Yep, I went solo for trading rare goods
- Thread starter Zpike
- Start date
There is always more risk for the trader than the pirate. That is the nature of piracy and always will be. It's why pirates don't take over navy vessels and armed fighters. Less risk, more reward. If piracy meant taking on equally armed and skilled fighters every single time, it wouldn't be piracy. It would just be combat with a prize at the end.
It is inherently balanced. The only reason people see it as unbalanced is because traders haul goods they can't afford to lose. If they go boom, their entire basket goes boom. They didn't do several small runs, they did one big one and will do another big run and then another. They took the easy way for the fast money. If your entire life savings is in in your ship, that is a personal choice. A poor one, but a choice nonetheless. Of course they are going to go solo mode.
If bounty hunter tracking is added, it will be extremely risky. Right now, I agree, it's not. However, it's not risky being a trader either if you know what you're doing. Submit, boost, ship smaller than you?, warp away!
There are some fundamental flaws that need fixing. Don't think anyone can argue that.
At first I didn't mind, but the more I think about it, the more I cry foul. Find, have separate entities.... but do not cross them over. You don't get to be Overlord Safehugs, Master Tradesman of the danger free zone, and then simply use your billions to become Overlord Gargantua, Ruler of the Universe, with the click of a button. That is absurd.
If you want solo, go solo. No way in hell should you be able to transfer over from carebear island once you have enough money to buy the entire universe. There might be fewer players, but every player will have EARNED their money the right way.
Anton Cano
Banned
Yes, it does, and I agree that they should be split. If tomorrow Frontier gave us the option to turn our save into an Open or Solo save, and have to create a new save to play the other, I would be ecstatic.
The pirates do suffer, and I too am able to make millions because would-be pirates realize that people are doing this, thus negatively impacting the player population of what should be an important role in the open galaxy. They deny it, but they are, and I appreciate the OP's honesty.
Someone could be an explorer/pirate, find you, interdict you, and return to port with some great cargo and navigational charts. Just because you make the effort to run off into deep space to find lucrative routes doesn't mean someone else isn't going to make the effort to find you.
If you want to do all of that you can do that in solo mode, where ideally you wouldn't be able to use your millions of easily earned credits (let's be real, the AI is pretty mediocre at best) in the open galaxy. If you want to play with everyone else, you should have to earn your living in the same mode as everyone else. I don't understand why so many people don't see this as a problem.
Can't really blame the OP for going solo mode- as it is there isn't much point not doing so. You earn the same amount in both modes, but one of them doesn't have the decidedly much more threatening aspect of well equipped, human pirates, hunting (and re-hunting) you down for your cargo. It can be thrilling, and is why I play Open, but I think if I lost all of my cargo I'd probably do the same. In the world of risk vs reward, what reward is there in making yourself more vulnerable to losing everything, besides the thrill of "I hope I don't get caught". Doesn't seem worth it next to what you stand to lose.
I do wish the two modes were counted as different saves (separate careers) though so you couldn't mode-swap but I guess you can't please everyone. Most traders would probably still play solo, and pirates would still be left with slim pickings. I'm hoping the Wings system might introduce a way to hire a.i. or human escorts to protect traders and mitigate some of the risk, but still, what better way to mitigate risk than playing solo? Maybe trading needs a boost to returns when playing in Open?
Tough one for the devs I think.
I do wish the two modes were counted as different saves (separate careers) though so you couldn't mode-swap but I guess you can't please everyone. Most traders would probably still play solo, and pirates would still be left with slim pickings. I'm hoping the Wings system might introduce a way to hire a.i. or human escorts to protect traders and mitigate some of the risk, but still, what better way to mitigate risk than playing solo? Maybe trading needs a boost to returns when playing in Open?
Tough one for the devs I think.
Yes, it could happen. But as far as I know there isn't a way to track players unless you follow them. So it's just a case of someone who just happens to come across you in the same system at the same time in the same instance and that person just so happens to be a pirate. not exactly the most probable scenario.
