Hey Guys, I'm trying to start a meme / trend / thing where fans of SC post pics of them in their SC t-shirts next to famous people.  I figure it will at least get SC into the minds of these people and maybe we'll get some favourable attention for voice work should CIG approach them.  


Anyway, I've started a thread here:  https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/90174/celebrities-star-citizen-t-shirt-win

Check out the pics I've taken so far and see if you can do the same at your next con!

Since the Caterpillar is today's special ship sale, I had some lingering questions to CIG that I hope they could answer or mention in the Comm Link.  Even if they aren't fully done, I'm really wondering where they are going with these concepts.


The Caterpillar has been advertised as one of the primary pirate ships in the pledge lineup, which is pretty cool on its own.  That said, I've seen a lot of people passing on the Cat because they aren't interested in boarding.  I think that is a shame since Ben mentions the Cat will also be the best ship (of the current batch) for salvage and repair: 
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/578005/#Comment_578005

So, here are some of my lingering questions about the ship that I really wish CIG would answer soon:

1) Ben mentions concept art for a Cat configured for salvage.  Could you describe what a salvage-configured Cat would look like?  Would there be special salvage modules or would this just be cargo modules and a tractor beam?

2) Some concept art shows modules that hold 6 crew.  Does this mean the max crew of the Cat could be upgraded to be MUCH higher than the spec says?  Similarly, does the cargo capacity assume a certain number of cargo modules?  If not, what's the real max / min?

3)  How do  the Cat modules work?  How many are there (I count ~4 n the concept art)?  Do they take up upgrade slots?  Do any modules come with the base ship?

4) Lastly, how does boarding work?  I assume from the pictures that the Cat beaches with the front of the craft, but that doesn't look compatible with the docking ports.  Also, the modules are between the crew areas and the port, so could boarding be precluded by certain modules?

So, depending on where CIG goes with these 'modules', the Cat could end up being the best all around board, salvaging, ship repairing, and mining vessel of the current pledge list.

If you have some thoughts on this, feel free to leave a comment here or in the thread I made over on RSI:

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/77763/caterpillar-quandaries

I want to preface this article with the disclaimer that this is pure theorycrafting.  The systems I'm talking about here may or may not already be designed by CIG, but I feel like they bring up some interesting game structure questions.  Also, just to be clear, I make a bunch of assumptions based on the info CIG has talked about.  For all I know, they could have totally changed (or will change) their instancing theory.  


With the disclaimer out of the way, the basic question I’d like to answer is: What is the nature of player owned structures in a purely instanced, open ‘world’ MMO environment?

There is a basic problem with player owned property and the instanced universe that has been described for Star Citizen.  When you encounter property (or try and travel to it), which ‘version’ are you going to?  Is there a copy in every instance or only one?  Which one do you ‘own’?

No other MMO has such a instancing framework, so we don’t really have any references for how this would work.  All of the MMO examples of instancing I can think of either don’t have personally owned property in public instances or don’t allow that property to be attacked / trade ownership in a game influencing way.

To put this in the context of Star Citizen, the easiest example for illustration is the ‘asteroid bases’ mentioned as ownable in the game.  You will be able to find, conquer, own, and build defenses for the base.  So, if you find and conquer an asteroid base, what happens when someone else conquers the same base in another instance?  Or is the base only in one instance?  If someone wants to conquer it and they bring too big of a force, are some of the attacking force in an instance that doesn't have the base? A different base?  What happens if they win?  You can easily see that the problem compounds.

So, to think about this further, let’s take a step back.  There are two types of instances that we known about in Star Citizen.  I’ll go ahead and assign some names for the sake of this conversation.

• Deterministic Instances: Instances that are only spawned at specific points.  Planets and nav points (any defined nodes in you navigation) are prime examples.  If ship A and B go to planet Z, then they will both be in the same instance unless there are mitigating factors (too much population, player interaction slider, etc.)  It sounds like nodes with fewer constraints (e.g.lawless systems, PvP focused) will be more prone to determinism in the matching of players.
  
  
• Dynamic Instances:  These are instances that are spawned on chance.  If you are auto-piloting between nav points and hit a chance encounter (pirate, Vanduul, etc.).  Another example is a bounty hunter tagging someone and following them hoping they’ll intercept them.  These instances don’t necessarily exist at a given point in space (a nav node), but are created when needed.  As other players can intersect the same instances once created (e.g. to help out other players), then they temporarily have some sort of location data that ‘some’ players can see (maybe a new node between two others?).
  
  

Let’s take the Deterministic case first.  This exemplifies the problem as players can go there easily and in numbers.  You can easily break or exploit any system that allows you to own property in an instance attached to a Deterministic node as the property (satellites, space stations, etc.) can be seen by anyone trying to find them.  The counter to this would be property restricted to one instance that is not replicated and cannot be conquered other places OR property that exists in every instance and can be owned in each.  

Both have the problem of confusion for players (Wasn’t that was Bob’s Bar last time I was here? Where did that repair shop go?).  For the former you also run into the problem of either giving some instances lower play value and less immersion (I’m in the one one without the base, darn!). The latter compounds the confusion with property rights (I own the base at nav 3 in Stanton, but you need to be in instance 57 to see it…. instance 56 will attack you on site!).

