Well, the new improved pirates didn't make it in tonight. All the underpinnings are there now, though, so I can release it as soon as its done, as opposed to waiting for a friday release. So, hopefully it will be ready toward the middle of next week.

The biggest problem is that the bots are affecting RP. for example, there is no reason at all for me to band with joe Trader over there and cover his pasty white ones on a dangerous trip through Sedina when I can do the exact same thing for an NPC and get an XP reward for it in addition to some cash.

Perhaps the devs might consider a mission computer that allows us to input our own parameters as a "hiring hall" sort of thing.

Imagine if a trader could punch into a computer in Azek C-14:

"Mission type (escort, trading, hive hunt, etc.):" 'Escort'
"Departing from:" 'Azek c-14'
"Arriving at:" 'Odia j-9'
"Willing to pay:" '150000c'

And the computer could kick back an experience reward commensurate. When the trader declares the mission over, experience is kicked out based on success/failure.

This could be used in a number of ways. Guild station getting overcome by bots? Call a hive hunt mission and pay players to clear that out for you.

This could be really interesting. Is it possible, devs?

~D.
"Nigel"

them damn little bastards are annoyign as hell. especially when you have 3 or 4 td's throwing a shitstorm of flares at you. is there any reason they coulden't be made to ackt like they used to only attackign people who have cargo or who shoot them? The other unbots arent so bad but the mass flare spammage gets old fast.

I've already said that the behavior is going to change *drastically* within the next week (2 at the outside). Discussing how annoying they currently are or offering suggestions for quick fixes is pointless. I'm going to lock the thread now

To tide you over, here are some of the intended features (some may not make it in the short term, but most will, at least):

* Corvus-aligned rather than unaligned
* They will demand that traders (all npcs and players regardless of mission) drop their cargo or pay a fee.
* Likewise for fighter-class ships, but fee only.
* Immunity for those with very high Corvus standing (exactly how high is yet to be determined)
* Immediate "escort" to ensure compliance
* If you (or npcs) don't jettison or pay up in a given time, you are attacked and followed.
* Faster ships should be able to get away with little or no damage usually due to the pirates not attacking immediately. (no more warp-in ganking)
* Much more consistent numbers at the various wormholes
* Liberation mission is continuous as opposed to having a start and finish (abort whenever you want)
* Acquisition mission to pick up liberated cargo. (also continuous)
* Corvus NPCs in Moths and such taking the Acquisition mission and collecting said cargo (this is the feature most likely to be delayed)
* Chasing of non-compliant traders within grey space.
* "Drop it or die!" ultimatum when you pick up liberated cargo when not on an acquisition mission.
* Rewards according to types of traders/escorts destroyed (liberation), and value of cargo (acquisition)
* Some pirates will choose to run when their armor gets low

If you have questions, comments or suggestions about these features, post in suggestions.