OK the time has come to retire this

[Kingston@#]

But why are you going after Anacondas?

.

they come after me! or they are in a threat level 4 signal source. I go looking for trouble and keep on finding nice npcs that want to die and try to give me their cargo. I don't bother collecting the materials they drop now. cr is good. that's all I wanted at the time. I now want the cutter. I have the funds but not the rep. if only I could just hijack one. now that would be good

 

[CMDR Valleys]

I felt the same, more credits than sense and was lost. Restarted last week = loving the game again and the challenge of taking down the bigger ships in a eagle (with the help of the local law). All good stuff, enjoying the game again for the survival and mission running and back to making credits.

When you feel like that small ships are a must, and fun to fly besides. I even cleared my friends list to get the new game feeling back.

Fly dangerous, fly open

 

[Kingston@#]

you have just counted things extremals do to get more adrenaline - suddenly more risk, more challenge, you will lose few kk from your grinded billion in case of death, what a disappointment
or is flying without shileds too dangerous for you or to the OP? too much salt, get a life or dont cry, truly hardcore players pass the shooter single with only pistol in hand

why would I want to downgrade my specs just to have a challenge. increase in specs should equate to increase in challenges

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I felt the same, more credits than sense and was lost. Restarted last week = loving the game again

Fly dangerous, fly open

now that's an idea

 

[Kingston@#]

Combat in smaller ships is way more fun, so how about trying a multi purpose Viper Mk4?

maybe your right I need to move to a different ship. my python just annihilates everything in its path. less cost if lost as well. 22 deaths in total since I started in 1.2.

 

[clearision]

because not all the people are searching for pain gaming, mate
the elite gamers are not only young fireblood adventure seekers but also people with grandchildren coming looking for nostalgy or just relaxing after work. and we all flying the same space, there are no skill brackets like in dota, where noobs play with noobs and nolifers play with nolifers
dont think about yourself only, this game is hard to balance though cuz of reason i described above, there always will be the players whose gameplay will be broken in some kind but the goal of frontier is to keep as much people online as they can and for your pity casuals are the biggest numbers of them.

 

[Cmdr Cheese Wedge]

Put the game down for a bit until you're keen to play again, but before you do.
Clear Save.

Could be a refreshing change.

 

[CMDR Aengus]

Well, overall I think ai has been better balanced. Low rez and nav point bounty hunting for beginners going up to lvl 4 threats and high intensity CZs for more advanced players.

I find the Ai challenging and its a little unfair to blame and call players whiners when the balancing is for the majority of players with a wide range of skills at flying and combat and will be based of FDs own data, not a few posts on a forum.
Perhaps the introduction of an Alien race will be the top tier of NPC difficulty and give you something more challenging
Other than that, it's just a game, and like any other game, once you've cracked it, it's time to move on.

 

[Boomer Kay]

I now want the cutter.

Why would you want an even more boring ship? Replace the Battlecow with a BattleElephantCow?
With the right loadout, the Cutter is pretty much unkillable (by NPCs at least, since they don't use engineered weapons - despite the "thermal attack" warnings.. nothing "thermal" ever happens) and turns like a brick. Every battle lasts hours - your enemy can't kill you, and you're too slow to kill him.

Try a FDL. Go into CZs and fight them regardless if your team is outnumbering the other team 3:1 (one effect of the AI buffs is, that your allies got better, too - so having a number's advantage is turning things boring even quicker than before) or the other team is outnumbering you.

 

[Theodrid]

I can most definitely recommend a ship downgrade OP, I went to Jaques for the various CG's and was unsure what to do with myself when the latest exploration CG ended. I had done plenty of mining and exploration in the area, I didn't want to freewinder back to the bubble, (personal preference, would make me feel dirty!), and I wasn't overly enthused by a full scale return journey. I parked my aspx up at Jaques, bought the Viper and outfitted it with the god awful hardpoints and mods from Jaques station, went to the RES's near Jaques and had some real fun, can highly recommend it.

