a bit more roleplay plz

[Unseelie]

well....besides the fact that the passengers commodity doesn't make all that much sense....i would like to see some transports paired with bombers in pirate groups...
as to be real pirates.

and...who carries toxic waste?
it sells for what, 200, max?

another thing....why should i care about whether or not the pirate makes money?
i should want them to not make money.

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[Archelon]

Well I can see this discussion with you is a lost cause.

To your suggestion of bombers and transports to conduct pirating - um - I don't see any traders being escorted by mercenaries. Mercs can't find jobs as escorts for traders so they end up working for house factions.

The toxic waste cargo was to make a point. If your cargo (whatever it may be) is worthless to the person pirating you, why would he want it? And like someone (Onca I think it was) said somewhere earlier this week, we live in the computer age where you can conduct wire transfers for credits. I can carry 2 mil in credits easy. But can't stuff 2 mil worth of cargo in my holds if I wanted to. Also, you can't pirate in a transport - I think there's a rule somewhere about that.

[Unseelie]

yeah....that rule is a shame.
but...loophole.
be grouped with a pirate, have the pirate demand that the trader jettison X cargo.

and, call yourself an extortionist, or a pirate...but stick too it.......

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[Smiley_]

While on the wonderful discussion of trade commodities and RP, one could say that the Tau 31 route is against RP.

Assume you have the equivalent of 10 people trading for 10 hours a day in Large Trains. That equals about oh, say, 337,500 prisoners an hour per train. This means that you multiply that by 10 and 10 again.

You somehow manage to cram 33,750,000 prisoners a day from the planet to a single battleship.

The only way I can think of to explain where all these prisoners go? Two words:

Soylent Green :D

[Archelon]

@ Unselie: Don't go talking about loopholes. That's how RP goes bad. People can find loopholes for everything.

@ Salamander_Smiley: Very true - very very true. You'd think planet Harris would be void of people by now. Perhaps Igiss needs to look at a different commodity between the planet and the battleship. But then, if he adds Soylent Green as a commodity that can be purchased from the battleship, we might have a good thing going. Thing is, where are all these prisoners coming from? Is there a trade route that brings the criminal element to planet Harris? Its not a prison planet.

[Unseelie]

ahh....its a good loophole.
it makes pirating make sense...
and...gives you a chance to make money if you kill the trader.....which seems to happen to a lot.
i, as a trader, really like the idea.

anyone who thinks it's bad rp.....
discuss it.
and....about making rp go bad...sometimes, the rules restrict good rp...
note, the lack of terrist id's for terrorist factions.......

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[Quigs]

If your cargo (whatever it may be) is worthless to the person pirating you, why would he want it? And like someone (Onca I think it was) said somewhere earlier this week, we live in the computer age where you can conduct wire transfers for credits. I can carry 2 mil in credits easy. But can't stuff 2 mil worth of cargo in my holds if I wanted to.

How many muggers stop a guy and say "Give me 10% of what's in your wallet!"? How many hold-ups at ATM's start with the guy saying "Take out half your daily limit and give it to me!"? There's no real-world rationale at all for a pirate demanding 2 million credits. The only way that works is if it's a protection racket; "Give me a million bucks and we'll make sure nothing... unfortunate... happens to you in Tau-31." That's a long way from piracy, but it's what piracy in Freelancer devolved into somehow.

I like Unseelie's idea. My friend and I did that all the time when jacking NPC transports (totally for RP value - obviously any PC transport can blow off cargo cannisters by themselves). If you want to steal stuff then have a guy in a big white van parked around the corner who can take the hundreds or thousands of units of abandoned loot away and fence it.

[Stratus]

If you want to steal stuff then have a guy in a big white van parked around the corner who can take the hundreds or thousands of units of abandoned loot away and fence it.

Exactly, now thats what RP is all about when it comes to Piracy. How about a bit of organized piracy with a transport and fighter or two, as opposed to the tasteless solo corsair gunboat approach. I would gladly give my cargo away to someone who was trying, just for the sake of it.

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[Lohingren]

well imo as everyone said pirates have a rather hard time saying to traders in space of 10 seconds a whole speech on why they want the tax etc. Ony time you will get that chance is if you have already locked down they're escape route's which is not to often if you ask me.

i don't really agree on making detection range higher because that would then make hiding much harder, surprise attacks are almost non existent due to the player list but at least you can maybe slip in un-noticed and get to them before they have enough time to prepare a defence. But maybe a scanner with lets say 5 or maybe 6k scanning range. It would make it much faster to detect who is taxable and who is not but then again it would also make things harder on traders, whom even tho i am a pirate think they have a hard enough life as is, So all in all i think the old

"2mil tax please"

personally i ask nicely 1st time, tell em to 2nd time if no joy by then no choice on my part i need to kill em

and then again i also give the trader the option to drop half his cargo .... even tho most of the time i cant take every bit of it id call that fare trade

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Reapers of Sirius Database

[alance]

To your suggestion of bombers and transports to conduct pirating - um - I don't see any traders being escorted by mercenaries. Mercs can't find jobs as escorts for traders so they end up working for house factions.

This is because Transports are too tough. If transports were made weak as they should be then a Mercenary or Security wingman would be paramount. Weaken their shields, slow them down, make them less agile, increase scan ranges, get rid of the short range cargo runs like Tau-31, remove the last trade lane gate on the end of each lane... All of these things will work together to give pirates a fighting chance and turn transports into the vulnerable merchant vessels they should be.

The toxic waste cargo was to make a point. If your cargo (whatever it may be) is worthless to the person pirating you, why would he want it?

Worthless in an RP sense, sure I guess you have a point in light of your RP. But nobody of any consequence carries cargo that is "worthless"; most carry cargo worth $1000-$2000 per unit.

Also, you can't pirate in a transport - I think there's a rule somewhere about that.

That one should be changed. Freighters have holds that are too small and pirates shouldn't be limited to just using freighters. Let them haul away their loot in a transport, where's the harm?

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"To gain a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence;
to subjugate the enemy's army without doing battle is the highest of excellence."