Newcomer / Intro AI ships fight each other? All Loot is stolen?

[ezra0r]

Hello,

Last night I found an unidentified signature and I went in. There I found two federation ships and another one with a bounty, I thought it would be my chance to get advantage and join the fight when the shi with the bounty had low shields.

But the two federation ships seemed to be flying after the one with a bounty but without shooting a single shot. The ship with the bounty kept deploying and retracting its hardpoints (or my ship constantly reported a warning about that ship deploying hardpoints) and doing some short attempts at shooting but hitting nothing. They looked like butterflies flying around each other more than anything else, so I left kind of dissapointed (me in newbie ship didn't stand a chance against the ship with bounty without help).

Is this common? Do you guys see npc ships out there killing each other? If so, do they drop stuff you can loot?

--

Allow me a second question.

All the loot you find in certain unidentified signatures is considered "stolen"? or so it looks in my cargo when i pick it up.

 

[Psycho Fox]

Hello,

Last night I found an unidentified signature and I went in. There I found two federation ships and another one with a bounty, I thought it would be my chance to get advantage and join the fight when the shi with the bounty had low shields.

But the two federation ships seemed to be flying after the one with a bounty but without shooting a single shot. The ship with the bounty kept deploying and retracting its hardpoints (or my ship constantly reported a warning about that ship deploying hardpoints) and doing some short attempts at shooting but hitting nothing. They looked like butterflies flying around each other more than anything else, so I left kind of dissapointed (me in newbie ship didn't stand a chance against the ship with bounty without help).

Is this common? Do you guys see npc ships out there killing each other? If so, do they drop stuff you can loot?

--

Allow me a second question.

All the loot you find in certain unidentified signatures is considered "stolen"? or so it looks in my cargo when i pick it up.

I've seen this happen more frequently at Nav Points and Resource extraction sites but not so much if at all at USSs. You'll see fights taking place kilmetres away. The cops only seem to get involved once you start firing yourself, mind you I have not just sat back and waited to see what happens. Some smugglers will drop cargo, again more frequently at USSs which you can then pick up.

The canisters are officially owned by someone on a data base and carry some sort registration numbers designating their owner. This is why anything you pick up will be labelled 'stolen' I'm afraid.

 

[DaveB]

...Is this common? Do you guys see npc ships out there killing each other? If so, do they drop stuff you can loot?

--

Allow me a second question.

All the loot you find in certain unidentified signatures is considered "stolen"? or so it looks in my cargo when i pick it up.

First question: Yes. You will see authority beating up on wanted AI ships, they will also turn up and join the fight if you are getting into it with a pirate that attacked you. No they will not drop loot. A destroyed ship never drops loot, the cargo is destroyed with the ship. If you want loot out of a ship you have to find some way to get it before you boil them. (if you're pirating an NPC they will typically drop cargo when their hull gets low if they can't get away from you)

Second question: If it was "abandoned" (only players do this, NPCs always jettison) anyone can scoop it. If it was "jettisoned" (note - everything found floating in random encounters fits this category) then it is still tagged with its rightful owner, and that aint you. If you scooped it, you stole it.

 

[Gauntlet]

Seen this once or twice but usually the bigger problem is accidently hitting the security ships when you and they are attacking a wanted. Be careful to avoid that or you'll become wanted and the security may well switch their attention to you. If that does happen you're best off hightailing it out of there and paying off your fines.

For your second question, all cargo belongs to someone so if you find it at a USS or some is dropped by another ship and you pick it up it will be marked as stolen, to get rid of it you need to find a station with a black market but avoid getting scanned as you'll be fined big for carrying stolen goods. An outpost is a safer bet than a station as theres much less security around