Never underestimate the power of the profit motive side
News NPC AI update
- Thread starter Zac Antonaci
- Start date
If true this is a bit disappointing. I am relatively new to ED, but liked it so much that I had every intention of buying 2.1 just to help support the game with no intention of seeking 'engineer updates' - it is not my type of gameplay and frankly both the concept and implementation look childish to me even in the context of a game – personal view of course, others may love it. It seems however that you may have to engage in this gameplay in order to not be at a significant disadvantage when trading or fighting. And I guess it will only be developed further. Very pleased with the other (1.6) aspects of the update which have improved the game significantly from my perspective - except for the AI changes in their original form of course and the disappointment of an obviously inadequate QA/testing regime pre-release. But I have no idea what pressures the team were under to hit an internal or external deadline.
Hi, first time I’ve felt the need to post for a very long time but here goes nothing.
I’m one of the old guard, as in RL years I’m 70+ so been playing games before a lot on here were born, and with Elite, joined in 2014 have a lifetime pass, beta tester the lot.
Yet so far I have not made my first million credits, hard to believe, well it’s true; I so enjoyed this game until both the developers and the ‘git gud’ crowd started ramming PVP down my throat.
Sadly this seems to be the prevalent mode operandi of most games these days. I played Eve for over 8 years and only lost one ship and cargo to another player (my own fault, jumped through a gate into a ‘bubble’). Like Elite Eve has gone PVP mad and that is not my forte, I don’t have the dexterity to twitch fly a combat ship (even with an X55) so I’m a trader/mission runner/explorer.
Yet in the last few weeks I have been interdicted so many times and wiped out each time everything has gone, I’m back to my basic Sidewinder. I tried doing missions, waste of time, the number of times I took a simple delivery mission to the next or 2 jumps location only to take off and get a ‘Mission Update’ that put the jump out of reach of my ship, well I lost count. Only thing I can do is abandon the mission and pay the fine.
So for me the game, and let’s face it, it is a game and so called entertainment, not an ‘epeen stroking competition’, is no longer ‘fun’. I shall pop in now and again to ‘test the waters’ and keep an eye on the forums but for now Elite like Eve is consigned to the ‘nice while it lasted’ box and I shall play one of the many other games I have at my disposal, so sad as I had such high hopes this would be the game to see my life out.
I’m one of the old guard, as in RL years I’m 70+ so been playing games before a lot on here were born, and with Elite, joined in 2014 have a lifetime pass, beta tester the lot.
Yet so far I have not made my first million credits, hard to believe, well it’s true; I so enjoyed this game until both the developers and the ‘git gud’ crowd started ramming PVP down my throat.
Sadly this seems to be the prevalent mode operandi of most games these days. I played Eve for over 8 years and only lost one ship and cargo to another player (my own fault, jumped through a gate into a ‘bubble’). Like Elite Eve has gone PVP mad and that is not my forte, I don’t have the dexterity to twitch fly a combat ship (even with an X55) so I’m a trader/mission runner/explorer.
Yet in the last few weeks I have been interdicted so many times and wiped out each time everything has gone, I’m back to my basic Sidewinder. I tried doing missions, waste of time, the number of times I took a simple delivery mission to the next or 2 jumps location only to take off and get a ‘Mission Update’ that put the jump out of reach of my ship, well I lost count. Only thing I can do is abandon the mission and pay the fine.
So for me the game, and let’s face it, it is a game and so called entertainment, not an ‘epeen stroking competition’, is no longer ‘fun’. I shall pop in now and again to ‘test the waters’ and keep an eye on the forums but for now Elite like Eve is consigned to the ‘nice while it lasted’ box and I shall play one of the many other games I have at my disposal, so sad as I had such high hopes this would be the game to see my life out.
I'm constantly being interdicted by the same NPC and catching up to me 3x on the same run. I guess they don't have to go through a cooldown period and can go from zero to 600 in an instant to catch me in super cruise.
So, is the issue of near instant death by NPC fixed or not? Second is the balance of play fair or even among NPC? reading to many threads that say it is and same amount saying it isn't....
Hopefully this will drive Frontier to make a game to accommodate the majority and not just the combat elite. Who for some reason cannot get their kicks fighting each other, so instead we all have to improve to their level (including the npcs), which is mathematically impossible in a zero sum game of course - other than stalemate.
Last edited:
Tough to say. As you said there are the same amount of posts/threads stating both sides. Unfortunately, there's too many variables to account for on whether this is "fixed". I haven't run into an insta-kill NPC's. I'm not saying they aren't out there, I just haven't run into them. I also haven't had constant interdictions that others have reported, as well, the NPC encounters have been on par with my Pilot Rank (Master).
There my be many conditions that are causing me to not have other's negative encounters, such as: the group/types of systems and their governments I'm frequenting, the number/type of cargo I have, whether I have missions that may cause aggro from NPC's, or something else I'm not thinking of right now.
