Forums » Suggestions

Pirate stuff.

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Jul 23, 2005 tramshed link
Just a couple of ideas about some corvus only equipment which could add some fun.

First off, how about a cargo leech beam. Make it have a range of 750m, L port, and sucks cargo at 1u/sec. Pirate gets cargo, trader doesnt die or lose all of his cargo, both sides happy. And the amount of cargo the pirate gets is directly related to the ability of the pirate to chase and the trader to run. The fact that its non-lethal would make many a trader happy as well.

For the second thing, how about a pirate engine. Make it only available with extremely high (+950?) corvus standing, but give it the ability to steal others wormholes and system jumps, causing the pirate to warp out from the same place the trader does. To avoid annoyances and general overpowerment require the pirate to set a certain player as the engines target, and restrict its range to 700m or so. This would require the server to wait for both clients to give a finished loading signal of course to keep ping differences from causing issues, but it would add an interesting dynamic to the interaction of traders and pirates. Not to mention it would make those bloody moths catchable.

Just my thoughts on some cool pirate equipment, I would love some feedback and to hash this out better so it could actually be implemented, I think it would more clearly define the roles of pirate and trader and just add a lot of fun in general. There could even be a mission string or two attached to acquiring this equipment, adding some RP elements and a bit of purpose to the pirate lifestyle.
Jul 23, 2005 Phaserlight link
Cool idea, but 750m is far too great imo. Lol can you imagine how annoying it would be to be tagged by one of these without being able to escape it? It would be kinda cool to have a "rogue"-like weapon in the game though. I'd say keep the range under 100m, like the mining beams.

Not to mention it would make those bloody moths catchable.
...ship balance issue I hope is fixed.
Jul 23, 2005 0 link
Pirate stuff I'd like to see:
1: Tramshed's mentioned warp bubble drive

2: cargo scanner (this would benefit traders as well as pirates, I might not bother chasing a player if they don't have the cargo i want.)

3: not really equipment, but something needs to be done about bounty hunters.
Everyone should not be a bounty hunter, there should be some stigma that goes with the job. I'd like to see a bounty hunter have to take a "go kill this pilot" mission in order to receive the bounty. They have to actually work for their pay day, not just collect bounties in the process of playing normally.

4: the moth needs nerfed

5: see 4!

6: The economy needs changed. There's too much free money, all the factions should have a bank, and raise item/ship prices or charge fees in order to maintain it. Docking fees, repair fees, taxes, ... I get a 2 million bounty on me every week, where does that money come from?
Cargo should be rejected by a station that doesn't need it. all the weapons have the stats of what items are needed to make them, each station should keep an inventory of sales/deliveries and keep a reasonable number of items in stock accordingly. If nobody brings a specific item to the station for a while they might not be able to sell certain items/weapons/ships.

That's all for now
Jul 23, 2005 Lord Q link
I think the cargo leech beam should only have a 100-200 m range and should have an energy drain of say 10/second, so that you can't infiniboost while steeling cargo.

also i think there should be a Graviton inhibiter mine, that latches onto whatever passes close enoug, maybe within 100m and adds a huge amount of mass to the victum ship (maybe even as much a 10,000kg). If used properly it should make trade ships very vulnerable to rockets. But if the affected ship goes threw a wormehole, or jumps to another sector the mine will fall off.
Jul 23, 2005 Arolte link
I'm a little confused about the leech beam. How exactly does it work? Does it suck cargo right through the other ship's hull magically? If you could provide a logical explanation as to how it works I might support your idea. But right now your proposal sounds pretty absurd.

I don't think a pirate engine is necessary either. I do however think that following other players should be integrated into the game by default for ALL players to use. This was discussed before in previous threads.

A cargo scanner is cool. I'd like to see that too. It might prevent a lot of unnecessary killing, but I doubt it'll stop it. Still, it's one small step in the right direction. Excellent idea.

The moth doesn't need to be nerfed. The ability to follow other players easily will solve the moth's problem. You'll need to trust me on that one. Also consider altering your ship configuration. Lose the high drain ship and switch to a more energy efficient loadout.
Jul 23, 2005 Lord Q link
 Arolte,

I figured the leech beam worked like the transporters from oh so many sci-fi settings. It dematerializes the cargo, and rematerializes it in the pirate's hold.
Jul 23, 2005 Solra Bizna link
> Lose the high drain ship and switch to a more energy efficient loadout.
An EC-107 with Sparrows is pretty energy efficient, and it can't even bring a running moth to 50% across three systems.
-:sigma.SB
Jul 23, 2005 Arolte link
If we have transporters why are we using spaceships to get around? Or even a more appropriate question, is anything about transporters mentioned in the storyline? I'm not trying to intentionally shoot down your proposal. I'm just questioning how much it would fit into the game and its storyline/universe.
Jul 23, 2005 Lord Q link
We use space ships because the transporters only work out to 100m and as i recall (and pleas correct me if i'm wrong) the backstory doesn't mention the hive either. And even so, new technology is developed every day, maybe one ingenious pirate/engineer designed the transporter beam on his own within the last year or so.
And no offence taken, if you finde any other flaws in my reasoning feal free to bring them up as well
Jul 24, 2005 Harry Seldon link
Rather than seeing random pirate stuff pop up that seems contrary to the game (why haven't we been using these transporters to abduct people, hmmmm?), why not make something like an EMP mine, which temporarily disables a ship/disables weapons/random effect, or even something that causes other ships missile detection system to malfunction or fail, either sending warning beeps when there should be none, or simply not giving any beeps.

