In 2.1, while doing some pirate lord missions I ran to a situation from time to time when my cargo hatch fails because of the heat (btw this is really annoying mechanic since some of your rare stuff you need to haul starts flying around). After it fails, of course, a couple of canisters with random stuff suddenly fall off my Python's belly.
It came to my attention that in these cases the pirate sometimes says something like "MORE, MORE" in a chat. I thought that is interesting. However, even if I dropped more, I could not say how much exactly do I need to drop in order to get this guy satisfied....
And only today I thought this may be the solution to pirate/trader mechanic that would solve most of the unbalance and would bring a meaning to the whole thing. This system would just need to improve a little. Maybe FD have exactly that in mind, I don't know, but these are my thoughts on that.
1) First of all every NPC pirate should have a cargo hold. Most likely a small one, since most of the ships with large cargo possibilities are not a good fighters. Even in real life the pirates who steal a pile of gold that they can't carry are non-existent. Don't take more than you can eat.
2) After a scan, NPC pirate should know exactly WHAT is in my cargo hold. Then he can demand an EXACT amount he wants, based on what I have and what he can carry. As it seems to me it could be some small but annoying percentage, not more than 10% probably. In case of multiple cargos multiple cargos may be requested, but not more that he can carry anyway. For example "Drop 24 tons of your Performance Enchanters and you can go, Commander".
3) He could give some time to react (they do that now too, but it is quite a short time to open a cargo hatch and click on a correct cargo quantity). Around 10 sec wound be great. A little mechanic can be added here so if ship starts to move lets say faster than 100 m/sec so this 10 sec waiting time breaks and he starts to shoot. Also, alternatively, FD could introduce some kind of easier 'yes/no' dialog to ease players life.
4) If player drops this required cargo pirate opens a cargo hold and starts collecting it. Player then can leave. At the same time that would be great to have some inner system temporary trigger than in 2-3 minutes at least in this system there is no pirate spawn on a player anywhere - supercruise or regular space.
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This practically solves all the problems traders have, encourages them to trade, bringing a sense of danger and excitement to their game (hey, made a trip worth 1,5 M but instead of pirates it's around 1.1 M profit). Those traders who prefer run and fight can also do that. But peaceful traders can now plan with piracy in mind and this can be a perfect layer of game mechanic. Let people fly Type-7's and Type-9's and don't be afraid to be dead every second. Of course the game may add psychos that just kill for no reason, but those guys can be really rare, as in real life.
The only thing to solve - what to do when there are a lot of pirates at the same time (Nav Beacons, Res-sites) etc.
But other than I think that it's is a really a great solution.
What do you guys think?
It came to my attention that in these cases the pirate sometimes says something like "MORE, MORE" in a chat. I thought that is interesting. However, even if I dropped more, I could not say how much exactly do I need to drop in order to get this guy satisfied....
And only today I thought this may be the solution to pirate/trader mechanic that would solve most of the unbalance and would bring a meaning to the whole thing. This system would just need to improve a little. Maybe FD have exactly that in mind, I don't know, but these are my thoughts on that.
1) First of all every NPC pirate should have a cargo hold. Most likely a small one, since most of the ships with large cargo possibilities are not a good fighters. Even in real life the pirates who steal a pile of gold that they can't carry are non-existent. Don't take more than you can eat.
2) After a scan, NPC pirate should know exactly WHAT is in my cargo hold. Then he can demand an EXACT amount he wants, based on what I have and what he can carry. As it seems to me it could be some small but annoying percentage, not more than 10% probably. In case of multiple cargos multiple cargos may be requested, but not more that he can carry anyway. For example "Drop 24 tons of your Performance Enchanters and you can go, Commander".
3) He could give some time to react (they do that now too, but it is quite a short time to open a cargo hatch and click on a correct cargo quantity). Around 10 sec wound be great. A little mechanic can be added here so if ship starts to move lets say faster than 100 m/sec so this 10 sec waiting time breaks and he starts to shoot. Also, alternatively, FD could introduce some kind of easier 'yes/no' dialog to ease players life.
4) If player drops this required cargo pirate opens a cargo hold and starts collecting it. Player then can leave. At the same time that would be great to have some inner system temporary trigger than in 2-3 minutes at least in this system there is no pirate spawn on a player anywhere - supercruise or regular space.
________________________________
This practically solves all the problems traders have, encourages them to trade, bringing a sense of danger and excitement to their game (hey, made a trip worth 1,5 M but instead of pirates it's around 1.1 M profit). Those traders who prefer run and fight can also do that. But peaceful traders can now plan with piracy in mind and this can be a perfect layer of game mechanic. Let people fly Type-7's and Type-9's and don't be afraid to be dead every second. Of course the game may add psychos that just kill for no reason, but those guys can be really rare, as in real life.
The only thing to solve - what to do when there are a lot of pirates at the same time (Nav Beacons, Res-sites) etc.
But other than I think that it's is a really a great solution.
What do you guys think?
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