' Wrote:I think some common sense is in order here. (this isnt directed at you Baltar btw - just using your post to illustrate.)
I do not want to see piracy become illegal. I think that piracy is a valuable aspect of FL.
If we restrict it too much then it becomes dead.
I think for the insane amounts that traders can make, piracy should be able to be...
let me put it this way.
I think pirates should be able to pirate in groups.
I think Big ships should be able to fire upon and interfere with a piracy.
I think the trader should be able to call in big guns, and so should the pirate...
BUT (much like some of the other threads) USE ROLEPLAY COMMON SENSE. <-- There is no role play common sense. Traders do not role play ... simple as that. They don't call the "big guns" to protect them for role play reasons. They do it to protect the money they make to buy their own battle cruisers.
Can a pirate afford the big guns? From what I read in most Infocards they are not extremely rich. <-- Nobody is saying pirates should pirate in anything larger than a gunboat. The ONLY thing I'm arguing about is for the pirate to be allowed to hire his own escorts to protect him while he pirates. I don't see ANY rules limiting the bounty hunters in the size of their vessels.
Is it fair to the trader to pirate him in a BS when the trader is in a CSV? <-- Never seen anyone flying a CSV and conducting much trading ... usually these are new traders that haven't yet upgraded to the container transport. But let me turn the question back at you. Is it fair for the pirate in his limited gunboat to have to check 6 for the battle cruiser capwhores? Really ... how many bounty hunters can really afford such a thing. Last I heard they were for use in the war against the Order. But like traders ... bounty hunters don't role play ... they just use the loophole advantage to PVP to death a pirate who is not allowed to be in anything bigger than a gunboat. So ... why don't we take your comparison in to account ... bounty hunter in gunboat vs pirate in CSV. Not really much competition there.
Is there a different way to pirate other than "500k or die!" (I don't say 500k or die ... try again) I chose to get blown up in this instance because the piracy request was totally unreasonable - didnt use common sense - and wouldve stripped me off more than half my entire life earnings - this is my first trader and he was a low level. And I logged off and didnt play for over 4 hours...during that time I had my ship towed to some base and repaired. <-- 500k ... by the way ... is less than what traders pay for their cargo. Average full load of cargo is usually 750k to 2 mil (just to purchase) and then sell for 6 mil to 10 mil at the other end. So there's really no dent in your profit. Oh ... and the trader preferring to die? Yeah ... that's good role play ... NOT.
These issues and why there are restrictions are still because of the e-penis "biggest ship and biggest weapons" thing. It is not Roleplaying. It is PVP thinking which is where most of the problems come from and what everyone needs help in getting out of. Pirates arent roleplaying fairly. So in return the traders arent roleplaying to give them money. If the pirate in this case had said 200k that would have been ok - and I would've paid. That would have taken me about an hour and a half to recover at my current level. <-- Oh my ... a pirate demanding 500k is unfair. He makes 10 mil (minimum) on a round trip and he's worried about paying a pirate 500k. And the whole issue here is not about pirates wanting big ships to pirate in. The issue here is that pirates cannot defend themselves against these capwhores you call escorts. I'd like to see a rule that says escorts of traders cannot be larger than ... lets say ... cruisers or destroyers. Its poor role play for a small transport like a Firefly to be expected to afford to pay a battle cruiser to escort him around. He may be a rich trader ... but he doesn't have that much money.
Here's the solution. Lawfuls in their capships have FORCED pirates to require support of their own. You've heard of escalation right? Its where we get into a fist fight ... you pull out a knife ... I pull out a gun ... you get a friend with a gun ... i get two friends with rifles ... you bring a fighter ... I get a gunboat ... you get a cruiser ... I get a battleship ... you grab a battle cruiser ... where does it end? How about keeping piracy to a lower level (on BOTH sides).
I don't mind the bounty hunters coming after me ... but they shouldn't be way over classing a single pirate. Its overkill and it destroys game play. Sigma 13 is a remote system and is the most heavily traveled system by traders ... who are way OORP to be using the jump holes there. If you want role play ... these traders need to stick to the trade lanes. Its safer and less likely to be pirated.
