A Guide to Minor Factions and the Background Sim

[Rubbernuke]

Quick question about Pirate Attack.
How do you cause it and how to you counter it ?
Also what are its effects ? (apart from it making Core mining items good to sell)

My take- based on observations straddling 3.3.02 and 3.3.03

Pirate attacks happen at random in systems experiencing civil liberty. The underlying cause is that the higher the security bar goes, the lighter the sec response in system. This is based on 3.3.03 security observations and behaviour.

Pirate attacks (this is based on 3.3.02) do not affect anything other than provide lots and lots of wanted ships and illegal cargo. They appear and spawn a few weak ships for the controlling faction, about 10 pirates. On its own it does nothing, its what you do with the contents that matter really.

The pirate attack I had dissapeared mid tick, so I wonder if either it was a laggy tick remnant.

All of this could be wrong now though, as FD have plugged stuff in for 3.3.03.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Pirate attacks happen at random in systems experiencing civil liberty.

A couple of counter examples:
Magellan is currently in its second Pirate Attack - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/systems/13/history - but hasn't been in Civil Liberty since December
Dubbuennel has just had a Pirate Attack start - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/systems/20/history - but hasn't been in Civil Liberty since January

 

[Rubbernuke]

A couple of counter examples:
Magellan is currently in its second Pirate Attack - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/systems/13/history - but hasn't been in Civil Liberty since December
Dubbuennel has just had a Pirate Attack start - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/systems/20/history - but hasn't been in Civil Liberty since January

Then I stand corrected, it must be something else that pops it in. The only times I've ever seen it is in civil liberty, so that can't be a common factor then.

 

[Starwolfe]

My first pirate attack occurred in a low-population system in Civil Liberty - but only after I took a pirate Lord mission that targeted the controlling faction there.

So, it might be associated as a mission effect? Tied with population and whatnot for how to trigger it, as I've taken other Pirate Lord missions like that in larger systems and not seen the Pirate Attack, however I had not done too many there.

 

[CMDR Ahlos]

So if i read this correct, is pending expansion 5 days, and another 5-6 days for completion of expansion?

 

[Jmanis]

So if i read this correct, is pending expansion 5 days, and another 5-6 days for completion of expansion?

I was always under the impression it was 7 and 7

 

[CMDR Ahlos]

I was always under the impression it was 7 and 7

I dont know. but thats how i read the pic with diffrent states and days etc.. So confusing, so many diffrent ones saying diffrent things.. Hard to know whats true... :O

 

[Walt Kerman]

At one point on here everything was correct but this thread is pretty old. It has certainly changed since the time it was created and there are a lot of new more accurate guides out now. It can still give a general indicator for how the BGS works but mostly it serves as a historical record for how it used to work. I may change the OP to reflect that to avoid confusion.

 

[DNA-Decay]

At one point on here everything was correct but this thread is pretty old.

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple."

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

 

[Pro Cambarus]

Pending expansion is always 5 days, active expansion is 4-7 days.

 

[CMDR Ahlos]

Pending expansion is always 5 days, active expansion is 4-7 days.

And there is nothing to help it during pending and active other then watch out for a war/election so it cancells by that right.

 

[Ryan Murdoc]

And there is nothing to help it during pending and active other then watch out for a war/election so it cancells by that right.

Not anymore. That's how it worked before 3.3, these days Expansion is the only System-spanning State left, so not even a local conflict in the same System would cancel it out. Besides I'd like to see how you drain the expanding (P)MF from 75% downwards fast enough to actually trigger anything in the same System the Expansion goes out of.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Not anymore. That's how it worked before 3.3, these days Expansion is the only System-spanning State left, so not even a local conflict in the same System would cancel it out. Besides I'd like to see how you drain the expanding (P)MF from 75% downwards fast enough to actually trigger anything in the same System the Expansion goes out of.

Get very lucky (or very planned) with timing and space arrangements of an invasion so it hits the system controller, win the invasion conflict to boot them out of the system before the invasion completes.

Not completely impossible but you'd probably have to set up both sides of it as an art project to get it to work.

 

[Jmanis]

And there is nothing to help it during pending and active other then watch out for a war/election so it cancells by that right.

Nope. That doesn't work because you can have multiple active states.

Edit: ninjaed

 

[Harley Quinn]

well some people feel that pumping exploration data into the expanding system will put you on higher inf when you enter the new system, but i haven't seen the evidence to support that. As to war/election cancelling now, that would be difficult as it is only the expanding system that this can happen with. You can wars and elections going off everywhere else with no impact, and while dropping a faction from 75% plus into a war in doable, it's fairly obvious if it's happening and easy enough to counter

 

[Harley Quinn]

and for Ian's invasion, it's doable if the expansion is from a non native in a system with 6 native factions in the expansion system, and for the system due to invade all other invasion targets from that system have cycled through leaving the one with a non-native as the next to invade even with 75% plus and that invasion was triggered first. Possible, but very unlikely.

Although with a few blocking wars, may be possible to redirect

 

[Dommarraa]

Get very lucky (or very planned) with timing and space arrangements of an invasion so it hits the system controller, win the invasion conflict to boot them out of the system before the invasion completes.

Not completely impossible but you'd probably have to set up both sides of it as an art project to get it to work.

We currently have a Total Invasion in the pipeline, just 2 expansion cycles away.
Yes you might call it an art project, we are doing it for science!

 

[Ryan Murdoc]

Get very lucky (or very planned) with timing and space arrangements of an invasion so it hits the system controller, win the invasion conflict to boot them out of the system before the invasion completes.

Not completely impossible but you'd probably have to set up both sides of it as an art project to get it to work.

The recent Invasion of He Bo would qualify as such I guess. I mean to have a 30+ly Expansion cube so high in all Systems so a non-native PMF at 60% is being picked as Invasion target is just dayum.

 

[Max MsMon]

Greetings, commanders. Tell me how long the expansion pending lasts now. We have more than 10 days passed, there is no expansion.

And another question is whether there is updated documentation for BGS. I will be grateful for the link.

 

[SciTrekker]

Greetings, commanders. Tell me how long the expansion pending lasts now. We have more than 10 days passed, there is no expansion.

And another question is whether there is updated documentation for BGS. I will be grateful for the link.

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