If it wasn't for the fact a large number of people state that they almost never run into other players despite being on Open then i might agree with you. But that isn't the case, so I don't.
What happened here is that a trader had a rough run and took one load in solo but then went back into open. If the modes are segregated (and they would all have to be) many trader players will move to either solo or PvE, it is a no brainer, not all, but a lot. Where will that leave open ? Up a gum tree is where because PvP piracy will starve, PvP bounty hunting too. It is going to be tough enough in such a huge environment maintaining random player encounters, this campaign (and it is just that, one of these threads surfaces every day) will damage open play if it is successful.
I do very little trading, it isn't really my bag, but neither do I get my jollies from perusing PvP, if it happens it happens. I do either play in open or a group though. If FD did cave to this campaign I wouldn't touch open with someone else's mucky stick again though, beyond that there would be a backlash that would make the offline thing seem like a charm school concert, all good for the game? sure it will be. The game works as designed, the majority of players who vote on the issue are happy with it and this stinker should be consigned to history.
I do very little trading, it isn't really my bag, but neither do I get my jollies from perusing PvP, if it happens it happens. I do either play in open or a group though. If FD did cave to this campaign I wouldn't touch open with someone else's mucky stick again though, beyond that there would be a backlash that would make the offline thing seem like a charm school concert, all good for the game? sure it will be. The game works as designed, the majority of players who vote on the issue are happy with it and this stinker should be consigned to history.
The good old faithful Type 6 and I are mostly in open play. Well... I say faithful, its a brick and flies so slow, sometimes I think its traveling back in time!
I haven't been interdicted once in open play and I'm not even really trying to avoid it. The Asp is nearly in my grasp though. I do a bit of everything, so I'm not permanently welded to the Type 6's chair. I've got a mean Viper and Cobra when I fancy a little bounty hunting or exploring.
I think a little incentive is required for other Commanders to play solo. As others have said, pirating seems a little too easy to get away with at the moment. Its such a tricky balance to get right though. If its too easy, traders go solo and if its too harsh, pirates can't... well pirate.
I'm sure this all needs a pass over from the Frontier boys.
I haven't been interdicted once in open play and I'm not even really trying to avoid it. The Asp is nearly in my grasp though. I do a bit of everything, so I'm not permanently welded to the Type 6's chair. I've got a mean Viper and Cobra when I fancy a little bounty hunting or exploring.
I think a little incentive is required for other Commanders to play solo. As others have said, pirating seems a little too easy to get away with at the moment. Its such a tricky balance to get right though. If its too easy, traders go solo and if its too harsh, pirates can't... well pirate.
I'm sure this all needs a pass over from the Frontier boys.
Can someone break this down for me? I've been playing a couple of weeks now, and just got the Lakon T-6. I left the shields on it because I had recently had a bad experience with my Cobra Mk III being knocked into a space port wall by an exploding vessel, my hull dropping to 30%, and being put on a 5-minute life counter. (850k in Palladium could have gone boom!)
That said, are the T-6 shields not enough to hold off players while you escape them? (Or improved versions of the shields/power?)
I think solo HAS to exist, but as a starter mode for people to learn the game and give them the opportunity to avoid the few jerks that just want to watch the world burn. Maybe a "10 million in assets" limit, before switching to open? Enough to buy a fighting chance against most.
Then again, I don't think this is going to change at this point. I suppose it will go the way that keeps the most expansion-buying customers, or, with the status quo.
That said, are the T-6 shields not enough to hold off players while you escape them? (Or improved versions of the shields/power?)
I think solo HAS to exist, but as a starter mode for people to learn the game and give them the opportunity to avoid the few jerks that just want to watch the world burn. Maybe a "10 million in assets" limit, before switching to open? Enough to buy a fighting chance against most.
Then again, I don't think this is going to change at this point. I suppose it will go the way that keeps the most expansion-buying customers, or, with the status quo.
