Idea to encourage pirates to negotiate with traders
- Thread starter bassman
- Start date
That's the thing: current game mechanics make communicating with the prey counterproductive, as they will just give time for the trader to reach no fire zone, or charge their FSD.
First idea that comes to mind is a module that pirates could use which would prevent usage of FSD and stop the prey for the duration of negotiations, 1-3 mins, or until weapons are used (deployed) by either party. Let's not call it a webber
That's the thing: current game mechanics make communicating with the prey counterproductive, as they will just give time for the trader to reach no fire zone, or charge their FSD.
First idea that comes to mind is a module that pirates could use which would prevent usage of FSD and stop the prey for the duration of negotiations, 1-3 mins, or until weapons are used (deployed) by either party. Let's not call it a webber
I like that Idea, I'm not sure how it could work without feeling clunky but if you could disadvantage both pirate and victim the same while allowing communications it could encourage a decent conversation.
It takes me forever to type, so replying to a pirate in real time is probably just going to ruin any chance of escape I had, so I will probably just run.
I don't know how you can do it in a real time game though. As you would both be sitting ducks for everyone else.
Cheers
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Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
First idea that comes to mind is a module that pirates could use which would prevent usage of FSD and stop the prey for the duration of negotiations, 1-3 mins, or until weapons are used (deployed) by either party. Let's not call it a webber
.... and what's to stop the pirate's wingman deploying weapons while the pirate and target are in the 1-3 minute "negotiation" period?
There is no negotiation.. Drop all your cargo or be destroyed!
(Apologies to Blackadder)...sorry did I say "Drop all your cargo or be destroyed", I meant to say "Drop all your cargo AND be destroyed"
It isn't a case of FD following 'the exhortations of a vocal anti-PvP contingent'. The game is already biased against PvP by design. The game has been described many times by DBOBE as co-operative with a PvP element. Some of us just have to keep pointing this out when the 'Let's Change ED into a PvP Game' try and convince the forum otherwise. The so called 'anti PvP contingent' are only trying to maintain the status que and prevent the PvP lobbyists getting their way.
And what's to stop the trader from calling his escorts on standby during the same period?
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Hiring escorts when a ship has already left port would incur a time delay that would probably mean that the trader's smoking hull would be all that they would arrive to defend.
As a trader, I will be keen to encourage enthusiastic negotiations. To do so, I plan to fit as many weapons systems as there are hardpoints on my ship.
And we're back to the point Stoopyface was making earlier: you have to be prepared to be a successful trader in E: D - just like you have to be prepared to be a successful pirate, bounty hunter, or explorer.
Just because you're a trader shouldn't give you an "I win" button - and the same goes for pirates, of course.
And once again and again and again before people get agitated, I'm not asking for FFA PvP, but some element of balanced danger for those who elect to play in "all" group.
And that is why, when hailed by a PC pirate with their "YArrrrr!" message, my response is "will comply, will drop you some cargo. Please understand that I will have weapons deployed while I do so but will not fire unless fired upon"
I'll then be retreating in reverse, missiles locked on the pirate and dropping cargo, one can at a time until I've dropped enough to fill his hold. The moment I'm fired on I unload an alpha strike of lasers, plasma accelerator and missile racks in his face. A full load of 2xc2 and 2xc4 missile racks is pricey, but roughly evens out to match the cost of repairing my 'condas military bulkheads if I run under fire. I'd rather pay the same cost and get a break to disengage with the added bonus of potentially waxing the guy that didn't keep his word.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
As a trader, I will be keen to encourage enthusiastic negotiations. To do so, I plan to fit as many weapons systems as there are hardpoints on my ship.
.... and carry low cost cargo with at least a 100% profit margin....
i.e. Algae, Biowaste, Food Cartridges, Bauxite, Polymers, Scrap, Leather, Synthetic Fabrics, Mineral Oil, Heliostatic Furnaces, Grain, Pesticides, Synthetic Meat, Basic Medicines, Hazardous Environment Suits, Animal Monitors, Fruit and Vegetables, Clothing.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Of course we are!
It will be interesting to see how Frontier balance trading (which I expect to make massive profits in the game, as in RL - it generates the credits that make the galaxy revolve, after all) and piracy (and bounty hunting as well).
I'm glad to see some traders are prepared for the worst, and recognize the galaxy is not a soft-walled playground. There is hope for the game.
And this is coming from someone who has no plans to be a pirate.
And this is coming from someone who has no plans to be a pirate.
Curiously enough, I see no lobbying towards making PC bounty hunters less effective, or give them a way to get their bounty without blowing up their mark.
PC Pirates should basically limit their exploits to NPC traders, while PC bounty hunters hunting NPC and PC pirates alike are just fine, is the impression I get. And I don't like the notion of a PC pirate not being "allowed" (a.k.a. "enabled") to plunder a fat PC trader (because, "co-op"), but having to recon with a PC Viper on his tailpipe any second (and no way to "negotiate" his way out of it)...
Get me correctly. I don't have plans for extensive pirating myself, but I want to feel the threat of PC pirating if I'm running cargo. Because I seriously doubt AI NPC pirates will make for long-term gaming experience.
You know, infinite freedom, blast your own trail and all that jazz...
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Proper balancing is nearly impossible for the simple reason that one side can pick the fights it wants, while the other has no say in the matter. As long as someone has the initiative it's impossible to have any sort of "competitive" element in pvp when it concerns piracy, the whole piracy idea implies the fight is unbalanced.
Correct.
A Type 9 trader making half a million profit on a single cargo run, capable of jumping further than any trailing pirate could, that's unbalanced as well.
A Viper bounty hunter being faster, more agile, and more heavily armed than any other ship, that's unbalanced as well.
You meet someone on his / her home ground, you'll come out second best. You get someone on your home ground, you'll best him.
If the trader gets away more often than not, and actually blowing up the trader is not as profitable as... let's say, "coming to terms", that's what balancing is about. It's not about making the fight itself fair -- unless the trader has escorts.
PS: While we're at balancing, how about certain "high-profile" pirates (e.g. those that are known to blow up their targets) actually being traced by authorities, so that bounty hunters could pick up their last-seen whereabouts from the bulletin board? A PC pirate getting traced that way might soon find his days more full of combat than of plundering, while the "more gentlemanly" of plunderers get away with less attention...
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All of us that traded up to millions in the previous Beta know we can, to me it's part of the game. And I fully intent to hire Commanders as escort when needed as for me, the cooperative side of the game is a big part. I will also have one of my Commander slots for a Pirate.