PVE Whys

markbonafeub17_ESO · October 2014

Why is it...

That all the characters you fight always spawn in the same place and never move more than 10 feet from their original position?

That, when fighting these characters, they never get any help from the other groups (supposedly their friends)? These "friends" are no more than 30 feet away and can easily see and hear the fight, yet they don't even act as though they care...

What gives?

Gyudan · October 2014

Well, it's either that or you'd get aggro from 100 mobs at the same time. There isn't any way around it. Feel free to suggest one though.

markbonafeub17_ESO · October 2014

Gyudan wrote: »

Well, it's either that or you'd get aggro from 100 mobs at the same time. There isn't any way around it. Feel free to suggest one though.

How about letting the mobs circulate a little? How about spacing them a little more realistically? How about making us play a little smarter instead of simply being able to walk in plain view of 5 mobs while taking them out one at a time?

There are plenty of changes that would make sense; sneak, assassinate, use "real" aoe skills, etc. All the skill lines are equally as good as any other - FOR ANY SITUATION - very strange.

WhitePawPrints · October 2014

Elder Scrolls Online's detection mechanics is very basic. NPC's are completely oblivious to you until they see you, then you cannot hide from them once they see you. No suspicion, no investigation, no searching, nothing. So yes, it could be improved, but even Skyrim's detection mechanics were made fun of to no end because of a Nord with six arrows in his back would claim "it was just my imagination".

Sure, Elder Scrolls Online could improve on the AI of the NPC' but I really doubt that they will. If you've seen the fixes that Zenimax has applied, they're all lazy, short-sighted fixes. Batswarm and Impulse too powerful so they nerf AOE across the board. Cyrodil keeps too easily taken during off hours, they buffed all NPC's in Cyrodil. Veteran Content was imbalanced in some cases, so they nerfed it all. Nightblade burst damage too high, so they'll be nerfing all stealth attacks across the board.

They MIGHT be addressing the problems with phasing in patch 1.5 but I don't have my hopes high. An amateur modder could have fixed that in less than a week, but Zenimax has taken seven months already to even address it.

When they add new content, it's Craglorn. Grindfesting, boring content that forces you to play with a group, that you will likely not even like. For them to change the AI of the NPC's, I really don't see it happening. It'd be great! But very, very, very unlikely.

dharbert · October 2014

NPC's in this game also have ESP. For example, a Deadric or Undead NPC can be milling about, doing whatever, and the millisecond that I even think about pressing the key for Silver Shards, they immediately stop whatever animation they were doing before the Silver Shards even leave my hand.

There's a boss NPC in Auridon that is Daedric and every time I fight her, when I hit her with Silver Shards, she falls to the ground on her back and immediately slides about 10 meters away from me. That's because that was the next move the NPC was going to do anyway had I attacked her with a normal attack instead of using Silver Shards as CC.

Then of course there are the NPC's that I either hit with Silver Shards or get hit by the proc from my Death's Wind set that get knocked on their back, yet they continue to fight while laying on their back and don't get up until I either CC them again or kill them.

drkeys143 · October 2014

I like the way that when an NPC knocks you down and stuns you with uppercut, they respectfully wait for you to get up again before they carry on hitting you, could this be extended to cyrodiil please?

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · October 2014

With good AI, you would be dead within seconds against any enemy force. Imagine if that guard posted at the entrance of a dungeon actually called for help like he should, and the full force of 50 bandits gathered at that spot to fight you? The entire design of the game relies on the mobs being extremely myopic, and there's no way they are going to change that now. It would require them to re-think every single area of the game.

This is not a reality simulator. Far from it. Crouching in plain sight a few meters from an enemy makes you invisible to them? Yeah, right. It's like that crazy Argonian crouching outside the portal to Shivering Isles in the Oblivion expansion, saying "You can't see me". Still, sneaking is a perfectly valid gameplay mechanic that you can have fun using. Just don't think of it too much in real world terms.

VagabondAngel · October 2014

If ESO had Radiant AI, the NPCs would probably, I don't know, group up into zergs and spam impulse.... and probably ask in zone WTB vampire bite.

Be careful what you wish for.

wafcatb14_ESO · October 2014

Yep EQ back in 1999 had better mob AI , like you are fighting a caster mob , and depending on type it would dispel your buffs, charm members of your group and have them attack you,

it would nuke you with it`s best spell , if it was a healer mob it would buff his friends heal his friends, it would gate when low on HP and bring back buddies

, and if it saw you attacking a friend it would join the fight against you and most would flee if they were losing the fight and low on HP and go get help .

Games today as a whole are dumbed down compared to a lot of the older games , I guess people don`t like to be challenged in games anymore, and everyone is a winner , just like now days even if you lose they still give out a LOSER .. trophy haha .

Merlin13KAGL · October 2014

They could split the difference. There is a vast grey area between what they have now and what they could have.

Right now the AI isn't very 'I'

Cues are fine at lower level to learn, but makes it pretty bland when they call out what they're going to do next.

Archer setting up an attack? I roll dodge. Archer cancels his pointless attack at the no-one that's there. How about the lone enemy that still throws oil down and calls to the trees to "Light it up?"

The pathing is one extreme or the other. I can't jump over a blade of grass, but the NPC can find the exact 85 degree inclined path to my hidden location, or it can't engage me two feet away because I'm standing on a rock behind it.

Some also forget that AI goes the other way too. Do you not think at some point, for some creatures, self-preservation would kick in and would outweigh the loyalty they have to their present cause? It would involve taking a 'pass' on the fight that is 20 levels above them unless they rallied with several nearby friends.

There is whole world of possibilities here. They really should explore them.

EDIT: Wrong homonym.