Just Wondering.

Why does Rarebit have this apparent obsession with making all the new NPC's (Accelerated and Override NPC's) so extremely strong against hacks? Between the supercharged viral defense and the ridiculously fast sweeps that neutralise DOT's completely I just have to wonder why Rarebit keeps making this design decision... with every update for the last few months.

I know that the NPC's are tougher than normal, but when I struggle to kill a lvl 52 Override in IL with hacks, where I can roll Taskmaster (Lvl 60) with hacks without using a single pill. My gunman alt has no problem killing the lvl 53's in IL. I'm really kinda getting sick of hackers being singled out all the time.

It's just a thought, but maybe he's tired of seeing all the content being ran through by a bunch of howitzers.  Think of it, a PB4 can be done by 3 howie's easy (maybe even 2?).  Most of the Data tapping spawns are easily downed by howie's.  Wasteland Corruptor quest? Howie (with a lowbie).

You never saw someone in any of the Matrix films kill someone with hacks.  While I love the hacker tree a lot, it's not Matrix-y.  Maybe he's wanting to promote using the traditional Matrix-y trees like MA and Guns.  And to promote larger teams.  Although since we don't have a large raid feature (like other games), it makes it hard to coordinate.

My guess is that because a lot of the previous content (OG Spawns, Pandora's Box, Elite Commandos, Valkyrjar, Sleepwalker, etc.) were all easily doable with a small squad of hackers. We were falling into a trap where it was never necessary to have anything but hacker, since all new content could be done with a team of howitzers. It's also a nice way to differentiate the "strength" of Wright/these Oligarchs compared to the oldschool Halborn/Carlyne spawns, which were all vulnerable to hacks, or that's how I think about it at least. /shrug

That's my guess as well.  In the past, hackers destroyed pretty much any NPC without much difficulty.  Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far back in the other direction and hopefully it will balance out at some point.  I think if you're looking for a less "game" and more "logical" explanation for things, Bay's idea is a good one.  The Oligarchs, Accels, Overrides, etc are advanced beyond the code of the Matrix as we know it so hacks based on the code of the Matrix are somewhat beneath their own structures, explaining to some degree why they are less susceptible to them.

Shinryu wrote:

That's my guess as well.  In the past, hackers destroyed pretty much any NPC without much difficulty.  Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far back in the other direction and hopefully it will balance out at some point.  I think if you're looking for a less "game" and more "logical" explanation for things, Bay's idea is a good one.  The Oligarchs, Accels, Overrides, etc are advanced beyond the code of the Matrix as we know it so hacks based on the code of the Matrix are somewhat beneath their own structures, explaining to some degree why they are less susceptible to them.

I get that reasoning behind everything relating to Oligarch/Override technology, makes sense to me. 

Hopefully a day might arrive when we have a new chapter where Intruders/Overrides/Oligarchs arent the main focus, and hacks would make sense to work again, but I wouldn't count on it.  This meta story arc has been going on since 9.1 (over a year ago) and I see no signs of it changing (unfortunately for those of us who miss the days when it was just we redpills, system programs and exiles).  The bubblegum and glowstick people are here to stay, I fear 

Villemar_MxO wrote:

The bubblegum and glowstick people are here to stay, I fear 

Oh I dunno, I quite enjoyed the naked pink lady I met today......

Shinryu wrote:

In the past, hackers destroyed pretty much any NPC without much difficulty.

Bayamos wrote:

My guess is that because a lot of the previous content ... were all easily doable with a small squad of hackers.

ArchDuke wrote:

It's just a thought, but maybe he's tired of seeing all the content being ran through by a bunch of howitzers.