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+--- Thread: Pirate Tax (calculator required) (/showthread.php?tid=17954)
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - MacAulay - 03-17-2009
Had two rather comical experiences with pirates today in the Omegas. I was carrying Gold from Hood/Dublin to New Berlin. I was stopped in Omega 3 by 3 corsairs who demanded 3 mill for me to pass! Now I am assuming they scanned my cargo, and as such they would of noticed I was carrying 997 units of Gold. At NB prices this would of netted me about 2.1 mill, after deducting the 495k i initially paid out.
Now someone tell me why the hell I would pay 3 million for passage on a cargo only worth 2 thirds that amount? Thats right, I wouldnt! I offered 1.3 mill as I said it was all I had on me (i lied) I did think about just letting them shoot me down as I would only effectively be out of pocket by 500k approx. But I figured they were probably hungry judging from the ineptitude they displayed and so took pity on them!
The other incident in Omega 7 was similar but on a smaller scale, the pirate in question asked 600k for passage based on my cargo that i just paid 300k for!
My point is this, try and be a bit more realistic with the 'tax' guys. Nobody is going to pay more than the worth of the cargo. If you eliminate them they will respawn, rebuy and re-route so its no big deal. It would also make you more popular with some traders if you are fair with them and may make them less inclined to avoid you if they know they could still make a decent profit. With these ridiculous demands you are just cutting your nose of to spite your face as they say.
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - BaconSoda - 03-17-2009
You know, sometimes there is this thing called "Roleplay" which makes people tax what they do. Sometimes traders do the same thing, and, you know, value their character's life. It's weird that there is this "Roleplaying" thing on a server called "Discovery RP 24/7." Obviously the RP stands for really pwnzor...
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - wrathkin - 03-17-2009
This post is exactly why I always say that death should cost more.
Edit cuz of ninja: The OP is exactly why...
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - Gamazson - 03-17-2009
Situations like this are going to on for a while. In the old economy even a 1000 unit trader could recoup 3 mil in no time so it was a reasonable sum to ask. Since I started on the server I watched the base pirate tax rise from 1 mil to 2mil and even jump as high as 5 mil on some routes. With this new economy and the value it puts back into the individual credit ,pirates are going to need to learn new piracy rates, or traders will need to be more careful.
EDIT: It might be with RP to ask more sure, but in terms of mechanics higher sums are less likely to be paid.
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - Weedalot - 03-17-2009
yep, ask for no more than the cargo worth or the cargo worth, or even % of the profits.
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - MacAulay - 03-17-2009
' Wrote:You know, sometimes there is this thing called "Roleplay" which makes people tax what they do. Sometimes traders do the same thing, and, you know, value their character's life. It's weird that there is this "Roleplaying" thing on a server called "Discovery RP 24/7." Obviously the RP stands for really pwnzor...
Oh of course!! How stupid of me. It Roleplay is it??? Ah I get it now, they are all roleplaying stupid pirates, I get it! Roleplay makes you agree to pay more than the goods are worth dont it? Incredibly realistic that! So the pirates are RP'ing idiots by demanding unrealistic tax, and the traders that pay it are RP'ing retards who dont know the value of their cargo? Its so obvious now.
As to the second reply yeah, I agree with that completely. Death is not really penalised much and it does make you somewhat more reckless than you would otherwise be
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - farmerman - 03-17-2009
Well, I can sort of relate to the first part. Pirating for more than a trader can earn isn't very fun, for either person involved. It certainly decreases the chance of the trader actually paying (though there should be roleplaying there, of course - it's amazing how unreliable engines and such can be). The same goes for demanding all cargo for no real rp reason.
Though you shouldn't base whether or not something is fair based on the purchase price as it's the selling price that's important. You paid 300k for it, but how much were you going to *sell* it for?
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - Kambei - 03-17-2009
in similar situations when pirate ask more than is value of my cargo, I alwas jetison whole cargo hold and continue empty leaving pirate with for him useless crap and without money;)
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - MacAulay - 03-17-2009
' Wrote:Well, I can sort of relate to the first part. Pirating for more than a trader can earn isn't very fun, for either person involved. It certainly decreases the chance of the trader actually paying (though there should be roleplaying there, of course - it's amazing how unreliable engines and such can be). The same goes for demanding all cargo for no real rp reason.
Though you shouldn't base whether or not something is fair based on the purchase price as it's the selling price that's important. You paid 300k for it, but how much were you going to *sell* it for?
Yes but look at it another way. How much would I lose if destroyed? Thats the buying price. How much would I make minus the pirate tax has to be more than that to make it worthwhile paying. On the RP subject, no trader would really say sod off to 3 corsair ships who have him locked down, no matter what the cargo was worth, it wouldnt be worth dieing over. But if we are expected to RP that fact, then a more lenient tax would make it easier to stomach. We shouldnt be expected to pay a ridiculous tax just because we are supposed to RP a fear of death too.
Pirate Tax (calculator required) - BaconSoda - 03-17-2009
' Wrote:Oh of course!! How stupid of me. It Roleplay is it??? Ah I get it now, they are all roleplaying stupid pirates, I get it! Roleplay makes you agree to pay more than the goods are worth dont it? Incredibly realistic that! So the pirates are RP'ing idiots by demanding unrealistic tax, and the traders that pay it are RP'ing retards who dont know the value of their cargo? Its so obvious now.
As to the second reply yeah, I agree with that completely. Death is not really penalised much and it does make you somewhat more reckless than you would otherwise be
The sarcasm here is great! If they added that sarcasm meter to Mozilla like I asked for, it would be 9/10 in effectiveness, I think. The simple mindedness there is honestly astounding. You know what? I'll tell you the honest truth about pirates...
If you're pirating right, you don't care unless you completely break someone's funding. If I come across a new player and kill them without offering them an alternative, I'll help them out with some tips to avoid pirates and give him some money so that he can buy some more cargo. If I come across someone who says "Just kill me" or "My cargo isn't worth that much!" it's just an invitation to put a nice big hole through your hull to make you understand that your character's life is in danger.
If your character doesn't care about his life, then, I say the character deserves to die. By no means does that mean don't try and escape, but, if you're obviously outgunned, you're going to die. What would YOU do if you were about to die and you had a chance to pay someone and stop it? Would you just die? I don't think so. You'd pay the person to keep your life. I know that if I were a trader in space, I darn right would.
Furthermore, what do you think the pirate thinks about? Do you think a pirate knows what your profit margin is? Do you think a pirate cares, either? My pirates don't care, I don't see how you think I should. Now, this doesn't mean I'll go taxing Camaras five million credits, nor does it mean that anyone should do something like that, but a reasonable tax for your cargo hold isn't an unreasonable request. I know my Train can handle a five million credit tax, easily. Hell, I'll make that back in the next run I make. I don't see a problem in that from either the pirate or the trader, but, the RP also does have to allow for it.
As an example of an RP tax, look at my AFA. I tax all cargo on anything that doesn't directly help Kusari. Do I leave margin for profit? None at all. Is it the RP of the character? Yes, in its basest form. Does it mean I take some sadistic pleasure from taking your money? No, it means I am playing the character. Does it mean I am a jerk? No, it means I am playing my character. Maybe the favor should be shared?
I'll also be very blunt with this, I know I am one of the meanest pirates on the server, and I am proud of that fact. Am I as well known as someone like Phate? Not really, but, tolerance isn't a trait I can honestly apply to any of my pirates. How do you think a pirate would act in real life? How would your character react to a pirate in real life?