Then why are there NPC's?
"What's in it for the trader?" - Dumbest question ever?
- Thread starter boringnick
- Start date
Then why are there NPC's?
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
.... because the game would be excruciatingly empty without them....
NPCs form a large part of the game, in my opinion, and are there all the time. Other players come and go as they please....
Last edited:
get a bit out of the bubble, robert, to enjoy a game free of npc. as long as you don't mind tea and occupied escape pods.
So Traders only exist as content for other people?
Didn't think that comparison through?
- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -
Maybe a smarter thread topic would be "where is the equivalent risk for pirates?"
- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -
.... or a "not loss" - as nothing was earned from the encounter (except, perhaps a repair bill)....
Well, time lost is still a loss.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Good point.
However, even given the size of the bubble (in terms of number of systems) - if there were no NPCs there, it'd be very, very nearly empty.
You completely misread what I meant. The "doom monsters" are the pirates. A better comparison would be the DayZ zombies.
Pirates are the content for the traders. It's the only meaningful reason why traders might found trader guilds, hire protection, fly in convoys, work with bounty hunters, have to play along with the NPC police etc etc. The threat of pirates is the reason to actually play a meaningful game and not just staring at a black screen (as a "trucker" gane, ED is far worse than Euro Truck simulator or Rebel Galaxy due the passive flying and monotony of the ED galaxy).
Take away zombies from DayZ and game is dead. Same with ED. The great thing is that some people are willing to play as the zombies! Having an intelligent "E" in the PVE is fri...ging amazing. That's a great service by the supposed bad guys.
Sure, not in the real world maybe, but having worthy opponents in a game is the best thing to have. Of course, you should have the tools to actually being able to fight them (protection wings, punishment system, hirable bounty hunters and so on).
Not being able to win in a direct pew pew means nothing. That's the job of the game designer to balance the professions. In MOBAs you also have heroes who do terrible in a 1 vs 1, that's why there are different roles and such.
Last edited:
None of this matters...in this game. It didn't happen over the past year...and won't happen ever. Expecting direct PVP out of PVE players will not occur. And hiring protection would fail famously, once someone offered their services and destroyed their convoy for the lulz. And PvP players don't want to kill NPC's. The whole idea is a bust in this game.
Sorry, dumbest excuse ever. That's what a crime and punishment system should be there for, not to mention a board for traders and one for pirates etc. where such behavior would spread like wildfire. Such player could do it once or twice, but then he would be out of business fast.
That's what a "metagame" is all about. You make mistakes, sometimes you get screwed over, but you learn, the community develops more and you get better at the game.
One of the best gaming experiences I had was in Starcraft 1 fifteen years ago. In that game alliances were not strict, like in later RTSes, but could be changed at will any moment. Sometimes it happened that an ally screwed you over at the last moment: They cancelled an alliance after the opposing team was finished off. Then you had to fight the "backstabber".
It was annoying at first, but it was unbelievable what a metagame developed due this. Holding off reserve units for a possible backstabber, checking out the in-game chat for any hints etc. That subgame truly enhanced the game. It added a whole new layer to it:
http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Backstab
The same mechanic allowed an "ally win": Often times (much more often than a backstabber) the opposing team allied with you at the last moment if you did good. This player-created metagame was a lot more fun than the strict corset that the later RTSes put on the alliance system. SC1 was pretty much the only game which had this layer.
All I am saying is that developers should be wise not to restrict player interaction. A metagame can develop of the tiniest freedoms which can surpass the biggest PVE themepark content in terms of fun.
Last edited:
There is nothing in it for the trader, these guys just want someone to hunt, shoot at and steal from.
I dont think its so much that it is a problem though, interdictions are extreemly rare, for me anyway.
Im bored of shooting at people already so im back at trading again. But now in a big*** A grade armed to the teeth Conda, im ok for most encounters Carry less than a T9 but can bite really hard if somone comes poking the snake.
Still only play in open because i dont like the idea of single/closed Or "ghost mode" i think is better word for it.
:x
I dont think its so much that it is a problem though, interdictions are extreemly rare, for me anyway.
