Free ports for fun and profit!

[Killnine]

Me and others have sprinkled all these ideas about enhancing Anarchy systems and criminal careers (as opposed to senseless murder) all over the ganking and murder hobo related threads, so I thought I'd make one solely about the subject.

So, FREE PORTS, havens for criminals, misfits, scoundrels and fugitives! Basically any Anarchy system controlled by an independent (as in non-aligned, I doubt superpowers would accept systems thumbing their nose at their laws) criminal faction could be one. For balance and game play purposes, it might be necessary to limit this somehow - perhaps they need to be above a certain population or economical threshold, or far enough from high security systems controlled by superpowers (they wouldn't allow such a hive of scum and villainy on their door step). The point is, they should be prevalent enough to be usable, but rare enough to form "focal points" for player interaction.

Free ports do not have black markets, since their commodity market is one - by default nothing is illegal (maybe some systems/factions could still ban for example slavery or heavy weaponry; even criminals can have moral limits or simply deem something a threat to their ability to rule the system). Even stolen cargo can be sold freely. Commodities not produced locally could be spuriously available, either by tracking actual movement of goods or just randomly, whatever is feasible from BGS point of view. Hot ship parts can be sold for no explicit penalty. Naturally, prices could be less favourable, if the commodity or module is available "clean".

Only bounties placed by the faction controlling the system apply - they do want to protect their clientele, since trading is what makes them money. Superpower bounties or bounties from other factions and systems do not make a ship/cmdr wanted. Also, there is no police force apart from the security around stations. But there is no anonymous access or paying off a bounty, if a free port wants you dead, you're a persona non grata there until the bounty has been collected. So if you exploit these systems to murder for giggles, you'll eventually run out of free ports available for you. Bounties paid by free port faction can only be collected at a free port controlled by them, not via IF. Also, bounties placed by them do not make a commander wanted anywhere else. With a Kill Warrant Scanner, one can naturally find out if someone is wanted elsewhere and prey on the scum frequenting free ports - but the free port will place a bounty since they do not acknowledge any wanted statuses but their own. If someone uses a free port as a hunting ground, they will eventually post a kill order on their mission board, which is basically a normal assasination mission, with the payout be a (balance-wise) suitable multiple of the bounty.

So, what purpose would these free ports then serve?
- as a market for dumping hot commodities and buying illegal ones
- as a safe haven for criminals
-- yes, this implies that beyond a certain notoriety level "normal" ports should not even offer anonymous access!
- as a good source for criminal missions (smuggling, assasination, etc.)
- should offer lucrative business opportunities (since they are dangerous places)
- focal points for player interaction, esp. PvP

Ideas, comments?

 

[Killnine]

Hmm, can Anarchy systems be controlled by a Power? I would assume not. So a free port being taken over by a Power would cause it to revert to being subject to all the normal rules. Perhaps Archon Delaine would be an exception?

 

[Killnine]

Naturally, there are some aspects of the current game play that need to change for free ports to make sense. One of them would be making the "normal" black markets less accessible or rarer. Personally reducing the number would be too much of a hassle for smugglers and pirates, and one of the motivation of this whole free port idea is to make these careers more viable. Better alternative would be to make them more difficult to find and access. Only stations with a criminal faction above a certain influence limit would have their black markets "open" for everyone to find and trade at. The usual case would be, that you'd need to have enough rep (cordial or even friendly - again, a balancing question that only testing will settle) with a local criminal faction to find and utilise the black market.

These visibility limitations could also apply to criminal missions. No faction would offer criminal missions on the mission board until you have achieved sufficient rep with them. On the flip side, the missions should pay slightly better than they currently do.

And as stated in the original message: notorious players should have more difficult operating in the civilised galaxy. Normal stations would not even grant them docking permission, let alone anonymous access to their services. If you're a notorious criminal, you're effectively a fugitive. Since this would introduce one huge issue, namely fuel (forcing sacrificing a precious slot in a combat/piracy ship to fuel scoop would not feel fair), there should be some exceptions to the rule. Maybe outposts in low security systems would be more permissive. And/or stations with a sufficiently influential criminal faction. Or, should this prove to be too harsh (again, play testing needed), allow anonymous access in all low security systems below a certain population limit.

I know this is starting to sound like a raw deal for pirates and murderers, but this would not be about just making their lives difficult. The main point is to introduce not only incentives to behave (yes, I fully admit to wanting non-consensual PvP have harsher punishments), but also up the risks and rewards involved. And even if it would largely make things difficult, it would offer more interesting game play - in the long run, going pew pew on soft targets with no risk or reward must be quite boring. And if those of you playing the "I'm roleplaying a murder hobo" card (ahem, I say excuse) are serious, it would be a lot more interesting to roleplay a criminal who has to constantly be on the run from the authorities. And the whole point of having free ports act as focal points for criminal players is to promote PvP between wanted criminals and bounty hunters. So, if you want to indulge in the "dangerous" part of the galaxy, instead of just being a random hazard to other players, you'll get to experience the danger first hand! Sweet, isn't it?! Finally it's dangerous, like you always wanted!

 

[Rutg3rO]

It would add some diversity to the stations.

 

[WesULVD]

Yep, I've mentioned it more than once in the griefers threads.

The anarchy systems wouldn't necessarily be run by them, just the base(s) in the system are. If you're not wanted, you're considered a thread and shot down on sight. Wherever in the system.

Plus, it would be cool to have the bases in cloudy astroid fields as well. Maybe not having them come up on the honk either. Just as some sort of anomaly on a scan and when you drop in you need to follow ships going in and out. That way they could even be hidden in current large security systems but far away from the main star. Maybe in the astroid fields of the secondary star +200k LS away. Too far for security to patrol.

 

[Killnine]

The anarchy systems wouldn't necessarily be run by them, just the base(s) in the system are. If you're not wanted, you're considered a thread and shot down on sight. Wherever in the system.

Plus, it would be cool to have the bases in cloudy astroid fields as well. Maybe not having them come up on the honk either. Just as some sort of anomaly on a scan and when you drop in you need to follow ships going in and out. That way they could even be hidden in current large security systems but far away from the main star. Maybe in the astroid fields of the secondary star +200k LS away. Too far for security to patrol.

I like this idea. Hidden pirate bases! Arrr!