I hoped FD would have said something by now about the many issues, while still being patient, I'd appreciate it if they'd step up and commit a dialogue over the numerous questions raised.
Last edited:
Considering, what i have read, there still might be problems in open or group play. I am in solo play, but the AI is still more then annoying, but not with weapons killing instantly. Yesterday i haven't played as much, because i got another game, what i want to play, but was interdicted aswell all time, but more from Fer-de-Lances with top rank and lesser from Anacondas.
Today i tried 2 trade flight between 2 near systems. First flight, i got interdicted by an Deadly Anaconda, i boosted away and reached the station. Unfortunately i had to notice, that the prices collapsed in the region today. By the flight back, i was again interdicted, now from an Elite Anaconda. It interdicted me, i left it behind and jumped into frameshift again. It interdicted me again, same as before. Then there was a third interdiction. And then it finally followed me to station.
I just wonder, what pirate would be so pushy, when he already noticed, that the other ship is faster and he can't get it, to still annoy the player.
Aswell 2 flights and both interdicted by one of the highest rank Anacondas. Ok, the game was planned to be harder and the low tier and small ships interdicting me were everything, but not realistic. But beeing interdicted all time and all flights from the largest and highest npc pirates is aswell everything else, but not realistic. The real thing it is, is extremly annoying. Because of the bad prices i decided to give it a day and wait until the prices are better. Normaly i trade aswell some money, when the prices are bad, but under this conditions yust no. The game starts to remember me more and more on Eve Online. Ok, there the players (suicide gankers) where really annoying trying everything to kill miners and the game was nearly unplayable, because of this. I left it for the good, even when i managed to make enough money to pay the playtime. And now, the same annoying all time try to kill the trader/miner, yust from the NPCs repeats by Elite Dangerous aswell.
Even when you survive the game and have nothing against some hard fight or dangerous situation from time to time, having it as the common all time is yust annoying and turns the game into work. Life can be hard enough. I prefer games to have fun and not to have hard work there aswell.
Ok, back to the situation, i hope and think, that Frontier finds a middle course for causal players, but still give the option to play the game on a more moderate way, if peoples want to. Otherwise it could how mentioned so often lead to some problems.
Today i tried 2 trade flight between 2 near systems. First flight, i got interdicted by an Deadly Anaconda, i boosted away and reached the station. Unfortunately i had to notice, that the prices collapsed in the region today. By the flight back, i was again interdicted, now from an Elite Anaconda. It interdicted me, i left it behind and jumped into frameshift again. It interdicted me again, same as before. Then there was a third interdiction. And then it finally followed me to station.
I just wonder, what pirate would be so pushy, when he already noticed, that the other ship is faster and he can't get it, to still annoy the player.
Aswell 2 flights and both interdicted by one of the highest rank Anacondas. Ok, the game was planned to be harder and the low tier and small ships interdicting me were everything, but not realistic. But beeing interdicted all time and all flights from the largest and highest npc pirates is aswell everything else, but not realistic. The real thing it is, is extremly annoying. Because of the bad prices i decided to give it a day and wait until the prices are better. Normaly i trade aswell some money, when the prices are bad, but under this conditions yust no. The game starts to remember me more and more on Eve Online. Ok, there the players (suicide gankers) where really annoying trying everything to kill miners and the game was nearly unplayable, because of this. I left it for the good, even when i managed to make enough money to pay the playtime. And now, the same annoying all time try to kill the trader/miner, yust from the NPCs repeats by Elite Dangerous aswell.
Even when you survive the game and have nothing against some hard fight or dangerous situation from time to time, having it as the common all time is yust annoying and turns the game into work. Life can be hard enough. I prefer games to have fun and not to have hard work there aswell.
Ok, back to the situation, i hope and think, that Frontier finds a middle course for causal players, but still give the option to play the game on a more moderate way, if peoples want to. Otherwise it could how mentioned so often lead to some problems.
Last edited:
My feelings exactly. If it doesn't change, then I will stay gone and play something else. I have a real life and a career. I can't dedicate 10+ man-children hours per day "gitting gud".
AMEN.
I totally agree with you, 100% and I'm going down the same road right now (not playing; testing the water here in the forum...). Believe me, you're not alone. we're a legion.
and yes, it's really sad.
OK everyone thanks. I was really hoping for an official, from an FD, yes we have tried to fix some issues OR we are still working on it, or both.
I just tried a flight jumping to a station to tank out my ASP Explorer, no mission, non-anarchy systems, carrying stupid mission reward space parts, no other cargo, I'm ranked competent combat and was interdicted I guess for the sake of being interdicted near the station of destination as it always seems to happen. At least I have gotten good at hearing when they are coming by the fly-bys in SC. Several things to note: still getting interdicted for no apparent reason on every flight at least once per system. The attacker was ranked competent as am I, and was wanted. His missile fire rate was EXCESSIVE although I was able to dodge them all this time. AND I was able to outrun him and jump to SC and make the station.
