Pirate suggestion

from Sins Forums
I suggest that the bountys are only updated every time the pirates launch a fleet, so you have to actually seriously think about how much you spend and you cant just keep setting off whatever the other player bids. One may choose not to bid, and get a little extra money to fight the pirates or pay the pirates and get a smaller fleet. Right now the pirate game is a little bit paranoid and there is no big difference, one just keeps outbidding the other and in the end the other looses all his spent creds. If that other chooses not to pay, the enemy can get pirates on him for cheap, and often even then the pirates are at a high level (compared to early game fleets) which require a fleet to neutralize.

so i suggest the bountys are essentially hidden and only updated every time the pirates launch. You can quess how much the other spends, but you won't kow for sure and it won't be as hurtfull as a gamble.
21,294 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Ya know, if you play with pirates in a 1v1 player game, it turns into a 1v1v1, and he who has the most credits wins. I've been racking my brain to figure out what's "missing" with the pirates.

I enjoy them in the game, but my buddy coined a game we played the other night as, "The game of wasted credits". There has to be a way to earn that money back...raiding the pirate base maybe (destroying them, earns some cash back? I realize if I just wanted 1v1 only game, a custom map without the priates would do this, but I like that element in-game too! It's not that it's unbalanced, it's just missing a counter (something other than by military might).

I poked my head into their base after the third raid against me (more like JUMBO fleet massacre), and holy crap...I had to bail quick. In the end, my homeworld was only two hops from their base and his economy was in one gear higher than mine, so he was able to pound me down by attrition. It was a nice final battle that lasted going through two systems for a hour. Oh well...let's hope IC finds some cool, new ideas to make the pirates even more enjoyable.

NOTE: This isn't a "I hate the pirates", big bash party post! It's more of me just typing out loud! hehe ;-p
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
I wish the pirate implementation was a bit... different. I understand all the arguments that have been made so far but still think it's a bit off. It's tiring since pirate attacks are on a clock. Then the bidding war ensues to make sure you're not the one attacked. It just doesn't work for me. Not to mention that you can't alter a relationship with the pirates, or any of the game's empires, in any truly meaningful way ala Gal Civ II.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I agree with all of you. Something needs to be done to alter the pirates. spiceant's idea isn't 2 bad.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
one just keeps outbidding the other and in the end the other looses all his spent creds.
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"The game of wasted credits". There has to be a way to earn that money back...
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The bounty you put on players/AI can be recouped by destroying that AI's units and buildings. The bounty does not fade away with time, so even if you got outbid on the pirates, you can just blow up his ships/buildings/planets and get that bounty awarded back to you.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top


The bounty you put on players/AI can be recouped by destroying that AI's units and buildings. The bounty does not fade away with time, so even if you got outbid on the pirates, you can just blow up his ships/buildings/planets and get that bounty awarded back to you.
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Or just leave it up, and then he has to deal with double the bounty the second time around, since you (presumably) lost units to the pirates. (If you didn't loose units, then you weren't "worn down" by them, you gained XP from them... mmmm, XP!)
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
True also :P
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
hmmm..interesting thought, blind bidding. Reiner Knizia uses this mechanic in quite a few of his boardgames. the man is one of the best in the business.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
The bounty you put on players/AI can be recouped by destroying that AI's units and buildings. The bounty does not fade away with time, so even if you got outbid on the pirates, you can just blow up his ships/buildings/planets and get that bounty awarded back to you.
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The money you recoup is really small, compared to what's in the kitty. After a hour of, oh crap...it's time to bribe the pirates so they don't attack me, the pot was large. After the pirates had their way with me, there was still a sizeable amount left. We got it up to about 25K each! hehe
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Playing against the AI the bounty game isn't too big a deal. You just put bounty on more than one AI, so that if whichever one is about to be attacked wriggles out of it by placing more bounties the cheapest option is for them to put bounty on someone other than you (at the start you just need to put 250 or 500 on two of the AI and they will then usually put bounty onto each other).

I still usually end up receiving one or two pirate attacks later in the game when I'm too busy to keep good track, or when the AI deliberately puts money on me with seconds left on the clock... just like a human. Even losing a planet can be turned to advantage, since if the pirate fleet is strong enough to destroy the planet they are strong enough I can use them as a defensive resource while I wait for the next bidding round. That way I just lose the use of one planet temporarily and I get a free defensive fleet that lets me deploy my own ships to a different front for the next ten minutes. Not always an appealing swap, but it is some consolation.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Pirates are a good balancing force and if you set traps using your trade posts as a lure you can think of them as a great way to level your capital ships. I look on them as an opportunity. That is until I reach their home asteroid. What is going on there with the huge pirate fleet at their planet? I've only played two games vs easy A.I. but both times the pirates were *much* harder to rid from the map than my opponent. My suggestions are:

1. Pirates should be reduced depending on how much (total) culture is reaching them.

2. Pirate homeworld should be much easier to destroy. Pirates could continue to spawn at unoccupied territories but in lower numbers and would attack the nearby players as opposed to a bounty system.

Something must be done! :)

-Fiasco
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
2. Pirate homeworld should be much easier to destroy. Pirates could continue to spawn at unoccupied territories but in lower numbers and would attack the nearby players as opposed to a bounty system.-Fiasco
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I like this idea a lot.

Here's an idea too...They ARE pirates right? Let's say there's the off-chance these said pirates, even if the bid on you is the highest, there's the random chance they could still attack the other player(s)?

You see this all the time in the movies. "Here, take this money, please don't kill me!"...BANG! You're dead AND he has your money too!!! ;-p