Is Mobius killing Piracy?

[Mobius]

over the past week it would appear that our group is becoming a hot topic, even on reddit my name is popping up with reference to PvE. im also under the impression that pvp vs pve discussions will be a dominant topic for sometime as the arguments for and against private groups heats up. I was on the Lave radio Conclave poscast last night doing a recording for later this week talking about aspects of all and private.

things will come to a head at some point, and I expect to see more griefers at some point.

[HAMM3R]

IMHO system security should make it almost impossible for pirates to exist in 'high security systems', with the trade-off being that profits for traders are lower than those possible in 'low security systems'. If one thinks about it, if a system has poor security and high piracy, then it is logical that stations would have to pay more for their goods to encourage traders to take the risk - of course how this is balanced re open vs. solo/private needs to be considered, but I guess there could be more NPC pirates in these systems relative to the number of players.

That's how it worked in EVE. I liked it, for what little I played EVE. If you start pirating/open fire in hi-sec systems the security forces are immediately alerted and your ship gets blown up along whatever cargo/stuff you may have. End of story.

There should be a point having hi-/medium-/low-sec systems. Currently they are more or less meaningless. The whole galaxy (well the populated areas) is just a gigantic wild wild west.

[Arioch]

Mobius, is there any chance that this is all some EVE-esque year-long deep-cover double-cross shenanigans? That once you've reached your secret magic goal number you're going to do the MASSIVE TWIST, I WAS PVP ALL ALONG! I'M CANCELLING THE GROUP AND GRIEFING 6500 OF YOU MUDDY FUNSTERS AT THE SAME TIME BWAH HA HA HA or something like that?

[Flip]

I personally think that bounties gained from murdering/killing/robbing players should not be able to be paid off for at least 72 hours after the crime, and for every 1000c of bounty a player has on them the NPCs should get a 10x damage modifier. Picking off noobs like a jackass and rack up 2m in bounty in your Clipper? A system security Eagle is going to one-shot you, and your bounty is going to stay. Make it so they can't MOVE into a secure system without being blown up. See if they are still so adamant about PvP then.

I couldn't agree more!

[Kaeldian]

We're not killing piracy. It's just a simple fact that "surprise PvP" is not something the majority of gamers get into.

Where am I getting this data? Well, it's just common sense really....

How many "Surprise PvP" servers do you find in any modern mmo? They're usually the minority. while there is a great demand for "faction PvP", open or surprise PvP is not something most players are willing to deal with. Hell, just look at how overcrowded Empire was in Eve with it's illusion of safety....

[Sendraks]

That's how it worked in EVE. I liked it, for what little I played EVE. If you start pirating/open fire in hi-sec systems the security forces are immediately alerted and your ship gets blown up along whatever cargo/stuff you may have. End of story.

There should be a point having hi-/medium-/low-sec systems. Currently they are more or less meaningless. The whole galaxy (well the populated areas) is just a gigantic wild wild west.

The EvE system for hi-sec piracy was way too heavy handed, I never liked it. I'd like to see something more consistent with the feel of Elite for this game. I don't think the police forces should arrive any faster than they already do, although clearly the closer you are to a station, the faster they should arrive.

1) Piracy in Alliance/Empire/Federation space - if the player isn't fired upon, they should be able to report the crime to the authorities at the local station. This would get the pirate a local wanted status. Local security and local federation forces would begin aggressively hunting the pirate down until they paid off the bounty. This would include security forces following their frame-shift wakes around the system.

2) Firing on another player in Alliance/Empire/Federation space - gets the pirate wanted status, with repercussions the same as above.

3) Destroying another player in Alliance/Empire/Federation space - gets the pirate fugitive status as per the original elite games. The pirate cannot dock, cannot pay off the wanted status within ANY system controlled by the faction the crime took place in. They have to go to another factions space to pay the wanted status. So commit this crime in Federation space, you have to go to Empire or Alliance or Independent space to pay your dues. Also, the faction security forces will pursue the pirate throughout their controlled space, hunting them from system to system until they leave and/or pay their fine after having left.