Pizzapizza, the Type 6 is fun to fly too but in its own cow-like way. The one hard point at the bottom I can see being a problem. I never came up against a player in mine. I'm in an Asp now and fee much more comfortable. I still haven't been able to crack an NPC Elite Anaconda though, but close.
I always play in open. I think if I got interdicted I'd be able to hold my own. I was interdicted by a player once and was all ready for a nice fight but the guy just wanted to say hi.
I was wondering about OP, it seems like he was concerned about not getting his ship back. I have only went below my rebuy cost a couple times when the payoff was really worth the risk. Now, I keep at least triple my rebuy cost and am always cool as a cucumber. I welcome NPC interdictions, though I was near the end of a play session today and happened along an Anarchy with a high population. An NPC competent Asp got me and I decided I didn't feel like finishing him off
Also with a rare run, your investment is really only the cost you paid. The profit not realized ... Well I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Finally, I really wish people on both sides could stop being so uptight about their opinion. I don't think it's cheating to play Solo, but I also think most people that bother posting here about getting pirated by a player and how they'll never come out of Solo again probably have their own imbalance to deal with.
I always play in open. I think if I got interdicted I'd be able to hold my own. I was interdicted by a player once and was all ready for a nice fight but the guy just wanted to say hi.
I was wondering about OP, it seems like he was concerned about not getting his ship back. I have only went below my rebuy cost a couple times when the payoff was really worth the risk. Now, I keep at least triple my rebuy cost and am always cool as a cucumber. I welcome NPC interdictions, though I was near the end of a play session today and happened along an Anarchy with a high population. An NPC competent Asp got me and I decided I didn't feel like finishing him off
Also with a rare run, your investment is really only the cost you paid. The profit not realized ... Well I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Finally, I really wish people on both sides could stop being so uptight about their opinion. I don't think it's cheating to play Solo, but I also think most people that bother posting here about getting pirated by a player and how they'll never come out of Solo again probably have their own imbalance to deal with.
When I had a T6, I had no problems evading npc or CMDRs.
4 dropped rares from a 100T+ cargo capacity will get a pirate about 80k in the right system. Is that reasonable?
Genuinely curious, I've yet to be pirated, and have a ship capable of fighting back well enough (perhaps why I have not been pirated), but I'd be scanning my foe first - I know when I'm outgunned, and making a "fair" offer works for both sides.
I'm in this in open, and the potential for piracy is part of the fun (I'll probably create a pirate persona at some stage - though I'll wait until they finally yield to a proper comms implementation I'm stuffed if I know how you pirates deal with typing out your demands, it's a darned joke that needs to be addressed for the sake of pirates everywhere). I also have enough credits in reserve to re-buy my ships and goods 2 times over, just in case.
Personally, I think the OP dropping out of open is kind of sad, whilst I won't be condemning his actions, it's a perfectly legitimate strategy, I think that such an encounter would be incredibly exciting for both players, and personally, think such encounters would be far more rewarding (win, lose or draw) than any status gain...
Z...
copy+paste for making demands,my friend
Maybe this deserves a separate thread, but for the long term health of open play, I think that there are a few topics that bear discussion. I've only just recently started playing the game, and have maybe ~300k in total assets, so I am not speaking from experience, but rather trying to provoke thoughtful discussion. Wall of text incoming! (You've just dropped from hyperdrive in system )
TLDR: It would be interesting if knowledgable players filled out the 5 point form below for discussion
First it seems to me that for each 'side' in this debate, there are several things that need filling in (which again I don't have the expertise for):
Player Style: [ Piracy | Trader | Other]
1 - sunk costs:
2 - per mission investment costs:
3 - re-buy + fines cost in case of failure:
4 - profit realized in case of success:
5 - Probability of success:
The first is of course cost into buying of the ship and related modules to pursue the play style (piracy vs. trading, you could throw in mining or exploring for that matter -- it's an effort to get some structure in risk vs reward). Second is costs to go out and "do a mission" whether that is costs involved for ammo + incidentals like repairs / fuel or whatever -- for traders this would also include the investment in goods. I don't think that valuing the goods as "after profit" valuation fits here, but it could be up for discussion -- I'm not an expert here. Also could include time costs on "finding" a good trading route, though with multiple runs being posted here and other places on the internet, not sure how fair that is.