Personally, I see that as more plausable.
Jul 24, 2005 Snax_28 link
Not to try and turn this thread into a moth nerfing one, but I'm hearing this a lot from people that I'm not sure are actually testing their conscepts.

Arolte:

Have you tested any low drain/high efficiancy energy layouts? The following are layouts that I personally have tested, and are backed up with other pirates own tests (ask anyone who chases moths for a living):

Moth II (infini-boost @ 220, possibly a few updates ago)
Megaposi (the absolute best damage/energy drain weapon in the game)
Orion XGX (along with the sparrow, N3, and N2, one of the next best for damage/energy drain)
FC battery

IDF Valk (240 @ 55 drain)
Sunflares (no energy drain)
N2 (one of the best for energy/damage)
FC battery

Centurion Mk II (infiniboost version)
dual Sparrows, dual N2's, dual Orions, etc.
FC Battery

These are three of the most energy efficient layouts in the game when one considers that s/he needs speed as well. None of them are anywhere near a match for a Moth pilot who understands that if they simply boost away and jump through two or three empty sectors that they are free. Never mind the moth pilot who carries mines of any sort.

A moth pilot has to have an accident, do something relatively stupid, or simply have balls bigger than her/his wallet, before they will be caught by a pirate.
Jul 24, 2005 Arolte link
I've taken down Moths in a quad-AAP Hornet Convoy Guardian configuration. A full heavy battery worth of shots can kill a Prometheus instantly in less than 2-2.5 seconds. A heavy battery Hornet CG also has near-infinite boost capabilities. It's all about finding the best combination of energy efficiency and power. I use this configuration exclusively for scouting and chasing purposes, and for good reason too. Others may disagree, or may not want to fly in a Hornet.

I don't know what so say, guys. It's not as hard as you make it out to be. I've managed to do it in 2 sectors at the most. One time I got lucky and did it in 1. The Moth is not a fast ship. Anyway, I'd imagine with other ships you'd easily be able to catch up to a Moth as long as you'd be able to jump at their destination more quickly. Which is why I stress that having a follow command would help immensely. I think only THEN will you see how easy it is to catch up to the Moth.
Jul 24, 2005 Snax_28 link
Please go here. We're taking this thread in the wrong direction.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/10992#128401
Jul 24, 2005 tumblemonster link
Back on topic, I'm all for some neato pirate gear, but I'm also for some neato trade gear too. I think in general the game and it's factions need more diversification. It feels to me like we live in a galaxy with a globalized economy and no superpowers. Everyone can get everything everywhere, as long as they like you. But even the real worlds has black markets, why not the game? Where is the illegal tech? Where are the Kevin Mitniks and underground genetics labs? Where is the illicit cargo? Right now this game has one level, and everyone lives on it. We need more levels for people to live on, and more interesting items once they do. This is a hard game to learn, but once you've learned it, there is no more mystery, it's not that deep. I know the devs are working on these things. I'm looking forward to seeing a certain kind of tech that is available only at one station, with only certain combinations of negative and positive standing able to get it. I'm looking forward the getting blown up by a weapon no one has ever seen because this guy is the first to happen upon the standing and level configuration to get it.
Jul 24, 2005 space man 1 link
i like that idea so im just gonna say i do but there is a black market that sells stuff for less a lisence to but new items and illegal ones would be nice
Jul 25, 2005 tramshed link
We have had teleportation in the game for as long as I can remember, it happens everytime you die.

As for the beams, 100m is way too short for the beam. If Im within 100m of you im just going to blow you up and take ALL your cargo. 10e/sec is way too high as well too since you take a normal 60 drain ship, add a beam that only has 100m range and makes your ship have a drain of 70 (can you say the old vulturious) it would negate any point in using it. Itll pretty much have to have a range and energy usage slightly better than standard weapons, else itll be much more efficent to just blow them up. Plus, if you had a pair of them equipped, thats an extra 20e/sec drain. I wanna see anyone get within 100m of a running ship with that tacked onto thier normal drain.

Id like to see things for traders as well, but since im not a trader, its not really my place to try to think of what they need. Also, if you caught and killed a moth with a hornet, they werent running, or they werent paying attention.
Jul 26, 2005 Siro link
As a trader/miner, I've only ever seen 1 pirate who wanted my cargo (if I even had any). Most of the time you guys (pirates) seem to want credits. A leech beam will obviously not solve your problem.
Jul 05, 2008 Aramarth link
Cargo scanners are definitely an addition I would like to see. Similar to a mineral scanner or a radar extender in implementation, this addon would be useful in a border checkpoint role in addition to the obvious piracy implications. Further, some new player-run events would benefit, because as of now there is no way to ensure that participants have an empty hold.

Purchase requirements should be somewhere in the realm of combat 5 and perhaps Ineubis/Xang Xi faction, since it seems like the sort of thing they would develop.
Jul 05, 2008 sfriedenberg link
On an entirely different note, a pirate-friendly (it'll also make this more fun for non-pirates) suggestion is to restrict the Corvult and Corauder to pirates only. Requirements to 'be a pirate' would be Native KOS, Admire Corvus Standing and possibly 100pks...

This would make pirates far more unique than they already are. This would make combat quite more interesting for pirate related tasks...

all comments and suggestions are welcome
Jul 05, 2008 tramshed link
Wow, way to dig up an old post, heh. As for the corvult and marauder, they both rather suck for pirating, so you dont see many pirates actually in them.