Will pirates leave you alone if you drop cargo?

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

I've googled but I get mixed answers. Will pirates leave you alone or at least be distracted long enough for you to escape if you drop them some cargo?

I hear some say it works and others say it doesn't.

 

[CAPT. Ho Chi Minge]

I've googled but I get mixed answers. Will pirates leave you alone or at least be distracted long enough for you to escape if you drop them some cargo?

I hear some say it works and others say it doesn't.

From past experience if its an Ai pirate then they dont really care and will shred you if they can, regardless of any cargo they demand or if you drop any. To be fair though i have not checked in so long so it could have changed but id doubt it, the only thing im aware of is that drones shouldnt be on a list of tasty cargo.

Personally id prefer if they had an option or 2 for interacting with npc's in these situations , press 1 to agree to drop cargo (or whatever) then once you have dropped the desired amount he will leave you be.

 

[Anopheles]

Speaking for my pirates, it would depend what you dropped.

Anopheles
Master of 'His Red Right Hand'
Prince of Pieces
Mote in the Eye of Trade
The King in the Dark
The Shepherd of Other Men's Cargo
The Lord of the Things
Etc, etc

 

[Mr_Blastman]

I will if you drop what I ask and how much I asked for. I'll wish you a good day and to be on your way.

 

[X-Terminator]

I hope this mechanic does work or will do once fixed if pressed enough.
Also I hope it works in contrary - a NPC drops cargo and he tries to flee as you then decide to scoop it!
To some players it is a good mechanic of play - to others it's bounty money to collect. Both should work.

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[DaveB]

Yes. NPC pirates will let you go if you drop cargo, or at least stop shooting at you long enough to scoop it which means you get away. Some of them are coded to be greedy though and will demand more after your first drop.

 

[CMDR Derrida]

Yes, all of them will! And if they don't, tell them to stand on the naughty step!

 

[bkrownd]

LOL, how do you "drop cargo" when you're busy panic spamming the boost button and doing constant evasive manouvers to survive? Just keep boosting.

 

[h347h]

LOL, how do you "drop cargo" when you're busy panic spamming the boost button and doing constant evasive manouvers to survive? Just keep boosting.

Because they are coded to not shoot 95% of the time if you are stop.

 

[DaveB]

LOL, how do you "drop cargo" when you're busy panic spamming the boost button and doing constant evasive manouvers to survive? Just keep boosting.

With the other hand. I can spam the boost button and manipulate lateral thrusters and flight assist from the controls on the stick-side of the HOTAS. All my in-flight UI navigation is on the throttle-side so it's fairly easy to stay at full throttle, flying a random evasive pattern and constantly boosting with my right hand, while selecting a couple of cans to spit out with my left hand if I think I'm not going to get out of there with an intact hide without it.

ETA: even leaves me enough time for the left thumb to tag either the chaff or SCB buttons a few times too

 

[GluttonyFang]

LOL, how do you "drop cargo" when you're busy panic spamming the boost button and doing constant evasive manouvers to survive? Just keep boosting.

Um... go to your system panel and do what you have to do?

Trying to run will probably get you killed more than complying... or the best case scenario are destroyed modules and more cargo demands than what would be the amount if the trader complied.

 

[DaveB]

Um... go to your system panel and do what you have to do?

Trying to run will probably get you killed more than complying... or the best case scenario are destroyed modules and more cargo demands than what would be the amount if the trader complied.

I think the OP of the thread was referring more to NPCs responding to dropped cargo than to your fine scurvy crew Encounters with you guys are safer, we can TALK to you

 

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

Yes. NPC pirates will let you go if you drop cargo, or at least stop shooting at you long enough to scoop it which means you get away. Some of them are coded to be greedy though and will demand more after your first drop.

I will test this out.

 

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

I found this. So apparently, if you drop cargo the NPC's will go for it allowing you to escape. So, all you need to do is carry some extra cargo?

