If he’s anything like humans he’ll just assume he’s going to die and combat log, but yeah, it’s a variation I’d like to see, and I would REALLY like to see an AI which allows you to negotiate.Depends- you could have a weighting based on sec, but it should be a calculation based on immediate need
For example, if I'm pointing several high DPS weapons, have notoriety of 10 the traders going to know he'll die regardless of where he is unless he drops his fruit and veg.
Balancing of NPC piracy
- Thread starter CaptainPugwash
- Start date
The negotiation would be
"Unless you drop everything right now, this bleep is going up bleep.
Or
Drop your cargo, or I make you into Kumo Burgers!
They could still try and buy themselves some time until the cops arrive, i'd write a witty example dialog if i could think of one lol ..
Coms is the biggest issue with pvp piracy imo.
Whenever I do it, it usually has to run like so:
1: Interdict trader player. (hope they dont hit escape from game timer immediatly on interdiction)
2: Instantly target enemy on drop, and immediatly fire multiple hatch breakers.
3: Deploy hardpoints, Regain control of ship and start shooting at enemys shields. Hope this drives them off so you can collect loot, which is spread all over the place.
4: Avoid the rozzers who have invariably dropped in whilst doing this.
Or you have to do intimidation...
1: as above.
2: Immediatly open coms panel. Try to get tbe panel to enter typing mode. Start typing. Send message. Close the coms panel.
3: try to catch up on opponent, whose fsd has now rebooted as i am not a secretary and so do not touch/speed type.
4: Watch opponent fly off whilst i then find cops dropping in..
So nope, I dont use coms.
Apparently, a lot of player traders are secretarys too btw, as they do seem to get quite a few messages off to me.
I think they are also dockers, judging by the prose often used.
Whenever I do it, it usually has to run like so:
1: Interdict trader player. (hope they dont hit escape from game timer immediatly on interdiction)
2: Instantly target enemy on drop, and immediatly fire multiple hatch breakers.
3: Deploy hardpoints, Regain control of ship and start shooting at enemys shields. Hope this drives them off so you can collect loot, which is spread all over the place.
4: Avoid the rozzers who have invariably dropped in whilst doing this.
Or you have to do intimidation...
1: as above.
2: Immediatly open coms panel. Try to get tbe panel to enter typing mode. Start typing. Send message. Close the coms panel.
3: try to catch up on opponent, whose fsd has now rebooted as i am not a secretary and so do not touch/speed type.
4: Watch opponent fly off whilst i then find cops dropping in..
So nope, I dont use coms.
Apparently, a lot of player traders are secretarys too btw, as they do seem to get quite a few messages off to me.
I think they are also dockers, judging by the prose often used.
Mateys, lest we forget...
Where's the buried treasure!
Arghh!
(Would be awesome if boarding parties became a thing in some later version of Odyssey...)
As someone who thoroughly enjoys a good bump-stop I have to admit ideas along the lines of grappling hooks, tractor limpets, etc.. are all sensible suggestions.
My general impression is that piracy as it stands is very much an afterthought in terms of the developer's minds.
Ironically it's the only craft that needs to actively glean data in-game from the galaxy map and the fuzzy logic the data there provides.
No piracy apps on the web.
Where's the buried treasure!
Arghh!
(Would be awesome if boarding parties became a thing in some later version of Odyssey...)
As someone who thoroughly enjoys a good bump-stop I have to admit ideas along the lines of grappling hooks, tractor limpets, etc.. are all sensible suggestions.
My general impression is that piracy as it stands is very much an afterthought in terms of the developer's minds.
Ironically it's the only craft that needs to actively glean data in-game from the galaxy map and the fuzzy logic the data there provides.
No piracy apps on the web.
Odyssey will bring boarding of ships: we will shoot ourselves out of our cargo hatches with a blow torch in our mouths straight towards the unsuspecting victim with those jet packs, then we'll cut through their hull, disable the power plant, tie the crew up (after a do or die shoot out), and jump off the ship again with a ton of gold attached to our backs.
Total haul with 3 crew members - 3 tonnes, profit at the BM? About 500,000 credits yarrr
I tried twice to get answer about piracy in the AMA. I was just ignored and another person asked something similar and just got another snide remark. Either this means piracy is dead buried and never coming back or odyssey actually is going to have something related to it and they are dodging the question to not give anything away. Who knows maybee the alleged exopod will be used to rope in a drifting ship.
