For all Traders in OPEN: How to be robbed

[Naughtius Maximus]

Thats funny because the other day when a pirate stopped me to say hello - i decided for a laugh to eject a few cannisters, then when he was close to them - i blew them all away. Oh man the comms chatter was f$ccking brilliant, he was proper p*£S*£ED!.. hah hah - told him to leave me alone or i'd blow the next lot up. At this point I another player joined the fun and the pirate thought better of it. Ah well, would have been nice to see his bits floating in space - i could of used them for target practice.

 

[NeilF]

The majority of the time I get away from a pirate it's because I'm flying a ship with quad A boosters, good shields, a good SCB, and because I always submit, press N (my next system jump waypoint) then hyperspace out in under 20 seconds.

I think that door is being shut to you in V1.3.

 

[Distance]

I think that door is being shut to you in V1.3.

No that's the jump to supercruise then back in to recharge your shields thing.

 

[Morbad]

I think that door is being shut to you in V1.3.

I hope so. I've never liked masslock not affecting hyperspace jumps.

Of course, I'll adapt by only trading in a Clipper, or by bringing more SCBs on the Python.

No that's the jump to supercruise then back in to recharge your shields thing.

This is a blatant exploit which I do not abuse even now. Though I do hope shield states persist across instances in 1.3.

 

[Majinvash]

And this is why you are so hated. Those of us who have any time at all "in game" know how to avoid you like the plague. Experienced and dedicated traders have either kitted their ship for max speed and protection, or have added teeth and claws to make you think twice.

So you end up preying on the newbies and then those newbies get on here and complain how pirates are ruining the game, and then you release a ridiculous video and ridiculous set of rules for victims to follow to make their assault more enjoyable. How noble of you....Puhleeze.

That's like releasing a public service announcement to victims that things would be so much better if they just stopped struggling.

I've been interdicting Expert and higher Condas, T7-9's and Pythons all day.
I interdict with out mercy. And my scent? Solar Flare!

So no, I prey on everyone.

Would you like maybe I change my ways and start to just gank for the lols?
Not every ship that knows how to get away does, they are more of a challenge but not impossible.
But those ones we usually try to destroy to make a point. ( And funnily enough most of these players combat log, true story )

Its a good video huh? Sort kills your argument that I only interdict the little guy.
I am still waiting for videos of The Code griefing everyone... Still.... Waiting....

Glad I'm hated. Shows I'm doing the criminal RP well.

Garr!

Majinvash
The Code

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Trades can see that as you just protecting yourselves though, if you killed all traders then there would be no traders to prey on. By being "honourable" you are just protecting your income stream, milk to the point that it can just about withstand without destroying it.

The bounty bit - yes I'll give you that one, surprised pirates don't take advantage or that.

Rob

P.S. if pirating makes so little money how come the pirates are flying expensive ships?!

 

[Morbad]

P.S. if pirating makes so little money how come the pirates are flying expensive ships?!

Because almost none of them have profit as a primary motive.

 

[dayrth]

I like the fact that there are pirates. The game would be a lot less fun without you guys, But I do despair at the number of threads dedicated to; 'you don't give me your stuff when I tell you too. Your not playing the game right.'
They are just as depressing as the 'A pirate shot me when I didn't give him my stuff and its not fair' posts.

Both of these are whinging. Stop it.

 

[Distance]

This is a blatant exploit which I do not abuse even now. Though I do hope shield states persist across instances in 1.3.

Brooks confirmed it's fixed in 1.3 :

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=146057&p=2250270&viewfull=1#post2250270

P.S. if pirating makes so little money how come the pirates are flying expensive ships?!

I know a couple of pirates who did work their way up from pure piracy. I personally played every other profession in the game before I started so earned my money that way. I'm actually down by about 6 - 8mil from piracy lol

 

[NeilF]

No that's the jump to supercruise then back in to recharge your shields thing.

You sure? I'm sure I read somewhere just submitting and then shooting off was being nerfed?

 

[Distance]

I like the fact that there are pirates. The game would be a lot less fun without you guys, But I do despair at the number of threads dedicated to; 'you don't give me your stuff when I tell you too. Your not playing the game right.'
They are just as depressing as the 'A pirate shot me when I didn't give him my stuff and its not fair' posts.

Both of these are whinging. Stop it.

I'm pretty sure this thread was supposed to be tongue in cheek

- - - Updated - - -

You sure? I'm sure I read somewhere just submitting and then shooting off was being nerfed?

I've not heard that any where. A lot of open players want it gone but brooks has said several times it's intended game play and even described in the manual with an in lore reason why.

 

[Perseus]

I hope powerplay sees the introduction of factional endorsed piracy. I'd really like to participate in it but I need 'permission' or a ' RP endorsed reason' to do it. Hats off to the guys and gals who do it as a vocation and many thanks too. Blockade running has been amongst the most exciting activities I've done so far in ED (1on1 PvP is still my favourite).
We have gameplay modes in ED, for good or bad, and they should be utilised if anybody isn't prepared for the psychology of being in open.
I also hope a lot more development is going to be added to the Trader/Pirate/Bounty Hunter mechanic.
edit: I'm a big fan of un-mass-lockable hyper space jump. Pursuit should be made possible if the interdictor is that keen to do so and escape should be possible for a target.

 

[Han Brannigan]

Those of us who have any time at all "in game" know how to avoid you like the plague. Experienced and dedicated traders have either kitted their ship for max speed and protection, or have added teeth and claws to make you think twice.

