And you can safely ignore them if you have a Cutter.
So all this proposal will be is nothing more/less than an annoyance - pretty much the same way fast-forwarding merits 10t at a time is...
Make Solo Powerplay PvE dangerous (targeted interdcitions using existing mechanics)
- Thread starter Rubbernuke
- Start date
And you can safely ignore them if you have a Cutter.
So all this proposal will be is nothing more/less than an annoyance - pretty much the same way fast-forwarding merits 10t at a time is...
The 'fact' is, Powerplay has a whole chunk of it missing. Powerplay NPCs should be offering you credible resistance in all modes- popping up like bounty hunters / pirates in real space, as well as chasing you about in supercruise. If NPCs acted like hostile security do now, you'd have to fly better and actually have to touch the controls for once- hauling in Powerplay is pressing the same 50 buttons to the point where botting can be done. You can AFK turretboat because the NPCs are so predictable and weak.
So what do you suggest? Remove NPCs and have a milk run? LOL.
It won't be an annoyance if these NPCs actually do their jobs- chase you in supercruise properly, and in high numbers. A Cutter set to max cargo can be phased to death- the pirate lord wing missions have this with engineered Vultures.
Thanks for the clarification
I agree about NPCs being just an annoyance. Even if NPC ships have FSD modules engineered for the wide angle mod - it'll just slow the haulers down. In a close fight like the recent Imperial-Fed tussle over Mbambiva it could be a factor but otherwise...
Thats the point though- its making NPCs capable of disrupting event free Powerplay hauling.
If NPCs appear like bounty hunters, pirates when you fight they also act as an anti AFK / botting device in that they are random and force you to either fight or flee.
The idea is really this:
Its a stick to prod people awake- you can ignore PP NPCs because they are like flies.
In SC PP NPCs would act like security does in lockdown states- they rove about, interdict hostiles- in essence are proactive.
They also have the bounty hunter / pirate behavior set in that they can pursue you and drop into your instance. So, the more you do the more 'marked' you are. Then it would become a matter of evasion and resistance because finally NPCs are taking you as a threat. Thinking more its a lot like notoriety- this being a universal trigger that marks you for NPCs.
If this forces you to use a smaller, more agile ship then its worked already, since you can't meta your way through it. Currently its easy to haul or even travel when thinking about it you have ten gangs wanting you dead- naturally things should be spicier the more senior you become.
What makes you think it costs money to participate in?
I carried prep packages on top of my usual cargo, 30 tons at a time, never spent a credit to 'fasttrack'. 25 runs and done.
Set up in a High-Tech control system and take consumer electronics out to refineries and haul tritium back...
Last edited:
Trouble there is that the Cutter is agile enough to avoid any NPC interdiction (more agile in supercruise than an Anaconda or Type 9/10, a little less than a Corvette). And you can't change supercruise agility, it's baked into the ship.
So it doesn't force people into a smaller ship, just a prettier one.
And like I said, supercruise interdictions are not the only way these guys come after you- they act as bounty hunter / pirates who will occasionally pop into your instance elsewhere too- ironically a bit like how the defection police should work. Also, if engineering is things like phasing, grom bombs, cytos etc then you'd have to be careful even with a Cutter. A wing of four phasing Vultures would cut a standard Powerplay Cutter hauler to pieces.
Will they kill you 100%? No. What they do is keep you moving and looking over your shoulder.
If this would happen in all modes, than yes - why not? Only in Solo, definitely NOT.
Benefits of such change? Cant see any, objectively speaking. It will be an annoyance at best
And no, it will not disrupt a determined botter. Pretty sure a bot can be programmed to drop off when being interdicted, then realign, boost, wake away - all of it in 15s
Them NPC BH will be left sniffing the Cutter's Exhaust Gases.
Eventually every player will do just that... submit. boost, wake, rinse and repeat... while cursing FD for the avalanche of interdictions...
However, It will annoy (and eventually remove completely from PP) the nooblet that cant afford a shield tank Cutter.
But as Ian said above, if this is an advanced gameplay, nooblets should do something else anyway...
That's why there will be Powerplay Thargoids every now and then!
In solo there are two Powerplay Thargoids
Of course its in all modes- this is an adjustment to the PvE layer of Powerplay.
Bot behaviors observed are they pull the plug when interdicted or challenged- which is great. AFK T-10s will be a risk because the more they farm the more random NPCs they'll face. So again, great. And as I've been saying, unless you are packing armour instead of cargo racks, a Cutter is mincemeat facing four pairs of large phasing lasers- all of which can be seen right now in the game via wing missions.
You seem to be ignoring too that I'm not just talking about interdictions but also real space attacks- complicating your missions.
'Nooblets' would not be facing this, because the system would not scale to them. No new guy would be facing G5 assassins straight out of the traps.
If it's just persistent attacks when you're not specifically engaged in a powerplay activity it wouldn't feel like it's really related to your powerplay, because it wouldn't stop you doing powerplay stuff (because that's mostly supercruise or no fire zones), it would bother you whilst you're doing anything except powerplay. Which doesn't feel like it fits the intention of spicing up powerplay.
