Didn't AI recently beat the champions of DOTA? Or was it Starcraft? One of those games!
Do "purple-haired heroes" scare everyone into Solo?
I play in solo because my game time is subject to interruption from family requirements. I have to pick my time to play carefully and often I have to shrug and say not today and what I think is an hour suddenly becomes ten minutes because real world intervenes.
If it was open only in the current form I would no longer play, for a player with limited game time open is a nightmare. The rebuy cost, loss of cargo and the fines for failed missions, not to mention the effective time loss hit you big fashion. There is nothing more demoralising than finding you have an hour to play that you have worked for a week to get and only to find at the end of it you achieved nothing. Of course that might not be the case every game session, but you don't need many to get the negative vibe. In solo I can manage the situation, in open that is much harder to do.
If it was open only in the current form I would no longer play, for a player with limited game time open is a nightmare. The rebuy cost, loss of cargo and the fines for failed missions, not to mention the effective time loss hit you big fashion. There is nothing more demoralising than finding you have an hour to play that you have worked for a week to get and only to find at the end of it you achieved nothing. Of course that might not be the case every game session, but you don't need many to get the negative vibe. In solo I can manage the situation, in open that is much harder to do.
That's not always a good thing IMO. ESO used to have enemies of "static" difficulty, so when a low-level character went into a high-level area, they died very quickly. Later the game changed so that enemies scaled with your level, so that no matter what your level, enemies always feel the same. Your perks give you an edge, yes, but still, a level 1 mob should be hard for a level 1 character, but my level 100 character should be able to sneeze and turn a level 1 mob to ash.
Now in a "on rails" game like Tomb Raider series (and many single-player FPS), I totally agree that harder bosses should be saved for later in the game. But even then, if I revisit earlier maps, those enemies are much easier to kill with my new weapons and perks. This is the way it should be.
Though I'm not sure why we are having this argument to begin with. If PvPers are complaining that NPCs are too easy, then what on earth are they doing ganking lone Type-6 cargo haulers in their wings of engineered FDLS !?!?!
Both of those, and Quake III Arena, and probably many more by now.
Deleted member 182079
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Did about 10 trade runs in my Cutter (and two in my T6) in Open at the CG, and despite Teveri being very busy (once I counted 8 FdL's in the same instance) I didn't even get interdicted once.
I am starting to worry that I have bad breath or something.
I am starting to worry that I have bad breath or something.
They often ignore me, too. One "hunter" was adamantly broadcasting to the others to "Don't kill that Hauler, it's cute!"
In fact, I was surprised how many purples resisted my attempts to interdict them! I guess a shieldless Hauler is to purples like a cat is to mummies.
Deleted member 182079
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I eavesdropped on your convo last night for a little
in fairness, my Cutter runs a Prismatic so is probably putting off a lot of people who are out for a quick kill. I was also floating about in SC for a little in my Cobra, again no takers. Probably not as satisfying as popping a larger ship and I find fast Cobra pancakes really annoying to fight even if just NPCs.Ended up chasing the few USS's instead while swimming amongst all those sharks lol
I appreciated the number of Cobras and Vipers I saw last night! I wish this blight would get into the engines of all these boring FDLs, for the sake of varietyI eavesdropped on your convo last night for a little
Right, no dedicated mechanic, besides following a wake and reading some text. For combat, there are a lot of mechanics on the other hand.
Deleted member 182079
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I'm already grateful if I see a Mamba or Alliance ship instead of an FdL. Started to loathe it and have refused to add one to my fleet because it's so terribly omnipresent.I appreciated the number of Cobras and Vipers I saw last night! I wish this blight would get into the engines of all these boring FDLs, for the sake of variety
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
PvE isn't the same in every mode, because the presence, or the threat of the presence, of other CMDRs can significantly change the experience, even if there is not direct confrontation between CMDRs, and even direct confrontation between CMDRs does not preclude conflict with the rest of the environment.
Ultimately they shouldn't have any choice, but to behave rationally.
Unfortunately, the rules of the system...not just the rules players operate under, but the rules that define the in-game setting...are not remotely up to the task of depicting the setting most of us would expect, or that Frontier wishes to show. Even NPCs can't do their roles justice.
I really don't like the difficulty scaling mechanisms in most video games that have them.
The only sort of difficulty scaling I find broadly acceptable is based around rational actions and reactions, fame vs. anonymity. Inflationary scaling is something to be avoided...unfortunately, it's by far the simplest, and thus the most common.
