies that got 500 HP with my 100 HP Character in Games. But thats not Difficulty of Skill. Its simply Increased Stats.
And thats what happens here.
The AI Currently has Insane Maneuverability allowing it to Move in Ways that even highly Skilled Players cannot Copy.
The AI Currently has Insane Accuracy. Far beyond anything even the most Skilled Players can Archieve. (Heck Yesterday I had 2 NPC Sidewinders which kept Shooting me with Fixed Weapons on 2.5km Range and Missing Maybe 1 out of 10 Shots despite me doing Evasive Maneuvers Including Support Thrusters)
And. The AI Currently manages to Drop even high Grade Shields and Modules with Insane Speed. Heck. I had Cobras which Dropped my Pythons Shields and Disable my Power Coupling in a mere 10 Seconds.
Even when I try Aiming for Power Coupling this is just not happening Vice Versa. Their Ability to Score Critical Hits is Inhuman. Even in PvP I never had anything like this. The Current Higher Ranked NPCs (well not Current they added a fix yesterday and I havnt tested it yet) are way Superior to even most PvPers I know. And even the PvPers which are still Superior to the AI. Were not Superior because of Inhuman Accuracy or Maneuverability. But because they made better Decisions.
Maybe you should get the Mirror Out Mate
People Play a Game here. They dont think of this as an Profession where they need to Train For and where they constantly have to Minimize Risks.
This is not a Job for them
They dont want to Adopt an Professional Attitude they have to take on Work.
They want to Play a Game.
So Take out the Mirror and Maybe Realize that your looking into the Face of someone with an Attitude Common among Professional Gamers. But very very Rare among Casual Gamers
The Average NPC you meet needs to Easy enough for the Average Player to Handle without resorting to Running Away or using a Minimized Risk Strategy.
Generally Low Ranked NPCs should be easy to take care off and not pose much of a Risk unless in High Numbers. Even to the Average Casual Player. And they should be NPCs you meet 50% of the Time
Medium Ranked NPCs should be able to Put up a Fight against an Casual Average Player. But should still not pose a Risk or even a Challenge unless they come in Numbers. And they should be NPCs you meet 40% of the Time
Higher Ranked NPCs are where an Casual Average Player should feel Challenged. And should have the Risk of needing to Turn Tail in Emergency. And they should only come up 9% of the Time.
And the Highest Ranked NPCs are the only ones which should be Challenging even for Professional Players and which thus should be Superior to Casual Averagers and Force them Run rather than to Fight. And heck they should be maybe 1% of the NPCs you meet and Generally only come out in Missions or in USS and High Intensity Combat Zones or Hazardous Mining Zones etc.
Currently however.
Low Ranked NPCs are already able to Put up a Fight against Casual Average Players and you meet em maybe 30% of the time.
Medium Ranked NPCs are an real Challenge to Casual Players already and very often Force em to Withdraw. And they make out 40% of the NPCs you meet.
And (Which is the Joke and hopefully fixed (FD said they looked at it) The NPCs which comprise the remaining 30% of Meeting are the Higher Ranked ones. Which for Casual Players are just not Possible to Handle. Heck some of these are able to go 1vs1 Experienced Gamers and still Win Out.
I dont even know how the Highest Ranked NPCs like Mission Targets of Assassination Missions are Handling. I wont try out either.
Games need to be Fun Mate
Not Work.
Small Fist Rules Mate
If Games require a Player to develop a Strategy and Minimize Risks just to be able to get around the World.
This Game will Fall under the Category of Pro Gamers Only.
In Short all Casual Players will usually Quit after an Fairly Short Time because they either get Frustrated by Losing or because they Feel its too much Effort to just Survive the Game.
Greetz Sun