[video=youtube;TijL_oUz50k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijL_oUz50k[/video]

 

[Jukelo]

I dropped an entire load of Bertrandite (460t) for an Elite python, when trying out trading. It did not work, apparently it wasn't valuable enough.
NPCs probably require the cargo to reach a set value depending on their rank. If you don't have enough in your cargo hold, just pray it's not one of the bugged NPCs and that you can at least survive until you highwake.

 

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

I dropped an entire load of Bertrandite (460t) for an Elite python, when trying out trading. It did not work, apparently it wasn't valuable enough.
NPCs probably require the cargo to reach a set value depending on their rank. If you don't have enough in your cargo hold, just pray it's not one of the bugged NPCs and that you can at least survive until you highwake.

If that's true, then that's what should be fixed.

It would be cool if you had to make tough choices about whether you were better off giving up what the pirate demands versus fighting him. Ideally, the pirates should accept any cargo.

 

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

Recently someone mentioned that it even works with dropped limpets. Can anyone confirm this? Would be a possible solution for miners. Though personally I'd prefer fighting, not sure though if that's still a good idea with the new AI.

I think in an ideal universe there would be some pirates who are just too tough for you to fight. You would just have to give those bullies your lunch money until you git gudder. That way there would always be this calculation, "can I take him? Is it worth the risk?"

For this to work the pirates would have to be reasonable and not just homicidal sociopaths.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Unsure if anything changed in V2.1, but based on previous tests :

Drop ~25% of your Cargo value (everything combined), and they'll give you an appropriate message and cease fire.

So tossing them lots of cheap stuff won't work if you retain >75% of Cargo value in your hold.

Disclaimer :
During tests, I noticed that the new (far more powerful) NPCs still continue firing until their (rather unspecific) Demands are met; that hasn't changed.
That can actually mean that the own Ship is destroyed before the Cargo is physically overboard - simply due to User Interface and Cargo drop rate limitations.

Problem is, that large Trade Ships are quite likely to be unable to jettison the needed amounts of Cargo before they blow up.
It simply takes too long - and i.e. a Type-7 or Type-9 won't ever be able to sustain the firepower of a high-tier Anaconda, Python or even a Wing for that long.

IMHO Pirate archetype NPCs basically need to be changed to cease fire when the Player begins dumping Cargo, indicating cooperative intent.
No point in trying to agree to the (unspecific) demand and keep tossing out Cargo after Cargo, only to find out the Pirate NPCs is still not happy... all while continuing to fire all the time.

Basically the new Meta of modded Super-Weapons on NPCs doesn't allow for that anymore.

 

[BlackSpaceCowboy]

Unsure if anything changed in V2.1, but based on previous tests :

Drop ~25% of your Cargo value (everything combined), and they'll give you an appropriate message and cease fire.

So tossing them lots of cheap stuff won't work if you retain >75% of Cargo value in your hold.

Disclaimer :
During tests, I noticed that the new (far more powerful) NPCs still continue firing until their (rather unspecific) Demands are met; that hasn't changed.
That can actually mean that the own Ship is destroyed before the Cargo is physically overboard - simply due to User Interface and Cargo drop rate limitations.

Problem is, that large Trade Ships are quite likely to be unable to jettison the needed amounts of Cargo before they blow up.
It simply takes too long - and i.e. a Type-7 or Type-9 won't ever be able to sustain the firepower of a high-tier Anaconda, Python or even a Wing for that long.

IMHO Pirate archetype NPCs basically need to be changed to cease fire when the Player begins dumping Cargo, indicating cooperative intent.
No point in trying to agree to the (unspecific) demand and keep tossing out Cargo after Cargo, only to find out the Pirate NPCs is still not happy... all while continuing to fire all the time.

Basically the new Meta of modded Super-Weapons on NPCs doesn't allow for that anymore.

I tried this in a viper. I had 4 units of cargo.

The first guy I gave him 1 unit and he was happy. The second guy I tried 1 unit but he kept firing so I gave him another and he left me alone. The last guy, I only had 1 so he took it.

I don't know about large ships but I see no reason you wouldn't have time to access the menu and dump what you need. I wish their demands were more clear. It's like players have to figure out the rules through trial and error.

 

[Kaybe]

Hmmm ... note to self: stop turning off the cargo hatch to conserve power