If you're going to be a pirate, be a pirate

[Mltdwn]

Been a longtime lover of space sims, and thank you Frontier for re-entering the arena. Which BTW to those gritching about it being on STEAM, my STEAM notices in the only reason I noticed it was out. Hey I'm a 40 year old father of 2 and husband that doesn't have time to always look to see what's coming out, or even kickstarting unless it shows up from friends or in my email. So thanks for going to STEAM as well Frontier.

So anyways, played solo a bit to get my feet wet, worked up to becoming a tramp freighter in my handy T-6 and decided last Wednesday to start going online since solo seems a little lacking in challenge/threat.... Now I have ran into several PC pirates in the game, but they are certainly not pirates. They interdict me, take out my shields, even take out my engines... Yay!!! Finally danger, fear.... Then they say drop so much of my hold and they'll let me go... Um ok... so I simply reply "Uh, no...." just to see what they do...

They of course lay out all kinds of threats and tell me they are REALLY going to blow up my ship... to which I reply "Listen I know it takes you time to find a good victim, drop them out of space, threaten them, get their cargo, etc.... You're just wasting your time to me because I would rather simply self destruct and waste both of our time rather than give you my cargo"... And they then proceed to be flabbergasted and eventually let me go.... Which is kind of depressing. No just blowing the cargo hold doors to pull out my phat l00tz, or even a counter offer or reason of logic....

I mean if you want to be considered a real pirate and a scourge of the 7 sectors (yaaarrrr!) you kind of have to be willing to deliver on your threats... That's kind of the very definition of a pirate. And if you're not then you're just a privateer, and obviously a kind of wimpy and poor one at that..... Tip: Blow up my ship if I refuse to give you cargo, and then keep hunting for me specifically until I get so tired of losing money so much that I decide to capitulate and start giving you my share. Heck you might even be able to negotiate up from 20% more of my holdings to pass (call it cost/tax for wasting your time previously). Your job is kind of to be a jerk, so be a jerk (nothing says you can't say "hey this isn't personal, I'm just playing a pirate role and sorry for your frustration") in a professional manner. Don't just give up and let me go (especially when carrying a full load of palladium). Otherwise maybe you should go back to simply hunting at the RES's or hauling cargo yourself.

Anyways just my 2 cents, but I have been known to be wrong... from time to time.

 

[Nonya]

As soon as you said no I would have blown you out of my sky.

 

[xeixei]

Well said. Pirates should bring fear and destruction. Despite what others said about victims would just go back to solo, that loses entire purpose of drama and conflict between players in open play.

+1 rep

 

[Majinvash]

I don't get anything about what you are saying.

If cattle disagrees, it gets put down. Simple.

Nothing Elite does with Crime and Punishment will stop that from happening.

 

[SteveLaw]

I don't get anything about what you are saying.

If cattle disagrees, it gets put down. Simple.

Nothing Elite does with Crime and Punishment will stop that from happening.

The pirates did NOT kill him when he refused and he thinks they should have.

 

[karasawa]

Maybe it was their first day on the job, nobody is perfect. Ask them to do a monologue, I'm sure you will run into more terror inducing pirates later in the game.

 

[Drizzt Do Urden]

Pirates are like everyone else. There are proffessionals and newbies. Eventually you will see both

 

[mossfoot]

Agreed they should have blown him up but I think it's silly gameplay on the OP part too. Acting like getting blown up is no big deal is just as much not roleplaying as being a pirate who refuses to do so.

That's why I think playing IronMan (or my personal variant, see signature) is more exciting. Your far less likely to do "eh, I'll just respawn" if every ship destruction could be your last.

 

[Troa Barton]

You being stingy with the booty.
no one likes a tease lol, I'm surprised they didn't at least blow open your hatch let alone take you out.

 

[Red Fox Four]

The first failure of your so-called pirates was them not:

a) Shooting your cargo hatch.
b) Using Cargo Hatch Breaker and limpets.

Threatening you to drop the cargo is the first step. Some players will comply and drop X amount of whatever depending on what they have and how much cargo you have as a pirate. No sense them dropping 100 tonnes of anything since it will expire in space before you can scoop it all. Plus most pirates don't have 100 cargo free.

