This topic already exists and I think they are full aware of the lack of NPCs.

It's a similar but more specific topic Ville.    Devs asked me to start a thread.

Yes, we need more PvE content in general. However I think PvE content can be challenging without 5star NPC's on alpha. What is the point of farming anywhere else if you can get the very best in complete safety? You can already do this with beacons.

There needs to be increased risk for high end PvE content like smarter AI that works together, reps eachother, specialized ewar bots etc. Increased risk does not necessarily have to be from PvP but it needs to at least match it in a way in order to keep game ballance. Something that challenges players in general.

And yes, the game needs more spawns. Let me breakdown current spawn ballance.

Alpha: A couple good 4star spawns for medium-high end players but not enough to support a larger population.
Beta: Some good 5star mech/hmech spawns here, probobly the most ballanced of all the islands
Gamma: Total crap, its currently not even worth your time to hunt down roaming NPCs here compared to beta spawns / beacons
Beacons: Ballanced just fine right now. The only form of NPC farming currently worth your time on gamma. Rewards increase as you can run them faster on beta and even faster than that on gamma with the right setup.

TLDR:

Add more level 4 alpha2 spawns
Make farming worth your time on gamma somehow
Add new exciting PvE content for all players

Actually since this patch, you can farm T4 assault in assignment spawns on alpha as well as a high level spawn with lot T4 HM on Hershfield. I heard but didn't check that this is valid for Tellesis and Shinjalar as well.
I even saw Indu Mech now in random spawn.  My opinion is, that there need still to be a thrill to enter beta for T5.
We could talk about having one spawn per alpha2 island that can't be farmed reasonable with HM MK2 with one support bot due too mass an geography. But in general I see the potential of advanced farming is there, even better as before patch IMHO.

It is just bad, that there are to few spawns atm. Three of these high end spawns for all alpha islands together is too few. Just add another with bad geography to avoid this second spot to be solo doable would be a good start.

In hopes of voicing in part for another demographic in this game ....

Im not a noob , but I am certainly not a Vet . With the few months under my belt that I have I can honestly say that this new patch has all but killed the game for me . There is really nothing interesting to do at all . Even if it is for pvp preparations . The randomness and fun surprise of a cool drop from high tier spawn and roaming observers was a big draw for me in this game . Now its gone . I really dont like being told I should play a certain way in a sandbox game . My choices should be my own and there should be interesting things made available for all walks of play styles in a game like this. Im hanging in there for now , but this game has become bleak.

Alpha has L4 spawns and is PVP-safe.
Beta has L5 spawns and has indestructible outposts.
Gamma has no spawns and everything is at risk.

There's something wrong with the risk vs reward here.

wheres the fun... indeed, good question, if the only thing that others request for PvE is "farming" spawns.

its all farming, farming, farming.

It was my understanding that the beacons were supposed to supplement the alpha NPC's, but then they reduced beacons drops too; did they remove the spawns that dropped beacons on alpha as well?

This looks alot like a series of changes were the devs lost track of the line of reasoning behind them.

Beacons provide the exact experience that is being asked for here; A predictable level of challenge with appropriate rewards.

The beacons also serve the devs purpose, of not having infinitly farmable spawns on alpha were vets can print NIC.

The solution to the alpha issues lies in revisiting the 'beacon style' of NPC farming.

Add in a new artifact category, similar to infestations, but perform exactly like beacons; including possible escalations.

Make beacons available again on the lower level static spawns. This gives players a reason to farm them, something mid-level pve players can do solo or in a small group, then the large group can gather at a convient time to do the more difficult beacons.

Add in real group daily missions, that trigger beacon type waves for players with the reputation to unlock them.

Combined, those (3) things will bring alpha PVE back to an interesting level, and provide plenty of daily farming without creating NIC farms.

Imho the roaming groups are to big - at least i'm missing smaller ones. on alpha 1 a roaming npcs squad should be kill-able and survivable by any player who has trained a bit into repair and weapons to fit that single weaponslot on his Mining Mech.

ok, i know thats a dream due to how self-repair got nerfed from weak defense to ultra-weak defense (exception maxed extension t4 erp blue-bot builds) 

But with the roaming spawns - would sound nice if they are not permanently stuck on open terrain...

Instant respawn is a good concept, but it also needs to be balanced. But there should be some additional NPC risk on gamma over the current level for sure.

You forgot this only applies to the island we are on... We have no NPC's