Traders: "Kill me now" OORP?

[Stoat]

Heh. Legging it is what I usually try when overtaxed, if I can. Not easy in a defenceless whale though! No CM launcher! I don't like the "kill me" solution either, but sometimes, it'll actually SAVE me time and money to just let them shoot and be transported back to the start of my trading route. At this point, it's hard to avoid the temptation to reply to an unresonable demand, with an unreasonable answer.

Simple fact of the matter is: we don't die on this server. RP-wise I consider it "ejecting via escape pod and having the ship replaced by insurance". It's the only way I can explain the game mechanics with RP reasons. With that in mind "fine, shoot the ship to bits" isn't an OORP comment any more - it makes financial sense in RP. In fact - it makes the pirate act OORP, as he should know he's overtaxing and I'd rather see my ship destroyed, than pay. Just a thought... Who is really acting OORP? The trader or the pirate?

The problem there is that your insurance premiums would rise, as you claim more and more times. In a very short time you'd be facing extremely high premiums, so much so it would be considerably cheaper to just pay the pirate what he is demanding. So the first 3 or 4 times might, just, be in RP. The rest would not be.

Yes, some pirates do try to charge too much, BUT not all of them do. This is a two way street people, never forget that. If you are worried about getting pirated again on your route, negotiate for protection, or run a new route, or that age old saying "Hire an escort". There are almost always BHG around for hire, and also mercs and freelancers. As a trader hauling a load worth several million credits, is it not also OoRP to not have an escort?

This sort of arguement just keeps on circling. Endlessly.

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My Stories

[Colonel.Tigh]

I really cant understand it, the "Kill me, its cheapers", is soooo easy to roleplay. Just yell distresssignals over the system chat. A "Pirate sighted at X/Y, man the guns, x-Police, we need assistance, we are under x-Pirate attack." I havent had a pirate who was not shooting me before i finished the second sentence.

Ok the Police or Navy boys never come in time, or at all, but RP is satisfied, and both you and your Pirate of doom are a little more happy.

[schlurbi]

Youre calling the Police in System chat?

*facepalm*

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"Who is it doing this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'?"

[Sprolf]

That would be double facepalm actually..... though I'm too lazy to find my link for it.


And I'd agree that "kill me now" traders are OORP. Think about it.
Every human being would do anything in their power to bargain for their life and prevent the destruction of their ship. It's really very common sense.

And no, you can't just say "I'll survive in my escape pod."
I think anyone would think twice about relying on a defensless pod - and if we're being so RP about it, well, the pirates can just blow you up with their nifty cruise disruptors. Or lasers. Whichever they feel like. Or they can tractor you in.

That's like a merchant ship of olde telling pirates to blow their vessel up, because they'll just hop into the lifeboats and row away because they don't want to pay the pirates.

I'll let you think about that one for a while.


Humans have a survival instinct.
They'll try to survive.
It's all very simple.

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[Quorg]

I can sympathize with the traders who don't want to pay a ridiculous ransom. Sometimes it is indeed a waste of time to pay a pirate, for example, 5 million credits for a leg of a run that makes only a few hundred thousand.

In my noobish days not too long ago, I definitely did ask pirates in this situation to "destroy my ship, which is covered by insurance anyways, and I'll head off in my deluxe escape pod". I don't consider it to be OORP, but it is poor RP.

Some better alternatives are listed above. Openly calling for the House Police and Militaries not only increases the speed at which you may be destroyed and continue your day, but also provides a slight, slight chance of being rescued. Another way to go is to refuse to stop, using a setmsg such as "my apologies, sir, but my brake thrusters seem to be broken" or "I wish I could, but us pilots aren't allowed to carry more than 20 (or whatever your upper limit is for paying pirates) credits in cash". Either way, you're likely to die, but give yourself some (small) chance of escape.

I have a policy of never paying pirates (or police) who ask for more than 1 million credits (which is essentially all of them). After all, if you pay off those who are trying to RP with you, where's the thrill of being chased? The opportunity to RP a good police or pirate chase is not one that I'm likely to pass up, regardless of whether I'm smuggling in an Eagle, BW Transport, or Advanced Train.

tl;dr Just run. Being chased is fun.

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ATTENTION SMUGGLERS
The Midnight Express: A Slaver <strike>who doesn't completely realize what he's doing.</strike> (video)

Quorg, you're officially a moron.

...mongs like Quorg being like a malignant little cancer...

Way to be useless, Quorg.

[Derkylos]

Humans have a survival instinct.
They'll try to survive.
It's all very simple.

We also happen to be players of a game.
Players of a game want to have fun.
Not to be pirated for every last nanobot, unmounted gun and missile on every trade route.

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[Sprolf]

We also happen to be players of a game.
Players of a game want to have fun.
Not to be pirated for every last nanobot, unmounted gun and missile on every trade route.

I also never said that I followed what RP demands all the time.
Heh.


Pirates could lighten up when it comes to money, definitely.
Most of those I've been pirated by recently appear to be rather lenient, so that might be a good trend.

And then again, those times were in my Zoner Guard Dromedary.

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[jammi]

From my experiences in my real-life career as both mugger and extortionist, I can say with absolute confidence that you do meet people who prefer death rather than paying. Roughly ten percent or so.

:lol:

That could be just psychology, if pirate knows that trader wont pay him, he could leave you, otherwise hell get killed.

It's about reputation. If a trader says 'Na, not paying', the pirate isn't going to go on to say in his high-pitched girly voice 'damn I was hoping to get paid today'. Of course he won't. He'll kill the trader as a demonstration of what happens if you mess him around.

Using the Somalian pirate example again, if someone doesn't pay, they just hijack the ship, use the crew as hostages, boot-leg the cargo then commandeer the ship into a friendly port where it can be held until it can be sold for ransom or torn up for metal and either made into more pirate ships or sold as materials.

Pirates don't understand psychology. They do understand killing people that mess them around.

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News article library, feedback and content requests.

[Cellulanus]

Corporate traders could find themselves with an interesting RP excuse.


"Go ahead, what you could do to me is nothing compared to what my boss would do to me if I just handed it over."

[Derkylos]

Pirates don't understand psychology. They do understand killing people that mess them around.

You're not a pirate. You're someone who plays a (supposedly) enjoyable game in his (or her) free time, along with other people trying to enjoy themselves in their free time...

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