I do indeed and on pc I have macros set up but I prefer playing on xbox so that pretty much makes me silent.
Do NPC’s give better “gameplay” then human Cmdr’s?
- Thread starter DukeIronHand
- Start date
I do indeed and on pc I have macros set up but I prefer playing on xbox so that pretty much makes me silent.
I'll say that yes NPCs do because in my experience CMDRs are too busy either gaming the system to avoid interaction (combat logging) or on the opposite side, so worried about preventing a combat log as to make their interaction two-dimensional and just opening fire with maybe one chat-macro given at best.
It doesn't have to be this way, but this is how it is.
It doesn't have to be this way, but this is how it is.
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Deleted member 115407
D
Nope. CMDRs are always less predictable and offer better encounters than NPCs.
Is this Darek Null his brother?
On a more serious note I think the exact opposite but certainly feel free to have your own game and opinion.
Cmdr zaniness does not add to my gameplay at all.
Sterling MH
Banned
Yes. No NPC ignores the rules they're programmed by and only play in the game. Humans will meta, they'll play outside the game rules because they are not bound by them.
Even Star Citizen, a far more PvP game than ED, has people talking about ensuring that there are regions safe for the PvPers and places where it's safe for the PvEers and that there's a gameplay reason for the PvEers to go to where the PvPers are. So that nobody has to play meta to get their gameplay going. PvEers play solo/pg as their meta to ensure that they can choose their encounters. PvPers are hung by their own needs: they need players, PvE doesn't. So it frequently turns into a demand to hit PvEers with a stick, even just emotional ones (like calling them carebears) until they are forced to play PvP.
Unless I'm in a combat build, I can only lose. There's no win. I lose time "winning" the interception, so still lose, or I lose more time and cargo if I play along with someone who turns out to be "playing pirate" for real, or I rebuy if someone is just shooting fish. Any wonder why I don't bother to give up? Starving real pirates is a tactic to combat piracy and it's the only way a trader HAS of doing so if "the powers that be" are not going to stamp it out. So if you complain why traders don't just play along when YOU'RE legit playing a role, this is why. The attacker also has no lose scenario unless they're so bad that I win in a trade ship. If they're that bad, then they need to shoot NPCs,and if they don't, then they just want to grief. And if that is the case, they can engineer so that it is no longer skill that wins. Give I cannot choose where to meet a CMDR pirate by choosing the security state I'm in, this is ALL I can do to control: make sure people don't get their gameplay playing as pirate.
An NPC trader, however, will not decide to go down in a blaze of glory because its the only way to get rid of piracy: starve them of profit. So they won't meta on you either.
Humans can meta. Programs cannot. So, yes, NPCs give better gameplay than humans.
Even Star Citizen, a far more PvP game than ED, has people talking about ensuring that there are regions safe for the PvPers and places where it's safe for the PvEers and that there's a gameplay reason for the PvEers to go to where the PvPers are. So that nobody has to play meta to get their gameplay going. PvEers play solo/pg as their meta to ensure that they can choose their encounters. PvPers are hung by their own needs: they need players, PvE doesn't. So it frequently turns into a demand to hit PvEers with a stick, even just emotional ones (like calling them carebears) until they are forced to play PvP.
Unless I'm in a combat build, I can only lose. There's no win. I lose time "winning" the interception, so still lose, or I lose more time and cargo if I play along with someone who turns out to be "playing pirate" for real, or I rebuy if someone is just shooting fish. Any wonder why I don't bother to give up? Starving real pirates is a tactic to combat piracy and it's the only way a trader HAS of doing so if "the powers that be" are not going to stamp it out. So if you complain why traders don't just play along when YOU'RE legit playing a role, this is why. The attacker also has no lose scenario unless they're so bad that I win in a trade ship. If they're that bad, then they need to shoot NPCs,and if they don't, then they just want to grief. And if that is the case, they can engineer so that it is no longer skill that wins. Give I cannot choose where to meet a CMDR pirate by choosing the security state I'm in, this is ALL I can do to control: make sure people don't get their gameplay playing as pirate.
An NPC trader, however, will not decide to go down in a blaze of glory because its the only way to get rid of piracy: starve them of profit. So they won't meta on you either.
Humans can meta. Programs cannot. So, yes, NPCs give better gameplay than humans.
Sterling MH
Banned
I ignore Zarek Null. And I cloak so his petty demands are meaningless. Yes, I've now told you my rolle [sic] as to why Solo is a valid option, as valid as screaming "I IS BAD MAN! I KEEEL YOU!" and calling it a role.
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Deleted member 38366
D
I guess the best answer is "it depends".
There's plenty of Situations where NPC actions or sheer presence don't make sense.
Be it due to them cheating (scripts ignoring key mechanics Players are bound to) or acting less-than-intelligent or appearing magically in locations they shoudn't have been able to reach at all or not within such short time.
There's plenty of Situations where NPC actions or sheer presence fit the Galaxy perfectly.
There's plenty of Situations where Player actions or sheer presence fit the Galaxy perfectly.
There's plenty of Situations where certain Player actions make no sense whatsoever.
There's plenty of things you can only do with a Player, not with NPCs.
So yeah... mileage can vary greatly. It depends...
There's plenty of Situations where NPC actions or sheer presence don't make sense.
Be it due to them cheating (scripts ignoring key mechanics Players are bound to) or acting less-than-intelligent or appearing magically in locations they shoudn't have been able to reach at all or not within such short time.
There's plenty of Situations where NPC actions or sheer presence fit the Galaxy perfectly.
There's plenty of Situations where Player actions or sheer presence fit the Galaxy perfectly.
There's plenty of Situations where certain Player actions make no sense whatsoever.
There's plenty of things you can only do with a Player, not with NPCs.
So yeah... mileage can vary greatly. It depends...
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Sterling MH
Banned
You forgot one:
There's no situation where NPC actions don't make sense whatsoever.
By definition, they fit the game since they are the game. And if you have a legit complaint about buggy NPCs failing to fit, then they can be changed. FDev would not be allowed to reprogramme their customers to remove that ability from them, even if they had the power to do it.
For the pirate player, like I said, NPCs will drop cargo. If you want them to respond to a pirate demand, then FD can program in a callsign to trigger that. But if I decide the only way to stop piracy is to remove the profit from it entirely and just go explodey, then there's nothing out of game with me doing it (note: I do it to NPC pirates too) and FD can't fix that for you.
Of course in my view, as I explained, my actions are not out of the game. Indeed in my eyes I would have to meta outside the game to decide to drop cargo for a player who pirates me: I have to want to give it to them, where the only reason to do so is fellow feeling for another human, because that human isn't ACTUALLY a thief and murdering outlaw, but another person playing a game. Changing because of outside game reality is meta. Your feelings may be that it is cheating because I just appear at a new station and I'm playing that meta. Then again if you die, you don't end up in prison for 20 years to life, so we both play THAT meta.
Well, the npcs have gotten rather rammy lately. That's more like the pvp videos I've seen.
I have seen more engineered npcs as of late, as well.
I have seen more engineered npcs as of late, as well.
Sterling MH
Banned
i think it a good change for the combat crowd. With two provisos/worries
1) As long as it's easy to choose your level of danger so you can be at least a little prepare. Games should not spring a Kobyashi-Maru on you as a part of normal gameplay
2) As long as those without Horizons don't get engineered ships spawned against them Un level paying field