I will admit that I had a lot of fun chasing a certain trader around inside a storm the other day. He put up a good chase, but in the end I didn't lose any faction standing when he went boom.

*that* was fun.

So, no. don't pay. die die die because VPR won't help.

lols

"He's come a long way from his first engagements--and innumerable deaths--in B8, but still isn't up to the old [VPR] standard."

I find it fascinating to hear you make such statements when you never actually get online.

"So, no. don't pay. die die die because VPR won't help."

It certainly would be hard to help someone who never told us where he was, never actually asked for our assistance, and was in an ion storm. Whenever I receive escort requests I accept them.

shlimazel: I haven't played regularly for a long time. That doesn't mean I haven't been on at all in the last few months.

Got any more brilliant statements you'd like to throw out there, genius?

while Lecter's knowledge is a little dated, he's right, you guys are getting better, but Millenium Blackhawk and Nerde Verde were of a different class. Not an insult, they were just really good.

indeed they were...
formidable opponents, and "well fought".
lulz

Popcorn never tasted so good! :D

yea nerde verde was cool, so was millennium blackhawk, It's a shame the game has lost so many of the good old players. the newer people just tend to irritate me for no particular reason. Then again, these days I've been finding myself more and more disgusted with the rest of society anyway, or maybe my patience just isn't what it used to be.

Nerde Verde and M. Blackhawk were legends in their own time. Many great pilots have come and gone, those that are still playing learn from them and may grow to carve out their own legacy.

The Vipers maintain an active KOS list of those engaging in pirate activities. Vipers offer free escort to traders but it works best if the trader(s) let VPR know ahead of time, not while they are being attacked.

"Got any more brilliant statements you'd like to throw out there, genius?"

No, I'm satisfied to merely see you make yourself look like a spectacular ass again, Lecter. Thanks for the offer.

I would like to state that Shlim does seem like a capable and friendly VPR pilot, as does Cat, the VPR who I endorsed on their site whose name I don't recall and the VPR who ran defense while PA mined that one time... I forget his name.

I'd be happy to pay any member of CHRN one credit when needed.

I would like to state that Shlim does seem like a capable VPR pilot

If you define VPR pilot as "someone who dies repeatedly while failing to prevent traders from dying, and then trolling the forums with comments ranging from inane to downright stupid in order to make himself feel better about his inadequacies as a pilot" then this is an accurate statement. However, I don't think that definition is fair to the majority of VPR.

Thank you, Ryan.

I would be disheartened by your post, ladron, except that you are a member of CHRN, and your guild relentlessly trolls VPR. All I'm doing is standing up to your guild's endless insults. It must fill you with anger!

That said, I don't deny that I'm not the finest combat pilot out there. I have many more deaths than I do kills. However, given that I've only been playing for around two months whereas most of CHRN are hardened aces... well, their jeering at my less impressive skills falls a bit flat.

I haven't been playing much longer than you have, shlim. As per my prediction, that was an example of an inane comment. ; )

you are a member of CHRN, and your guild relentlessly explodes VPR

Fixed that for ya.

First off: I believe pirates are an essential aspect of the VO world. Space is supposed to be the final frontier, and historically, these have always included a certain degree of lawlessness. If they weren't around, this game would be much less fun to me.

However: I appreciate what the VPR guys do. Their success rate - whatever it may be - is not relevant, they add a valuable role to the gameplay and I like that. The same way I don't hold a grudge against pirates, I think pirates shouldn't hold a grudge against VPR. It's just part of the game.

What *does* bother me are the "rogue" pirates who act in a completely unreasonable matter. Note that "lawlessness" does not mean that there are no rules - on the contrary, most pirates follow their own code of honor. Unfortunately, there are pirates which do not follow such a code, and *this* I find annoying.

I have:
1) Been killed by a guild member *after* I paid the guild
2) Been killed by a guild member *without* any negotiation whatsoever (he afterwards told me he assumed I was going to log, which is why he didn't bother to hail at all)
3) ... a few other incidents which are too long to post.

Stupid actions like the ones mentioned above lead to one result: I will simply do the unreasonable and try to run. I don't want to be unreasonable, but to reason, you always need two sides, so stick to your code and leave me a choice in that matter.

I realize that I can't expect all pirates to follow a code, but at least those in a guild (whose reputations you so fiercely defended here) should stick to their rules.

A request that you stop and pay is a privilege, not a right.

If I hail you and demand that you pay or perish, then you had better come to a screaching halt. Right that very fucking second. I'll be happy to negotiate price with you once you're not making me chase you.

Often times, usually after hearing some blather on 100 about how "you should never pay the pirates!!!111," I won't bother with a request for payment. Sometimes I won't bother with a hail, even. You're just going to die, and I'll take whatever falls out of your shattered hull.

If you wind up paying me, you'll be allowed to depart unmolested, and unless I say that you're going to be fair game thereafter (probably because you tried to go cheap on me and then continue trading all night), that will be all you get pirated for that session by me.

However, I don't necessarily speak for [CHRN]: unless I tell you so, paying me means nothing to the other [CHRN] out there. Will I mention on guild chat that I just took 100k off some terrified noob in an atlas, and that he should be left alone for the rest of his run? Sure. But unless I check first and then tell you there's a guild-wide immunity, you have no right to assume that paying me a measley 250k or whatever means you can run XC after XC full of goodies past 75% of the other pirates out there.

If that was the default rule, no pirate would ever join a guild.

I am fully aware that it is not a "right". It may only be a privilege, however it is a privilege most pirates will (probably gladly) grant for the obvious reason that otherwise there will be less trading and more fighting. You might be on top of the food chain, but if traders start swapping their XCs for vults whenever a pirate logs on, there won't be much cargo to pirate. You might as well just sit in B8 and wait for PVP there, like any other trader, VPR or whatever. People might also just log and wait for a better time. It's a lose/lose scenario.

Nevertheless, that was not the point I was trying to make. Taking your example: I never assumed *anything* after paying, I was *told* I was safe from that specific guild (at least for the players who were currently online). You can bet that anytime a pirates sneaks up on me, I'm not gonna continue to take the risk and keep flying the XC - I will park it and go do something else. In my second example, I never made it back to a station.

Often times, usually after hearing some blather on 100 about how "you should never pay the pirates!!!111," I won't bother with a request for payment. Sometimes I won't bother with a hail, even.

ah, the PR war.. and the wonderful ability to blame one's actions on the actions of others.

Don't put yourself on a pedestal. You know you're just blasting people cause you like it.

Uh, yeah. I also blast people for the sweet cargoes inside their hulls.

Of course, I like to let them live and get paid, too. It just depends on what I feel like more at a given encounter's outset.

I never assumed *anything* after paying, I was *told* I was safe from that specific guild (at least for the players who were currently online).

To the extent you're referencing the actions of [CHRN], we don't care.