I've done some NPC piracy in Colonia during last couple of weeks. My observations:
In my opinion, just two small adjustments would make NPC piracy much better activity in terms of both fun and reward:
That would be a good start for more complex changes.
- The population seems to be not high enough to spawn ships carrying LTDs. Only some cheap minerals like Indite. No chances for stuff priced at 100k+.
- Many ships equipped with mining lasers and refineries but carrying tea, meat, fish, toxic waste or other funny stuff in cargo hold.
- I've encountered quite funny builds. For example: novice Type-7 having very weak shields (two seconds of beams and they're gone) but four point defence turrets. I had to gather stuff manually since her hull was down to 6% while two turrets were still up and I couldn't use limpets.
- Never had to jump more than once to catch the prey in a lawless system, which is good.
- Quite a lot of Private Courier Service vessels. I just cannot understand why they have just a small fraction of available cargo filled. You can get not more than 30-40 items from Type-9/Type-10, even less from smaller ships. Prices are 100-160k per item, so reward for robbing an elite Type-10 (which is not an easy task and takes some time) is 3-6M tops.
In my opinion, just two small adjustments would make NPC piracy much better activity in terms of both fun and reward:
- Make Private Courier ships carry more cargo.
- Make all mineable minerals/metals available near systems with relevant mining spots.
That would be a good start for more complex changes.
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I don’t think population is that significant, but you need the system to be industrial economy.I've done some NPC piracy in Colonia during last couple of weeks. My observations:
- The population seems to be not high enough to spawn ships carrying LTDs. Only some cheap minerals like Indite. No chances for stuff priced at 100k+.
- Many ships equipped with mining lasers and refineries but carrying tea, meat, fish, toxic waste or other funny stuff in cargo hold.
- I've encountered quite funny builds. For example: novice Type-7 having very weak shields (two seconds of beams and they're gone) but four point defence turrets. I had to gather stuff manually since her hull was down to 6% while two turrets were still up and I couldn't use limpets.
- Never had to jump more than once to catch the prey in a lawless system, which is good.
- Quite a lot of Private Courier Service vessels. I just cannot understand why they have just a small fraction of available cargo filled. You can get not more than 30-40 items from Type-9/Type-10, even less from smaller ships. Prices are 100-160k per item, so reward for robbing an elite Type-10 (which is not an easy task and takes some time) is 3-6M tops.
In my opinion, just two small adjustments would make NPC piracy much better activity in terms of both fun and reward:
- Make Private Courier ships carry more cargo.
- Make all mineable minerals/metals available near systems with relevant mining spots.
That would be a good start for more complex changes.
Chasing the high-sell systems for ores gives me moderate success with PvP piracy, but it's plagued by all the same problems, and more, that regular PvP is plagued with.
As for PvE, fixing megaship looting would be nice. Hacking the cargo racks just opens the hatch but none of the cargo comes out at all. And the cargo usually sucks anyway. :|
As for PvE, fixing megaship looting would be nice. Hacking the cargo racks just opens the hatch but none of the cargo comes out at all. And the cargo usually sucks anyway. :|
That's a prerequisite.
I've tried industrial systems as well as agriculture and refinery. Not a single ship carrying LTDs or anything more expensive than Samarium (around 30-35k in Black Market).
I can agree with some of the proposed changes, if not for the fact that its kinda silly that you're only really trying to pirate LTD's.
But I dont think pirating is useless. Its my go-to for when I need credits.
I think when all the stars align (proximity to decent black market, right BGS, and cargo between 200-350) you're competing with some of the most profitable activities in the game. When my piracy system had good prices for LTDs I was making some of the best credits per hour I ever have. And even when you're missing some of that, you're still on par with stuff like laser mining in my experience. For whatever it loses in the 25% black market discount, it makes up in speed.
Like, Ive been kind of grinding credits recently, and exclusively doing piracy.
4.5 billion in 10 days.. On and off.. Not that bad lol
In my opinion, NPC piracy is one of the most rewarding careers in the game, as all the bump stopping, black market/smuggling know how, starts directly correlating with your credits per hour. You can really feel yourself getting more and more efficient.
Its definitely not as easy or intuitive as a lot of other things, but I think if you enjoy it its definitely something worth getting good at.