As a pirate I have zero interest in blowing your ship up. Screw your ship. I rather not have the added bounty on me. Asking you to drop cargo is simply a professional and courteous approach. You say no, then it's time to pop open the hatch (which, sometimes, lead to death depending on how low your hull is after having your FSD or drives shot out).

By asking you to drop the cargo you at least avoid additional damage to your ship. Cargo is going to get taken either way.

A good, true pirate would never need to destroy your ship. If you prefer to self-destruct... then go ahead. Then you lose ship + cargo and I get away scot-free without additional bounties or wanted status on me. Your choice.

Saying pirates should deliver on their threats and kill you is really misdirected. They should never threaten to kill you in the first place if they have half an ounce of pirate genes in their bodies.

"Eject cargo and avoid additional damage to your ship."

Simple, to the point, leaving no "if" or "but" to it.

Threatening to kill is the noob pirates way to approach a victim, and it never works.

 

[Mltdwn]

Agreed they should have blown him up but I think it's silly gameplay on the OP part too. Acting like getting blown up is no big deal is just as much not roleplaying as being a pirate who refuses to do so.

That's why I think playing IronMan (or my personal variant, see signature) is more exciting. Your far less likely to do "eh, I'll just respawn" if every ship destruction could be your last.

Eh for me, and I work in banking so that may explain it a bit, it's a pure cost benefit analysis. When I have a good run that allows me to recover my entire cost of my hold plus insurance in around 30 minutes vs. letting someone profit from me just handing them over the ship, it just makes little sense to hand over the goods.. I mean unless you seriously start impacting my time and money why should I bother to capitulate? Or anyone really? So if said pirate is not willing to deliver on their threats then they are nothing more than a toothless mutt gumming at my leg.

Given that it is generally pretty cheap to replace your existing ship, and repairs are inconsequential on cost unless it happens repeatedly it just does not cause any real harm or loss.

And I will definitely check out your personal variant... Though I put not dying down to someone actually rescuing your escape pod ala the novels where unless massive firepower is brought to bear on to a ship everyone tends to somehow magically escape and survive, heroes and faceless NPCs alike. Or that all of my Trading personalities are just seperate tramp freighters working for the same company, all equally worth a dime a dozen and linked with tracking devices to prevent them from giving in (again similar to what the employers do in the novels).

 

[Snakebite]

Been a longtime lover of space sims, and thank you Frontier for re-entering the arena. Which BTW to those gritching about it being on STEAM, my STEAM notices in the only reason I noticed it was out. Hey I'm a 40 year old father of 2 and husband that doesn't have time to always look to see what's coming out, or even kickstarting unless it shows up from friends or in my email. So thanks for going to STEAM as well Frontier.

So anyways, played solo a bit to get my feet wet, worked up to becoming a tramp freighter in my handy T-6 and decided last Wednesday to start going online since solo seems a little lacking in challenge/threat.... Now I have ran into several PC pirates in the game, but they are certainly not pirates. They interdict me, take out my shields, even take out my engines... Yay!!! Finally danger, fear.... Then they say drop so much of my hold and they'll let me go... Um ok... so I simply reply "Uh, no...." just to see what they do...

They of course lay out all kinds of threats and tell me they are REALLY going to blow up my ship... to which I reply "Listen I know it takes you time to find a good victim, drop them out of space, threaten them, get their cargo, etc.... You're just wasting your time to me because I would rather simply self destruct and waste both of our time rather than give you my cargo"... And they then proceed to be flabbergasted and eventually let me go.... Which is kind of depressing. No just blowing the cargo hold doors to pull out my phat l00tz, or even a counter offer or reason of logic....

I mean if you want to be considered a real pirate and a scourge of the 7 sectors (yaaarrrr!) you kind of have to be willing to deliver on your threats... That's kind of the very definition of a pirate. And if you're not then you're just a privateer, and obviously a kind of wimpy and poor one at that..... Tip: Blow up my ship if I refuse to give you cargo, and then keep hunting for me specifically until I get so tired of losing money so much that I decide to capitulate and start giving you my share. Heck you might even be able to negotiate up from 20% more of my holdings to pass (call it cost/tax for wasting your time previously). Your job is kind of to be a jerk, so be a jerk (nothing says you can't say "hey this isn't personal, I'm just playing a pirate role and sorry for your frustration") in a professional manner. Don't just give up and let me go (especially when carrying a full load of palladium). Otherwise maybe you should go back to simply hunting at the RES's or hauling cargo yourself.

