Data Piracy

[Melanthes]

There is a consent that piracy is in a bad place. I'd like to propose a simple way to make it more interesting and worthwhile: Let us use recon limpets on ships.
Not to hack the cargo systems, but to steal data from the ship computer. For example trade data from space truckers, military data from authority ships or possibly even vouchers from player ships etc. We already live in an age where information can be far more valuable than products, and the black box missions already imply that this is true for the elite universe. Piracy as an active player role should include this aspect and this would also broaden the scope of piracy.

 

[Killnine]

Good idea.

This mechanism could also be used for new kinds of missions.

 

[Iskariot]

There is a consent that piracy is in a bad place. I'd like to propose a simple way to make it more interesting and worthwhile: Let us use recon limpets on ships.
Not to hack the cargo systems, but to steal data from the ship computer. For example trade data from space truckers, military data from authority ships or possibly even vouchers from player ships etc. We already live in an age where information can be far more valuable than products, and the black box missions already imply that this is true for the elite universe. Piracy as an active player role should include this aspect and this would also broaden the scope of piracy.

I would love this.
I have been asking for espionage missions since the beta.

 

[Bloodsign]

This is a great idea. I think there should also be some kind of credit extortion system, which would expand piracy from just larceny to also include protection rackets and hostage taking.

Not that I ever do these things, but I'm a pirate killer so I want the pirate population to thrive.

 

[Morgan James]

I like this

 

[Riverside]

I think there is some merit in this, functionally it is similar to stealing or scavenging cargo canisters.

One of the things I have considered before wrt exploration data is that it could be copied by the pirate & then there is a race to sell it first. Naturally if the explorer loses their ship in the encounter the data would be lost to them anyway, but the 'baddie' could gain from it (the explorer would still get the tags but not the money). Exploration data can be a powerful BGS influence, the 'baddie' would be able to choose where it was sold, it could also be copied from them.

 

[Tarman]

I think there is some merit in this, functionally it is similar to stealing or scavenging cargo canisters.

One of the things I have considered before wrt exploration data is that it could be copied by the pirate & then there is a race to sell it first. Naturally if the explorer loses their ship in the encounter the data would be lost to them anyway, but the 'baddie' could gain from it (the explorer would still get the tags but not the money). Exploration data can be a powerful BGS influence, the 'baddie' would be able to choose where it was sold, it could also be copied from them.

Not against it personally, but I'd probably pair this idea with a saline broker. If people get bent now about getting iced while carting 50m worth of carto data, imagine how much saltier they'll be if someone punks their data, kills them so they also lose the tags, and then flies off with a cool 50 mil which can also be used for BGS work.

 

[Riverside]

Not against it personally, but I'd probably pair this idea with a saline broker. If people get bent now about getting iced while carting 50m worth of carto data, imagine how much saltier they'll be if someone punks their data, kills them so they also lose the tags, and then flies off with a cool 50 mil which can also be used for BGS work.

In my suggestion they wouldn't lose their tags as long as the data was copied & sold by another. If they lose their ship they would lose the tags and cash, this way they may still keep their tags. Potentially the data could become worthless to the 'baddie' if the explorer dies.

Just a thought, this thread reminded me of it.

I understand what you mean about popping explorers being poor form but you don't have to fly your paper aeroplane all the way home. I have a few fast 'park & ride' ships dotted around the outskirts of the bubble for the last few dozen Ly home. I always have a plan on how to get the data safely home as part of my trip planning.

 

[Decksmeck]

You don't want to let everyone get away with their Mats do you? I thought this game was called dangerous. Everyone should drop their Mats when they die. J/k

 

[Riverside]

You don't want to let everyone get away with their Mats do you? I thought this game was called dangerous. Everyone should drop their Mats when they die.

I think different people have different ideas of what dangerous means. The game is named after the rank, not a specific threat level.

When the game originally launched Cargo, vouchers/bonds and exploration data were lost on ship destruction to provide an incentive for the player to return to port rather than simply self-destruct under certain circumstances. This is essentially for gameplay reasons but in some cases also makes sense in the game (eg cargo being lost).

When mats were introduced (in 1.5/2.0 (same update)) the justification for their surviving rebuy was again for gameplay reasons - they are things the player will want to collect for later use (originally only synthesis) rather than cash in/sell (which was not an option, although they could be discarded at the time). Various lore justifications attempted to retcon this - they are stored in your escape pod etc, but as the storage limits grew (it was originally 100 units total for all mats in a shared bin) this made less sense.

In both cases where items are retained or lost after hull loss, it is primarily because it is a game rather than for any justification in lore.