Sypher wrote:
Bounty NPCs wouldn't be removed from cities, just the wilderness areas around cities.
Bounty NPCs almost always mandate bringing more than one person to fight, they hinder solo PK drastically. Players are meant to play the game, not NPCs.
The spawn rate in the wilderness if a lot less than the spawning rate of inside areas. 1:3 or perhaps even more, if I remember well what D said in that update like 1.5-2 years ago. Their spawning rate goes up with the crime lists though, so expect someone like Benjamin to spawn a lot of templars even around Exile. And I think this is a fair trade anyway.
As for the whole "if bounty NPCs are removed we'll see solo PK again in cities" argument, it's wrong. We won't see more solo PK, we'll see more gank squads finishing the job a lot easier.