But I dont think pirating is useless. Its my go-to for when I need credits.
I think when all the stars align (proximity to decent black market, right BGS, and cargo between 200-350) you're competing with some of the most profitable activities in the game. When my piracy system had good prices for LTDs I was making some of the best credits per hour I ever have. And even when you're missing some of that, you're still on par with stuff like laser mining in my experience. For whatever it loses in the 25% black market discount, it makes up in speed.
Like, Ive been kind of grinding credits recently, and exclusively doing piracy.
4.5 billion in 10 days.. On and off.. Not that bad lol
In my opinion, NPC piracy is one of the most rewarding careers in the game, as all the bump stopping, black market/smuggling know how, starts directly correlating with your credits per hour. You can really feel yourself getting more and more efficient.
Its definitely not as easy or intuitive as a lot of other things, but I think if you enjoy it its definitely something worth getting good at.
Looks like you’re a better pirate than me lol, I don’t think many players have recently made the kind of money you have. As an example: I recently had a good run at FROG: found a T7 then a T9, so I filled my 192t python in about 45 mins, then took me about 10 mins to find a sell station - total profit was about 60m. Not bad, sure, but it was a good run indeed.
Yeah, that was my idea, too, since I'm not compatible with mining at all.
An absolutely mesmerizing outcome! Since I believe I'm pretty good at finding and efficiently robbing my prey, I clearly must be doing something wrong at the selling stuff part. Never earned more than 80-90k per T of LTD. Even if eddb shows regular price at 300+k level for specific station, and the data is just a few hours old, the price is 120k regular and 90k in Black Market when I get there.
A gain from robbing Private Courier Services is pretty steady at 6-8M per big ship since even the biggest vessels haul small quantities of stuff.
So, if I try to calculate how many ships I have to rob and how much time it'll take to get 4.5B... I'm not sure I'll live long enough...
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lol, I hope my post didn't come off as "git gud" or anything, because it definitely one of the least intuitive things in elite.
But yeah- I kinda came at it from the perspective that I wanted to smuggle/trade more than I wanted to pirate. Which may seem silly, but I always like trading in games. I started out trying to hunt the best prices/qty demand until I started realizing that this was about how fast you can sell and then get back to pirating. Selling to fleet carriers is a solid choice (Gliese 3897 B has FCs selling for 200k which is great), but otherwise jump range is really nice to have. I use an Anaconda a lot of the times, outfitted for cargo and jump range and generally sell after getting in that 200 range. A python that has enough to clean out a few miners or a t-9 is also a solid consideration, and truthfully I have no idea which is better. They both seem very good. The python being a lot easier to use, though.
Also major correction: about 3 billion, not 4.5 lmfao. My bad. I majorly misread my own graph. But still- thats good enough for me.
But yeah- I kinda came at it from the perspective that I wanted to smuggle/trade more than I wanted to pirate. Which may seem silly, but I always like trading in games. I started out trying to hunt the best prices/qty demand until I started realizing that this was about how fast you can sell and then get back to pirating. Selling to fleet carriers is a solid choice (Gliese 3897 B has FCs selling for 200k which is great), but otherwise jump range is really nice to have. I use an Anaconda a lot of the times, outfitted for cargo and jump range and generally sell after getting in that 200 range. A python that has enough to clean out a few miners or a t-9 is also a solid consideration, and truthfully I have no idea which is better. They both seem very good. The python being a lot easier to use, though.
Also major correction: about 3 billion, not 4.5 lmfao. My bad. I majorly misread my own graph. But still- thats good enough for me.
Slow day today did not get one T9... just T7 / FGS / Aspex for me...
No T9 LTD today boo
Every single one had point defence turrets just like me. lol..
Ill put them on the FC.. as price has still tanked...
No T9 LTD today boo
Every single one had point defence turrets just like me. lol..
Ill put them on the FC.. as price has still tanked...
So... at say, 200,000 credits per ton, 3 billion is 15000... you'd have to be pirating 1500 tons a day of something. That's about 12 T7's a day.
You're extremely lucky with spawns.
What can I say? Some people have a lot of spare time ..
I don't have to make biliions. I'm ok to do 1-2 ships per my "pirate-trip" and sell the stuff for prices high enough traders don't laugh at me.