Sure at the time they were broken and used to bunch up in massive numbers until you had like 25 chasing you but right after a server restart for about a day or so they were quite fun!

That piracy mission that was based off voys traveling through was wicked too

Besides! in all this time the escorts and hive skirmishes and now BP have become pretty solid so some of those fixes have to be applicable to the unrats to make them reasonably fun again!

Just keep them out of b8 cause last time they killed it off and it was annoying to find a good duel!

how about insted of carebearing up b8 and having npc pirates we make grayspace trade profitable so players decide to become pirates

I don't think that NPC pirates would have a significant effect to decrease the number of PC pirates...

[stamp of approval]™

The old pirates are in lisp, so they can't just be turned on, and I wound up changing a lot of infrastructure since we abandoned that codebase, so it's not a (relatively) simple matter of porting either. New NPC pirates will come eventually, but they needn't be anything like the old ones. So, perhaps this thread can be about what you liked/disliked about them, and what you'd like to see in a future implementation.

I like the piracy mission that knew a voy would be passing by the system

I liked when they used to threaten me when I entered the sector

I liked being chased between sectors by them

I liked getting paid for killing rats when on a voy mission

I didnt like them sitting in b8 and i didnt like when they'd build up to like 20 bots and obliterate anything that came into the sector

If they sat in a sector like the odia-sedina or bractus-odia in triplets or pairs they would be pretty cool

Being able to take a piracy mission where unrats could assist in killing off a voy.

Dedicated cargo ships that could remove the loot and sell it for common profit would be nice. As I recall they tended to insist on letting the cargo time out last.. annoying.

An option to have non-Corvus rats. Like Xang-Xi that only chases Valent voys (what do I know..) or the like. Let grey be a place of unrest!

They used to attack you if you touched the cargo, that sucked too cause then you couldn't clean up!

I like the idea of them collecting it

An option to have non-Corvus rats. Like Xang-Xi that only chases Valent voys (what do I know..) or the like. Let grey be a place of unrest!

I really like that idea! Hell, when BS-like-battles happen in grey... why not have roaming cargo-carrying faction-alligned cappies traveling through grey? A faction X cappy might shoot at convoys of faction Y, etc.

No more Hive-like behavior, no more camping in clusters. Cut down their numbers, make them hunt in pairs and not in easily distracted gank-squads, and have them fly a mix of patrol/WH camping like real pirates do.

Also, put them in Hounds. Not sure whether they'll be more deadly with an all energy, all rocket, or 1 & 1 mix, but make them vicious.

I'm aiming for a design based around a "Clan" concept, where pirates are named relative to a particular clan, and that clan has a "hideout" which can be assaulted. Different teams of pirates do their thing, and eventually bring the "spoils" back home. Pirates stay fairly "regional" to their hideout, but different clans make for different dangers in different regions. The longer a clan has been around, and the more effective they have been, the better defended their hideout.

Also: A player path for joining Clans, and potentially running one eventually. Ok, have to run to appointment now..

I like it, a lot.

I do too (*gasp*).
Any chance there would be trading Clans as well? Something of mini-empires (somewhat akin to the sub-factions I guess...)? Though I guess you've already stated that there would be given the BS-like battles that will occur in grey among the subfactions...
Either way, very much approved.

The NPC pirates were the reason for the founding of the CCCP (yep, it's that old). So, I'd favour their return.

To all that has been said. Approved.

The AI pirates are a great idea and incarnate’s idea of pirate clans is pure gold.

The griefers have a lot of trouble grasping the fact that they are at the root of why VO has a player retention problem. Most players have no trouble with losing ships or with “dangerous” parts of space. That is why they are in the game in the first place.

The problem is one of personalities. Most of the so called “pirates” are simply griefers and they add nothing to the game that an AI pirate could not do better. Their selfish pursuit of their own pleasure, at the expense of VO’s player base and viability as a business, are driving players away. Something needs to be done.

Channeling their aggressive and anti-social energies seems a better idea than simply driving them out of the game, as they have driven others. My war suggestion is one attempt to find ways of doing this. I would welcome other suggestions.

A problem cannot be fixed until one understands its causes. Anyone who thinks that “danger” or losing ships is at the heart of VO’s retention problems is not thinking clearly. It is not about ships, it is all about personality and in that regard the bots and AI pirates have a decided advantage over the griefers.

dude there are no griefers...
you seem to be incapable of grasping that.

Utisz, the NPC pilots in general suck. Any competent pilot can easily destroy tens, if not hundreds, of NON-HUMAN-CONTROLLED ships without dying. (except see point A, below.)

It's impossible to equate the threat level of NPC pirates vs. PC pirates. PC pirates are orders of magnitude more deadly, and more fun.

The old "rats" would cluster around wormholes and do silly things like "wait for you to pay them", which usually gave you plenty of time to get away without paying. They were eventually modified to be able to chase you in-system, but it was still way to easy to get away.

And if you wanted to FIGHT them, it was impossible due to the multiple flare-heavy warthogs that would fire willy-nilly into your area, killing you instantly. Point A: Hard to dodge 5 or 6 flare-firing ships. Just sayin'. Any other weapons on bots are usually easy enough to avoid.

If we're going to bring back NPC pirates, make sure to give'em some character and some variability.

I liked the bounty and pirating missions I could do with them, I liked bribing them.

I didn't like the flare-hogs, and I hated them respawning every 2 minutes and eventually building a force that required endless work to get rid of, thus killing any sector they gathered in.
Incarnate's ideas are awesome. :)

Off-topic, sorry:

"The griefers have a lot of trouble grasping the fact that they are at the root of why VO has a player retention problem."
How do you know that griefers are the main problem? Do you collect stats? Do you interview every single newb who leaves halfway through their trial? You think the couple griefers ingame at any given time far outweigh the lack of content and other problems the game has? Really?

If the unrats are in clans, what is Corvus? The most powerful clan? A coalition of clans? I want to be the Godfather of Corvus...

Corvus is a very, very successful clan.