Im bored of shooting at people already so im back at trading again. But now in a big*** A grade armed to the teeth Conda, im ok for most encounters
Carry less than a T9 but can bite really hard if somone comes poking the snake.Still only play in open because i dont like the idea of single/closed Or "ghost mode" i think is better word for it.
:x
Again, As many have staed before...why bother?
To spend a half an hour scooping slaves? There is already a mechanic that give the convoy a 10% payout for successful sale. No one is interested in this type of play.
Last edited:
To let an actual game develop? Create a reason why traders might found trader guilds, hire protection, fly in convoys, work with bounty hunters, have to play along with the NPC police etc etc. ? Also, See my edit to the post you replied too.
Of course, difficulty will increase and you will spend more time for the profit.. so what? It''s like asking why there should be an enemy faction on a command and conquer map: "It only prolongs the time until the next cutscene! I will defeat the enemy base anyway, so why bother having it?" Sorry, but that's a dumb reasoning. The "goal" (biggest ship in ED's case) should be the least reason to play a game. The journey is the reward.
ED's ultra-boring core "space trade" should the absolute base game on which to base all the rest. Not the game in itself. Because, frankly, it's like Chess without opponent. It's a huge reason for the "one inch deep" feeling of this game.
Last edited:
That game sounds terrifically far from being able to just take off and do whatever you want.
Which is why I'd avoid such a game. I don't want to have to commit so utterly and deeply to one role, there are too many things I want to do.
Sounds like you just miswrote what you meant, because what you wrote didn't mention pirates. It mentioned traders: "What's in it for traders? Huh? That's like asking why doom has monsters".
And either "explanation" of what you put doesn't really make any sense. You're equating PvP and PvE, so, no.
Your grasping ability must be incredibly bad:
-------
Whenever "honest piracy" or something in that vein is discussed, this question always comes up. It's one of the dumbest phrases there is.
"What's in it for the trader?" - HUH? It's like asking why Doom has monsters.
Pirates must exist for the same reasons enemies exist in almost all other games. Every empire trade builder has an enemy empire, enemy economy simulation has an enemy corporation. And even in the 80s ELITE games you had the darn pirates.
-----
Quite obvious I meant pirates refering to the doom monsters.
Last edited:
LOL Lousy for traders. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that traders got it hard, traders got it bad, poor traders are victims to evil pirates I'd be rich.
Traders make MONEY. Traders make A LOT OF MONEY. Traders make so much money per hour it DOES NOT MATTER if they blow up. Trading is and has always been the greatest way to accumulate ridiculous amounts of wealth in Elite in the shortest time possible.
And folks think they have it bad?
I say we string those rich tax avoiding sods up on a wooden platform and let 'em hang high! They're exploiting the poor and abusing the innocent all in the name of greed!
Filthy heathen trading scum, they have none of my sympathy.
Equating NPC pirates with player pirates...
The logic could be used both ways. Why does it matter that player traders aren't in open, when the pirates could just target NPC traders?
That's all entirely hypothetical - you're saying the system that doesn't exist would perfectly balance what you claim is correct. It's no different than saying you don't need to prove you're right, because you think someday somebody will prove you right, and that makes you right.
Maybe don't be throwing the word "dumb" around so liberally, hm?
That's not what "metagame" means. That's almost the exact opposite. Metagame has nothing to do with changing behavior based on things that happen in the game. Metagame would be if specific systems were forum-agreed to be "safe zones". Not something that is reliant on experience within the actual game.
Get a grip fella - not everyone is hammering mode-swap-stacked robigo missions.
There are a lot of people just trading, and they don't make a lot of money - and because they want to play properly they have no interest in just breaking everything with Robigo
I do pirate NPC's, but open is a multiplayer experience if every action i take doesn't involve other players why does it even exist? But the fact is most NPC's aren't even pirates they are just psychos, they will scan you then even if your carrying 1 rutile will go all out to destroy you making no attempts whatsoever to take said cargo, they are just like griefing players just vastly worse at what they are trying to do
90% of my interdictions are eagles/sidewinders/insert small ship that go "HAHAHAHAHAHA" and open fire within 3 seconds, if you guys can cut players out can I have an option to cut these eagles out?
Last edited:
Those non-Robigo traders make a LOT of coin. You can do quite well running slaves or palladium--or at least could.