Even many of the single player titles I really enjoy are crippled by this. Take Homeworld...on my very first play through I had to start over because I did too well in one mission, and was presented with a virtually insurmountable obstacle in the next. It was much easier the second time around when I deliberately chose sub-optimal courses of actions. It felt like I was being punished for learning the lessons the game was teaching me, as well as for applying intuitive, real-world, logic. For example, there was no mention of there being any FTL communications in Homeworld, so I logically assumed that if I captured or destroyed every enemy vessel before any of them could flee, my opponents would be unaware of my progress. Turns out it didn't work this way; and on the next map, they apparently knew to bring three hundred ships (and apparently had three hundred ships in reserve, just waiting somewhere, rather than putting them to use).
Most Bethesda games are even worse. By default, almost everything levels up with you, which totally destroys any feeling of credible demographics as well as introduces absurdities like 20th-level wolves with enough health to ignore any environmental hazard, or bandits wearing so much daedric armor that they could retire and buy their own kingdom somewhere, rather than try to steal my character's loaves of bread. If I can even be bothered to play a Bethsoft title, I mod the snot out of it to completely remove difficulty scaling (and often tone down the player-character's own inflation)
When it comes right down to it, I dislike most level based and most loot based games. If it's an abstract title, I expect to see character skills improve, but I don't like seeing character stats just inflated to the point they can totally ignore hazards that would affect more mundane people. If it's a less abstract title, I expect my own personal abilities as a player to be the overriding factor...once basic tools are acquired.
I actually liked the combat in the Thief games. It was expected that combat would be avoided and your character never improved in combat ability, so when I was able to take out a half-dozen guards, who were each statistically superior to Garrett, simultaneously, it felt like a real accomplishment. Crysis, though far more combat oriented, was enjoyable for similar reasons...and for the stove challenge (where you see how far you can get only killing people by throwing a kitchen range at them).
Anyway, I don't feel difficulty scaling, the way it's implemented, in any of the games you list, does anything but harm my enjoyment of them.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
The possibility of PvP notwithstanding, the PvE itself does not change - the player's choices as to how they handle the possibility of PvP would be what would affect how they engage in PvE.
The PvE itself certainly can change.
For example, if I'm fighting in a CZ alone, I can expect roughtly equal sides. If there are allied CMDRs present, I may not have any viable targets. If there are hostile CMDRs present, there may not be a single green contact to be seen. Other CMDRs also do things like alter NPC spawns in SC or RES sites.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Fair point - the presence of other players competing for PvE "resources" will change how much is available, or not, for each player.
not sure how you police or encourage this to the extent that they don't have any choice left? Atm players choose to block them or play in PG/Solo and they still act irrationally amongst the ones that haven't yet, meaning more do. How do you encourage rationality? If it involves lots of other players changing their game you have to ask yourself why they should though.
Exactly the same way the laws of nature apply constraints to our reality.
Thank you for using the provided modes like a reasonable person.
In that case, you certainly don’t need to be as prepared for danger in solo or PG, but it’s still not a bad idea to throw a decent shield on.
As for the whole cheating thing— That is exactly why I haven’t moved to PC. Shame, really.
I have a question, and I don't think it warrants a separate thread, so here we go. How does blocking work on PC?
For example, if I were to block just of couple of the more persistent purple-haired heroes who frequent the CG, that will cause me to go into a different instance than ALL of the gankers in their shared instance, yes? This would also increase the likelihood of me being instanced with other traders who have also blocked one or more ganker, correct? But if I go to a different system, then any of the non-blocked gankers can still instance with me.
My thinking is to use the block as a temporary, strategic tool to ensure I'm not being dumped into "ganker hell" at the CG while still playing the game in Open, which also allows the vast majority of gankers to instance with me outside the CG, just not all at the same time.
Thoughts?
For example, if I were to block just of couple of the more persistent purple-haired heroes who frequent the CG, that will cause me to go into a different instance than ALL of the gankers in their shared instance, yes? This would also increase the likelihood of me being instanced with other traders who have also blocked one or more ganker, correct? But if I go to a different system, then any of the non-blocked gankers can still instance with me.
My thinking is to use the block as a temporary, strategic tool to ensure I'm not being dumped into "ganker hell" at the CG while still playing the game in Open, which also allows the vast majority of gankers to instance with me outside the CG, just not all at the same time.
Thoughts?
Those activities are not dedicated to a peaceful system. You can do that everywhere. What is there to peacefully interact in PvE?
Right, but it is a core pillar of this game.