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What added layer of unpredictability? I simply don't think you're considering the issue critically.

THIS change is basically about rats switching targets. If there is no other target to switch to (or in my case, both targets are properly tanked), what changes for me or anyone else enjoying pve content solo? The missions will still be completely predictable for me.

Later on as the developers actually change pve content (with perhaps fewer but more powerful rats behainvg like players and such) sure, but THIS change (the one we are talking about) doesn't do anything but make pve content potentially more tedius for drone users and potentially locks newer players out of higher end content that has forever been used as a hook to retain those players (like me, seeing how good it could get was the hook that kept me playing).

What I'm saying is I think this change is too soon, revamp pve content 1st, design new pve content around the new AI like was done for incursions and wormholes, don't change one small and tedious aspect (which could chase people away from some of the pve content), do it right the 1st time.

I'm still waiting for you or a dev or anyone to explain what tangible gains those of us who enjoy pve are going to get out of this change. I've heard nothing so far.

Ok, explain to me how this particular change does that? Explain the differance I will see while using my mach/tengu combination in a mission.

Ah, well that makes potentially screwing up the high end 10/10s and 9/10s (and some 8/10s), hurting the ability of experienced players to Shepard new players along in pve (and giving them some income to buy stuff with), AND making already mind numbingly tedious drone management even more tedious all TOTALLY worth while. I mean sure, it could break more than it fixes, but at least the EVE universe will be free of the scourge of stealth bombers in missions......

Yea, don't know what I was thinking advocating caution and hoping ccp would do a more comprehensive revamp of pve rather than this piecemeal crap. Man was I dumb....

Experimentation my good sir! :D Check the test server Duality this weekend. I will have more information soon.

lol they should auto primary ECM boats then, that would be oh so realistic

If this were the case (we won't know till this weekend I guess), and the "new drone AI" is so easily circumventable, then why waste time making the change at all?

My drones told me their brothers are getting really tired of doing all the work.

This should make mining much more interesting.

hi,

it would be nice to turn ia the tower so that it is adjustable according to choose a strategy.
why not also ensure that the sleepers difficulty increases with the presence of players in a wh, eg low presence wh be Class 1, Class 6 strong presence.

It got said somewhere back up the giant list of posts, but this change will be good once you implement the "fewer but tougher rats" thing you said you wanted.

However, you should, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES, think that you NEED to push out a partial change for the sake of making something appear in the patch notes this winter.

I probably speak for a lot of people when I say "finish the PvE overhaul before you do ANYTHING to PvE".

I know you've gone and "promised" two expansions per year, but the "two free expansions per year!" thing is not what keeps me subscribed to Eve. I would much rather you give us a fully complete, fully tested, integrated new way to rat in two years time than push out a hastily-tested, "we need this for later" change now, which may break more than it fixes.

My main concerns in terms of this are how difficult this will make life for drone boats, ninja ratters, and catching people in anoms, sigs, etc. In wormhole space, you can simply warp large numbers of ships into a site to tackle people running them, because there's no local so they won't see you coming if you're cloaked. That is not the case in null-sec. Many ratters will pos or dock up the moment they hear of a dozen reds entering the constellation, but many will also keep ratting if it's just one or two. This change will make it impossible for those one or two to hold tackle long enoguh for help to arrive (from either side). (Insert obligatory "nerf local" request here)

If you feel you absolutely must push this change through now, then please consider the following suggestions/stupid ideas:

• Make rats ignore drones completely if the controlling ship is actively aggressing rats on grid (guns, ewar, etc). This will have the effect of nerfing AFK-drone boats but honestly we don't need those people in Eve anyway :)

• If an additional ship lands on grid and begins to aggress any ship which has been itself aggressing the rats, have the rats not only ignore the newcomer, but focus their fire on the newcomer's target. Tie the chance that this happens (verses switching aggro to the newcomer randomly) to how long the victim has been in the site killing stuff. If he's just arrived, set the percentage to 50/50 or whatever it is by default, and ramp it up as the person has pissed off the rats for longer and longer (to the point that at some point the rats help the ganker, as stated above).

Obviously there needs to be some balance so people don't use it to get all the rats to attack a tanky target and ignore less tanked ones. Damage checks on the victim, maybe. This suggestion has the spin-off effect of creating a whole role-play area for people who've always wanted to work for pirate factions more than just through the Epic Arcs and missions. It adds an element of uncertainty as the ganker might not know how long his target has been in the room for, if that person has been actively salvaging, for example. OK probably a stupid idea in terms of the coding required...

We are talking about getting kills in higher-end complexes and anomalies, not every PvP instance. Giving players the opportunity to get positive standings with pirate factions will not *prevent* people from getting kills, but it may make it easier in some instances.

Furthermore, the dire picture that you paint re: running missions in NPC null-sec isn't always so dire. In fact, there are many pilots who run missions and ninja-run complexes in populated null-sec. They are smart (and successful) about what they do. I have seen this happen in numerous occasions and across several regions of null-sec.

Lastly, if CCP is hell-bent on changing the NPC rat AI, then they will do so, no matter what mechanics we prefer.

Running NPC missions for positive standings is one way w/in the game's mechanics to gain an advantage in this new world order all-the-while rewarding that exclusivity to those who work for it.