I'd like to see something from UIT (or, perhaps more appropriately, Corvus) that would fill the same niche as the Itani/Serco Border Patrol missions. Maybe it could be a pitched battle between pirates and pirate police. I just feel like something needs to be there for the UIT players. Some sanctioned form of violence that is going to allow for improving combat experience. (Other than bot-hunting in all its glorious but wearing-thin forms).

(Or, conversely, open up the BP missions to UIT members who have a standing with one faction or the other above 800.)

that would not be logical given the backstory, which i'm sure you've read (right?) which states the uits are basically blood-sucking bureaucrats running the front for blood-sucking merchant crook syndicate.

bp is already available to uit who are kos one faction while admired the other.

(right?)

I don't see what's particularly illogical about it. Quite the opposite, in fact. What would restrict an operation like Corvus from slipping some bills in your breast pocket and quietly letting you know that there's a cop or two in sector N-16 who needs to take a fall? Likewise, even the more legit corporations operating in an anarchic, frontier-style environment are certainly going to hire some muscle to take down adversaries on occasion.

And no, the BP missions only seem to be available for UIT members through the invitation of an Itani/Serco who's going on one. (I'd love to be proven wrong on this, though.)

There's a section in the backstory that suggests grey space is technically part of the UIT, atleast in my eyes. I'll dig it up later.

The hive skirmish missions are great, but they're wearing a bit thin. Variety being the spice of life and all that. And knowing such missions as BP are available, it's probably not much more of a step to make them more WIDELY available.

And while the combat experience you get in B-8 IS the real sort that hones your skills as a player (and, granted, is a whole lotta fun), it doesn't do much for your license standing.

It sounds to me like you've never actually BP'ed before.

1. You can get an alt, and be running the mission within the hour if you pay someone.

2. BP'ing against other players generally doesn't yield much XP, only about 150 more for each kill.

3. It's alot more intense than I've ever seen B-8; the type of combat experience doesn't compare to duels.

4. It's obviously not a very high quality mission. I'm fairly certain it was just quickly put together until more complicated missions could be released.

The reasons discussed in this thread aren't really justifications for a UIT/Unaligned copy of the mission. UIT combat missions are a good idea, but I don't think BP is the right idea.

From my own plights as Pirate extraordinaire, Etu Deximus I can safely say that harassing the universe while dodging Vipers (the local anti-pirate group) is one of the funnest aspects that I enjoy about VO. The situation is always like so: I try and penetrate as deep into UIT territory as possible, and find an unsuspecting victim to threaten, while dodging any Vipers and SF in pursuit. Usually the deeper in, the juicier the prizes.

For a mission along the same lines, there would need to be incentive for the unaligneds to go deep into space. Just blowing up convoys and stealing their goods wouldn't be enough because a pirate can do that just about anywhere. And it can't be just diamonds or something, or else the Itani and Serco would be tempted to take the mission.

The UIT know where the pirates are, but don't actively go chasing after them. As the description of Corvus says, one UIT official is quoted as having said "better to know where the hornets nest".

The mission might make sense as a TPG mission.

Hive hunt should be sufficient. Is it still running?

TPG could have pirate hunting missions. Tunguska could have hive bot and mining missions. Orion could have mining missions. The list can go on for UIT missions, esp. in the combat field.

EDIT: Even a UIT border patrol to stop invading pirates or to deter Itani and Serco armadas from crossing through UIT (not acutal combat but like a show of force to make them go the other way) space but it might be too much.

I'm primarily talking about a mission in the Border Patrol FORMAT. Something to fill the same NICHE. The pirate/anti-pirate spin was just my random stab at putting a story behind it. Make something ELSE up, then:

-To move up through the ranks of the corporation, you have to kill off your competitors for available positions.

-Landing contracts with a large client for your corporation is contingent in part upon trial by combat against competitors' champions.

-A subcontractor has stolen proprietary information: he's meeting his contact in sector J-3. KILL THEM ALL.

Whatever. My main point is that the BP missions are a hell of a lot of fun, and the code for it already exists. Why not spread the fun around?

I'll just say that if you chose the neutral nation expecting lots of fighting, besides pirating, you chose wrong. My 2 cents.

For UIT who want to build combat XP, aside from botting (combat practice and hive skirmish) there is also escort missions. Escorts still give combat xp, no? Especially if you have to fend off nasty bots in ion storms?

(I could be mistaken, I haven't taken an escort mission since the migration to Kourier).

Ashur

They do. Escort missions give a little bit of combat XP when the mission finishes, and you also get 300 combat XP for any NPC attacking the convoy (this is currently limited to Hive bots in ion storms as the unrats are currently offline).

Yeah, I think H-2 should become a pirate-UIT pvp zone. Most convoys would probably come from H-2 role-playing-wise and game-wise, so increase the Behemoth-only convoys coming out of H-2 and there would be no npc escorts for them but they would go to a station that will be named as anti-pirate for the battle (no following). Unrats and a UIT company fight in H-2 and if a player joins up that came from a pirate station (Corvus or a station that is claimed as the rival of the company in H-2 at that moment... those slimy traders...), they would try to take out X number of behemoths, but not be allowed to pick up the loot but instead be given a share of the loot as if it were sold at M-14 (as in only 6cu of that loot that dropped being sold at M-14, If the loot is 5cu each then you just get 5cu of it... above 6cu, there isn't, right? I dunno, the largest cu thing I've ever looted was 6cu.). Then if they managed to take down something like 15 Behemoth Heavy's then they would get I dunno like +6,000 experience to every combat license (like BP) and also get a fair bit of money depending mainly on their luck of the loot that dropped sort of like escort mission money for one system? I dunno. Then like same thing for the protectors except they try to protect the Moths. And loot will almost instantly disappear when a Moth is popped but it will announce to mission takers what loot dropped. Then the fighting NPC's, you get a small amount of money for taking them down and killing four of them would equal saving/killing a behemoth and they would be advanced Border Skirmish-type bots and there would be one constantly attacking you (atleast one). If there's a protector on but no pirates, a group of three corvus vultures will be trying to take out the moth, If a pirate is on but no protector each behemoth will have an escort of three VultureMKIV's or one territorial defender (admit that TD bots are super scary! Q_Q).

Discuss/expand vv

Send convoys through without escorts? Why not just give every pirate 1 mill credits a day and save the load on the server.

Because that would be boring, and read the whole post, I demand it.

I'm against any content to help pirates, by principle.

The point is not to help pirates, per se. Pirates wouldn't even necessarily have to enter into it. The point would be to provide a sanctioned combat mission for UIT players (or even Itani/Serco players who wanted to). If anything, this might even act as a release valve for aggressive tendencies that might otherwise be exerted in acts of piracy. :)

Arrrrrr, piracy isn't fueled off aggression, says I...

-Chaakin Tockoa

Shanktank's post doesn't make sense. Here are three reasons out of many:

1. First off you begin by stating that the convoys would have no escorts, and later mention that the goal would be to avoid the escorts... horrendous grammar aside, I'm lost.

2. If H-2 was such a hot spot for pirate aggression, then it would naturally be avoided by any trader worth their pilot's wings. Besides, that's Odia you're talking about. Placing such a dangerous zone near the UIT capitol does not exactly fit well with the rest of the game.

3. How can you assure that a constant steam of Behemoths stocked with trade goods would continually pour into H-2 while being attacked? As moldy pointed out, that would strongly be in favor of any pirates in the system. There are better ways to bait 'em.