Why I need to be interdicted in EVERY system at least once, maybe more, I'm not sure how this makes the game fun, (why not, there's those words again, why not randomly per system???) especially since I am now questioning whether I should ever try to fight again with a 2.1 Mil insurance cost. I'm going to try to take it slow, but I still have my doubts...
I just tried a flight jumping to a station to tank out my ASP Explorer, no mission, non-anarchy systems, carrying stupid mission reward space parts, no other cargo, I'm ranked competent combat and was interdicted I guess for the sake of being interdicted near the station of destination as it always seems to happen. At least I have gotten good at hearing when they are coming by the fly-bys in SC. Several things to note: still getting interdicted for no apparent reason on every flight at least once per system. The attacker was ranked competent as am I, and was wanted. His missile fire rate was EXCESSIVE although I was able to dodge them all this time. AND I was able to outrun him and jump to SC and make the station.
Why I need to be interdicted in EVERY system at least once, maybe more, I'm not sure how this makes the game fun, (why not, there's those words again, why not randomly per system???) especially since I am now questioning whether I should ever try to fight again with a 2.1 Mil insurance cost. I'm going to try to take it slow, but I still have my doubts...
Last edited:
Same here. I put in enough money during the Kickstarter that I never have to pay for anything else in Elite again. Sad that I can't actually play the game anymore.
I'm kind of still on the fence about this whole issue but that sir is one terrific post! I feel like that should be written on parchment, sealed with wax and hand delivered to David Braben. I've got the sealing wax if you've got the parchment!
Nerd!
That's it. Got destroyed the 4th time just carrying worthless stuff. Don't want to play this game anymore until the AI is back to where it was before the update. I play once a week - everytime my ship gets destroyed. I lose 3 Million Credits and I'm getting fined for losing the haul. The update was supposed to bring more fun. For me it ruined the game. Please fix this.
My full reputation goes to you for these excellent selected words.
I feel the same pain and expressed already several times. (not that makes it any better right now)
Fur sure there is a bigger community waiting urgently for change.
Regards,
Miklos
FD need to listen to posts like this as this kind of player is what i would call the norm, age aside, the man is trying to enjoy himself in a game that has become devoid of enjoyment and the fun taken away from it. I applaud you sir for giving your opinion, one i share and whole heartedly agree with, something tells me we are not alone as well. I've not touched ED for a week now, and refuse to until something is done about this ridiculous mess this game has turned into.
I'm managing relatively well with the AI since the point update. I have found that making sure you don't incur any bounties on your head makes a HUGE difference in the number of interdictions you will get. Those bounty huntings AIs are insane in the way they pursue you now, so making sure you are not on their kill list is HUGE.
The pirates that pester you while trading don't seem to be as hard to deal with as the above AI based on my personal encounters.
For what its worth... I'm using an A rated Python with C3 Gimbaled Beams and all turreted MCs and Pulse Cannon. A6 Shield cell bank seems a requirement now, since my A6 shield generator can't stay together for most encounters I have above an Asp Explorer. Many Asps are now packing some heavy duty weapons, so even those can pose a problem.
As far as missions go... I am sticking with Salvage, Pirate Lord and Deserter Missions. Those Illegal Antiquities Salvage when issued by an Allied faction can pay upwards of 3.5 MILLION CR for about 5-10 minutes of game-time. That cargo doesn't seem to attract pirates much either for whatever reason.
The pirates that pester you while trading don't seem to be as hard to deal with as the above AI based on my personal encounters.
For what its worth... I'm using an A rated Python with C3 Gimbaled Beams and all turreted MCs and Pulse Cannon. A6 Shield cell bank seems a requirement now, since my A6 shield generator can't stay together for most encounters I have above an Asp Explorer. Many Asps are now packing some heavy duty weapons, so even those can pose a problem.
As far as missions go... I am sticking with Salvage, Pirate Lord and Deserter Missions. Those Illegal Antiquities Salvage when issued by an Allied faction can pay upwards of 3.5 MILLION CR for about 5-10 minutes of game-time. That cargo doesn't seem to attract pirates much either for whatever reason.
I just completely ignore any combat aspect of the game now. I don't BH, don't do kill missions, boost away on every interdiction, and don't take any mission that involves AI enemies. I have over 2800 hours in the game, so this has been a sad turn for my entertainment time. I just roll cargo missions, explore, and go mining. Combat is just too much work and expense for my play style. Since I am gainfully employed, don't like my gaming time to feel like a job.
RNG is very kind to you. I got jumped on every one I took. Most of the time it was 4-6 pirates.
RNG is very kind to you. I got jumped on every one I took. Most of the time it was 4-6 pirates.
Last edited:
I haven't had a problem with the new AI. It's run or fight. But, I am grounding my fleet due to the amount of interdictions and the above rank enemies. Trading is a hassle now and not fun at all. Can't even fly sight seeing without an interdiction. It's a shame, I have been playing since early beta.