I am asking YOU to provide a reason that makes it clear that it’s somehow “not simple” to just ask mercenaries. I don’t get your problem at all, and there apparently seems to be a problem, so I’d like to know more about it!
What you want isn’t needed from the perspective of someone who would just ask. As that’s a really easy “fix” to the “problem” you’re trying to solve, I believe I can ask about the reasoning behind all of this.
You said the whole point of this idea is for solo players.
And why wouldn’t they use them?
Solo players use alt scouts, they use alt fleet boosters, they use implants and drugs…
Players will generally use any advantage available to them.
It’s still extra DPS.
If a player that doesn’t use mercenaries comes up against another player that is equal in every way other than that they do use mercenaries, which one is going to win?
They essentially become near mandatory for PvP, like implants and drugs.
It is as straight forward as that.
@Yarda_Black for instance had an ad a while back looking for work. There are other players who also look for work, as solo players, in game, looking to hire out their services to other players or groups.
It not just mercenary corps, there are solo entrepreneurs out there advertising their services. You just need to keep an eye on the forums.
Also there are ingame merc chat channels just to help players connect to organizations in game.
This has been an ingame business for at least 6 years cause hiring mercs was one of the first things my original CEO taught me.
You just need to keep an eye out, and keep a list of contacts.
And yes, player mercs are worth every isk, if you hire professionals.
Indeed, some of them are very very good too.
Mr Kane springs to mind, partly because of this:
“I saw him fight by the monument in Jita. He flowed in his Machariel like a Shinto spirit, 800MM shells sprouting in his passing. His hair flowed in the corona of his target’s warp core breach. It was truly majestic. And while everyone stared in awe I stole the loot and ran off. Because I am like that.” - NEONOVUS
Best laugh I’ve had all day ! 
thank you ! 
A player rich enough to hire mercenaries is likely rich enough to use concurrently active alts.
What about everyone else? People with one active alt at a time are at a severe competitive disadvantage.
Instead of “Vet-splaining” how impossible it is, find a solution.
We already have a solution.
Find friends who will do it for free, because youre friends.
If friends were usually available, I’m sure OP would not have chosen to self-identify as a (mostly) solo player. So that “solution” is contradictory
Back to the “real” world:
How much income does a player need to be able to hire another player to work for them?
You expect their costs to more than double for one Merc, and increase proportionally if more are required (assuming the Merc’s incomes are the same as the player hiring them, plus a reasonable profit and a risk bonus.
Then there’s the time to find someone, and the ever-present risk to the player of giving away their location to a group who are fully informed about their location, the potential profit of turning pirate, and fully capable of ganking them.
For someone like the OP it’s going to be expensive, risky, and a significant hassle as well.
No doubt you’ll suggest some “honest mercs”, but to the extent it exists at all, honesty is highly situational in EVE, and less likely to when the potential target of a sudden reclassification to pirate is a solo player.
Haulers need a penalty built into their contract. Logically we’d expect the same thing for Mercs. Is there such a contract?
This is EVE. Without a contract with a large enforceable penalty, or friends powerful enough to make the Mercs unnecessary, how could you trust your employees?
This Topic has been moved to Player Features and Ideas Discussion
Youre confusing “Solo player in an MMO” with “Single player game”.
Just because you run missions alone, or haul alone, or do something alone, doesnt mean you dont or cant have friends who you can call to help. Being a solo player is not about never interacting with other players, ever.
If you dont want to interact with other players, make friends, etc, then youre playing the wrong game. This is not a single player game. This is an MMO. Its not the games fault that youre an a-hole and suck at making friends.
If your friends are not available, then do whatever you need to do when they are available.
Zero. Its called friendship.
Haulers dont. So logically we shouldnt expect the same thing for mercs, either.
Youve shot yourself in the foot here.
By having and making actual, good friends.
They are here however, the developers do not have enough insight to address these issues. Merc’s generally just take isk and walk away. It needs to be set mechanically, based on conditions.
Mercenaries are a great idea! You could form your own mercenary group and try to sell your group’s capabilities to people, help haulers that don’t want to get ganked in high security space and the likes! Sounds like a nice kind of corp, I’m pretty sure it would work.
Or if you need mercenaries yourself you could hire other players or ask friends to help you. And you could offer ISK in return, or help them with a job they need help with.
I really like the idea of mercenaries in EVE. I just don’t think NPCs are a good solution in this game, this is an MMO and the entire economy and gameplay in this sandbox is player-driven. Player-made mercenary corps on the other hand could be pretty fun!
This is not consistent with the requirement OP presented. OP specifically wants NPC Mercs to help Solo players with modest incomes.
A certain amount of “shifting the goalposts” has to be accepted in a forum like this, but changing the specific conditions of the OPS suggestion is taking it way too far.
If you know how to solve EVE’s social contact issue you should share it, because it would go a long way towards making OPs suggestion unnecessary. But no more “magic wands” - unless you’re trying to set up an anecdote about your experiences playing WoW?
All discussions are within the context of the video game we are playing right now. Which is EVE online.
As far as I understand it, EVE cannot be played Offline, and must be played online, where you interact with people, and make friends.
Did OP preclude this in his/her conditions? Yes? No?
If the answer is no, then its a valid aspect of our discussion, because its a core aspect and concept of EVE online.
Dont ignore the game youre playing.
I do. Its called joining a chatroom or a corporation and interacting with other people and building up a relationship.
to OP
watch this
Player mercs have already been ‘invented’, so the idea of making npc mercs is redundant.
This will directly affect the existing mercs, who have dedicated time and care to refine their skills towards this endeavor - it would be stepping on their toes to add yet another npc group that can do what they already offer.
Plus; 1) CCP will have to invest extra Dev time on a subject that already exist and; 2) with the new wardec restrictions, life couldn’t get more complicated for our actual player mercs; 3) it will be yet another isk faucet; 4) diminish the ‘risk’ matter from the game; 5) npc do not have the human intellect or judgement, that mechanism will simply take the life out of the game. So, I might have to agree with most, it would be as if you’d be playing an offline game.
Also let’s not forget how great this could be in alliance war situations.
This seems like a good way for nullsec alliances to hire near limitless numbers of NPCs to help act like extra dps for us. I like it. We can finally make highsec our playground by straight up controlling all of the NPCs.
I thought this was a bad idea, but now that I’ve got a place to spend my billions from Nullsec, I’d be more than happy to support this idea. I like the idea of my alliance being able to recruit, say, iono, 20 battleships per pilot as an NPC escort.
That means our 400 man fleet has now skyrocketed to 20x in size and all it cost each of us was some small amount of ISK.
Actually, I have an even better idea. They’re mercenaries, right? How about I just pay the triple what you are paying and order them to kill you instead? I don’t know how much money you make as a modest player in Empire space, but I’m sure I can get a bunch of friends to just chip in to see the mercenaries you hired turn back on you for triple or quadruple the pay.
A player rich enough to hire player mercenaries is likely rich enough to use concurrently active alts.
What about everyone else? Solo players limited to one active alt at a time are at a severe competitive disadvantage.
Instead of “Vet-splaining” how impossible it is, find a practical solution.