Third is, of course what does it cost to fail utterly? What would it cost for partial failure? (trader dumps cargo, pirate cuts and runs because the cops show up or whatever). Fourth is of course what is the reward in case of success? For piracy this is of course pure profit (they don't have much in terms of per mission investment costs). For trading, this is the margin on the goods sold. Fifth, a trader has a very high probability of complete success. He doesn't have to hunt down a trader for x period of time (hours? not? Pirates help me out here, how hard is it to find someone to rob?) but rather has steady employment. It's not 100% as he may be forced to drop some cargo, which is a partial success.
Zeeman has a start at estimating profit above, but I'm getting an initial feeling from this thread that the risk / reward is very much in favor of piracy at the moment, and I'm looking for numbers / wisdom from the community to prove or disprove that.
(As a side conversation, it might be interesting to discuss what is an appropriate fee / scheme for traders to pay for escort services that won't drive them to solo play as being too costly, while at the same time introducing another valid play style).
At the end of the day, we can throw some numbers against the wall here, and calculate some profit per unit of TIME invested, as that seems to be one of the big fears driving traders to solo play -- not that they don't have adequate reward from trading, but rather the risks in terms not just of money, but of time spent recovering are not in line with what they consider fun. It is in the pirate's interest that they don't drive the trader to solo play. The solution shouldn't be only "lock people into online". Even if as some people advocate, that FD puts up a wall between solo and online so that one cannot switch back and forth, if the costs of player piracy are too great, they'll take their ball elsewhere (to solo) to play where it is more fun for them. This serves only to hurt online play, and so cannot be the only part of the solution. "Just lock the sheep in with the wolves, and all will be well" isn't the answer here, I think. It is in the trader's interest (in terms of fun) that the challenge of player piracy exists. It adds to the fun for some traders. It adds to the variety of play styles possible in the game. It adds to community. It makes the game healthier.
Ok I've blathered on enough. Maybe in the future once I've played for a much longer time I'll be able to pay forward
) TLDR: It would be interesting if knowledgable players filled out the 5 point form below for discussion
First it seems to me that for each 'side' in this debate, there are several things that need filling in (which again I don't have the expertise for):
Player Style: [ Piracy | Trader | Other]
1 - sunk costs:
2 - per mission investment costs:
3 - re-buy + fines cost in case of failure:
4 - profit realized in case of success:
5 - Probability of success:
The first is of course cost into buying of the ship and related modules to pursue the play style (piracy vs. trading, you could throw in mining or exploring for that matter -- it's an effort to get some structure in risk vs reward). Second is costs to go out and "do a mission" whether that is costs involved for ammo + incidentals like repairs / fuel or whatever -- for traders this would also include the investment in goods. I don't think that valuing the goods as "after profit" valuation fits here, but it could be up for discussion -- I'm not an expert here. Also could include time costs on "finding" a good trading route, though with multiple runs being posted here and other places on the internet, not sure how fair that is.
Third is, of course what does it cost to fail utterly? What would it cost for partial failure? (trader dumps cargo, pirate cuts and runs because the cops show up or whatever). Fourth is of course what is the reward in case of success? For piracy this is of course pure profit (they don't have much in terms of per mission investment costs). For trading, this is the margin on the goods sold. Fifth, a trader has a very high probability of complete success. He doesn't have to hunt down a trader for x period of time (hours? not? Pirates help me out here, how hard is it to find someone to rob?) but rather has steady employment. It's not 100% as he may be forced to drop some cargo, which is a partial success.
