Some say that the NPC-to-NPC interactions are complex and sophisticated. I say nay. Example: warped to an asteroid belt with (I kid you not) 2 Raznaborg Damaviks, 3 Guristas Arrogators, and a full NPC mining operation (probably Poksu Mineral). None of them were doing anything (except the miners which were mining to their hearts’ content). Seconds after I show up, bam! the 5 rats were on me and I had to warp out before the Raznaborgs nuked my ship.
So, why did the rats only attack me, and not the NPC mining operation? Raznaborgs are known to specifically target mining ships, simply warping from belt to belt attacking any players in sight. Guristas are a pirate faction, ergo they pirate. Shouldn’t NPCs interact more with each other? The Triglav ships should have been attacking the NPC mining group at least, and probably the Guristas ships as well. The Guristas should be doing what they do best: attacking the closest ship to them. The NPC miners should be calling reinforcements, defending themselves, or at least warping to a safer location. With the way the NPCs currently act, it feels like they don’t know each other exists, and it really breaks immersion.
We know there can be complex interactions between NPCs, as evident by previous full-scale NPC-only battles. Please make the NPCs at least act more naturally.
But why? For free loot? NPC’s don’t go to jita and buy minerals to build they ships. They don’t really interact with word expect removing minerals from belts and creating stuff from thin air as a loot.
What is purpouse of this for a game? People will watch them for month or so and get bored again. While this fights (last NPC vs NPC fight generated TiDi in system). So this interactions will generate extra stress on servers and upkeep costs while most of fights wont be seen by any player. And there is also a economy… Free salvage, loot from few hundred ships battle?
For immersion, yes. You have my both hands in. But not as NPC’s fighting whenever they meet each other.
Btw. Imagine all of the big fights with police at gates when drifters will popup for scans. Only big mess and people complaining about TiDi in system.
The mining corp obviously paid off the pirates. As for the triglavians, maybe the mining corp are actually cultists and worship them as gods and as a result the triglavians leave them alone or even more so protect their mining ops every now and then. Some hardocre roleplay stuff right there.
Why: Partially to disrupt NPC mining operations (they deserve it), partially because I don’t want to be the only one getting fired on by rats.
While I don’t think that NPCs should be attacking each other 23.75/7, they should at least give the same treatment to other NPCs as they do to players. ie: NPCs shouldn’t be able to isolate players from other NPCs when deciding what actions they will take. Interactions between an NPC and a player/NPC should be entirely dependent on that particular NPC model’s coded behaviors (eg. attacking mining ships) and their standings with the player/NPC and their corporation. NOT: if a ship is piloted by a player, then attack it.
If Guristas, or any other “pirate” faction, want to be pirates and attack random player ships in space, they darn well should act like pirates and attack the practically helpless npc ships in space as well. If this causes problems with the economy/balance/TiDi, then maybe CCP should rethink how they are deciding where to put mining operations in relation to rats.
Having seen Sansha rats on grid with roaming Triglavians in an invaded system but neither aggressing the other, I like the general idea behind this and think that it could work out if there were more nuances to the system. Instead of mindlessly aggressing everything, any given faction’s NPCs should react appropriately to what’s on-grid with them.
Pirates being pirates, they’re going to attack anything that looks valuable or belongs to someone they don’t like, but they’re not going to be suicidal about it. If your ship looks like something they can’t handle then they’ll avoid you, warp off, or call in reinforcements.