 

[shreddog]

You can't please them all. Some people think the NPCs are to weak, and some think they are to tough(I'm on this side). You can't just adjust the NPCs in every system to give everybody a perfect game, not possible.
However. They could add a "danger" rating to each system. So in some systems you will find very easy opponents, while in others there would be extremely deadly npcs lurking that would need the best ship setups and commanders to beat.
Make sure to mark each system rating properly so noobs don't jump in and get squashed without warning.

 

[Mungrul]

Again though, the core problem for this one player is that the devs can't increase the difficulty of his game without affecting the difficulty for everyone else. If Frontier had followed through on the promised offline, single-player mode, this player would be able to alter the game to suit his tastes, be that through mods or difficulty options.

 

[D.G.Cerberus]

Why would you want an even more boring ship? Replace the Battlecow with a BattleElephantCow?
With the right loadout, the Cutter is pretty much unkillable (by NPCs at least, since they don't use engineered weapons - despite the "thermal attack" warnings.. nothing "thermal" ever happens) and turns like a brick. Every battle lasts hours - your enemy can't kill you, and you're too slow to kill him.

Try a FDL. Go into CZs and fight them regardless if your team is outnumbering the other team 3:1 (one effect of the AI buffs is, that your allies got better, too - so having a number's advantage is turning things boring even quicker than before) or the other team is outnumbering you.

Yes, or get into same FDL, unmodded, off to a compromised Nav, pick a fight with a wing of 4 Elite Cobras/ Sideys. Post a video as to how easy you found it.

 

[fennster]

Again though, the core problem for this one player is that the devs can't increase the difficulty of his game without affecting the difficulty for everyone else. If Frontier had followed through on the promised offline, single-player mode, this player would be able to alter the game to suit his tastes, be that through mods or difficulty options.

Or just do what lots of people have been and were suggesting since the whole 2.1 AI thing blew up. Rank NPC according to system's security and state. Have areas of the game suitable for newer, lesser equipped players and areas for more experienced deathwish players.

Putting restrictions on NPC across the board on all systems is as bad as ramping up the AI on all systems.

Also it becomes ridiculous that every ship you come across is a deadly/elite FAS or Anaconda when you are higher rank, 10s of them in every system.

But then thinking about it, they are introducing the security notification of the next system on H-Jump and the plottable routes through different types of system, so maybe they are planning such a thing as varying skill sets for systems.

 

[Sunleader]

Dont see that Problem.
Its just that Frontier would need to make things make sense.

Military Elite Pilots should simply be in High Conflict Zones where they Belong.


Its called Variable Ingame Difficulty
Simply Allow Players to Adjust their own Difficulty by giving NPC Difficulty an Backround which makes Sense and which the Players can follow.


In an High Ranking Assassination Mission its normal that you would find an really Strong Enemy with Elite Escorts which can really Pack a Punch.
Same for Entering an High Density Conflict Zone where in between the Rank and File Soldiers there should sometimes be Elite Pilots making their Rounds.
Or Hazard Ressource Points were you should now and then get an Elite Pirate Marauding around.

However and thats the thing.
Interdictions especially in Systems with Moderate or High Security should not have such Strong NPCs.
Nor should they be in Low Density Conflict Zones and Low Traffic Ressource Zones.


Problem so far is. That Frontier always added these NPCs to all Places or to none.
This way Players cannot Choose wether or not they want to Fight Elite NPCs.
And heck this didnt even make sense.
You suddenly Had Ultra Strong Kamikaze NPCs which were so in a Frenzy that they gave their life for it just to kill you.
Even if that meant ignoring the Security Anaconda on their Rear in a High Security System just to kill that Type 6 they Interdicted.

And sorry but in a High Security System you should not find the Big Elite Pirate but only the lower class waylayers which are too weak to survive in Anarchy Systems.


By making certain things clear and have them make sense. A Player can Correlate to where he should go when looking for a tough fight. And also where he can Safely Haul his Cargo.
This way the Player could Adjust Difficulty for himself. By for example using Low Density CZs and Low or High Traffic Res Points.

 

[Von Shadow]

I think the problem is that we (as players) have no idea what FD see in the metrics... i'm assuming here that they have lots of telemetry coming in...

