Player Features and Ideas Discussion

It's more like being a Privateer, actually. The ocean was fairly vast, and this was a legal way for empires to raid the commerce of their enemies. This wasn't so much pirating as it was... free enterprise. Pirating came into play when it was more lucrative either to cut the crown out of their commission or raid both sides. Which is exactly what this proposes. And space is indeed vast...

Since there's already a mechanic in-place for security status, I've revised this to Faction standings. Unless you're accepting a lot of the "bad" missions or running amok of customs officials, you should have a neutral or positive faction standing. Anything above 0.0 for that Faction and you're safe anywhere in their high-sec Empire space.

However... if you dip below 0.0, you begin to run the risk of any Privateers licensed by that Empire while in their space. This is strictly a player-player mechanic (there's no Empire intervention as there is with security status). And it's not merely ganking in high-sec, since you have to have a Faction (not corporate) standing in excess of 5.0 to be licensed to begin with. And if that isn't maintained through continued good deeds, well - your license is forfeited. It's a lot easier to lose Faction standing than it is to gain it. Another way to look at this is PvP "lite" for high-sec mission runners (our version of Faction Warfare in low-sec).

And it's not like players can't fight back. I mean, after all - this is what all the low-sec folk keep telling us... right?

You know what they say... If at first you don't succeed.

I do understand how FW works. There are quite a few differences, namely that it doesn't cost anything for you to enroll (and I'm fairly certain they'll take just about anyone). You can also earn LP and ISK in FW, and with the Privateer idea your only ISK potential is through combat (with no guarantees). But FW is also specific to low-sec.

For as many low or null-sec players that have excellent faction standings, there are probably an equal number of players (regardless of where they call home) that transit through various high-sec Empire systems with crappy standings. Why? Because anything down to -4.9 isn't any kind of offense. You can even skirt most gates with a -5.0 or less rating.

Privateers is for this group. And there's really no reason why they couldn't and shouldn't be hunted down.

Suspect, no. But they could be tagged with an icon designating them as a Privateer.

I guess that's only a problem if you frequent Jita often.

so u can see them coming, but can do nothing about it until they fire upon u?

another winning idea arthur ...

This, pretty much.

They're Han Solo (original, not the remakes where WTF DID GREEDO JUST SHOOT?!) or Mal Reynolds ... just trying to make a buck (although maybe via "questionable" means).

This actually ties in with the 'Empires losing control' meme that the recent trailers have been declaring. Empires getting desperate utilizing privateers to maintain control.

It has some merit too, of course i can under stand why the lo-sec pirates wouldn't like it.

to avoid skewing things they need protection from CONCORD? i dnt even...u say limited protection from CONCORD, how limitied is limited? as in, absolute until they open fire, and therefore the same protection as everyone but outlaws get from CONCORD? how bad are these privateers at this game if they need that kind of backing right upto the moment they open fire? is this meant for the kind of players that try to PvP in mission fits?

things are so terribly skewed towards the privateer who can engage at will, and always has the first shot. u say its a solo career, but there is nothing to stop gangs from doing this, all we are going to see are roving gangs of privateers pretending they are half decent at PvP because they can approach prey without any risk and then open fire at their most opportune moment. perhaps u hadn't considered that, or maybe u intended to make this type of almost riskless PvP for hi-sec carebears.

theres nothing stopping wannabe privateers determined enough to gank thier targets either. u can still gank and have a positive sec status.

if i would kill the entire concept from the outset by making it more fair and sandbox style play, then the concept is a joke from the outset.

That's what went through my head as well. The empires needing some desperate measures against the growing capsuleer criminal elements.

What are the Robocop lovers and Judge Dredds amongst us positive sec stat folk supposed to do with it?

So lets just assume you are hunting "Bad People" because in EvE - Security Status /= Bad Person. It is simply a measurement of how much destruction that person has been involved with, usually you can tell their moral character by the fact that they are blinking red, not being low security status.

As a character in FW I am often attacked by pirates and end up killing them in plexes. I fire first because their intent is obviously to kill me. I lose security status, so now the Caldari state will give you right to kill me for that? Congratulations, you have bastardized your own morality that you are attempting to uphold. There is already a system for hunting high sec griefers and bad people - its called "Kill rights" .

That being said I am actually a pretty bad person :(