01-24-2010, 10:33 PM
Where is the police? The navy? The security forces? The guns on trade lanes and jump gates that actually affect the pirates in any way? In short: Where is the security?
I've only been around a week or so and haven't really had time to completely adjust myself to this server and the rules, yet, but there seem to be some imbalance in the trade/miner vs. pirate relationship. I mean, what exactly does a pirate have to lose? The right to pirate in that system for 4 hours? No problem, he'll just go to the adjacent one and set up shop there.
NPC pirates always disrupt the middle part of the trade lane and ambush you there. For a good reason. Then they're out of range of the guns on the lanes and the jump gates. Player pirates have no such worries, since those cannons would be able to penetrate their shields.
Secondly, NPC pirates almost exclusively use fighters to attack you with. That's because pirates have limited resources and risking a capital ship, bomber or gunboat on random acts of piracy isn't wise. If you loose it or it gets severely damaged, you won't be able to use it against high priority, escorted targets, where you actually need the firepower.
Thirdly, most pirate organizations hide behind some kind of 'cause'. Be it freedom, more rights to the common man or to fight fascism. Most, if not all, of these causes, require that you have the general public behind you, supporting you, to have any chance of success. But the pirates I've met couldn't care less about that.
I've met a Freelancer who destroyed my ship, because I didn't feel like paying him 4 million credits, just 30 seconds after I'd payed off another pirate with 2 million. I've met a Junker who threatened to destroy me, unless I stopped trading with Rheinland. I explained that I was just moving through Rheinland and he let me go, but warned me to take the longer route next time. That was fair enough, but if he wants to threaten or kill everyone who doesn't agree with him or his faction, he's going to have his hands full for years and years to come. It's just not a very effective way to deal with your enemy. Unless you do what the Germans tried in WWII and prevent EVERY SINGLE transport/freighter to enter Rheinland space. Good luck with that. That he was doing all this in some kind of big ship (didn't think to scan him at the time), doesn't help either.
And my last complaint is the sheer number of pirates vs. the number of lawfulls. Wherever I go, there are pirates. Everywhere. Or players with ID's that let them pirate more or less everyone in sight. But I rarely see people with the will and gear to stop them. And that is annoying. And it more or less guarantees that you will be pirated, rather than you risk it.
So I've made my decision: I will not give in to any demands from a pirate, unless he's more or less my equal in equipment.
As I said, I've only started recently, so my equipment is poor; A Mining Ship with Armor Upgrade I and standard transport turrets that come with the ship. So the next bomber/gunboat with armor upgrade VIII will just have to blow me out of the system, I don't care. A ~23 million transport, carrying either nothing or 2700 units of water/food/mining equipment, shouldn't be worth his time, when there are a lot bigger fish (Liners and freighters/transports carrying either prisoners and very vaulable cargo) to fry.
I've only been around a week or so and haven't really had time to completely adjust myself to this server and the rules, yet, but there seem to be some imbalance in the trade/miner vs. pirate relationship. I mean, what exactly does a pirate have to lose? The right to pirate in that system for 4 hours? No problem, he'll just go to the adjacent one and set up shop there.
NPC pirates always disrupt the middle part of the trade lane and ambush you there. For a good reason. Then they're out of range of the guns on the lanes and the jump gates. Player pirates have no such worries, since those cannons would be able to penetrate their shields.
Secondly, NPC pirates almost exclusively use fighters to attack you with. That's because pirates have limited resources and risking a capital ship, bomber or gunboat on random acts of piracy isn't wise. If you loose it or it gets severely damaged, you won't be able to use it against high priority, escorted targets, where you actually need the firepower.
Thirdly, most pirate organizations hide behind some kind of 'cause'. Be it freedom, more rights to the common man or to fight fascism. Most, if not all, of these causes, require that you have the general public behind you, supporting you, to have any chance of success. But the pirates I've met couldn't care less about that.
I've met a Freelancer who destroyed my ship, because I didn't feel like paying him 4 million credits, just 30 seconds after I'd payed off another pirate with 2 million. I've met a Junker who threatened to destroy me, unless I stopped trading with Rheinland. I explained that I was just moving through Rheinland and he let me go, but warned me to take the longer route next time. That was fair enough, but if he wants to threaten or kill everyone who doesn't agree with him or his faction, he's going to have his hands full for years and years to come. It's just not a very effective way to deal with your enemy. Unless you do what the Germans tried in WWII and prevent EVERY SINGLE transport/freighter to enter Rheinland space. Good luck with that. That he was doing all this in some kind of big ship (didn't think to scan him at the time), doesn't help either.
And my last complaint is the sheer number of pirates vs. the number of lawfulls. Wherever I go, there are pirates. Everywhere. Or players with ID's that let them pirate more or less everyone in sight. But I rarely see people with the will and gear to stop them. And that is annoying. And it more or less guarantees that you will be pirated, rather than you risk it.
So I've made my decision: I will not give in to any demands from a pirate, unless he's more or less my equal in equipment.
As I said, I've only started recently, so my equipment is poor; A Mining Ship with Armor Upgrade I and standard transport turrets that come with the ship. So the next bomber/gunboat with armor upgrade VIII will just have to blow me out of the system, I don't care. A ~23 million transport, carrying either nothing or 2700 units of water/food/mining equipment, shouldn't be worth his time, when there are a lot bigger fish (Liners and freighters/transports carrying either prisoners and very vaulable cargo) to fry.