Is Mobius killing Piracy?

[PvtClip]

That race analogy is an excellent one. I didnt know we had some serious racers in here and I totally agree with that comparison.

[Zeroxephon]

I actually ran into a bunch of people trading last night. It scared the crap out of me every time I did due to being traumatized by open play. Every one of the people I ran into either ignored me or said hello and tried to strike up a conversation. Its really a nice change. Pretty much if Mobius did not exist I would be on solo or not playing at all. So screw those whiny pirate assholes, they are the soul reason people are leaving open play in droves.

[Flip]

That race analogy is an excellent one. I didnt know we had some serious racers in here and I totally agree with that comparison.

Me too! LFS public servers, anyone?

[Xebeth]

The issue with true piracy (the ones that just take some cargo and go) is that their placement is not relative to the risk/reward equation. Basically, real world pirates (Somalian for example) exist where there is little authority and high reward for the traders (avoiding Somali pirates adds considerable distance to the trade route thereby reducing profits), in ED pirates can exist anywhere.

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.

The 'other' pirates are little boys (& girls) with poor self esteem who have a deep psychological need to feel superior. When one looks at the psychology of bullies (as I have as part of my work) one finds that there is generally some underlying issue, be it that they have been the victims of bullies themselves, they have poor social skills and therefore few (if any) friends, or they suffer from a lack of parental attention.

Unfortunately these are the ones who throw stones at ducks and pull the legs of spiders, so ED gives them a perfect consequence free avenue for them to vent their frustrations.

At best they turn into camouflage wearing loners who spend their days writing badly spelt drivel on the Mail On-line website, at worst the next time you hear about them is at a police press conference.

Of course this isn't the case for all of them by any means, some griefers are just dicks.

[Roger Wilco Jr]

Is Mobius killing piracy? You'd have to ask him! Badum-tish.

I certainly hope something is. If piracy was realistic at all in regards to frequency and violence, I wouldn't mind it. If you compare a ship captain's chance of being pirated here on Earth, or a car driver being carjacked, it is very, very low. I'm sure the vast majority never have it happen, and some miniscule fraction have it happen more than once. So if the chance of having it happen in game was maybe once a year I could probably live with that - assuming I survived. So interdict me, mass lock me and blow my hatch as I will refuse to cooperate, and steal my cargo - but then leave. I don't need a wing of Cobras destroying my T9 just because I refuse to hand over my cargo and you can't figure out another way to get it. I should also be able to further reduce my risk by traveling in more secure systems - not just from NPCs, but from little boys, too.

As for the pirates, there should be a lot more risk. If I fight back, ok, maybe pvp is OK. But if I don't fight back and you murder me, you should get a huge bounty. And when you are caught, you should have your account frozen for 6 months. Maybe freeze it a month if caught just for piracy. And pirates don't get insurance. There should also be a much better police presence in areas where piracy is a problem, so they are more likely to be caught. I bet a little "jail time" and higher costs may discourage them a bit.



Also, whet he said ^^^

[M. Kowalsky]

<sarcastic>
... but but, you're so cruel.
These poor lads & lasses wouldn't be able to play the way they want, the way they were promised they would be able to play (and, by the way, get access to the same high-end equipment than traders do).
</sarcastic>

[Xebeth]

As for the pirates, there should be a lot more risk. If I fight back, ok, maybe pvp is OK. But if I don't fight back and you murder me, you should get a huge bounty. And when you are caught, you should have your account frozen for 6 months. Maybe freeze it a month if caught just for piracy. And pirates don't get insurance. There should also be a much better police presence in areas where piracy is a problem, so they are more likely to be caught. I bet a little "jail time" and higher costs may discourage them a bit.

I like the 'jail' idea, I don't think it should be a ban (FD actually quote piracy as a valid occupation, and one of the devs said that murder is permissible), but having your ship impounded if you get caught would add a certain piquancy to the game

[Raze]

My suggestion to them is this, rather than blame Mobius for creating a place where people can play ED from a PvE and consensual PvP aspect, how about they create a group for pirates and those who enjoy the prospect of interacting with said pirates?

My view on most things in life is that anything goes, so long as there is consent.

You can argue with the Pirates and "PvPers" on the FD forums until you are blue in the face, it won't accomplish a damn thing because in the end all they really want is a larger pool of players(preferably weaker) to pick off and have their way with for their own ego stroking/amusement. Plain and simple. They will try to deflect and distract and make it about some other meaningless reason but in the end anyone with half a brain and a basic concept of how the online gaming world works these days can see right through that.

They claim there are so many of them on the FD forums that want everyone in Open and bla bla bla but stop and ask them, if there are so many of them why do they all just not make a giant Mobius-like PvP/Pirate private group and play with each other? Because A) There are in fact NOT that many of them and B) It would be the most miserable, uninspired gankfest the world has ever seen. They need VICTIMS, not "balance" as they put it. But they will never admit it because then they would actually be seen as the deficient trolls they really are.

I truly believe the EVE Online theory, that they are starting to take over and manipulate the game to how they see fit, and it kills me because the joy I feel when playing this game is something I get out of maybe 1 in 10 games I play these days.

[Raze]

The issue with true piracy (the ones that just take some cargo and go) is that their placement is not relative to the risk/reward equation. Basically, real world pirates (Somalian for example) exist where there is little authority and high reward for the traders (avoiding Somali pirates adds considerable distance to the trade route thereby reducing profits), in ED pirates can exist anywhere.

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.

The 'other' pirates are little boys (& girls) with poor self esteem who have a deep psychological need to feel superior. When one looks at the psychology of bullies (as I have as part of my work) one finds that there is generally some underlying issue, be it that they have been the victims of bullies themselves, they have poor social skills and therefore few (if any) friends, or they suffer from a lack of parental attention.

Unfortunately these are the ones who throw stones at ducks and pull the legs of spiders, so ED gives them a perfect consequence free avenue for them to vent their frustrations.

At best they turn into camouflage wearing loners who spend their days writing badly spelt drivel on the Mail On-line website, at worst the next time you hear about them is at a police press conference.

Of course this isn't the case for all of them by any means, some griefers are just dicks.

This is exactly the problem, their type of piracy goes unchecked everywhere. High security, and low security alike. There is no deterrent, no punishment, no reason for them to be afraid.

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.

[Arioch]

I'd have no problem with piracy in Anarchy systems and suchlike but if it was attempted in supposedly safe systems then I'd like to see the risk of being disabled and captured by security forces; Xebeth mentioned Somalian pirates - a few years ago my ship on patrol out there captured some of the feisty buggers on a few occasions, what we used to do was get them off their vessels and let them watch as the 30mm's and miniguns obliterated their rides. I wouldn't mind something like that in the game! "There goes your Vulture. Boom! Say hi to your brand new Sidewinder. Oh, we're not sending you to jail, but we will empty your bank account. Not totally though, we're not that cruel. Here you go, 100cr."