Destroyed by an NPC on the way home after 2 weeks exploring... did I do something wrong?

Flyto

F
Trying to make sure this isn't a ranty post, but apologies if it turns into that...

I spent the last 2 weeks out exploring in an Adder. For the last few days I've been mooching around the Pleiades on the way home... I had noticed since 1.1 that,

  • I was seeing NPCs again - which may just have coincided with my getting close enough to civilisation, although they still had no fuel scoops and thus no way of getting there.
  • They were interdicting me MUCH more than they used to. If I saw an NPC in a far-out system, they would usually head for me and try to interdict.
  • Interdictions seemed to be much harder to evade than they used to be. Or maybe I'm out of practice. 2 weeks exploring had cost me 8% hull damage to carelessness and a surprise binary. 2 days after 1.1 cost me 20% hull to failing to evade interdictions. So I started submitting and boosting away instead.
  • Most of these NPCs would ask what cargo I was carrying, and then start shooting at me, despite the fact that I had no cargo hold. Some of them wouldn't ask first or scan, but just attack for no apparent reason.
  • Tonight, just as I was lining up a jump to the next system, I was interdicted by an Adder. Nice and small, but, Deadly, so I wasn't going to hang around and fight. I submitted, started boosting, while jinking sideways with thrusters as usual.... and then wondered where my shields had gone. Turned out this NPC had twin railguns and was a rather good shot. First shot nearly killed my shields. Second shot took the last ring of shields, took my hull to <10%, and knocked out my thrusters and canopy. Third shot, dead, like it mattered by then.

So... is it just me being bitter right now, or does this seem really unfair? NPCs without fuel scoops hundreds of Ly from civilisation, interdicting and attacking for no reason at all? At the moment I feel that I had no chance, once the RNG decided that that particular NPC would appear... and that I've wasted the last two weeks. This is not fun.
 
Last edited:

Axeman3d

Axeman3d
Sounds like bad luck, that's all. I run for it from the furthest station from Sol I can find and I don't stop running for at least 500Ly. It's the only way to clear the auto generated bad guys, especially when I carry no guns on my explorer. On the way back I do a similar sprint to the nearest inhabited system I can find so that I can sell my data. Anything else risks running into a random pirate with random huge guns that will take me out.
 

Metalstardust

M
Since 1.1 interdictions have increased. Plus the NPC's are of a higher calibre. Lots of Commander's have noticed this but no official announcement from FD.
 

Lyandritz

L
A good memories of the game that you can tell.
A special ending after 2 weeks of exploration.

NPC are pretty bad in combat but i guess you are just an explorer in a bad ship.
Don't blame the game.
 
Last edited:

kaaldesh

K
1) NPC should not be in systems that they could not reach without a fuel scoop. This is inarguable and if anyone does argue this, ignore the rest of their post because they're incapable of rational thought. So, FD should fix this.

2) The AI is now better at fighting, have better equipment and interdict more often... or maybe there's just a lot more of them to interdict. You got unlucky that these changes happened while you were out.

3) To be fair, even though this happened in a place the NPC should not be, it would have also happened as you made it back to civilization... where they should be... so really the only unlucky things were the AI changes to numbers, equip, and skill.

4) Dude.... 2 weeks lost is real hard to take and my condolences to you there.
 

Tenshi

Tenshi
That is the name of the game, sorry to hear about your loss there.

It does irk me when I see npc ships 1000's of LY away from any station without fuel scoops as well.

Also I noticed that when wear and tear takes effect my ships weapons and shields are not as effective which does make sense to me. I explore in a combat capable Cobra MKIII has a 19 LY jump range with Military specced armour, with beam lasers and multi cannons for protection. In this ship I have taken on and killed Pythons (before the nerf) and Anaconda npcs. So I was amazed at how fast I lost my shields when they are at 100% wear and tear when faced with a Eagle npc.

I like the idea of exploring being dangerous and living on the edge yes loosing 2 or 3 weeks worth of data would be a bummer for anyone, but if the game was easy we would have the galaxy explored by tea time.
 

Defacto

Defacto
It's a stupid kind of difficulty. NPC's have no way of getting out there, and they have no reason to fly around and murder stuff.
Explorers should IMO have to deal with a lot of problems, but being swarmed by psychopath murderer hordes while 100 Ly from civilization is not one of them.
 

Chirru Starlight

C
NPC tougher to fight...okay.
Spawn rate of NPC's interdicting... someone got their numbers mixed up.
Three trips and four interdiction is Way to much.. me thinks.
 

AtheosisX

A
Pirates hundreds of light years from populated space makes no logical sense. Them not having a fuel scoop? That's just full on . But you have remember that this game has no underlying logic behind it. Stuff happens in ED just because. There is no living simulation involved and no functional internal logic. Still, you should've just killed the Adder. Adders are weak as they come, even with a deadly rating.
 

Flyto

F
Defacto said:
Explorers should IMO have to deal with a lot of problems, but being swarmed by psychopath murderer hordes while 100 Ly from civilization is not one of them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a problem, but I'd also argue that NPC encounters where you have no chance (at running or fighting) are also a problem. Sure, they might be realistic, but they're certainly not fun.
Maybe the issue is actually with the wear & tear mechanism - the fact that when somebody returns from an exploration trip they are at their most vulnerable, and also have arguably the most to lose from death (in time if not in cash)
 

Quineloe

Quineloe
Lyandritz said:
A good memories of the game that you can tell.
A special ending after 2 weeks of exploration.

NPC are pretty bad in combat but i guess you are just an explorer in a bad ship.
Don't blame the game.
Click to expand...

Having two weeks of progress undone is not good memories.

GHDW said:
NPC difficulty has been dialed up since 1.1 so expect more of the same to come.
Click to expand...


Yesterday I took a stock sidewinder to test supercruise damage, I was interdicted by a Dangerous python. It couldn't even get my shields down. NPCs are still a joke, but I think that Adder may have been running cheat gear.
 
Last edited:

PotatoOverdose

PotatoOverdose
On the one hand, that sucks. On the other it's good that NPCs are more of a threat now. Only bit of solace I can offer is that when you get to exploring in an asp, those NPCs are much less of a threat to you, and fewer of them will even try to interdict you.
 

Erimus Kamzel

Erimus Kamzel
The main issue here is the meaningless murder. NPCs out that far should be looking to extort returning explorers, either for credits or a share of the data they acquired. That would justify them being there in the first place, and justify their actions towards players.

We can all make up fake excuses as to why they're killing players, but we're just deluding ourselves.

Really, until NPCs are put there for a specific reason that actually plays out, they shouldnt even bother interacting with players.

They should be extorting players. They could be pirates patrolling their turf, having a secret unsanctioned base nearby. They could even be hired killers there to specifically target explorers who are selling data to a rival faction. Either way the reasons should be clearly identifiable by the player - because non-interactive and nonsensical reasons (like drop your non-existant cargo) do not make for interesting gameplay, and just leave players frustrated, confused, and downhearted at the lazy gameplay 'feature'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom