A Bit Of A...Shift...

[Qunitinius~Verginix]

I don't get your attitude here Eppy, You say 'Because my character doesn't like stopping for pirates, Trains need to be better, to fit my RP'

Well, then....

The Inquisitors all have psychic powers, so why don't you give me some psychic powers please Igiss? Also, since the Helghast have a super weapon built on their battleship, can you give me and big admin cannon please?

Remember, this is about the community as a whole, as the way I see it now is;

1/ A single fighter can catch up to and attack a trader, but it takes a long time for him to do so. He needs support, such as a group of three or 4 fighters, or a bomber.

2/ A gunship, which could EASILY destroy a trader, can stop a trader and pirate it. A gunship is about half the size of a Adv Train, and has more firepower then one, should be able to damage it. Doesn't need any fixes, other then some Cerberus down-grading.

finally, if you see pirates on your rout, Find a new one for a little bit, or adopt new strategies. Its what I do.

Verg

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[Eppy]

OKAY. Now you are ticking me off. Trains don't need to be better, Pirates need to be worse. Heck, I don't care about the shield increase, take it away! It doesn't matter a damn bit in the long run because you can't get away from the pirates! And please stop trying to compare the game to Real Life; This is a digital universe, a space simulator with three dimensions, where physics is a joke. You can't use real life as a direct comparison, because you don't even use missiles to kill in this game, missiles are a joke here. You use GUNS. If this were RL, anybody could fly because the computer would do it all for you; you can just turn around and go home once the missile is gone.

That's as wrong as it will ever be. Traders are meant to get pirated. No need to reduce anything. CD's are ok, Gunboats are ok too (and the cerberus turret needs a slight energy increase). As Exile said, get 2 escorts if you want to elude capture. In older times, the merchant ships were stripped of all goods... here the pirates are merciful and don't ask all your cash/cargo...:)

However, the point is: All is ok, no need to nerf something just because some guys can't avoid being pirated. Many ppl tried to pirate me, and failed. And I use all kind of tricks:)

Traders are meant to get pirated, but not every single time they run across some idiot with a Gunboat. I can avoid being pirated,
I was good at it before we got superluminal cruise disruptors. Give us in freigthers a chance. If I get hit every time I get pirated, you know what I'm gonna do? Start pirating. So will everybody else. Soon there won't be any Trains left to pirate, and we'll all turn to pirate-cannibalism.

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.

[Stratus]

Hire and escort
escort follows you
you run into a pirate
escort distracts/kills pirate/gets killed
then either you pay the escort or you get pirated
eitherway everyone is happy because you were just included in a great RP
as a few people have already said, how many NPC transports/convoys do you see flying around without fighter escorts? Well I've seen a few but they generally have them.
And don't say there aren't any mercs around, because I fly around in my merc fighter desperate for jobs, and barely any traders hire me because they'd rather try their luck solo, into dangerous territory, which imo doesnt seem very RPish.

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[McNeo]

Trader's aren't supposed to have a chance if they don't have escorts. Even in the other version, 4.83, once I organised a convoy of 8 traders in my IND Trader, guarded by a gunboat and a cruiser. We raped all the pirates in Omega 41. I mean, really, we destroyed them so utterly. Our Escort swarmed in (all 2 of them) and we followed, in LTrains and CTransports. We provided fire support while the pirates were duking it out with the escort. I don't understand why you can't just do the same.

And if you don't want to use real world comparisons, which is fair enough, as this IS a game, then look above at Stratus' post.

[P*Funk]

I still don't buy the absolutism being expounded as per "traders are meant to be pirated". Yea well then BSs are meant to go down first in a battle and noobs are meant to get sanctioned for being ignorant.

Why does it have to be like that? Why do I have to hire an escort to stand a chance of getting away? Yes CDs are finally useful. Why should they be an uber weapon though? Why should a pirate win by default because he has one? Everyone said it was too hard to pirate before. Well everyone said traders could just fly in a straight line and they'd get away. Now its the opposite. Pirates can sit on a main artery of transit and fire off CDs and because of the sheer economics of the run and the absolute effectiveness of the CD traders basically have to pay the pirate.

That sounds a bit too easy. Why shouldn't a trader stand a chance if he wants to run it alone? And what if I happen to play at an hour when there are very few people? You know not everyone gets on when the server is brimming with mercs and pirates.

