Make it hard

If Frontier were to just remove Engineering and Synthesis, and make military slots the only slots that can hold military modules (no more HRP stacking), all our problems would be solved.

Engineering broke one of our legs, and instead of wanting that leg to heal, you are all demanding Frontier break our other leg by making NPCs use the same wack Engineering that you all choose to use. Well, I suppose two broken legs is more "balanced" than one, but it's not the solution I'm looking for.
sounds like you need to buy another game.
this one has engineering, and just because you refuse to accept it, it's still there.
 
sounds like you need to buy another game.
this one has engineering, and just because you refuse to accept it, it's still there.
Funny, this entire thread is about "I don't like the game the way it is, so change it." Maybe YOU need to buy another game, because I'm (relatively) happy with NPCs the way they are.
 
If Frontier were to just remove Engineering and Synthesis, and make military slots the only slots that can hold military modules (no more HRP stacking), all our problems would be solved.

Engineering broke one of our legs, and instead of wanting that leg to heal, you are all demanding Frontier break our other leg by making NPCs use the same wack Engineering that you all choose to use. Well, I suppose two broken legs is more "balanced" than one, but it's not the solution I'm looking for.
Urk. Please leave the FSD mods, power plant mods and lightweight effects. I like my efficient lasers too.
 
Urk. Please leave the FSD mods, power plant mods and lightweight effects. I like my efficient lasers too.
Yes yes, everybody likes their easy mode. Don't worry, Engineers are here to stay. Now perhaps if we made Engineered modules usable in Open-only....
 
I couldnt care less about the engineer crapshow if it just was optional. And if players had a choice over difficulty that would basically solve the whole excrement show for me. I just wouldnt need to bother about the crap and still enjoy the game. Without touching other players' precious pride and accomplishment illusion.
 
I don't have a problem with the quality of the NPCs' ships and flying. Sure, if you're in an engineered combat ship you can plow through individuals easy enough, but if you're an experienced combat pilot in an engineered combat ship that's not surprising. As stated above, you want a non-xeno combat challenge? PvP some willing CMDRs (if they aren't into it and just flee without fighting and you still kill them you're not looking for a challenge, you're ganker scum).

I do have issues wtih NPCs being able to do things that players can't.
Example: I'm space-trucking in a T9 and I get a wanring that enemies are coming. That's fine. I get interdicted by an Anaconda. Again, fine. I hold him off with a SLF, shield cells and chaff, until system security show up, and with them helping I drive him to High Wake with no shields and a battered hull. Great. My shield is slowing recharging and I'm on 35% hull, but I'm only a few light seconds from my destination and over a kilo light from the star; by the time he has jumped back into system and caught up with me again I'll have docked. Or so I thought. I low-wake and am immediately interdicted by the same NPC, who has magically repaired himself, and with no more shield cells, only a ring and half of shields, my SLF still on cool down, and a thoroughly battered hull I'm wiped out. I have to eat the rebuy, I get fined for the cargo I lost and I can't finish the delivery mission after already trucking 3 loads... and because I can't complete the mission I lose the completion bonus for killing the first anaconda that came for me on the previous leg (which was less than the bounty on a RES anaconda anyway).
All in all I'm down 20million for the ship, fines and lost earnings. I just about broke even due to the return leg mission covering the rebuy and the fine, and all because NPCs spawn wherever, instead of only at the sun like players. #salty

tl:dr You want it to be hard? Try making a living from cargo missions.

Also compare that with going mining - virtually risk free (pirates bother you once - before you have any cargo) and payout is 10x better for less or the same time investment. Talk about EZ-mode.

You do have the option of swapping the T9 for a Cutter and swatting the NPC Anaconda like an annoying bug... It is a lot more expensive, true, but.. well. T9s are never going to handle combat.
 
ya'll just need to learn the game and you won't get killed anymore by random gankers.
making up a fantasy carebear galaxy with infamy and police that works is just a waste of your time.
No need to make up a fantasy galaxy at all, that is the strong point of having 3 modes, we can actually decide who we wish to play with if we so desire.

I don't have any issue with PvP, or even with ganking (I can't cast the first stone), as we all play the game the way we wish. But there is no need to "learn the game" as you so aptly put it, just one click when starting the game removes to possibility of those encounters entirely :)
 
ya'll just need to learn the game and you won't get killed anymore by random gankers.
making up a fantasy carebear galaxy with infamy and police that works is just a waste of your time.

Oh the old GIT GUD SCRUB argument. How imaginative.
Lacking any kind of imposed narrative the purpose of ED is up to the player. So if I want to play Space Trucker I should be able to. Until I get bored. Meanwhile you make the point that you can kill an Anaconda in a Viper. Great... Good for you. I imagine you could do it in a T9 too? If not, good luck making a profit trading in a viper.
 
You do have the option of swapping the T9 for a Cutter and swatting the NPC Anaconda like an annoying bug... It is a lot more expensive, true, but.. well. T9s are never going to handle combat.

Heh... I could fit a T9 with an 8A shield generator, 8A cell bank and the rest hull reinforcements, but then it wouldn't be much good for trucking!
 
