Yeah then they removed so that only the Convoy shot back, essentially making it 100% safe to shoot and loot them. Was a bit more sport when the station sentries shot back (if you did it wrong).

Haven't see any of 'em for a long time too. Since there was no mention in patchnotes 'bout convoys removing, we can fill a ticket to support or just wait for some CCP official to clear up the situation.

Bring more players into EvE requires that CCP recognize the following:

a) The majority of subscribers in any MMO are PvE players
b) PvP players are subsidized by PvE players
c) PvE players don't like to be forced into non-consensual PvP
d) PvE players don't like to be spawn camped (either at zonelines or gates, they're the same thing)


Solution to a)

Create an immersive, fun and safe place in EvE to PvE. PvE in EvE is boring. PvE in EvE is schizoid, in that the higher rewards are in PvP areas whereas to attract PvE players they should be in PvE areas.

Focus on the largest % of subscriptions, not the smallest. Ganking in highsec is performed by a very small proportion of the playerbase yet CCP seems to pander to this small %. Buffing wrecks was one such move that was anti-subscription and anti-sandbox.


Solution to b)

To develop PvP and to support PvP activity and make a profit on your game you need a significant amount of PvE players. If you are relying solely on PvP players to pay subscriptions then you're missing out on the other 9 players who would be subbed for PvE. Go to any MMO in the world and look at the online player count on PvP servers vs PvE servers. You're looking at roughly 100 to 1 ratio.

Solution to c)

A person who is a PvE player is your bread and butter. They want to PvE, they don't want to PvP. Are they useless in a PvP game, NO, they provide profits. They should not be targets, should not be ganked, should not be forced into any sort of PvP because if they are they'll leave and you'll lose their subscription. That means less funds for PvP oriented activity. Some nerds will say, this is a PvP game, but they're incorrect, it has a large PvP component but its both a PvE, PvP and market game. If you become upset that some player in X system is PvE'ing and you can't kill them you have some psychological issues, how does it affect you? It doesn't. Well it does, it provides more money for CCP to develop your game.

Solution to d)

Spawn camping (Gate Camping) is a 13 year old mechanic that hasn't changed signficantly since EvE's inception. Given that in the initial release of the game there were only T1 disruptors and T1 scramblers and no overheating, the fact that spawn camping hasn't changed and remains the primary way to kill people is odd. In that time bubbles, interdictors, heavy interdictors, arazu, T2 warp disruption and scramblers were released as were ships that lock faster and move faster.

A system in which travel is easier seems counter productive to catching targets however when travel is easier more people travel and more people means more opportunity to catch someone but at the same time less risk to the risk averse. Its a win win situation.

An Example - Removing gate travel and replacing it with a system such as this would greatly benefit EvE PvP'rs and PvE'rs:

Player x wants to travel from Jita to Amarr. Player X isn't worried about PvP. Player X warps to Amarr. Player X is in warp for 2 minutes. In Amarr at a random location a system beacon appears which is warpable. The beacon appears for 2 minutes / x (10 seconds, 60 seconds, whatever).

Player Y wants to travel from Jita to Amarr. Player Y is worried about PvP. Player Y warps from Jita to Perimeter. Player Y is in warp for 10 seconds. In Perimeter at a random location a system beacon appears which is warpable. The beacon appears for 10 seconds / x (2 seconds, 6 seconds, whatever). Player Y then makes the next quick jump.

As usual, this kind of idea would be the worst kind of thing to happen, continuing the recent trend in EVE of creating a game that EVE players don't like but that somehow isn't safe (coddling) enough to attract average MMO players.

A good business knows you don't build towards your weaknesses, but towards your strength. EVE's strength is player interaction (CCP is horrible and PVE content and has wasted a lot of time on it). EVE appeals to PVP players PVE players who aren't afraid of dealing with other peoples. Trying to cater to the 'leave me alone' side of PVE players would alienate the rest of us,

I mean really, how many years does CCP have to prove that they aren't a standard MMO maker (and thus can't make a game with mass appeal)? Does CCP have to go out of business trying to do that to convince some of you that they should just work to master their niche instead of trying to be like everyone else?

In my 3 years playing this game I have never seen an NPC convoy lol....

This here is the rubber duck... looks like we got ourselves a convoyyyyy

I think it was because they were pointless

Thanks for searching.
Yes, please bring them back. If no other pilot is out there and one is traveling a long way these haulers moving through the empty solar systems make the game more alive.

Ignoring post 37 and 38 that were clearly beyond useless....

bump for npc convoys to come back.

I have seen them at stations as recently as this past month. I would check your overviewer settings , or use the "all" tab while camped at a station.

As a roleplayer, I occasionally take great joy in mucking about Amarr home system and trying to speed gank slavers before the navy gets a hold of me. Even on the worst CVA killing day....I'd still be able to taunt in local about how I'd liberated 76 slaves and now have 900 crates of tobacco and 400 crates of spirits for the freedom fighters.

Now it is just a tiny bit more hollow without the npc haulers.

It was always fun to liberate the slaves and then try and run back an pick them up. Now this joy is gone.

I will admit it was a very small joy, but a joy nonetheless.

Slave freeing could be made a standings thing, like when you bring them to a minmatar station, right click, some ISK is taken from your account (slaves need something to survive on their own) and you get small boost to Minmatar standings. After that slaves would vanish from your inventory.

A pity that there is no real way to liberate the slaves, turning them to free men.

there was convoy on one of intaki stations in lowsec . cant see it anymore too. looks like all npc traffic is gone

As a side point to Chribba;s post 52 regarding freeing of slaves why is it that when I rescued some slaves from an Ammarian slaver I got hammered for bringing in contraband when I tried to dock?

Surely rescuing slaves is a humanitarian thing to do and should not be treated as a crime.

As others have pointed out CCP must ensure that the game remains as immersive as possible, and this sort of thing doesn't help.

I believe slaves are contraband. Although your intentions were good, the overlords have no way of knowing the purity of your heart.

You possess contraband slaves. The "I was holding for a friend/really I'm just a freedom fighter" excuse doesn't fly with the cops.