Simple really, we have lost the active players link, there is clearly a move towards spatial awareness being more of an influence than data. So drop the * designating an npc or a bot . Leave it in the background for recording data, but let players decide whether that is a real Ecka or an NPC one .

The game is called Vendetta. The original objective was twitch combat : that seems to have been lost under a plethora of plugins objectifying threats. Losing the * puts the emphasis back on skill, combat or interpretation.

Well, the names pretty much give away NPCs. Ecka is the only person I've seen to have a bot named after him.

Interesting. I had a very lengthy argument with Waylon back in.. 2002, or thereabouts, regarding whether we should have an indicator showing if someone is an NPC. He was in favor of it, I was against it (I thought it would be more immersive). In retrospect, I'm not really sure which outcome would be better.. his contention was that it would make people more confused about who they were interacting with in the galaxy, and related gameplay mechanics. Dunno.

I don't recall ever seeing a Suggestion post asking us to remove it, though. Interesting.

I'd be for this, but not until the NPCs are far more talkative/interactive (which I believe is in the works). Otherwise it'd be damned confusing, and hard to tell what the heck was happening.

This would also be an incentive to use RP-style names. I personally would definitely request a name change if this happened.

I'm not opposed to the original idea. Should there still be some indication as to which entities are NPC's and which are PC's? As long as we can see faction standings, those would be a give away (unless NPC's end up subjected to faction and NFZ rules and such, which in my opinion would be a good thing anyway).

On a related note, I think pilots should be allowed to turn off their IFF systems and appear simply as "unknown pilot" with Unaligned faction and universal KOS (most NPC's in grey and some in Nation space should appear this way too, to preserve anonymity). Obviously, doing this in Nation space would make one a target, but it would make grey a lot more immersive.

I don't recall ever seeing a Suggestion post asking us to remove it, though. Interesting.

This was actually suggested a while back (years?), but I can't remember if it was in it's own thread or a reply. Either way, I still think it's a good idea. It would go well with the plan to implement dynamic NPC interactions like conversations and trade tips. I think most people would quickly be able to determine if they were speaking with an AI or a person. And if they can't well, that's probably better for them anyway (and probably a little bit sad) :P

I wish to reverse the suggestion.

allow player names with an asterisk.

a) It is much easier for a player to impersonate an npc, than it is for an npc to impersonate a player.

b) Any player that wishes to be identified as a player should be allowed to do so, and you would have a hard time stopping them from doing so anyways.

addendum: allow players to play hive bots.

edit: and some player names are so well known, that even when they randomly appear in npc form they are still recognized. My bot alt has been killed at least once.

I don't recall that as a suggestion before either, for what it's worth. I like the idea.

I like and support the idea of removing asterisk from NPC pilot's, but leave it for hive bots.

P.S. Btw, removing * may ruin work of some plugins, like alert systems, IMHO.

TBH I don't think this would have the desired effect because people often choose screen names that have letters and things in them or choose other names that are appealing to them. In other MMOs the players with more "rp" names are usually pretty hardcore into the game. While you can choose random name in vo like other MMOs, that is really the only hint as to what tradition names look like according to the lore of the game.

with that said I'm not opposed to the OP and don't really care one way or the other if it is put in game I just don't think it would have the desired affect unless bots also had more "random" of names

That has to be the most coherent message I've ever seen from pey to date :P

also +1 to OP

I like it!

For me,
-hive keeps *name.
-NPC loses *, but become military, earning ranking (Pvt,Sgt,...). Players that joined military can use rank.
-Players can add a * to new alts.
-SOME Hive bots are re-fit as ships and offered. Start with transport ones.

-1

We have to signify PC from NPC.

A noob flying through space, trying to be nice, waves at pilots, none of the pilots wave back or talk to him. He says, "Fuck this, these guys are rude." And he quits VO.
A noob flying through greyspace gets attacked by an NPC pilot. He starts bitching on 100 about some pilot who killed him for no reason and didn't say anything blah blah blah. He quits VO.
Someone is on a mission, a player comes in with a name close to his target, he kills the target. Target gets all pissed off. The shooter says, "Sorry! I thought you were NPC." Targets says, "Yea, they should really make that clear."
I have only played a handful of MMO's, but they all seem to signify which is which.

I'd be for this, but not until the NPCs are far more talkative/interactive (which I believe is in the works)

That's the only way it would work ... but even still, i would like to know who is NPC and who isn't.

EDIT: Or, clearly, just have more PC's flying around so there is an obvious difference. OR (and this has been suggested before, but searching is a pain and i don't have time) have our names and guild affiliations hover over the ship. As of now, without TargetLS (or whatever it is these days), we wouldn't know who anyone was. (You will say yes you can, just lock on the pilot and press k, but targetls also gives you the binds, otherwise, you would have to cycle through ... very inconvenient to figure out who you are flying with and, imo, prevents the immersion you guys want.)

EDIT2: I know how you guys are, so I wanted to add something else. Radar occlusion would still be active. Obviously, when a target is hiding, you can't see his information peeking out the side of an asteroid.
Also (flood of thoughts =p), it could be distance sensitive, say 1000m? that way in events (and when the game expands) there wont be written tags everywhere.

addendum: allow players to play hive bots.

shouldn't that have its own thread?

Yeah, hive should keep the *

I also like the idea of military bots having a rank. And yes, PC's should have rank as well, but that's an entirely separate topic and has been discussed before.

+1

@Armonia.

A noob flying through space, trying to be nice, waves at pilots, none of the pilots wave back or talk to him. He says, "Fuck this, these guys are rude." And he quits VO.

Wrong. If he's really noob, he doesn't know how to wave. And why do you think everyone who doesn't wave back to your nasty hello is rude?

A noob flying through greyspace gets attacked by an NPC pilot. He starts bitching on 100 about some pilot who killed him for no reason and didn't say anything blah blah blah. He quits VO.

Wrong. He will not quit VO, but he'll become more expierenced pilot in the future. And btw, I don't whine and hate when people (especial some "military units") start whining on 100.
Btw, do you whine on 100, don't you? eh?
Noob can pm that person if he/she knows how.

Someone is on a mission, a player comes in with a name close to his target, he kills the target. Target gets all pissed off. The shooter says, "Sorry! I thought you were NPC." Targets says, "Yea, they should really make that clear."

Wrong again. Think who you shoot, whatever that's an NPC or real player.

They should make this another highlighted area of the tutorial.

+1

Just to be entirely clear, everything pirren said is spot-on.

While I still support this idea, I would like to add that I think NPC's should still retain some sort of identifier. Perhaps down a level in the character info screen. If someone wants to find out if they are interacting with a PC or an NPC, I think they should be able to.