Forum posts like this always attract the same kinda response.... but at the end of the day there's likely 80-90% of the active player base who never come near the forums or maybe do but don't respond
It could very well be that the vast majority of players find the current levels of NPC AI spot on .... or challenging.... yes there's going to be a few that want to find that death awaits in the HazRes.... and i think there's lore-basis for making zero sec systems / prison colonies / pirate systems that have this level of high-end NPC AI roaming around

Only FD can tell us whether the current levels make life hard for the 80% of players that sustain the game .... be nice to get some stats from the game annually to see how we rank up against the player base

AI based on our own ranks is meaningless since ranks are a factor of time and not skill ... so unless they go and add 'Prestige' like they have in CQC and make it so the only way to rank that is to kill off serious high end packs of super-tough AI's (meaning that it becomes a valid mechanic) then we're stuck and eventually all players will be single/double Elite

I'm Combat elite but don't consider it a grade on my ability to fight .... i don't think i'm terrible but i don't think i'd fare well at all in good PVP players

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Just chiming in.

I find the NPCs too easy.
And no, I don't fly a Battle Cutter/Corvette/Anaconda.

I fly This Python. Lol

True multirole. Barely any combat related mods. (Mostly dirty drives, FSD range, powerplant).

It's still virtually impossible* to die in it.
Very easy to kill anything in it. (Eventually)


*Station guns do a pretty good job when you flatten an unshielded hauler or skimmer though!

 

[Jex =TE=]

This. They have to balance the AI for their entire player base. Inevitably, some will find it too easy while others find it too hard.

Hopefully, with the aliens in 2.2 there will be more NPC challenge for those who seek it (and probably for those who don't, too).

Balancing AI for the player base is easy and has been discussed before. Cater the AI to the system they are in - it's that simple. Anarchy systems should be feared like in the original Elite. Secure systems should be relatively peaceful with a quick response time from security forces.

On top of that, being able to practice in simulators when docked at a station (or in your cabin on your ship) would massively help out - you don't need to risk anything then.

 

[kofeyh]

Again though, the core problem for this one player is that the devs can't increase the difficulty of his game without affecting the difficulty for everyone else. If Frontier had followed through on the promised offline, single-player mode, this player would be able to alter the game to suit his tastes, be that through mods or difficulty options.

Please, don't need offline mode for relevant AI, they just need to not use commander rank as a factor. Because it's irrelevant.

Arguing AI is solved by offline mode, is just silly. Because that's a game mode, not AI. Fix AI. By removing commander rank so what we do, where, when and why suddenly means something.

This means high security, or Anarchy actually means something relevant.

There's not going to be an offline mode, move on.

 

[Gimi]

Seems like FD has hit the sweet spot now with NPC behaviour. There is at least one other thread from a player complaining that the NPCs are too tough

I agree here, at least for one on one (if you take into consideration that players are not always in their combat optimised ships).
I think there is still some balancing to do when it comes to the heat mechanic and NPC's operating in wings.
I have done missions where I dropped into a 0-threat USS where a wing has turned up and I have been melted in less than 10s, mostly due to heat weapons disabling my modules within seconds and being mass locked. I don't mind a challenge at all, but good game play balance should have a counter action to every action. In a few cases I have experienced that there have been none (I was flying an A-rated Python trade build with max A shields but no engineer modifications).
Hence, I think the AI is ok, but balancing heat-weapons and NPC wings composition still needs a little work.

 

[Malpherian]

Well at least until 2.2 is released. making weaker, brainless, NPC's has killed the game for me. I don't attack other Cmdr's. so no fun there. maybe they will fix the broken AI. maybe not. I don't need to grind no more seeing I have more cr than sense.
how to kill a great game. take on board what the winging masses want and ignore those who like it hard!


until next time

FD is a business, unless your going to fork over the money to cover the lost income from the vast majority of players who do not want "Super Nightmare Mode", Shut up, and stop trolling.

Most people who play ED play Casually. If they want to play an actual game Space Sim Sandbox, They play EvE. (Which for the record, ED could blow out of the water if they would get with the times, fix social systems, and allow players to colonize the 99.9% of empty space out there). FD's paranoia of "Large Social Groups" is killing ED and has been since they went public about their views on such.

ED is a single player game with some Co-op. Until this changes, ED will be nothing more then an underfunded backwater C-Rated game with a population so low it is laughable at best.