15 replies to this topic

[Insidious Johnson]

Yeah, I saw the title of the locked one and was hoping for fellow periphery pirates from MH IP and CF would be bouncing around in that thread. Instead some nonsense about trying to say stealing is ok. I'm talking about in game raiders, mercs with BAD ratings, and bandit kingdoms. Can we get some bandit love from Devland, title OBVIOUSLY made you look(lol). I've done the merc thing, house thing, the clan thing (most retentive lorehounds in existance,imaho) and pirate thing. I had MORE fun as a pirate. If not at lauch, gonna settle for the seediest lot I can find and do my best to upsell piracy and "bad mercenary practices". I sure hope mechanics are in place for mercs to abandon contracts or switch sides in the field. I know we'll see it, given the level of lorehoundian fanaticism already involved in the game. I just want to know what the production priorities are given the setting and timeline.

[Dirk Le Daring]

I think that including the pirate function could be a pretty cool factor. Not that I am considering being a pirate, but it would add a lot of flavour to the game.

[Arnie1808]

Plus you might be one of the pirates that bump into the Clans when they return

[Adridos]

Ever tried facing a Clan?
Without support?
With only one ton of ammo left?
With damaged legs?
All of that in a 500 years old mech?

Well, I´m telling ya it ain´t easy.

[Arnie1808]

I didn't say you would survive the meeting but you would be one of the first to shall we say become a bondsman if your lucky

[eZZip]

Insidious Johnson, on 19 April 2012 - 09:15 PM, said:

I sure hope mechanics are in place for mercs to abandon contracts or switch sides in the field.

Consider that MWO is a multiplayer game. How often, on the receiving end, do people think it is fun to be TKed?

[Adridos]

Arnie1808, on 22 April 2012 - 11:35 AM, said:

I didn't say you would survive the meeting but you would be one of the first to shall we say become a bondsman if your lucky

Bondsmans are the fighters they fought with and while they lost, they have proven themselves as good warriors. But as you said, you won't survive the encounter, because that mech probably doesn't even have a functioning ejection seat.

[Hawkeye 72]

Good job making the moderators view this thread!

I wouldn't mind seeing piracy, and I am sure the lone wolf will provide this service. However pirate kingdoms were notoriously weak. The Oberon Confederation was close to an actual power until the Clans quite literally walked over them. If you are a pirate, it is a life of rusty battlemechs and poverty

[Alaric Wolf Kerensky]

Adridos, on 22 April 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

Bondsmans are the fighters they fought with and while they lost, they have proven themselves as good warriors. But as you said, you won't survive the encounter, because that mech probably doesn't even have a functioning ejection seat.

You don't have to eject from a 'Mech to survive I hope you are aware. Very few 'Mechs are lost to core breach explosions, and even those are calmer then typically depicted. As opposed to popular belief, nuclear reactor (both fission and fusion) meltdown usually consists of a release of currently stored energy, and in the case of fission leaked molten nuclear material.

Edited by Alaric Wolf Kerensky, 22 April 2012 - 09:30 PM.

[Der Kommissar]

Stackpoling mech reactors is, unfortunately, ingrained into the minds of many a fan. Mech4 and the odious MechAssault games did nothing to help this.

You don't want to be in a critically damaged mech without an ejection seat, though. Especially if you're stuck piloting a lightweight bug mech like many a pirate, which has ammo magazines just itching to explode and spread you over the better part of a kilometer.

[Oswin Aurelius]

Der Kommissar, on 22 April 2012 - 10:07 PM, said:

You don't want to be in a critically damaged mech without an ejection seat, though. Especially if you're stuck piloting a lightweight bug mech like many a pirate, which has ammo magazines just itching to explode and spread you over the better part of a kilometer.

"Hmm, I think I could use another ton of Inferno SRMs."

[Adridos]

Alaric Wolf Kerensky, on 22 April 2012 - 09:29 PM, said:

You don't have to eject from a 'Mech to survive I hope you are aware.

In every single MW game, the mech was destroyed, not just "taken out of functioning state".

[Bilskirnir_]

How many times though was the mech destroyed by a headshot though? i imagine even though the torso of a mech is completely devastated, the cockpit may survive. Otherwise generally in terms of every single MW game leaving the mech destroy, that is not true. If it was destroyed then how did you get salvage from it. Generally i see it as the mech's main components being destroyed or damaged enough to render them inoperable.

But then getting back onto topic of Pirate. I think it would be awesome to see pirate factions. My guess is they would be a different way for hardcore players to go. The reasons being because you are mostly dependent of scavaging, raiding, and salvage for money and equipment as a pirate. The means you need to be even more efficeint then a merc. company because you don't get money for your missions. Although if you successfully mount a pirate raid there could be different kinds i guess.

-Kidnapping (Demand ransom for important official)
-good old raiding (destroy local militia and raid local area)
-Show of force (demonstrate your strength and make the enemy surrender)
-Ambushes
-Attacking supply convoys
-and others

Then i have a though that the pirate ranking system would be more of a bounty system. Basically the more your successfully raid a house the larger the bounty they put on your bandit company. Raid too much and the house may even hire a player run merc. corp to hunt you down.

[Adridos]

Piracy like in EVE would be really cool. But the game design doesn't support anything like this.

[Marowi]

I would love to see a piracy mechanism to this game, but I'm really not sure how it would work out. And for the record, EVE goes a little too far, in my opinion, since they effectively tolerate open griefing--which I think they do intentionally to keep the (very active) player community small by chasing away most newcomers. It's not a good business model, though.

But how is piracy going to work? 'Mechs don't carry diamonds. In Freelancer, piracy not only made sense, but it was probably the most fun part of the game--setting up ambushes for resource-rich cargo-ferries and then jetting away before the military comes in and kills you. In MWO, though, I don't see much use for pirates other than having a few, "unclaimed" Periphery worlds and occasionally attacking some Great House's planet for a facility or minerals or something else. But this is basically the same as any other kind of battle--'Mech formations attacking other 'Mech formations for control of a resource on the map. In order for piracy to work out like EVE or Freelancer, you'd need there to be some reason for why players would want to ambush random Great House 'Mechs. Again, they don't carry cargo, so why? Just griefing? And how? A single pirate lance lands on Coventry and... doesn't get wiped out? These are very important questions, IMO.

Edited by Marowi, 23 April 2012 - 03:46 PM.

[Samuel Maxwell]

If there was ever a cooperative mode (PvE), I can see how piracy can work. In objective-base matches, I also can see how it can play a role (e.g. Raid a base and return to jump) in both PvE and PvP.

Edited by Samuel Maxwell, 23 April 2012 - 04:04 PM.