Anyways just my 2 cents, but I have been known to be wrong... from time to time.

Let me get this straight... He interdicted you.... He demanded cargo...... You refused..... he let you go.......

ROTFLMAO.......

 

[mossfoot]

And I will definitely check out your personal variant... Though I put not dying down to someone actually rescuing your escape pod ala the novels where unless massive firepower is brought to bear on to a ship everyone tends to somehow magically escape and survive, heroes and faceless NPCs alike. Or that all of my Trading personalities are just seperate tramp freighters working for the same company, all equally worth a dime a dozen and linked with tracking devices to prevent them from giving in (again similar to what the employers do in the novels).

I agree about the lore element, which is why I don't play "true" Ironman (where dead is dead period, which some people enjoy). But obviously ejection seats can't always work.

With the Pilot Ejection Table the odds of surviving are still good - but it scales depending on the circumstances of your ejecting.

For example, if you crashed outside a station you have the best possible odds of surviving because search and rescue is right there, and they have every tool at their disposal to get you (still a chance of critical failure, though, or the insurance company screwing you over). But if you die in an Anarchy system outnumbered 4 to 1, the odds drop greatly. Check it out, KellyR was good enough to create a program version in case you don't have a d20 to use

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107694

Having that hanging over your head will definitely change your attitude regarding cost benefit analysis

 

[FuegoPantalones]

As a pirate, I've probably let more traders go than destroyed. There is some method behind this apparent contradiction. Mainly, I don't want to too heavily dissuade open play. Destroying a ship is the last resort and is based mostly on how much resistance I face (or how much someone says "FU PIERATE SCUM" in local). Typically, in a situation like yours, I'd go for hatch breakers or shoot out the cargo hatch. After the cargo drops I'll ignore you. I might even tell you how to reboot/repair - a feature many still seem to be unaware of - and then let you go on your way. And, as often as not, it seems, you'll get away on your own as I'm trying to disable you, not blow you up.

 

[CMDRJob']

lol thats a hilarious scenario

Pirate: drop all your cargo or ill blow you otta the sky
Trader: No
Pirate: Oh... hmm not sure where to go from here then, i didnt plan for this

 

[Ydiss]

Welcome to the game, commander.

Just a friendly pointer; the pirates were playing the role of pirate no less than you were playing the role of prey. No one facing certain death would flaunt in the face of their aggressor if they actually stood to lose their life. Thankfully for you, all you had on the line was an hour of your time. And the pirates who opted to not destroy your ship decided your bounty fine wasn't worth it. Or felt they didn't want to put new players off from the game too much..

If you want the real deal, the full immersion of the galaxy, and you want others to play in the spirit of the game, you'd never admit to preferring self destruction over giving a few tons of cargo to another player trying to enjoy their role. You'd live it as close to theme as you could.

You're using trade to progress and this is the fastest, easiest way to do it. The pirate's path is the hardest and slowest. And if everyone self destructed then no one would bother trying, limiting the depth and immersion of our galaxy to the point where you might as well play solo.

Enjoy the game how you like (it's a lot of fun). But if you're to call others out for not playing in the spirit of the game, please don't avoid that spirit yourself.

 

[mossfoot]

As a pirate, I've probably let more traders go than destroyed. There is some method behind this apparent contradiction. Mainly, I don't want to too heavily dissuade open play. Destroying a ship is the last resort and is based mostly on how much resistance I face (or how much someone says "FU PIERATE SCUM" in local). Typically, in a situation like yours, I'd go for hatch breakers or shoot out the cargo hatch. After the cargo drops I'll ignore you. I might even tell you how to reboot/repair - a feature many still seem to be unaware of - and then let you go on your way. And, as often as not, it seems, you'll get away on your own as I'm trying to disable you, not blow you up.

Hat's off to you, sir.

See, here's the thing. The OP complained about the pirate not having the balls to do the job, but there is a HUGE perception problem with pirates right now being griefers and player killers that people like Fuego here are trying to fight. They don't want to encourage PKing unless necessary, because the last thing they want is actual griefers to feel like their behavior is the way gameplay was intended.