And that is as it should be. I hate the sheer amount of traders running around with holds full of expensive wares without any shield or guns or other ( wingmen ) protection.
Not that I rue the players their profit - but it does not feel right.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

The majority of the time I get away from a pirate it's because I'm flying a ship with quad A boosters, good shields, a good SCB, and because I always submit, press N (my next system jump waypoint) then hyperspace out in under 20 seconds.

The rest of the time it's because I'm in a Clipper that does 440 boost with a full load...and also has quad A boosters, a good shield gen, and some SCBs.

That's one of the problems in Elite Dangerous. The fastest trading ship is at the same time a capable combat ship and restricted to a faction. The other solution is a broken game mechanic that still requires strong shields and SCBs and a ship that is able to power all this. And in the end it's down to speed and SCB. In my opinion FD needs to start thinking very hard about PvP mechanics and game balance.


And the Imperial Courier probably will be just the same - very fast, capable combat ship, good cargo capacity for its size.

 

[Scimiter]

We don't think what we do is honourable in that sense.

The way we perceive "honourable" to mean is that we always message our targets, are prone to haggling and will let targets with no cargo or lower quality cargo go. As there are no in game mechanics for it we're doing the best with what we have even though there's no actual in game incentive to do so. We could easily kill each ship that's dropped and then fly to the nearest port to pay off the bounty but we don't.

We're under no illusions that was we do isn't "bad" from a game stand point but we try to make it logical and do our best to differentiate ourselves from the mindless random pking.

There is no problem with what you do, pirating is part and parcel of the game.
Myself as a trader, I would sooner go down fighting than give you any cargo, as many pirates will kill their victim after a cmdr has submitted to their demands.
I myself have experienced this on the one occasion I have been pirated, as I stated earlier I would sooner go down fighting and accept the loss which I can now easily afford than to submit to the scurvy dogs!

 

[Naughtius Maximus]

Trades can see that as you just protecting yourselves though, if you killed all traders then there would be no traders to prey on. By being "honourable" you are just protecting your income stream, milk to the point that it can just about withstand without destroying it.

The bounty bit - yes I'll give you that one, surprised pirates don't take advantage or that.

Rob

P.S. if pirating makes so little money how come the pirates are flying expensive ships?!

It follows that hunting pirates as also just as profitable - i can't wait to get home.

 

[Distance]

Phew, that's a relief. I did dabble in piracy and found myself being quite unsuccessful in it. So it's not just me.

Only targeted NPCs though.

I tried against npcs at release before I moved on to other professions and it was pretty dire. Player piracy is the only way to break even as players are the only ones who carry decent cargo.

Last night I went looking for unknown artifacts which meant about 8 hours of searching strong signal sources. A lot of these are supposed to be piracy content for wings and it's laughable.

Every time I found a "gold trap" instance I sat and scooped all the gold in my asp under fire from multiple anacondas. I lost like 2 rings of shields max.

All the convoys containing T9s each carry a few tons of explosives, food and medicine in each T9, not even full holds. A couple are supposed to be more heavily protected with a bunch of condas and vultures and contain some of the expensive new commodities but I didn't find any in 8 hours

All the "pirate convoys" have a single T6 with 5t of gold, about 6 other ships (eagles, vipers and sidewinders) and a couple of dropships with 3t each. I murdered a few of these wings for sport and didn't even lose shields.

I used the hatch breakers as well for the first time since they were released (I tested them back then). I forgot how truly bad they were.

The first T9 I tried one on I got right under it's belly (after ramming it's shields off) fired and the limpet exploded by bouncing off of the cargo hatch. When I finally got one to stick it pulled about 5t out and spread them over a really wide area in an erratic pattern.

If anyone wants to know why we pirate players I suggest you try the above and see how it works out for you.

- - - Updated - - -

It follows that hunting pirates as also just as profitable - i can't wait to get home.

It isn't because any pirate capable enough of racking up a worth while bounty will escape via high wake jump before you can get their shields down. Either that or they'll be flying in a wing.

 

[p.opus]

All kidding aside, I could understand some of the frustration. Bounty hunting in Elite is cake. Although I want to know why all AI pirates love to waltz into RES knowing that there is undoubtedly a patrol there. Bounty hunting NPC's is like lining up fish in a barrel, and as long as you don't anger the local patrol, they'll even help you fight. Nothing like having 4 or 5 Vipers draw off the fire of a 'conda while I'm pulverizing his hull.

Pirating NPC's sounds like a huge PITA. I wouldn't even know how to begin since you can't basically "hail" them and inform them of your intentions. So I understand why you go after human players. I bet if pirating NPC's was a little more realistic or doable, the amount of PVP pirating would go down. It wouldn't eliminate it, but it sure wouldn't require a pirate to PVP to succeed.

 

[Bortas]

Pirating NPC's sounds like a huge PITA. I wouldn't even know how to begin since you can't basically "hail" them and inform them of your intentions. So I understand why you go after human players. I bet if pirating NPC's was a little more realistic or doable, the amount of PVP pirating would go down. It wouldn't eliminate it, but it sure wouldn't require a pirate to PVP to succeed.

Being able to hail NPCs with them having different "personalities" ranging from fearful and submissive to refusing and aggressive, maybe even depending on the ship classes both are flying, could indeed be very interesting, provided the NPCs had a reasonable chance of carrying something better than grain or biowaste.

 

[Jognt]

That guy has absolutely lost his freakin marbles.

I like how you assume I had any to lose.
Seriously though. I was having some anger issues in the past days. Sorry about that.

I will still kill you when I see you though!