I'm sure there's an alternative version of powerplay where that's a good part of it (if, eg. powers had shifting relationships and only some were hostile at once, then random hunters in hostile space would make sense), but I don't think it's the version in Elite.
Yeah, so let's continue to leave the most unused and underdeveloped content in the dumps because some people don't wanna pay for horizons which should be the core game to begin with.
You have to think of this as gang warfare, in that what you do has consequences- the other powers are going to see you as an 'ace' and want to hassle you wherever you go.
The issue here is that FD have messed up nav and station drop areas, making them too safe leaving either SC or any instance you occupy.
But, in Powerplay this leaves SC interdictions while hauling, nav point CZ work drop ins, as well as hassling while you undermine- so its not insignificant.
Also remember Powerplay is also the BGS too- so by extension any activity in those areas should be subject to shakedowns by rivals.
Yeah, but the stated intent from the start of the thread was to put some risk into the delivery phase of powerplay, currently the domain of big fat trading ships because the riskiest thing about it is getting RSI picking up cargo ten units at a time.
And the actual suggestion, when thrashed out, looks like it does the opposite of that. Delivery itself would still be zero-risk, the consequences would strike all of the rest of the time, when you don't need to be in your big fat trading ship anyway.
And as I said, this sort of suggestion would work better in a different powerplay, where your faction would be hostile with a limited number of others at any given time, changing semi-regularly and you would be subject to attack by NPCs at any time either in their space or in border regions based on your level and effectiveness of PP activity. But the powerplay system we have isn't that.
A powerplay system that's just "sign up here to be persistently annoyed by extra NPCs" isn't going to be terribly attractive.
And the actual suggestion, when thrashed out, looks like it does the opposite of that. Delivery itself would still be zero-risk, the consequences would strike all of the rest of the time, when you don't need to be in your big fat trading ship anyway.
And as I said, this sort of suggestion would work better in a different powerplay, where your faction would be hostile with a limited number of others at any given time, changing semi-regularly and you would be subject to attack by NPCs at any time either in their space or in border regions based on your level and effectiveness of PP activity. But the powerplay system we have isn't that.
A powerplay system that's just "sign up here to be persistently annoyed by extra NPCs" isn't going to be terribly attractive.
And as I said in the OP
Which is in essence making PP NPCs actually have teeth and making sure you don't get lazy.
All hauling in ED has a small risk attached, Powerplay needs that risk to make deliveries less than 100% efficient. The only way that can be done is via SC, but also has spillover into other areas to slow you.
I don't really get this, since this is what I'm suggesting anyway.
So what is Powerplay to you then (or the wider game for that matter?) Deliver as much as you can as fast as you can? Thats what Powerplay is right now, it has no NPC danger. ED is structured around SC interdictions to provide at least a route for attack in SC, and since veteran Powerplay players have decent ships it makes sense to match them with a credible threat. But at the same time, you need random surprise attacks from rival powers otherwise....whats the point of rival powers?
No, that's just like ED locking vanilla gameplay behind grindwall (and DLC). Powerplay is vanilla and should be accessible to vanilla. Enemy strength should rather be reflected by player equipment score (you got engineering - they get too). Take that table and turn it around:
Player: No engineering - enemy rank 1
Player: Up to G1 - enemy rank 2
etc.
Tweak these enemy ranks accordingly.
So what is the difference between a CZ, Thargoid or wing assassin mission and Powerplay then? They are 'vanilla' too- are they 'locked' as well?
Low CZ can be done in non engineered ships.
Granted, not exactly by 1day-old-players...
Wing Assassination missions - should be done in wings, right?
Due to engineering - they can be soloed - but that's not really the point...
Thargoid... this is locked behind the DLC cause it needs blueprints and materials that can be obtained only on the ground, but i guess it can be done in ships using only guardian stuff an not a single engineered piece of equipment thus eliminating one Grind - the engineers.
However, that is only guess - AX community should confirm that...
But enemies and their equipment scaling with the player, for pp hauling/interdictions only, is an interesting idea.
I would say that if we don't get Open Powerplay or the Hybrid-Open Powerplay(I.e. Control and Expansion are open only and Preparation is for everyone), then at least up the difficulty for powerplay in some way. The reasons for this are ;-
- Stop the Bots - They undermine the game mode. However, if they're interdicted at least once a trip, then chances are the NPCs will kill the bot and thus reduce the issue.
- Reduce the Min/Max players - Powerplay should be where you are looking over your shoulder all the time (I know that's what some open only players want for the rest of the game but not me). The ships needed to make cargo runs need to be more like sleek blockade runners, not big fat cargo whales.
- Discourage Module shoppers - One of the issues with powerplay are the people who do the bare minimum to get the Power's Modules and then sod off. They don't get involved in the social side of things and since they don't engage with the power play community get the wrong impression of the game mode. (I know I did when I was module shopping).