Zeeman has a start at estimating profit above, but I'm getting an initial feeling from this thread that the risk / reward is very much in favor of piracy at the moment, and I'm looking for numbers / wisdom from the community to prove or disprove that.
(As a side conversation, it might be interesting to discuss what is an appropriate fee / scheme for traders to pay for escort services that won't drive them to solo play as being too costly, while at the same time introducing another valid play style).
At the end of the day, we can throw some numbers against the wall here, and calculate some profit per unit of TIME invested, as that seems to be one of the big fears driving traders to solo play -- not that they don't have adequate reward from trading, but rather the risks in terms not just of money, but of time spent recovering are not in line with what they consider fun. It is in the pirate's interest that they don't drive the trader to solo play. The solution shouldn't be only "lock people into online". Even if as some people advocate, that FD puts up a wall between solo and online so that one cannot switch back and forth, if the costs of player piracy are too great, they'll take their ball elsewhere (to solo) to play where it is more fun for them. This serves only to hurt online play, and so cannot be the only part of the solution. "Just lock the sheep in with the wolves, and all will be well" isn't the answer here, I think. It is in the trader's interest (in terms of fun) that the challenge of player piracy exists. It adds to the fun for some traders. It adds to the variety of play styles possible in the game. It adds to community. It makes the game healthier.
Ok I've blathered on enough. Maybe in the future once I've played for a much longer time I'll be able to pay forward
copy+paste for making demands,my friend
That's ridiculous in an online game in 2015.
I was playing online with voice comms working wonderfully on the original Xbox over a decade ago, surely, it can't be that hard? If you have a mic, any speech should automatically go straight to a targeted ship. Typing is a ridiculous comms method in this day and age.
And... In before "voice attack automated request", because by the time you speak your command and the macro finishes, you would have made your demands by voice - and the target would have heard it, whereas the target may not see the text in the top right.
I'm not a pirate, but I *WANT* pirating to be viable and fun for those that want to choose that career path, I'm sure I'm not the only non-pirate that wants a galaxy populated by all types, and I want the "dangerous in Elite: Dangerous to actually mean something.
In the same way, I'd like to see trader's have a fair chance to either escape, or put up a heck of a fight, as Pirating itself should be, well... Dangerous.
Z...
You can request voice comms with a target. They don't have to accept of course. Check under your in-game comms menu when you have a player in range or a friend is online. Its a bit buggy at the moment though, doesn't seem to work always. Think it largely depends on whether you are in the same game mode for a start. Got a friend i can't chat with unless we are in the same group, but when we are, it seems to work fine.
Just remember, your target has to see your chat request and accept it. And not everyone has or uses a microphone.... or even headphones. Sometimes i have to play with sound off altogether... so you could speak away, i'd never hear you.
I use a simple macro with voice attack. My command "pull over" types out everything I need to say in under 2 seconds. If the target complies, I move to "drop cargo" command, which gives them their options... death by me and lose all cargo AND ship or just loose some cargo and go on your merry way.
Voice attack is the best.
Voice attack is the best.
Maybe this deserves a separate thread, but for the long term health of open play, I think that there are a few topics that bear discussion. I've only just recently started playing the game, and have maybe ~300k in total assets, so I am not speaking from experience, but rather trying to provoke thoughtful discussion. Wall of text incoming! (You've just dropped from hyperdrive in system
TLDR: It would be interesting if knowledgable players filled out the 5 point form below for discussion
First it seems to me that for each 'side' in this debate, there are several things that need filling in (which again I don't have the expertise for):
Player Style: [ Piracy | Trader | Other]
1 - sunk costs:
2 - per mission investment costs:
3 - re-buy + fines cost in case of failure:
4 - profit realized in case of success:
5 - Probability of success:
The first is of course cost into buying of the ship and related modules to pursue the play style (piracy vs. trading, you could throw in mining or exploring for that matter -- it's an effort to get some structure in risk vs reward). Second is costs to go out and "do a mission" whether that is costs involved for ammo + incidentals like repairs / fuel or whatever -- for traders this would also include the investment in goods. I don't think that valuing the goods as "after profit" valuation fits here, but it could be up for discussion -- I'm not an expert here. Also could include time costs on "finding" a good trading route, though with multiple runs being posted here and other places on the internet, not sure how fair that is.
