Can you pirate in a battleship??

[joojoo1975]

well been back for a bit, and I feel my origional thoughts about piracy still stands

Really don't understand why you want to Prat in a bomber or GB and especially in a BS. from my point of view, it's rather too easy(but i never pirated, so mayby i have it all wrong)

Personally, CD's shouldn't be on bombers or GB's but i'll catch hell for that as i'm sure they're Really useful in PVP team fights and what not.

I like some of the peeps talkin bout team play, but from my short time back, it's easier said then done.

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To Protect The Helpless From The Heartless

[Anaximander]

Heh

You pirate in a bomber because traders by now know that even though the cavalry arrives, they'll be dead. So they pay. In a perfect world, traders would RP being all scared for their lives and whatnot and would cough up even if the pirate is in a Sabre, but they don't. You have to rough them up a little (or a lot). In House space the bases are really close to each other, so a transport have a pretty decent chance of running vs. a lone VHF and they almost always choose to try that when they get jumped by a fighter. So a bomber is optimal both from an inrp and "game mechanics" perspective.

GB's and Cruisers are a bit more difficult to pirate in due to their slow speed, but I suppose people choose them because of A) They find them more fun to pilot and B) They are tired of getting insta-whacked when trying to RP with silent traders.

A BS is very difficult to pirate in - your target have to sit still, so it's only really viable to go after miners and use a cloak to sneak up on them. It's a challenge to pirate in a BS.

Moreover, as a trader it is extremely easy to avoid piracy most of the time.

[Croft]

Anax your perfect world seems a tad biased, unless your willing to accept pirating with severly limited resources and out of date weapons.

Anyway, the majority of posts on this thread advocate avoiding piracy, it's a valid point but I don't think it will do much for the RP side of things.

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Jimmy The Rat | Croft's Feedback | The Rat Pack

[Anaximander]

Why is it oorp for pirate factions to maximize the profit? It should be their main objective, rather than pirate for songs and other ridiculousness. To me, that MO is oorp - who, short of a full-fledged psychopath, would risk life and limb to force other people to sing? Also the generally lower tech level of pirates is already covered by having ships and guns that are slightly worse than those of the lawfuls within each class.

To me, "good" trader RP would be to avoid pirates at all costs, not fly straight into them and then go ballistic (or remain silent or ask to get killed or say "lol pirate in bombur u so unoriginal ololololo" / "u pirate u no rp") when they rob you. I started asking "what price would be fair to you?" to traders I meet, and it is usually met by a wall of silence or a "just shoot me". The funny thing is, I would let people pass for 100,000 credits if only they were willing and able to mention a price and negotiate To me, the lack of RP is generally on the trader side - even /setmsg pirates RP more than the average trader.

Roleplay is more than just yapping away, it is also about how you carry yourself and display your role through your actions (something traders rarely focus on, because the rules favour the respawn button over the trader actually paying). I love it when I get hunted down by no-nonsense Hunters of few words that are only out to claim my bounty. They don't have to tell me their life story before they shoot me, I know their role through their ID, IFF, ship type and concrete actions. And the next time I come across them, my character will be scared of the no-nonsense Hunter because he knows there's no quarter; whereas he won't be able to remember what a Hunter told me about his harsh upbringing etc. etc. because really, my character doesn't care. Why should he? The same is true the other way round, when I trade and get pirated (can't even remember when that happened last), my trader character has just about 0 interest in why the pirate is robbing me, I just want to get away alive with as low a loss as possible and I usually do my best to negotiate - which actually works pretty well.

To me, most of the RP here is clichéed, and the setting sort of support that. Freelancer Lore is one big clichée, that's why it is so appealing, because it is very accessible. That also means that in most cases, guns do as good of a job conveying a role as typing does, because let's face it, it's not really that interesting listening to countless generic backstories.


EDIT: The above is angled a bit sharply of course. And a bit of rant too

[dodike]

...stuff...

Everyone but you knows that talking is RP and nothing else is. Actions are PvP but this is RP server.

[joojoo1975]

Sorry Anax. But I'm gonna disagree with some of your points in your posts.

I'm a Trader primarillary and security only as needed(which is dang near never)

I Don't mind pirates, pirating me, as long as they have "balls" I mean pirating itself should be Ballsy. If you can't handle the life of a Criminal, then don't bloody well do it. When I am pinned up because of 2 Galliac Bombers. Your not gonna get much RP outa me because though i like RP, i also believe in a "fair" fight(noticed the " ", right?) I don't expect to have a 50% chance against pirates, but a 0% chance is no good. I'll give em probs though, they caught me 2 times. one time when i was using a jumphole and the other when i jumped through a Gate. so that's kinda ballsy, until you notice the same "neutral" player on the other side of the gate. But hey at least they're using teamwork? But you'll not get much if any outta me if your in a bomber or a gunboat, I'll take the pod ride back to spaceport and let the insurance replace the boat(i mean hell, why else have Comercial Trader insurance in the first place) Pirates, who talk to me(actually talk to me) and pirate in SHF or VHF, have my respect and my creds. Now on a side note, if you try to prat me in any of these, but neglet the CD. . . I may send you some creds after I get away, but ya never know.

bottom line, lets make it interesting and I'm a betting you'll get more creds.

