Piracy

[Karst]

Pirate transport can output more damage over time than most bombers making this ship even more deadly. So I am not sure if it puts trader in better odds.

Cargo piracy is the best. And...seeing as you need a transport to do it properly, it puts you more on an equal footing with whatever transports you intend to rob.

Yo what? Transports kill other transports quicker than anything short of a cruiser. And you'll only be on equal footing if your own transport is small.

Or if you have a Battle Transport. Also consider from the person being pirated that it's easier to hit an attacking transport than a Bomber. So, I see that as more of an equal footing.

No small transport pirate worth their salt will ever be in the effective range of a battletransport. It will only be easier to hit if the pirate transport gets close, which they shouldn't be doing.

Buuuut we're going off on a tangent here.

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[Highland Laddie]

Not overly on a tangent.

My opinion stays that Cargo Piracy is the best kind. If you disagree on the reasoning that it is a more equal footing in terms of PvP, then consider these reasons:

1) historically and inRP-terms, cargo piracy makes more sense, as pirates usually weren't just out looking for quick credits - they want GOODS: stuff they can either use/consume themselves, or sell on the black market for more $$$.

2) Cargo piracy is more risky/fun in that it is more time-consuming, and Pirate transports would also be disadvantaged against any lawfuls (be them bombers, caps, etc) that come to the rescue.

[Karst]

Oh I'm not arguing against cargo piracy, not at all. In fact all my recently used pirate ships are transports, without exception. I do agree that it seems more "realistic" to take as much loot as you can haul rather than asking for an arbitrary sum of cash.

I'm just saying that transports are the quickest and easiest ships to kill another transport in.

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[Zayne Carrick]

This's the thread worth posting.
a) Ptrans is best piracy vessel available. Maybe except for GAT.
b) My character demands are linked to the victim's ID, cargo and, of course, behaviour.
Daumann will pay more than Bowex, Freelancer will go untaxed in most cases, etc.

As for cargo piracy-it should be reasonable. No point in demanding someone's cargo, if you can't put it in use: you're in transport yourself, your fellow faction member is ready to log transport, you see a friendly trader in next system.

[Papa Oomaumau]

Zayne, man
I'm with you on all points.
Although I'm a fan of inrp cargo piracy.
Say a lawful stops a smuggler, or a Gaian *cough* catches someone with Gaian Wildlife, or a Corsair finds Cardi.
(or the Joker catches you, with anything)

"Dump or die.", in those cases are acceptable to me.

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[Blodwyn O'Driscoll]

Is that a serious threat , Finn ?


You know that archenemies' faction will pirate for all cargo of their nemesis, lime Molly on BMM, LH on ageira ... and so on.
Un' Sadhbh should know about it

It's more like a terrorist way of thinking than a piracy one.

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That is the crux of the matter.
If you aid us, and you aid them, you are the enemy.
If you do not aid them, you are worthless outside of extortion potential.
If you aid us, you will be treated with respect.

Colin H. Breen, of the Molly Republic

[SnakThree]

DELETE

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[Swifty]

How most traders see piracy.

Exactly )

Back to the topic. Pirating for money. Good thing... But not crossing any lines though.

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[Trogdor]

IMO the ability to placate a pirate with a transfer of money is what's really wrong with Disco piracy.

The amount the trader must pay is dictated by the pirate, and it's up to the admins to determine whether the demand was "excessive". Now they have to make a judgement call, considering many factors. It's a bad system that I'm sure is the source of a mountain of paperwork for the admin team.

Furthermore, once the credits are transferred, the encounter is effectively over. The pirate does not have to make it back to base with his plunder in order to sell it. He's free to just continue sitting there, waiting for the next trader, until finally someone comes by to challenge him. Or, y'know, the trader gets mad and quits, and then he doesn't have anyone to pirate anymore.

Would it not be better if cargo piracy was the ONLY piracy? This would make piracy a bit more complicated and more interesting. Now, I haven't spent a ton of time thinking this through, and what I'm proposing here is a radical change, but here is a list of pros that make this idea at least sound good on paper:

-The pirate would be forced to return to base to sell his plunder. This means the trader is less likely to be pirated over and over again by the same player. It also means he may need to defend his haul from the police and/or rival pirate groups, instead of going all, "lol, I've already been paid, so I don't care whether I die".

-The amount the pirate is able to take from the trader is now in the hands of the devs and admins. They get to decide the cargo capacity of the ships the pirates are able to fly. Unless the trader runs into a group of pirates (encouraging teamwork), the amount the trader stands to lose will likely be small.
They can also set the ID rules for each type of pirate, determining things like "is this pirate politically motivated? Does he get to demand that the trader drop more cargo than the pirate can carry? What ships can this pirate use for piracy?"

-Depending on how things are balanced, both trader and pirate could be happy with the change. The trader loses less, because he is out the buy price of the goods taken from him. The pirate gains more, because he gains the (presumably higher) sell price. Instead of the trader losing and the pirate gaining at a 1:1 ratio.

-The trader can go "hmm, the last time I hauled [Cargo A] through [System], pirates robbed me. Maybe if I carry [Cargo B], it won't be worth their trip back to base."

-It makes more sense than the trader going "Oh, please don't shoot me, pirate! Here, let me transfer funds into your bank account." ...what? Why would a pirate even have a bank account? Or at least, one that is compatible with the banking systems of lawfuls? Why wouldn't the trader make a complaint and have the pirate's account frozen and funds returned?

-The trader can no longer simply blow off the pirate, ignore his rp, arm the credit cannons and blast his problems away. The trader will have to stop, open their UI, and dump some cargo, prolonging the encounter and giving the pirate more time to talk if he so chooses.

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[Mímir]

honestly if cargo piracy was all there was, we'd see a huge amount of rage threads.

cargo piracy almost always end up costing the trader far, far more than the sum of credits you can extort.

plus the pirates don't really need the trader alive if they are after the cargo.

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