It's up to pirates to pirate properly - You give up the cargo, they let you go. It's good for business anyway, since a trader will be less likely to fight to the death if instead they can just give up X cargo and still be on their way (and probably still make a profit in the process).

Is it annoying? Yes, but it adds life and excitement to the universe. Maybe I can escape the pirate (and I have) or maybe I'll get my engines shot out (and I have) and maybe I'll encounter a psycho who just wants me dead. That uncertainty is going to keep me on my toes on every player interdiction.

 

[GluttonyFang]

Been a longtime lover of space sims, and thank you Frontier for re-entering the arena. Which BTW to those gritching about it being on STEAM, my STEAM notices in the only reason I noticed it was out. Hey I'm a 40 year old father of 2 and husband that doesn't have time to always look to see what's coming out, or even kickstarting unless it shows up from friends or in my email. So thanks for going to STEAM as well Frontier.

So anyways, played solo a bit to get my feet wet, worked up to becoming a tramp freighter in my handy T-6 and decided last Wednesday to start going online since solo seems a little lacking in challenge/threat.... Now I have ran into several PC pirates in the game, but they are certainly not pirates. They interdict me, take out my shields, even take out my engines... Yay!!! Finally danger, fear.... Then they say drop so much of my hold and they'll let me go... Um ok... so I simply reply "Uh, no...." just to see what they do...

They of course lay out all kinds of threats and tell me they are REALLY going to blow up my ship... to which I reply "Listen I know it takes you time to find a good victim, drop them out of space, threaten them, get their cargo, etc.... You're just wasting your time to me because I would rather simply self destruct and waste both of our time rather than give you my cargo"... And they then proceed to be flabbergasted and eventually let me go.... Which is kind of depressing. No just blowing the cargo hold doors to pull out my phat l00tz, or even a counter offer or reason of logic....

I mean if you want to be considered a real pirate and a scourge of the 7 sectors (yaaarrrr!) you kind of have to be willing to deliver on your threats... That's kind of the very definition of a pirate. And if you're not then you're just a privateer, and obviously a kind of wimpy and poor one at that..... Tip: Blow up my ship if I refuse to give you cargo, and then keep hunting for me specifically until I get so tired of losing money so much that I decide to capitulate and start giving you my share. Heck you might even be able to negotiate up from 20% more of my holdings to pass (call it cost/tax for wasting your time previously). Your job is kind of to be a jerk, so be a jerk (nothing says you can't say "hey this isn't personal, I'm just playing a pirate role and sorry for your frustration") in a professional manner. Don't just give up and let me go (especially when carrying a full load of palladium). Otherwise maybe you should go back to simply hunting at the RES's or hauling cargo yourself.

Anyways just my 2 cents, but I have been known to be wrong... from time to time.

Please come to Lave cluster and find a CODE member...

 

[Calico Jack]

Perhaps they were avid forum readers and just couldn't bring themselves to risk yet another 'your valid play style ruined this multiplayer game for me' thread.

As someone who falls on the piratical spectrum, I respect players who choose to trade in open, and actively try not to kill them. It does confuse me somewhat when players blow themselves up rather than handing over 15 units of cargo, but hey, with a little 'oh' and a head-tilt, I'm on my way.

 

[Ydiss]

Perhaps they were avid forum readers and just couldn't bring themselves to risk yet another 'your valid play style ruined this multiplayer game for me' thread.

As someone who falls on the piratical spectrum, I respect players who choose to trade in open, and actively try not to kill them. It does confuse me somewhat when players blow themselves up rather than handing over 15 units of cargo, but hey, with a little 'oh' and a head-tilt, I'm on my way.

Indeed.

Lose 15 tons, go on to sell 40-500 and make a big profit. Pirate player is either thrilled because they're new at it and actually managed to get a player score, or otherwise enjoys the interaction and feels good about the game in general.

Or, self destruct, lose all your cargo and pay the rebuy and lose the time. Oh and "stick it" to the pirate, who is either upset because they are struggling to make do (good on you for reverse griefing) or don't give a toss because they already have billions and are just enjoying the game.

I know who I'd rather be.