If you want to make it more realistic, make them not spawn exactly when you drop out. Add some various delays at least or something...
NPC pirates only spawns when you spawn into the instance near rings. It feels weird.
- Thread starter Matt Bower
- Start date
Isn't it because they are already there before you arrive? That's just the ring's native pirate population.
That's how I've always perceived it too. I think some demand the less painful options though...
They pretty much show up whenever you enter an instance area - especially when your carrying cargo of any kind.
If you want realism - kiss mining goodbye as you know it - cause my definition of realism is EVE Online centric....what's to stop them from "dropping in on you" as your cargo hold nears 75% capacity in the middle of void opal seismic charges just wanting to pounce you.
Careful what you ask for...you just might get it. Many may not like it..even if they claim too.
Once you know what's going on it becomes routine to drop in, get scanned and then boost away for a minute before starting to mine. Therefore, the whole routine is just time wasting. I think it would be better to note the vastness of planetary rings and not have amazingly coincidental meetings.
yes yes - then we can get on with the 'the game is empty' threads
Once the OP has played a while they will realise that it's not always pirates, and they don't always turn up. And they are sometimes delayed. Just like they asked. Hey ho.
It's pretty arbitrary in general - if one mines outside the bubble, you have the exact same routine of pirate ships always on the ring to the certain threshold distance that must be several hundred lightyears, after that they disappear just like that.
The pirate population & ship amount must be enormous. And I thought in Elite universe only extremely rich people owned ships.
Agree, I think the game should check every 5 minutes or so if the random function awarded you with some random pirate finding you by chance.... make it a very, very low risk, but still a risk... so if a pirate finds you, you have to either fight the pirate off, or give up some of your cargo...
But this suggests that there must be some way to scan for ships in normal space from supoer cruise, so players can look for random ships in normal space. I would be perfectly fine if we only could find NPC ships by such a function.... functioning like some sort of proximity sensor... ie, you have to fly slow and get close enough to have a chance to discover a ship in normal space.
I would be more concerned if the pirates were there before I dropped out. Considering how vast the asteroid rings are, the odds that I'm dropping out exactly where someone else is essentially zero.
What's actually happening is that they are dropping out on your wake. So there is some logical sense that they'd drop out shortly after you dropped out. I do agree that they shouldn't always drop out so quickly after you do. Especially, if while in supercruise, there was no one around you. Doesn't make much sense. But I do think that they should be dropping out at your wake. They shouldn't be dropping out on you when you're, for example, 5 km away from where you dropped out. Otherwise, they should be playing the GD lottery haha!
I think this opens the door for an idea. The game could use the introduction of some specialized ships that have scanners built into them (so, to clarify, these would NOT be modules that could be bought as the scanner takes up a large portion of the ship due to its power and purpose) that, while in supercruise, can scan ships in normal space (within a certain radius of the ship. Not sure which distance would be reasonable, but I would think maybe 10-20 km search radius). The ship should have some fighting capabilities, but would primarily be used for scanning and hauling goods, which would allow for some fun pirate wing gameplay. The person in the scanning ship finds the victims, and then drops out on them. All his pirate buddies follow his wake. Ambush! This would also allow for modules to be purchased that would "listen" for anyone scanning. So miners could get an alarm / beep, etc. that would go off, if someone is actively searching for them. Potential pirate attack spidey sense, can then retract hardpoints, and get the F out of there!
This scanner could be utilized for other gameplay as well. Imagine flying around a planet in orbital cruise and using the scanner to try to identify cave locations to explore, or to locate other human player ships that have landed planetside, could be used to locate guardian locations, hidden outposts, etc.
I like the idea to spot players in normal space from SC. Maybe certain actions get reveled as USS's such as detonating an asteroid core (detonation detected). or lots of shooting (weapons fire detected) by going that direction npc's could also drop in without it being ridiculous.
This is something I've thought about as well.
Perhaps even incorporate that activity into the heat signature bar or have a second "energy signature" that incorporates both your heat and the off-ship activity generated by displacement charges, weapons fire, core charges, swarms of collectors, etc. If it goes above a certain level, it becomes detectable from supercruise, perhaps a fixed threshold or dependant on the enemy's sensor level. Core blasting should always be detectable regardless. Pirates then get a new method of hunting, stealth and efficiency become more important to miners.
And there's a greater incentive to engage in exploration in uninhabited systems to find lucrative mining rings away from potential hassle, and perhaps keep the knowledge secret, share it with only a select few. The potential for subterfuge etc.