4) Committing crimes in Independent Space - works as 1-3 but as independent systems only usually have faction influence over one system, a pirate doesn't need to go so far to clear their wanted status.

5) Wanted fines for attacking players need to be much, much, much higher in Alliance/Empire/Federation space, depending on the tech level of the system or something along those lines. This should act as a disincentive on piracy in such systems, moving it more to anarchy space and independent systems.

6) I'd also have it that the amount of fine decreases the further a pirate is from a system they committed a crime in. Basically an incentive on the pirate to get far away from where they committed their crime, so they don't just farm one system, and a recognition from the authorities that the problem pirate has moved far, far away.

7) Like the original Elite, I'd like to see anarchy systems with actual stations in them. Proper "hives of scum and villainy" places, where the crime gangs are rife and piracy a way of life. Huge profits on trading to be made, but at great risk.

[Antmax]

My thought is that Mobius despite having several thousand members is only a tiny fraction of the total player base.

If ED are concerned they can fix it by better enforcement of game rules in governed space and reinforcing serious combat in Combat Zones and serious criminal activity takes place in Anarchy. Adjust the markets in anarchy systems to encourage risk taking traders there. Make enforcement in government space and penalties for crime more aggressive.

Till they figure out some balance i'm staying in Mobius.

[MaccGyver]

I read somewhere that there are 400,000 player accounts, a portion of these are lying fallow, but I still don't see the 6000 and change in Mobius making a huge dent on those remaining in game. Mobius isn't killing proper piracy, people who shoot other players for no reason are driving people to solo and private groups, these are killing piracy.

Was about to post this very point - luckily you saved me the trouble

Couldn't agree more.

[Pantherr]

This group is not killing piracy, there are just some very vocal players who don't like the fact that they cannot find their daily PVP fix easily and quiet frankly misunderstand the nature of the game. PVP is certainly part of the game but that's it, a part and not the whole purpose, it's a shame that the vocal PVP fans do not get that, instead they target solo and group players and demand FD remove solo and group play.

I think it is FD that is killing piracy, I think that the current crime/punishment system is woefully incomplete and little more than a placeholder. A player can commit murder and gets 6-10k fine? I've been fined more than that for getting caught with cargo I found floating at signal sources. This really annoys me, I get my ship destroyed or maybe just badly damaged and the pirate get's a fine they can easily pay off. If a pirate faces a large fine that they are not permitted to instantly pay off and gets refused docking rights in the system where they commited the crime that won't of course help me, I'm still out of pocket but at least there is some sense of justice being served and maybe tempt players to play open.

[Femina]

Actually the remarks about Hi Sec in Eve are pretty inaccurate these days. With the reduction on Concords response time there is plenty of time to alpha strike some poor miner or trader with a powerful gun-laden cheap ship, while your other character or mate picks up the goodies. Then even if Concord catch you quickly you dock at nearest station in your pod, as they don't pod kill you, and spend the 15 minutes cool down time kitting out another griefer ship and rinse repeat.

Eventually of course, as the griefer, you have to go do a days repair work on your status so you can re-enter Hi Sec and once again destroy unarmed traders and miners.

I always found it strange that I could use a mining laser that would vaporise rock but could not be used as a defence weapon against puny metal in Eve. Also lets be honest, which lone trader in a universe like Eve, would ride around in a gigantic trading ship if they could not arm it to the teeth to protect their investment. Unfortunately even in ED the biggest trader Laker9 is pretty much defenceless against even a side winder due to its oh so slow manoeuvrability.

A lot of the time it is the actual gamemakers who seem to want to create these scenarios of victim loses to aggressor, and to hear them talk on their various televised public appearances they very often seem to revel in creating that game format, catering far too much to the PVP kiddywinkles.