Third is, of course what does it cost to fail utterly? What would it cost for partial failure? (trader dumps cargo, pirate cuts and runs because the cops show up or whatever). Fourth is of course what is the reward in case of success? For piracy this is of course pure profit (they don't have much in terms of per mission investment costs). For trading, this is the margin on the goods sold. Fifth, a trader has a very high probability of complete success. He doesn't have to hunt down a trader for x period of time (hours? not? Pirates help me out here, how hard is it to find someone to rob?) but rather has steady employment. It's not 100% as he may be forced to drop some cargo, which is a partial success.
Zeeman has a start at estimating profit above, but I'm getting an initial feeling from this thread that the risk / reward is very much in favor of piracy at the moment, and I'm looking for numbers / wisdom from the community to prove or disprove that.
(As a side conversation, it might be interesting to discuss what is an appropriate fee / scheme for traders to pay for escort services that won't drive them to solo play as being too costly, while at the same time introducing another valid play style).
At the end of the day, we can throw some numbers against the wall here, and calculate some profit per unit of TIME invested, as that seems to be one of the big fears driving traders to solo play -- not that they don't have adequate reward from trading, but rather the risks in terms not just of money, but of time spent recovering are not in line with what they consider fun. It is in the pirate's interest that they don't drive the trader to solo play. The solution shouldn't be only "lock people into online". Even if as some people advocate, that FD puts up a wall between solo and online so that one cannot switch back and forth, if the costs of player piracy are too great, they'll take their ball elsewhere (to solo) to play where it is more fun for them. This serves only to hurt online play, and so cannot be the only part of the solution. "Just lock the sheep in with the wolves, and all will be well" isn't the answer here, I think. It is in the trader's interest (in terms of fun) that the challenge of player piracy exists. It adds to the fun for some traders. It adds to the variety of play styles possible in the game. It adds to community. It makes the game healthier.
Ok I've blathered on enough. Maybe in the future once I've played for a much longer time I'll be able to pay forward
I'll try and answer the above question to the best of my ability with my style of play - keeping in mind that I have not been keeping notes, but basically off memory/experience...
Style of play - Other (kind of a jack of [almost] all trades. I trade, I bounty hunt, I explore, and I smuggle. I enjoy smuggling greatly, and my ideal gameplay style would be smuggling "randomly found" goods, or smuggling goods that are legal in one system to another system where they are not.
This really should pay better than it does (for legally obtained illegal cargo, not for "stolen" cargo), and it should also pay better still at regular stations where scanning is likely, as apposed to outposts where it's no trouble at all. I like the idea that I may also be a good target for pirates whilst smuggling, it adds to the possible danger, along with the cops...
1 - sunk costs: currently, my ship is a Cobra Mk III with about 4-5m spent on upgrades. Most of that has been sunk into A grade power plant and distribution, Thrusters, fuel scoop and FS drive. Shield is Class C (for weight saving purposes, not for cash saving) with a grade 2 pulse laser, grade 2 multi cannon, and 2x grade 1 burst lasers (currently playing around with my weapons, still working on the best combo for me...). I also have a wake shift scanner, and a KWS. I may get an interdictor too, at some stage, but I am more looking at an A class exploration scanner thingy, as my trading is usually rares, and the reason I trade rares is the exploration in the 150+ Ly between trade systems - I'll often plot routes through all unknown systems (or as many as possible) to boost exploration income. This, for my is why I like rares trading, it's actually fun when mixed with exploration, and the risk of losing it all towards the end of the journey is quite exciting. Looking for human players when arriving into my destination system is the first thing I do, to try and make sure I avoid them!
