Logic...why are Federal Agents in Imperial Clippers?

Maelduin

M
Okay, I am in an Asp...and am allied with the Empire. I am pledged to Arissa Lavigny-Duval.

When I go to the home system, Kamadhenu, I often get interdicted by Imperial agents, Alliance enforcers, etc.

And these clowns are a lot of the time driving Imperial Clippers. You have to be an Imperial Baron to fly one of these, right? So...what is a Federal Agent or an Alliance Enforcer doing in one?

I can take them down in my Asp...but I also sometimes end up taking damage, and so I end up with anywhere from 10K to 100K in repairs...and these guys only provide 400 credits when you kill them...and the fight is often harder than what I usually get in a RES with a 50K-100K bounty attached...

Does that make the slightest bit of sense? The cost offset is horrible...I usually just submit to an interdiction then take out the offender -- especially if it is a pirate with a bounty attached...but these guys are not worth it, and you end up losing credits just to go from point a to point b.

So, is there any value in taking these interdictions down? Is there a rep boost involved? Is it possible they might drop something...like legal salvage?
 

Hurricane Moon

Banned
H
Maelduin said:
Okay, I am in an Asp...and am allied with the Empire. I am pledged to Arissa Lavigny-Duval.

When I go to the home system, Kamadhenu, I often get interdicted by Imperial agents, Alliance enforcers, etc.

And these clowns are a lot of the time driving Imperial Clippers. You have to be an Imperial Baron to fly one of these, right? So...what is a Federal Agent or an Alliance Enforcer doing in one?

I can take them down in my Asp...but I also sometimes end up taking damage, and so I end up with anywhere from 10K to 100K in repairs...and these guys only provide 400 credits when you kill them...and the fight is often harder than what I usually get in a RES with a 50K-100K bounty attached...

Does that make the slightest bit of sense? The cost offset is horrible...I usually just submit to an interdiction then take out the offender -- especially if it is a pirate with a bounty attached...but these guys are not worth it, and you end up losing credits just to go from point a to point b.

So, is there any value in taking these interdictions down? Is there a rep boost involved? Is it possible they might drop something...like legal salvage?
Click to expand...


you can rank up with more than just one faction mate.
 

Maelduin

M
Thanks!

I am aware of that -- in fact I have rank in both Empire and Federation....

But I am talking about NPC/PvE encounters here. Really now...is it realistic for at least 50% plus of the NPC Federal Agents I encounter to be driving an Imperial Clipper?

I know it is possible -- that is how the game is designed...but is it probable?

From a purely game point of view, I suppose that the Clipper fills a particular "balance gap" for mid-range random encounters...but still!
 

Renegade Roach

R
Hurricane Moon said:
you can rank up with more than just one faction mate.
Click to expand...

You don't think it's just a tad peculiar? Not just npcs, but the whole 'ranks in all factions' thing. Then again, the Alliance and Feds apparently can't produce combat ships worth a damn anyway. The poor Fed pilots probably have to buy their own ships as well.
 

Von Shadow

Von Shadow
Could be stolen / acquired technology ... High ranking Double-agents embedded in the Empire buying Imperial technology and funneling it through to the Federation...

Same reason you can find Imperial agents flying around in Fed Drop-ships :)
 

JughedJones

JughedJones
Maelduin said:
Okay, I am in an Asp...and am allied with the Empire. I am pledged to Arissa Lavigny-Duval.

When I go to the home system, Kamadhenu, I often get interdicted by Imperial agents, Alliance enforcers, etc.

And these clowns are a lot of the time driving Imperial Clippers. You have to be an Imperial Baron to fly one of these, right? So...what is a Federal Agent or an Alliance Enforcer doing in one?

I can take them down in my Asp...but I also sometimes end up taking damage, and so I end up with anywhere from 10K to 100K in repairs...and these guys only provide 400 credits when you kill them...and the fight is often harder than what I usually get in a RES with a 50K-100K bounty attached...

Does that make the slightest bit of sense? The cost offset is horrible...I usually just submit to an interdiction then take out the offender -- especially if it is a pirate with a bounty attached...but these guys are not worth it, and you end up losing credits just to go from point a to point b.

So, is there any value in taking these interdictions down? Is there a rep boost involved? Is it possible they might drop something...like legal salvage?
Click to expand...



I'm ranked quite highly in the Federation, I am loyal to the Empire.

I could be doing ranked Empire missions in a Dropship if I wanted to, but I don't want to.

Empire ships are superior, Feds pretend do bask enough to get a good ship, then go back to their Federal dirtiness.

Perfectly logical.

- - - Updated - - -

drew said:
It doesn't make sense, you're quite right.

Cheers,

Drew.
Click to expand...

Lulz.

You're not the final arbiter of what makes sense merely because you write fan-fic.
 

Taturo

Taturo
The issue is that the Federal Dropship is the counterpart to the Clipper, but the Dropship is inferior in everything besides Armor and currently armor is pointless, so even it's armor doesn't help.

As I see it right now the Dropship should at least reduce it's base price to Courier level, with similar rank needed within Federation to unlock it.

Then we would probably see a lot more players flying it.
 
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Mephane

Mephane
This reminds me of the conflict zones between Imperial and Federal forces. The former employing Dropships, the latter sending Clippers into battle. (IIrc that was then confirmed as a bug, but I have no idea whether it is fixed yet.)
 

peteuplink

peteuplink
You could say that some Federation agents fly around in Imperial ships so that if they're discovered doing something they shouldn't the Empire will get the blame.
 
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Vasious

Vasious
There are El Presidente Zach "the man" Hudson Pledged Cmdrs in Clippers so why not NPCs
 
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Auditore

Auditore
Because:
1. You can high rank in all factions at the same time (which is stupid) and aside from permits and ships, ranks are meaningless.
2. Unlike the dropship, the Clipper is actually a good ship so people want it regardless of faction. Same thing is going to happen with the fed corvette down the road.
 

FuzzySpider

FuzzySpider
It makes sense in one way, imperial clippers are vastly superior to federation ships, so if the Feds stole some they might use them.

What I can't work out is why I'm seeing empire pilots in federal dropships.
 
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