Honestly the best pirate team i ever saw was 2 VHF and an armored transport(don't know if that was legal, but it was damn cool)

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To Protect The Helpless From The Heartless

[Anaximander]

Admittedly, that was a bit of a rant

But you are feeding the circle when you refuse to RP with those dudes. They'll not RP with you either and the next time they see you, they'll go "Oh there's that silent trader again, let's not waste time talking to this dude and just fast forward to our blue message".

"Fair fights" are an illusion - when I stay out of a fight to display sportsmanship most of the time the other side will just call for backup (which, in Liberty, usually consists of a LABC, a Carrier, a Gunboat and a couple of snubs to deal with 1-2 VHF's) and I'll be the one ending up in an escape pod because my side didn't clean the table quickly.

I hit hard and expect to get hit hard myself, that's the "game" to me, and in the long run I believe that causes less stress and more fun. When I hit the "Undock" button, I expect to get my ship zapped at some point, so I'm pretty chilled when and if it happens. The fair and even fights are only really happening in Conneticut and at various events.

Also, you say you haven't pirated much. I encourage you to make a pirate character and see for yourself. I guarantee you that you will get blown up countless times on extremely "unfair" grounds (such as having a Carrier uncloak on top of your VHF, say "Endgagde" and insta-kill you); and you might look at the whole thing in a different light.

[joojoo1975]

Admittedly, that was a bit of a rant

But you are feeding the circle when you refuse to RP with those dudes. They'll not RP with you either and the next time they see you, they'll go "Oh there's that silent trader again, let's not waste time talking to this dude and just fast forward to our blue message".

Actually, no I'm not, i just tell em, to give me a free pod ride back to the base as I'm not paying anything to wannabe pirates in (bmbrs,gboats etc etc)

"Fair fights" are an illusion - when I stay out of a fight to display sportsmanship most of the time the other side will just call for backup (which, in Liberty, usually consists of a LABC, a Carrier, a Gunboat and a couple of snubs to deal with 1-2 VHF's) and I'll be the one ending up in an escape pod because my side didn't clean the table quickly.

That's funny, i would love to get that kinda response when i tell peeps in system chat about pirate sightings(especially on the off chance that a prat catches me) and whatnot as i'm flying through. if you think fair fights are an illusion, then you trully haven't had the excitement or honor to have one. for that i am sorry.

I hit hard and expect to get hit hard myself, that's the "game" to me, and in the long run I believe that causes less stress and more fun. When I hit the "Undock" button, I expect to get my ship zapped at some point, so I'm pretty chilled when and if it happens. The fair and even fights are only really happening in Conneticut and at various events.

Sorry to hear bout your luck. too bad you feel that you have to bring a bomber or worse to be a pirate.

Also, you say you haven't pirated much. I encourage you to make a pirate character and see for yourself. I guarantee you that you will get blown up countless times on extremely "unfair" grounds (such as having a Carrier uncloak on top of your VHF, say "Endgagde" and insta-kill you); and you might look at the whole thing in a different light.

Ok first off, i nver pirated and plan not too as i think they're scum(a neccessary scum, but scum all the same) and secondly. if somebody drops a carrier on you and says "endgagde" I'm Pretty damn sure they're breaking rules, one that is a big PVP no no. you should help out by putting in a report.[/quote]

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To Protect The Helpless From The Heartless

[Anaximander]

Ok first off, i nver pirated and plan not too as i think they're scum(a neccessary scum, but scum all the same) and secondly.

Of course pirates are scum, but the players behind them aren't.

It's important to differentiate, for your sake as well as for those you come across.

EDIT: And about the rules and unfair fights, you can either choose to be one of those people that are "constrained" by 1 report per day per player, or you can choose to live and let live. Admittedly, I have whined about getting ganked but quickly realized that that is how the game is played - even those who write long posts about how it is not important to win or lose gank in game, I've experienced that first hand.

[Highland Laddie]

I don't see anything wrong with pirating in a bomber. It's big enough to be a danger to the transports (I imagine they just laugh when they see a HF or lighter try to pirate them), it can hold up against any lawful caps that might be sent against it, yet it's not power-gaming since the bomber could be killed by skillful fighter pilots. Win-win for everybody (except the trader...of course...unless you wanna say it gives them a chance for creative RP).