Just tried it on the test server. Excellent work!! It was a massive improvement, before I could induce lag up to the 1000's just on my own, but now there was no increase in latency at all. Ping stayed on normal at all times. Will get some more guys online later tomorrow and test again and let you know.

Excellent news!! Thanks for sticking with it Zoom and not just telling us we imagined it. Hope this leads to a fix soon!

Just had a small fight, 2 of us and 3 enemies on Kent. Both Ryni and I lost our bots due to lag. Everything was still playable until a roaming spawn turned up then lag went to N/A.

A valid question indeed..

Any news Zoom on when we might expect to see it hit the test server ?

That says more about you than it does about anything else.

Most of this games issues stem from low population, it's that simple. The DEVS are currently trying to address that by working on PVE mechanics and Alpha. That's good, it needs to be done, the game needs people and people need content. I see a lot of posts in this thread that seem to be more intent on demanding features/changes for personal gain.. eg I want this, or I want that. It's not about what the few ACTIVE remaining players want, it's about getting more people into the game, new people, fresh people. These people will have their first experience on Alpha and not give one crap about the beta/gamma politics.

If those people have a bad experience in the first two weeks then it's a pretty good chance they will leave. If they have content that challenges them, if there is risk of losing bots, even just mining, they may be more likely to stay. Either way, if getting more people means accepting mechanics/systems that might not suit us (the existing ACTIVE players) then so be it. Adapt or leave.

The DEVS are a small team, they cannot be expected to get everything done at once and provide all things to all people. A lot of things need work, Alpha NPC's, missions, general Alpha content, beta sap mechanics, beta NPC's, loot tables, number of islands, corp/Alliance management tools etc etc, the list is extensive. They have to start somewhere, best to start with Alpha and getting new content to entice new players.

ohh and trying to force people into a play style (like PVP) will fail miserably and guarantee that some new players will leave the game for good. Offer instead incentives for them to PVP, encouragement if you will, but softly in the background so to speak.

ok end rant now..

Ohh one more thing, sometimes I think the biggest turn off to the new players are the bitter old vets (yes I'm one of them, but I'm not bitter) trying to influence the newer players as soon as they appear in gen chat. Just leave them be for a while guys, don't try and recruit them straight away into all the political BS, let them experience the game a bit on their own. If you want to help them then relocate to the Alpha one islands and help them, but don't poison their experience with old bitterness.

LOL.. Ahh beast, ever the opportunist 

Yes, beacon pits were an issue but not one that could not be solved. Just add a database int value that removes explosion damage from / by NPC's that spawn from beacons, simples. They already introduced the teleport mechanic back in gamma v1.0 so beacon pits that did not allow NPC's to navigate a way out simply teleported out, usually to right beside you..lol

I just don't see the sense in throwing out a mechanic that differentiates this game from all the others out there. We have already seen way too many heavy handed "patches" in response to players "taking advantage" of an unintended mechanic.

If you remove explosion damage then we are that one step closer to mech fairyland where we all run around seeing who can pick the most flowers to throw at each other..

When Lectron and I first started playing all NPC's were red and there were roaming observers on both alpha 1 and 2. On alpha 1 they were grand observers and no larger than assault class. On Alpha 2 they were grand observers and were both assault and mech. They roamed around and there was no such thing as afk mining.

I remember the incredible feeling of achievement when I solo killed my first Baphie observer after 10 minutes of using cover and kiting him. It was that sort of experience that kept us in the game, the threat of losing your bot. You needed to be paying attention. I don't know what the answer is for NPC AI, but what we have now is dull and boring compared to those first encounters all those years ago.

I believe the static and roaming red spawns were removed to cater for the new dynamic mineral system. So it's more than likely that any change in NPC AI would need to be tied into a rethink of the mineral system maybe ?

I logged on one day last week and there were 2 in GC..

Yes I have to agree, EvE does seem to appeal to the self important/righteous.