PC Pirates in Yembo - beware traders!

[Daffan]

the point is though: the rewards are NOT high for the traders.

And they should be, that way people will continue to run the gauntlet and, as you say, the game develops as it should.
There is high demand but low supply and little to take on the return leg of a trade, and the reward for the community goal itself is just a measly few credits.

Frontier could fix all this in a heartbeat by adding a decent reward for participating!

Why would they add more rewards for traders

everyone will just play in solo anyway to make real cash. traders playing in open is just some roleplay fantasy because the game is not designed around multiplayer , pvp or pve balance, eco systems are not there. It's like Frontier disregarded everything in Ultima Online and EvE online and went back to "random deathmatch" but with space ships and that is all they ever thought it was going to be cause they dont really care.

Frontier is literally trying to re-invent the wheel. They know what works and doesn't work in game design and human-response. EVE and UO (From 1997 for gods sake) already knew about random killing and importance of a pve / pvp eco system working in harmony to ensure a proper balanced game.

 

[Quineloe]

I don't understand why this would be frustrating for an escort - can you explain?

Basically you'll interdict someone who is better than this than you are because that's all he's done for the last four weeks, so you'll just lose the interdiction, take hull damage and drop into normal space with an FSD cooldown.

And if you win, you'll be facing off a pirate who has no interest in fighting you, so he'll boost away as fast as he can (which is pretty fast) and go back into SC, so you'll be chasing a multi-million bounty all day long with no chance of catching it.

Nope. Not putting in the promised hard AI is the problem. I suspect that most people who run away to solo mode do so not because it has no humans, but because it is easy. If it was not so much easier, there would be less reason for going into solo mode.

Like really, name a game where the AI is as strong as a human player without cheating
You're asking for the impossible here.

And even if it were possible, player pirates + dangerous AI pirates is still worse than just dangerous AI pirates.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

I'd argue by the very existence of this thread that we have a lot of traders who are hiding away in solo but are actively trying to figure out how to make the risk/reward profile in open more reasonable/sustainable.

Indeed, and that is encouraging (thogh we still need FD to act). But we also have folks who seem to want it to be completely safe. They might as well be playing Euro trucker or Spreadsheet heaven.

 

[robbyp]

I also have to say the guy was generally sporting and the fact he was willing to let people go adds some nice depth to the game and is far better than destroying you for no reason. He also got blown up by a clipper for a hefty insurance bill and he didn't complain he saw it all as fair play.

You and I the same stream. I missed him being blown up. I have to say, I was hoping for a decent fight, or a trader spamming him with Dumbfires.

 

[jadefriendly]

Why would they add more rewards for traders

everyone will just play in solo anyway to make real cash. traders playing in open is just some roleplay fantasy because the game is not designed around multiplayer , pvp or pve balance, eco systems are not there. It's like Frontier disregarded everything in Ultima Online and EvE online and went back to "random deathmatch" but with space ships and that is all they ever thought it was going to be cause they dont really care.

No. I'm a trader, I play in open. I don't log off from battles. the only reason I'm not trading in Yembo is that the piracy / profit balance is way out of wack.
Plenty more people like me out there.

 

[cmdr_shiawase]

In a moment, I'll hop into a "throwaway" Type-6 and just see what happens.

I'm certainly eager to see the results of that experiment! 5t gold = 50K credits plus or minus. Yeah, about half the profits of 1 leg of a return trip.

 

[Sippe]

Solo and open should be separate game. Its just stupid that people will trade or do commonity goals in solo and then go to open play

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

It's like Frontier disregarded everything in Ultima Online and EvE online and went back to "random deathmatch" but with space ships and that is all they ever thought it was going to be cause they dont really care.

That is absurd. Read the DDA to see what they envisaged.

The problem is that it is taking them far too long to deliver stuff, they have placeholders all over the place, and they are not implementing things in mutually consistent packages, but almost random bits here and there.

 

[LawHunter]

I can't see any player pirates there
Wanted to clear up some to make the area safer.


To combat the ease of making creds in solo there should be more NPC pirates.

 

[cmdr_shiawase]

Indeed, and that is encouraging (thogh we still need FD to act). But we also have folks who seem to want it to be completely safe. They might as well be playing Euro trucker or Spreadsheet heaven.

As one who started with Spreadsheet Heaven and has graduated to RDBMS Heaven, I fully appreciate the desire for some measure of safety in the open play mode.

 

[bigmuthatrukka]

Griefers should be stamped out along with any other cheat. But this is a legit. Piracy is part of the game and was always the best way of making cash in elite of old. I hate being on the receiving end of piracy in a type 6 but it is my choice to run the gauntlet. I am actually glad that pirates are getting an opportunity to earn some cash, especially with wings coming, there will be some juicy pirate vs escort action to come with the rewards being either bounties or plunder depending on who prevails. If you want to play it safer, make use of solo or private and choose the experience you want.....

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

Like really, name a game where the AI is as strong as a human player without cheating
You're asking for the impossible here.

And even if it were possible, player pirates + dangerous AI pirates is still worse than just dangerous AI pirates.

Sandro has said in public that they can do it. I certainly do not expect them to write an AI that is better than the best pilots. But better than many players should be perfectly doable. And better than a trader who has not practised fighting and is flying a trader not a fighting ship should be a doddle.

