I just, I know we were told to drop it, but I need the validation of a bunch of strangers on the Internet supporting my playstyle, where I have all NPCs target one PC until that character is dead, and then I feel I have raised the stakes to the appropriate level and can call off the rest of the attacks. And it can be really surprising, too, like the time the party was at a formal ball for the entire session, but in my opinion one character needs to die* to set the tone!
* And I don't need to hear any complaints from Justin, how it seems to always be his character my NPCs target; it's just the luck of the dice! It's what the NPCs would do!