Player Features and Ideas Discussion

We know the problems:

Agents are 2 dimensional, missions are repetitive, NPCs are boring, nothing feels like it matters, etc.

This is how you fix it:

Meaningful and dynamic NPC options have always been available to you, but now with the addition of structures and player owned station services, ignoring them any longer would be tragic. CCP, make the NPCs answerable to the players.

For example, let's say I own a market fortizar and there is just too much nearby competition. Instead of trying to organize player mercenaries to completely destroy the competition (a very expensive and perhaps overly aggressive endeavor) I hire some pirate NPCs to harass the competition. Their attacks could raise my opponent's fuel costs, extort the brokers at his structure (thereby increasing the brokerage fees charged, but not collected), disable his services, lengthen his vulnerability window, or even disable docking at his structure (another service) if left unchecked. Other things one could hire NPCs to do might require a wardec, such as actually firing on and pursuing players through gates.

Now, depending on how much you pay these NPCs, they will be of a certain strength. Because they will be persistent, you cannot just shoot them once and be done with them. This opens up the opportunity for players to sponsor missions for other players. These hostile NPCs might have a base (or several) in the system (entosis?). There might be a chance of finding out definitively who hired them if enough players perform specific tasks. They might have a base bounty depending on a percentage of how much was spent to hire them. That bounty could be increased by the party who is being attacked to attract more players to kill them quickly.

Also, on the other side of the coin, one might hire NPCs to help one's own structure. NPCs would fight opposing NPCs in fights that players could jump into the middle of at will. This action would give the universe more of a realistic feel, instead of "nothing happens unless a player is involved." (wrecks of NPCs shot by other NPCs might only last a few seconds). Also, players might sponsor other player missions that reduce fuel costs or shorten one's own vulnerability window, etc.

To give things variety, there might be several "paths" hired NPCs can follow to achieve each particular goal. It may not be entirely clear which strategy they are employing until many player-run missions are completed. Likewise, it may require many missions run by players on behalf of the hiring corp in order to find and negotiate with the initial NPCs in the first place. Only after those missions are successfully run, can the NPCs be hired and set in motion. Stronger NPCs require more missions and/or a wider variety of players running the missions, etc.


There are many interesting and engaging possibilities. I have not looked to see whether this has been suggested elsewhere.

Just no! I like to get my isk from somewhere and I am a good girl and give it all back to pay for even more books in my shelf.

No. Do it yourself. That's the whole point of EVE.