Oh the old GIT GUD SCRUB argument. How imaginative.
Lacking any kind of imposed narrative the purpose of ED is up to the player. So if I want to play Space Trucker I should be able to. Until I get bored. Meanwhile you make the point that you can kill an Anaconda in a Viper. Great... Good for you. I imagine you could do it in a T9 too? If not, good luck making a profit trading in a viper.
It actually is possible to knock out an Anaconda (in particular) with a well-engineered Viper (or Courier in my case) because the small ship is nimble enough to run circles around the slug-like Anaconda and fast enough to get out of range of the guns. It wouldn't be particularly quick, or efficient, in most scenarios though :)
 
tl:dr You want it to be hard? Try making a living from cargo missions.

My CMDR can make a living and a killing, all at the same time, from cargo missions.

If Frontier were to just remove Engineering and Synthesis, and make military slots the only slots that can hold military modules (no more HRP stacking), all our problems would be solved.

It might end bullet sponge NPCs, at the cost of the viability of hybrid and shieldless loadouts, but it wouldn't solve the underlying problems of NPC impersistence and behavior.

I imagine you could do it in a T9 too?

I certainly can, and I don't imagine CenturionPunch would have any difficulties with any single human NPC foe while piloting a T9 either.

Heh... I could fit a T9 with an 8A shield generator, 8A cell bank and the rest hull reinforcements, but then it wouldn't be much good for trucking!

Shields are a waste on a combat trader.
 
Some people say they enjoy a challenge but don't do anything to get that challenge. They sit there complaining that they can kill anything easily in their death machines. And as has been noted, like with many games, the biggest challenge can be found in the form of PvP.

Its like playing Command and Comquer on easy mode and complaining that its too easy.
Heh.

"Why are these silly NPCs so weak vs. my personal scaled-down Imperial Star Destroyer???!!! Make 'em tufffer!!!!"
 
Oh the old GIT GUD SCRUB argument. How imaginative.
Lacking any kind of imposed narrative the purpose of ED is up to the player. So if I want to play Space Trucker I should be able to. Until I get bored. Meanwhile you make the point that you can kill an Anaconda in a Viper. Great... Good for you. I imagine you could do it in a T9 too? If not, good luck making a profit trading in a viper.
I certainly can, and I don't imagine CenturionPunch would have any difficulties with any single human NPC foe while piloting a T9 either.
I want to see this. It has to be a cargo-hauling T9, not a combat T9 filled with HRPs. Give it at least 720 tons of cargo space. Post video below.

BTW, I'm not mocking you (Mr. Viper, on the other hand...), I genuinely want to see this battle. That's assuming by "beat" you mean destroy and not high wake to escape.
 
It actually is possible to knock out an Anaconda (in particular) with a well-engineered Viper (or Courier in my case) because the small ship is nimble enough to run circles around the slug-like Anaconda and fast enough to get out of range of the guns. It wouldn't be particularly quick, or efficient, in most scenarios though :)

I totally get that a viper can wreck an Anaconda. I would suggest that a T9 would struggle, and a Viper can't trade. Different ships for different jobs.
I'm going to give volume trading a rest for a bit though.
 
I want to see this. It has to be a cargo-hauling T9, not a combat T9 filled with HRPs. Give it at least 720 tons of cargo space. Post video below.

BTW, I'm not mocking you (Mr. Viper, on the other hand...), I genuinely want to see this battle. That's assuming by "beat" you mean destroy and not high wake to escape.

736 tons of cargo still leaves room for acceptable module protection and almost 4500 hull integrity with ~45% across the board resists. The main issue is it's sluggishness, but with 720 tons cargo capacity, I can fit a fighter hangar, and I can shoot down almost any NPC with any fixed beam fighter, without much difficulty.

I'm willing to make a demonstration video, but it will have to wait until I'm done messing with the T-6, or at least until I can get someone to relieve it of it's cargo.
 
I've had the pleasure of being assisted in some of my wars by some extremely capable players, and have seen first hand just how quickly and efficiently NPCs can be dispatched with the right combination of equipment and player ability. I can obtain the equipment, but using that equipment requires a level of concentration & accuracy that I struggle to maintain.

Balancing Thermal Conduit beams with enough heat to do meaningful damage without the ship modules falling apart is something I can see needs to be done, and I can see how to do it (ways to heat the ship & ways to cool it) but in an actual battle I end up failing to maintain that balance for long & module repair just becomes another consumable that defeats the benefit of using lasers instead of ammo based weapons, or I do too little damage and kills take much longer.
It can be done, it is not easy.

I was thinking about this topic earlier, and making NPCs harder (in a CZ, where most of my combat is done) is fair enough, making them easier is too. It's a level playing field & what matters is how many more are killed by the winner than the loser (both players). But there would be a point on the difficulty scale where it may become impossible for one player to kill anything, while above a certain ability they can be killed. This favours & rewards skill which is good, but locks less combat oriented players out of wars. That point where anything can be killed at all is the important metric I think, and I think where it is now (ie CZs are not for newbies in newbie ships but can be accessible by newbies with decent ships) is okay.
 
Back
Top Bottom