[QrazyKermi]

So when you are tagged Pirate, you have a bounty all the time, regardless of whether you've actually pirated someone? And this is a temporary bounty that you can't clear by docking, which is why you call it a permanent "temp" bounty? So as long as their PR stays at or above 0, they can switch back to Civ or HG and lose the bounty?

Does the bounty increase every time they steal more cargo?

[Tim]

Ahh.. fair point jump, I do apologize for any possible bruised ego's from my name calling. I ment suckhead in a loving, tender way. hehe.

At any rate, I would like to see a pirate squad. A squad who teams up, perhaps 4 to a squad, and employs a pair of fighters for flux cover, a tow (equipped with a weapon and a cargo sucker) to hold the goodies, and a ranger (with only cargo suckers) to get the equipment. The ranger could get the goodies from the goodie hauler (sure, can't get the entire load, but why cripple your target? don't take a large haul, take a large _enough_ haul) and then head out to the spaced tow for unloading. then repeat. Use the fighters to dispatch flux, or to slow down any pursuit from revenging crafts. That would be nifty, and a fun rp. Especially since you figure that said pirate group would need "legit" allies to supply them. hmm.. so much interaction, and nobody gets really hurt.

Then there are POD folks.

Hmm.. hey jump, you wanna be pie rats when we get back in? I bet i can think of at least one other pilot who'd join us

[ELPIRATA]

The other benefit of being a pirate tagged... is that you get enhanced Scanning capabilities. Whereas normally the scan would get you the commod that has majority on ur target's cargo hold, the pirate scan gets him more information.

Example: If I haul 200u of lumber and 100 instigators... for a normal scan it would show... Lumber.. while the pirate scan would also get the instigators. I'm not sure if it reveals total number for each, and how many total commods/equipment would show, but is a lot more than the regular scan.

Tim's idea on pirate squads run much as what I wanted for that ROE thing that I was working on GG, as these privateer/pirates would be in need of their factional pilots so they can locate and 'steal' the cargo in a more efficient way.

ELP

[Jump]

Well, I see that thread on JOSSH has cascaded down into the normal "pooh pooh on you for not liking what I do" thread. Why do I get the feeling that I know this draiocht character in another persona?

It's sad but predictable. It always turns out the same after the same evolution.

1. Player realizes they hold the key to Jumpgates future.
2. Player formulates solution without the aid of those whose job it is to run things.
3. Player makes bold statements of how they are implementing their solution.
4. Other players who also realize they have all the solutions to jumpgates ill counter by exposing obvious holes in the first players grand scheme.
5. The first player runs into wall, cries, storms off.
6. Everyone scratches head and goes about their business.

Why does it always have to end in name calling and hissy fits? If you decide to come up with some grand scheme you have to be ready for confrontation. You have to accept the fact that others may not like it. You have to know wether it is for the good of Jumpgate or the good of yourself. And for Hamalzah's sake, you need to have tough skin.

*sigh

[GrimGriz]

Originally Posted by GalenGroda

So when you are tagged Pirate, you have a bounty all the time, regardless of whether you've actually pirated someone? And this is a temporary bounty that you can't clear by docking, which is why you call it a permanent "temp" bounty? So as long as their PR stays at or above 0, they can switch back to Civ or HG and lose the bounty?

Does the bounty increase every time they steal more cargo?

You are correct. I'm not sure about the bounty increasing though. Note, that in order to put on pirate tags you have to fly to an unreg station and to take them off you have to fly to your own factions station. To me, being able to take them off just meant that the pirate could 'Get away".

[Jump]

It seems to me that taking on the pirate tag should be a more difficult choice to make. It should have some repercusion that you must be willing to accept.

I think any tag should have a pop up screen that you have to click an "accept" button after reading a list of known issues you will be faced with. That way, everyone knows what they have signed on for.

[Tim]

true that, GG and jump, but i think tag switching has to be this way for gameplay reasons. Nobody is going to do any one thing forever. maybe putting a time limit on it.. say, you can only flip tags once per day or something might make some folks feel better, but it seems like just another rule in the world. And the reason i like(d) Jumpgate is the lack of rules.

I still say we make a real pirate squad.. that'd be fun. Rule #1 of the pirate squad: If you have to blow somebody up, you lost the fight. Looser. Go home.

Rule #2: never take more than the target can afford to loose. make sure they can afford to get back into space and bring us more cargo to steal. If we demoralize them, they won't return.

Rule #3: if a fight starts, run away quickly. Fighting is for fighters, and we are pie rats!



wheeeee

[Jump]

I have just never in my life had any desire to RP the bad guy.

[QrazyKermi]

Tim, I'd be up for that. We tried that in Synergy, but it only worked for a short while. The most important thing is to keep the squad a small, tight-knit group, and make sure everyone knows everyone really well. The worst thing is having people in your squad that have different ideals about something that is as controversial as pirating.

[GrimGriz]

The problem I had with synergy's pie-ratting technique was the whole 'stop your ship and let me pirate you or I'll blow you up' thing, which is pretty much the same as pay or die with more hassle.

Tim: I would have beenup for that before the econ fix, but now (unless they removed traps when I wasn't looking) it's no longer worth the risk of blowing up. Any haulers that you might find are just as lucky to be carrying something heavy, which generally isn't worth trying to steal. Where I to return to piracy (i had some fun with hitting prosthetics farmers for awhile), I would go after biomass farmers.

[Tim]

True, the life of a pie rat isn't very profitable. But doesn't the new pierat tag make it so you can see all of the cargo, so you don't have to worry about traps?

I suppose in the end i'll side with jump, tho.. being a bad guy would affect my karma.

Oh, and Synergy weren't pierats. they were PODers. as I recall, most of the skilled pvp folks got themselves on the same team and started shooting anything that flew. waaay to big and disorganized to call themselves pierats. And, i don't think the good pierat equipment was in place for Synergy, so they were sorta doomed from the begenning from a RP standpoint. They sure could down a loaded tow, tho.

hmm.. I wonder if there is a way to be a "good" (read: nice) pie rat?

[QrazyKermi]

Not true Tim. Synergy started out as very diciplined pirates once the tools came out. We wanted cargo only, and would run at the first sign of resistence that could threaten our ships. Unfortunately, because of what happened with New Dawn (or at least, coincidentally at the same time), our ranks began to swell with PvP'ers from most of the PvP squads that were still around. These people either left their squads outright, or created 2nd accounts. All they were interested in using the idea of pirating to instigate fights.

The reason Synergy ended up fighting more often than not is twofold:
1) initially, once we made it clear that nobody was safe, including New Dawn, we would regularly find ourselves hunted by groups of people. This wasn't a bad thing, it just meant we were fighting more than pirating.
2) the influx of pilots after the New Dawn entanglement led to a watering down of Synergy's RP. Many of us still wanted to be hardcore pirates, but many others just wanted to pirate enough to get the server to hunt us. And because Synergy was always meant to be run as a commune, the original pilots didn't feel it was right to reign in those that drifted from our original intent. We started as an open group with no real leader. That's a recipe for disaster once membership expands beyond your friends.