I've had the game since premium beta and I've been mostly playing as a trader and smuggler with a bit of planetary and space salvage thrown in since Horizons dropped. I pretty much always avoided combat, mostly by running away by high waking and only fighting the ones I could take on without getting blown to bits. Noble of me, I know...
I noticed that when I first got the game the encounters with enemy ships were quite regular, with them trying to interdict me in systems and turning up in USS's while I'm collecting cargo from space wrecks. Over time the encounters with enemy ships dropped right off until it was like I was the only living soul in the galaxy. I could pretty much play for months without encountering any NPC pirates at all... This was getting a bit tedious because, even though I didn't really want to engage in combat that much, the occasional hostile encounter kept the game from getting boring. However, with the lack of NPC interaction the game became just flying from point A to point B with nothing happening inbetween.
Recently I've been experimenting with different play styles, taking more missions types, and have deliberately been triggering enemy encounters in missions by manually dropping in and out of SC or visiting the nav beacons to scan them in systems I have no data on. I've also been taking a few low level assassination missions and standing my ground more when confronted by space pirates. And the game has suddenly started throwing more enemies at me. Even without triggering an encounter deliberately by "cheating" the system with a forced instance change, I've been getting interdicted and have been seeing many more enemies than before. This isn't a complaint BTW as I'm actually enjoying it.
So... Rather long winded I know, but the question is: If you deliberately avoid combat is the game programmed not to send enemies at you? Because when I was avoiding combat I didn't see any pirates, but since changing my play style this week it's like I've woken a small hornets nest.
I noticed that when I first got the game the encounters with enemy ships were quite regular, with them trying to interdict me in systems and turning up in USS's while I'm collecting cargo from space wrecks. Over time the encounters with enemy ships dropped right off until it was like I was the only living soul in the galaxy. I could pretty much play for months without encountering any NPC pirates at all... This was getting a bit tedious because, even though I didn't really want to engage in combat that much, the occasional hostile encounter kept the game from getting boring. However, with the lack of NPC interaction the game became just flying from point A to point B with nothing happening inbetween.
Recently I've been experimenting with different play styles, taking more missions types, and have deliberately been triggering enemy encounters in missions by manually dropping in and out of SC or visiting the nav beacons to scan them in systems I have no data on. I've also been taking a few low level assassination missions and standing my ground more when confronted by space pirates. And the game has suddenly started throwing more enemies at me. Even without triggering an encounter deliberately by "cheating" the system with a forced instance change, I've been getting interdicted and have been seeing many more enemies than before. This isn't a complaint BTW as I'm actually enjoying it.
So... Rather long winded I know, but the question is: If you deliberately avoid combat is the game programmed not to send enemies at you? Because when I was avoiding combat I didn't see any pirates, but since changing my play style this week it's like I've woken a small hornets nest.