No I get the argument but I think that that it still needs balance. FPSs all the time forgo the realistic feature of one shot one kill in favour of a more fun and fair health system. Its not just about what you feel ought to be true. Traders think that CDs should be crap. Pirates think they should be Thor's Hammer. I recall playing DOD:S and thinking all the time "Hey my BAR should kill way faster". Even so I killed faster than the Tommy GUn cause the round was more powerful. It took about 2 shots to kill versus the Tommy's 3. Is that realistic? Probably not. But the balance existed because the BAR fired slower but more accurate. Tommy was pray and spray.

It should give both sides a chance. Both sides are right and wrong.

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Out of hibernation. Gauging the winds.

[Horon]

Everyone needs to relax. The cruise disruptors are too fast. Period. I get CD'ed without ever even hearing the damn warning. This needs fixed.
Next....why don't we lower the cruise disruptor refire rate? Or make the countermeasures worth it. Whatever is done, SOMEONE SLOW THOSE *pineapple* CRUISE DISRUPTORS DOWN!







*pineapple* - Censor courtesy of Gearbox.

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While being quite funny, your sig was the biggest one i've ever seen so far. No more than 700x250 please. ~utrack
http://pastebin.com/SYQXBufs

[Othman]

Interesting subject here. Have to agree with Stratus here though. Although the current situation of the gunboats and gunships could be considered as a pain, traders should be encouraged to hire mercenaries or lawful people looking for escort jobs. I dont know if we could maintain a full balance in this thing but we need both traders,mercs and pirates. One side losing the efficiency on the scale would be the last thing I would ever like to see.

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On the uncharted lagoons of anguish, I sail with a canoe made of my sins.

[Allocutus]

That seems to be the optimal solution, simply slow down the Cruise Disruptors. We believe this is simply another incidence of an irate player sparking a large, unregulated conflict where everybody jumps on their side of the proverbial fence and begins shooting at the other. The pirates are demanding things stay as they are, whereas the traders are demanding the pirates' equipment be 'Nerfed'. It should be known, though, that we lean more towards the traders in this argument. Most members of this council play a pirate character more than a trader, and it is agreed: the Cruise Disruptors are very overpowered. Hence, slow the Disruptors, preferably to something more manageable, such as 450 Meters Per Second, and slower still for Disruptors that have a wider blast radius, such as the Train. It should also be known that we feel traders shouldn't be expected to hire mercenaries. Often times the mercenaries will ask for a monumental sum, as they have to pay maintenance on their ships and make a profit as well, and the Traders will not make a profit either way. Other than that, there is little we can do but to advise this be closed. It is well out of hand and the involved parties do not appear to be thinking completely rational thoughts.

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[mwerte]

I get annoyed when i drop 10 CMs and then I can't go till 5 seconds after the last CM is dropped but by the time my cruise engine finishes charging my CMs are gone and the CD hits me anyway. I may just be doing something wrong though.

As for not being able to get away anymore, totally not true. I run in a freighter and a couple of nights ago I did a run solo because I didn't feel like hunting for someone to join me. Well, I ran into 4, count em, FOUR pirates around huston. Becuase I was looking ahead I managed to drop out of the TL early so when they came to give chase I was already in cruise moving away. It can be done but you have to be on your toes.

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[P*Funk]

As for not being able to get away anymore, totally not true. I run in a freighter and a couple of nights ago I did a run solo because I didn't feel like hunting for someone to join me. Well, I ran into 4, count em, FOUR pirates around huston. Becuase I was looking ahead I managed to drop out of the TL early so when they came to give chase I was already in cruise moving away. It can be done but you have to be on your toes.

Well what if they're at a JH or a JG? You can't really get on your toes when they can fire at you before you even get your HUD back.

And if the balance is perfect why are CMs useless? Before CDs were useless... now CMs... there should be a way to make both potent. They each seem to be symbolic for one or another cause.

And yes, why not make the CDs effectiveness balanced on their purpose. Faster for smaller burst radius, slower for higher radius. That seems to be a common balance tactic. Torpedoes are more powerful but slower and missiles vice versa. Its just logical. I don't see why everyone thinks its okay when we see a very common piece of equipment made useless even when employed as designed by the original designers and even the current modders.

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Out of hibernation. Gauging the winds.