2 - Per mission investment costs: Depends - bounty hunting - very little. I don't often get hull damage, let alone explode, the Cobra is good like that. When I trade rares, I usually sink between 30k-80k cr into my 36T of cargo space.
For smuggling, again, no investment, just what I find scraping around USS's after I have finished my bounty hunting run. Having a few thousand cr worth or illegal goods also makes entry into the station to claim a bounty a little more fun. Get it right, or gain a bounty and a good blasting the by the station. Quite an incentive to get good at getting in unscanned!
3 - re-buy + fines cost in case of failure: My current re-buy is about 300K, if I lose my cargo, it's usually about 100k max (the Cobra cargo hold ain't that big), an dnormally, a 200cr fine is about as bad as it gets for the odd authority ship that decides to cut across about 5m in front of my whilst I'm blasting all weapons at a Wanted ship. I have had one "lose everything" situation, when the scan finished just as I got through the letterbox with a 200cr bounty (didn't realise the station itself was doing the scan, and didn't make the effort to hurry my docking along). So I learned that lesson.
I've normally got about 500k-1m cr in the bank for "screw ups". I'd say accidental boosts into the station wall have been my number 1 death dealer, usually when getting used to a new joystick setup... I try to keep my gear down now until I exit the letterbox.
4 - profit realized in case of success: -
Bounty hunting - 30k-150k per outing. Depends on the system.
Smuggling - usually lucky to break more than 20k - as it's unusual to get more than one or two of anything in a USS anymore, and the only time I make a worthwhile amount is when some trade ship at a nav point drops everything trying to escape. Scooping up expensive goodies under the Feds noses, then smuggling that into a station and claiming a 100K plus bounty - that's fun!
Exploration - I usually do this on rares runs, and I find I normally make 20k-40k in exploration data by the end of the trip - though I only sell data for system more than 70Ly away, so I always have a little bit left over to see elsewhere.
5 - Probability of success:
Bounty hunting - Hard to define success for this, but I've only died once for being stupid, long ago... But it's highly variable, and there are plenty of times when 1000cr Sidey's are all you get. Usually 30k-150k earnings - zero investments, and very rarely more than 2000cr in repairs, if any at all. If I'm below 95% shields, I clipped a cop, and decided to keep fighting for a few more bounties whilst under cop fire at the same time.
Smuggling - 100% - haven't been caught yet, I'm quite good at getting in fast (I got my class A thrusters for a reason). Not very lucrative though, unless you get very lucky with a wanted cargo ship at a Nav beacon.
Rares trading - very profitable - usually sell my 30k-80k purchase price goods for a total of 650k-750k. Add in the 20k-40k of exploration data, and it's quite a nice earner, and fun. Though I do spend a lot of time flying around and scanning new systems, so it's not like I'm making that in an hour or something, usually take me 2-3hrs to do a rares trip - but, I have fun doing it. Success - 100% - have not been interdicted (by anything worth worrying about, anyway) yet.
Exploration - Also hard to define as a percentage, but I've always been able to sell my trade data, and have yet to be killed before I can sell it since the game has been in full release. I made most of my screw ups in Beta/Gamma.
Overall, my strategy is usually to combine two of my style - bounty hunting with smuggling of "found" goods, or trading rares and selling discovery data from along the way.
I''m not making huge amount of cash (and I have spent a lot of time in Lugh making no money at all just to try and help out with that little experiment), but I have been having a lot of fun - which is the point, I guess.
I quite like the idea of potential escort missions, trade ship convoys with armed escorts, requiring pirates to have group-co-ordinated methods of pirating. But there REALLY needs to be an excellent in game comms system for this. I'm not talking an add on like Teamspeak or whatever, it won't work if your enemy/prey is not using it.
Z...
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