As for the last point: only if the player pirates are in addition to the dangerous AI pirates - since then you meet more pirates. If solo mode had MORE AI pirates, to compensate for the lack of player pirates, then you should be able to manage the balance.

But until FD decide to actually invest in the area, it is all moot. What we have encourages traders to go hide in solo, and the knock-on effects of that into the rest of the game are wholly negative.

 

[Elianydd]

But trading in the teeth of piracy is what the Elite franchise is all about.... But we have a pile of traders today who want to have their cake and eat it... by hiding away in solo.

Okay, if you're going to play the "this is what the Elite franchise is about" card, then you can't bemoan SOLO mode, since the entire history of the Elite franchise (until now) *IS* a series of SOLO games. (Don't get me wrong, though, I'm loving that E : D has multiplayer. (And solo!) I'm just pointing out the inconsistency of the argument of saying that SOLO play is somehow going against what the "Elite franchise" is about. )

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[jadefriendly]

might be of help to some - Ride Ring in Rotanev (22.5 ly from Yembo, 2000ls from star) has T-6's and T-9's for sale.

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PS.
Of course the delivered Tonnage is quite mediocre at best - but technically I'm contributing.
Not an inch of a chance ever getting through this i.e. in a Type-9

I still think if Frontier added something a little extra to entice traders to run the risk, it'd be better for everyone - more traders, more profits, more pirates, more bounty hunters!

 

[theriverlethe]

name and shame is against the rules. Especially when that appears to be a pirate doing it 'properly'. Can't complain about that. And if that is a community goal thing, then what do you expect? With a big advert on Galnet, the pirates know where to go.

Doesn't "name and shame" require that you NAME someone? Anyway, the two pirates who interdicted me were very polite and clear in their instructions. Props to CMDR's Name and Shame.

 

[Kolato]

He wont be touching my Anaconda

 

[Putok]

The pirates all seem to be playing"nice". I was interdicted twice. Once by a Python. Ended rather embarrassingly. I dropped some cargo, and didn't really check radar before flying off. Bumped into him, and POP went my Type-7. I guess the didn't totally fix the scrape=death bug. Next interdiction was a cobra, was able to negotiate for an amount of cargo that still allowed me to make profit on the run.

I will say, I think FD should dramatically boost outgoing profits. Neddoddour has been picked clean, so round trip profits are pitiful compared to "normal" trading.

 

[SHADEVARI]

One evasion training I lost to a nice Pirate and it was worth the 30tons of Gold.

That one pirate requested 30 tons of gold from a single Type 6, that can handle around 112 tons, with shields? So he got a value of approx. 250-300kcr. That is outrageous and very short sighted, of the pirate.

Let us assume you'll make 1000cr profit each for the remaining 82 tons of gold, you would have made a net loss of at least 170kcr (82kcr - 250kcr) and would need 2+ trips without interdiction to get back to the point you were before that pirate robbed you.

I am all for pirating, but even if I would promise that if you give me 30 tons of cargo now that I'll not bother you again during the next 1-2 days, there are still other pirates out there... and who says you will not get interdicted again by another pirate on the same trip?

If it is no longer profitable for a trader to run a route he'll either quit running that route and go somewhere else, which would be the right thing to do, or, if no traders are there because they can not make a profit the new station will not be build. That means that whoever wants the station build needs to increase the rewards, prices paid per ton, whatever. Sadly, with people just going to solo mode, the station will be build anyway, which is a huge problem.

Playing in solo mode is all fine and good. I have done it myself when I wanted to grind money, fast, without interruptions, but not for community events.

Personally I see two things here that need to happen:

1.) Pirates need to demand only reasonable amounts of cargo to make sure the route stays profitable for the trader and that he'll come back. If calculating with 1000cr proft / ton, never ask for more than 10% of the cargo. Even with 10% there basically is no profit anymore for the trader. If the trader doesn't come back he can not be interdicted again (some time later), so less profit for the pirate. Also, do NOT shoot the traders if they give up cargo or when unwilling to drop some because they already lost cargo to another pirate. I would even go as far and say that if the trader is willing to part with a larger amount of cargo, you dear pirate, could offer to protect the trader from other pirates instead. Claiming the trader for yourself, so to speak.

2.) For the Devs: Community events must be available in open mode ONLY, period, no exceptions. This also means that the rewards/prices need to be adjusted or noone will actually be there to contribute because it is unprofitable. I do not see the word "solo" anywhere in "community event".

* drastically increase the prices paid for the goods that are required (especially since there basically is an empty return trip involved)
* lower prices for ammo, fuel, repairs and even ships... percentage depending on how much you contributed
* ammo, fuel, repairs during the actual building process and also afterwards, but at the newly created station only
* ship prices, at the newly created station only
* grant auto allied status (or something more, like founder status, to incorporate the bonus mentioned above), with the new station only


Thank you all and have a nice day.

 

[Daisuke-kun]

I knew from the start when i saw the news, things can go wrong in that system. Yembo became a beacon for griefers and pirates so I stay pass that system. I go there for upgrades, no trading, so there are other hi-tech systems to do that. lol