Bribe pirates (npc/PVE)

[Babellon]

My primary role within the game is trading. I enjoy it, I find it relaxing as a break from the usual combat oriented games out there. Intergalactic trading and exploration are both good activities when I need a less stress related activity. One of the things I've noticed about trading in Elite however is that there is always some pre assigned pirate that will chase me down. Yes this adds an air of risk to the activity, it is sometimes even enjoyable to know that I must evade those pirates to get that high value cargo to its destination. The problem I run into is when I do fail that interdiction the pirates simply open fire on my unarmed trade vessel without any communication at all.

Someone recently explained that mechanic to me and I do appreciate that but I would like to see more non combat options to this encounter. That pirate wants my cargo for credits. I have credits, when that pirate notifies me that he wants my cargo having the option to instead pay the pirate to keep my cargo and be able to continue my journey without losing my ship, faction reputation, fines and rebuy costs would be nice.

How much is that cargo worth? I can pay that to the pirate instead of simply losing it all or losing my ship. The cost of the bribe equivalent to the cargo I'm holding.

 

[VR CMDR Novindus]

My primary role within the game is trading. I enjoy it, I find it relaxing as a break from the usual combat oriented games out there. Intergalactic trading and exploration are both good activities when I need a less stress related activity. One of the things I've noticed about trading in Elite however is that there is always some pre assigned pirate that will chase me down. Yes this adds an air of risk to the activity, it is sometimes even enjoyable to know that I must evade those pirates to get that high value cargo to its destination. The problem I run into is when I do fail that interdiction the pirates simply open fire on my unarmed trade vessel without any communication at all.

Someone recently explained that mechanic to me and I do appreciate that but I would like to see more non combat options to this encounter. That pirate wants my cargo for credits. I have credits, when that pirate notifies me that he wants my cargo having the option to instead pay the pirate to keep my cargo and be able to continue my journey without losing my ship, faction reputation, fines and rebuy costs would be nice.

How much is that cargo worth? I can pay that to the pirate instead of simply losing it all or losing my ship. The cost of the bribe equivalent to the cargo I'm holding.

This comes under the category of expanding and enhancing interaction with NPCs, which is a popular request in the community.
Additional options, or "parley" when dealing with pirates is a good suggestion.
Some people might say that credits are too easy to acquire in the game, making bribes essentially a non-sacrifice.
Also, what your cargo is worth will vary from system to system.

There's also the issue of a credit transfer option, which I believe Frontier will probably never implement, so it means it would have to be limited to NPC pirates only, which is another problem, as I think that all game mechanics should ideally treat NPCs and PCs equally, even if that's not always the case at the moment.

So I think the only thing really holding this idea back is either the potential for credit transfer exploits if it's to be applied to both PvE and PvP piracy, or else inconsistency if it's only to be applied to PvE piracy.

In any case, a parley mode with the option to talk your way out, threaten, or make counter-offers should at least be considered to make pirate encounters more varied and interesting.

+1 for the notion.

 

[Babellon]

Some have said there is an overabundance of credits and ways to gain credits in the game, this would be a great use of those excessive credits I think. I'm not sure how that would apply to players in the same scenario but for NPC pirates it seems that the mechanics we use to buy and sell in stations could also apply to those pirate factions. with a option added to the dialogue or a drop menu that says 'agree or disagree' or something along those lines we pay that pirate the amount they requested. commodities being different prices depending on system adds to the risk/reward concept so it doesn't take away from the stakes but adds an element of risk as well, if I'm running platinum and its 200,000 credits for my cargo I better make sure I have 200,000 credits if the pilot doesn't have the credits they still must decide to fight, flee, or give over the cargo.
I don't know how that affects balance in a player v player interaction but it is a dynamic that would add to the encounter by giving the player more options and roleplaying approaches to the game.

 

[VR CMDR Novindus]

Some have said there is an overabundance of credits and ways to gain credits in the game, this would be a great use of those excessive credits I think. I'm not sure how that would apply to players in the same scenario but for NPC pirates it seems that the mechanics we use to buy and sell in stations could also apply to those pirate factions. with a option added to the dialogue or a drop menu that says 'agree or disagree' or something along those lines we pay that pirate the amount they requested. commodities being different prices depending on system adds to the risk/reward concept so it doesn't take away from the stakes but adds an element of risk as well, if I'm running platinum and its 200,000 credits for my cargo I better make sure I have 200,000 credits if the pilot doesn't have the credits they still must decide to fight, flee, or give over the cargo.
I don't know how that affects balance in a player v player interaction but it is a dynamic that would add to the encounter by giving the player more options and roleplaying approaches to the game.

If it's an NPC only feature, then the game will always know the local price of the commodities and use that as the extortion figure, or as the basis for it, so that could work.

Despite my desire for consistency, I wouldn't be too opposed to it being PvE only, as there are already ways for player pirates to make demands of the players they're pirating. Also there'd be no exploitation case for credit transfers to NPCs.

I would also suggest the ability to make counter-proposals, and couple them with threats, so that the NPC pirate would have to have an algorithm consider risk vs reward in contemplating offers.
At the same time, if NPC pirates are made to have distinct personalities, then threats could be more likely to trigger a violent reaction in some of them, but not as a purely RNG element, as there should be cues in their dialogue to give players hints about their personalities. Moreover, if some NPC pirates are made persistent and recognisable personalities, they could build up a reputation that informs how they're likely to react to certain actions. It could be that some pirates like a challenge, and get short tempered with people who submit and cave too easily.

There's a lot of room for engaging interactions if the work and thought is put in.