Yarr Matey! or Pirates And You

Private development area, away from the nimwits, retards and dithering idiots.

Er, I mean, normal users. Yeah. Those guys.
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Arcalane
Pseudofeline Overlord
Posts: 4034
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:37 am
Location: UK

Yarr Matey! or Pirates And You

Post by Arcalane »

What Are Pirates For?
The Pirates are here for us to poke players into activity and away from stagnation, especially military stagnation. They are here for us to "punish" players who let too many resources build up.

Players can also attempt to bribe pirates into attacking other players, but paying them too much or too little might make them disinclined to acquiesce to your request, as they say.

In other words, they might say no.

And of course you can always make them a better offer against the original "buyer", or even pay them to stay off your back. Just hope your enemy doesn't up the ante.

What Can Pirates Do?
Raid:
One of their main missions is raiding. When raiding, they pick out nearby colonies (the wealthier the colony the better), dispatch a force, and attempt to loot and pillage. As a rule, they don't take slaves (even they have standards - and robot minions!) but they will make off with mineral wealth, and population can be killed during the raids. If a raid is successful, the pirates will make off with PHATCASH in the form of material resources, and possibly TECHNOPOINTS from highly developed worlds, which mean their ships and bases will be better in the future.

Yes, if pirates make off with your PHATCASH, you lose that PHATCASH. Do not fear! If you intercept them before they can get to a Depot, you can get your goods back.

Alternately, you could tail them to a Depot and take everything in that Depot for yourself! Even better, trail their transport ships back to a Base and destroy it. Just be warned that it won't be easy, and a failed attack might provoke serious retribution!

Assemble Structure:
Ignoring automated defensive guns which seem to appear of their own volition, pirates still need bases of operations. They can setup Depots, Relays and Bases. They can also set up Dummy/Trap versions of all these structures.

Dummy versions are easier to discover but close investigation might reveal them to be suspiciously... inert. They have rudimentary amenities for passing crews that need to use the base, or for bait ships to lure Security Forces to the site, but are otherwise incapable of sustaining pirate operations unless converted into the real thing.

Trap versions are also easier to discover, and consist of shielded and reinforced defenses. They have no usable amenities - the entire base is actually a massive weapons platform or bomb. In either case, the base has a higher than normal contingent of defensive platforms used to ambush attackers. Bomb Traps will explode violently if boarded.

Pirate Structures:
Depot:
A small holding station for loot. This is where raids are launched from and where loot is held before being transferred to a base by dedicated transport ships. Depots may eventually be converted into bases!

Relay:
A floating fuel and rest stop, basically a repurposed civilian station. Relays are expendable and lightly defended.

Base:
The real pirate's nest. Attacking these is a major venture but can be a boon.

~~

bluuhhhh more later I guess
  /l、
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