Did I even once mention you? The post was a generalized reply to some of the other replies in this thread. Should probably start cherrypicking quotes before I write up replies, but the point I made still stands.
Perhaps it does, but it would help you next time not to be to aggressive in smacking down any concerned remarks; “It's not the game that needs to change, it's you” and “Harden the fuck up or get the fuck out” don't help much on constructive arguments.
Regardless, I apologize for taking it as an insult directed at me, personally.
There's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with the system as it is.
Except there is.
In reply to this, and everything else said that might claim that I don't know how the anti-pirate's life is, I'd like to point out that I recently finished hitting 0.0 in sec-rating, after spending years with a low rating due popping non-flashy pirates. It was as low down as -3.7 once.
This is directly the nature of what I feel should be addressed, even if in a minor way. When your a pirate, you can accept the cost to your sec-rating and simply blow up and/or pod anything you see, ransoms and cargo-confiscations optional. If you want to skirt the edges, keep it high enough to get into High-sec, at least some of them, then it will require more work, yes. Something along the lines of 'resisting the urge to blow up more people until you fix your sec rating more'.
This happen to be the exact problem anti-pirates have in regards to shooting non-flashers. Any outlaw pirate can kill anyone anytime, except, they got to stay in low/null-sec to do so. That is a cost they have to take into account all day every day, but with it comes the freedom to shoot anyone, anytime.
Anti-pirates can accept the costs fully and go outlaw themselves. Even if they settle down in a local area and shoot only known pirates, outlaws or no, there is a big problem – any other player who don't know that these will not shoot them would still be perfectly free to shoot the anti-pirates as if they were pirates themselves, and even if they knew, the anti-pirates would still be flashing, legitimate targets to anyone. Having standings set to anyone they work with in high-sec or anything would still only go so far.
About security-ratings for pilots, I've been thinking. When you hit -5.0 your free game to anyone. However, all the way down to -4.9 anyone who shoots you first will still take a full sec-hit for aggression, and should they manage to destroy your ship, a full sec-hit for destruction of said ship. God's help them if they pod the guy.
What if, sec-hit for aggression and destruction of ships, scaled with the sec-rating of the one being attacked? I think this was discussed elsewhere once before. I think it would work. Anti-piracy is not a game-mechanic, it's a state of mind. There are no direct mechanics that support fighting piracy, but there are the mechanics that deal with piracy itself and bounty-hunting. If someone with a very low, but not yet outlaw level of sec-rating is attacked and blown up, if the aggressor(s) take a smaller hit than hitting a higher-rated player, say, a 3.0 or even -1.0 player, then the slippery slope of hitting outlaw will not be quite as slippery.
Pirates who want to become pirates and don't care about outlaw can still get outlaw, they simply have to kill more ships and possibly pods to get there than now. Pirates that want to 'play the rules' can still do so, their reputation for helping pirates can still be acted upon by other players. And vigilantes that wish to stop them but still be able to live in high-sec can still do so, but it won't require endless mission-running all day every day to keep their sec-ratings up.
If this could be implemented along with any possible re-vamp of the bounty system (as discussed in Aria's tread) it might make 'vigilantism' feel more like vigilantism than piracy-lite.
And lastly, most to the point presented in the OP, about piracy/vigilantism and the RP angles...
One thing that has puzzled me is somewhat of a trend with players. When you play this game, you do it when you want, where you want and how you want to, so anyone who 'defects' to become a pirate are free to do so, obviously. But I've always found it somewhat strange that none seem to want to become, well, privateers, in the true meaning of the word. Say your a Republican, and you want to tweak your RP to become a pirate. This usually involves a type of 'betrayal' by going off to join the Angels or whatever. Fair choice. But would it ever interest anyone to make a type of privateer group, that hunt in, say, the bleak lands, trying to hurt the amarrians and their very existence there, directly?
On could still be 'loyal' to one's parent nation, but not really in ways they might publicly approve of. UK struck me as somewhat of an alliance with this feeling on them, except they seem to be far more anti-pirate and 'only' very anti-slavery. Then again this might be a poor example, UK lives in 0.0 after all...
Anyhow, my point is, has anyone ever tried to go the 'outlaw for my nation' type, or is there any problems with this that I don't see, or is there simply none that tried or though of this?
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Topic: The Pirate and/or Vigilante Angle (Read 6774 times)