So, let’s look at Dynamic instances.  This solves the problem of confusion to some degree because you can’t deterministically get back to a Dynamically spawned node.  Even when spawning a new Dynamic instance with different content between the same nav points can be explained by it being a different point in space (as Dynamic nodes are in a fixed point).  That said, the node doesn't really exist until it is encountered, which is a bit of a problem for property.  

To solve this, you could change the Dynamic instance where the base is found into a semi-Deterministic Navpoint in that only friends / owners of the station get map icon. This would, of course, also limit attackers to only those who happened across it randomly.  This explains away part of the problem (e.g there are no multiple property problems as the node simply isn’t available to all) but does sacrifice some of the immersion.  You can’t advertise your repair shop base as only your limited friends list would even be able to get there reliably.

You could also allow enemies to get the nav point upon the first visit (and give it to their friends), but then the node may as well be fully Deterministic.  The same problem is present for ‘too many’ friends, but I assume there is some reasonable limit on the friend mechanism being assumed.  Some sort of in-fiction reason could be applied for this to make sense (e.g. nav signal interference unless you have the crypto key to the beacon).  Defense of such a base seems like it would be easier, but I guess an enemy in-the-know could try and randomly encounter the base by moving their attack force back and forth over the area of chance (one person getting in can invite their friends to help them).

So, that’s all I've got for now.  I guess my conclusion is that property / asteroid bases only make sense in semi-accessible Dynamic instances.  Even then, CIG would need some interesting restrictions to make them viable.  Anybody else have more theories or ideas?

-Kinshadow

Another question for Wingman this last week.  This time I asked about asteroid bases!  To sum it up:

Q: When we find an asteroid base in the persistent universe, can we install mods on it to hide it from other players?

Wingman's Answer (paraphrased):  No, we want as much player conflict as possible. So, you can't install stealth mods, but you can install weapons, etc. to defend it.

Despite it being a 'no', Wingman's answer is still very encouraging for the game.  The team is obviously focused on encouraging player interaction in the persistent universe and thinking along those lines when planning these elements.  The re-confirmation that we will be able to take over and install mods on asteroid bases is encouraging as we know this crowdfunding stretch goal hasn't been defeatured and is in the dev consciousness.

Does the answer tell us anything else?  Actually, yes, it means that solo players are now less likely to hold asteroid bases since they will have to be actively protected and visible targets to other players and guilds.

I think we need a lot more info on things like base weapon lethality, defense effectiveness, and repair features before we'll know the real effort needed to hold the installations.  Those kind of things will likely need to be balanced in the PU Beta next year.  

Also, some other items to ponder will be access control and 'friend or foe' determination   How do you grant friends / guild members permission to use and defend your base?  Such dynamics will be pivotal for how used the base will be and how easy it is to defend when the owner is offline.

-Kinshadow

Back in January, we had a quick discussion article on pirate role playing and the character archetypes this conjures to mind.  In it, I pointed out the absurdity of talking like an Elizabethan era Caribbean pirate while flying a spaceship in the 30th century.  Obviously, if space pirates talked in a specific manner, it probably wouldn't be like the romanticized sailors or yore.

Last week, Dave Haddock posted another great entry in his ongoing Writer’s Guide to explain some of the Cathcart dialect and pirate terminology we’ve seen in some of his stories.  While, the introduction of a SciFi thieves’ cant in the Star Citizen universe was something I craved, the terminology mentioned and the Creole-accent basis initially put me off a bit.  Some forum posts have rebelled a bit in these aesthetics and I can’t blame them.

This weekend, I tried to get some fiction writing in and, of course, my next short story includes Cathcart and Spyder as settings.  I looked at my base dialog and thought, “How am I going to make this work?”.  The terminology that Dave has given us and the accent itself just didn’t seem to work.  I wasn’t feeling the odd contractions and the slang origins seemed stretched thin and anachronistic at the same time.  AntiLaz?  Too obscur.  Dingo? Too randomly Australian (especially in Creole).  This is an intentional mix of ignorance driven slang mixed with an accent that exudes ‘backwoods’ and used by people that have command over technology and science that is beyond our comprehension.  Even if you limit the usage to the most ignorant and assume the tech is so easy to use that language doesn’t matter, the pirate ranks must be filled with those who maintain and understand the technology enough to build and maintain Spyder itself.  Spyder residents crave imported entertainment from the UEE.  Why would they talk like this?

Then, I thought more about it.  Dave’s examples, as he points out, are just examples.  The language is WAY bigger than this.  Likely so big that fiction authors can probably just make up words that fit the general theme without any worries of clobbering continuity.  On top of this, this terminology is ‘meant’ to be impenetrable to outsiders (the point of a thieves’’ cant).  It is both a mark of pride (a self identification as a ‘pirate’) and a form of cryptology among the speakers.  When you think about the speech, you have to think about it not as a modern backwoods drawl, but as an evolution of street slang mixed with complexity of any engineering discipline.  Take the innate need for words that technology requires to adequately describe and operate and layer on a obfuscation meant to make it even less discernible.

As an author, this is all likely a good thing.  I can make the speech easy or hard to understand, obscuring techno-babble that other SciFi battles.  I can give my pirate characters a bit of freedom and color without stressing the consistency or even the minor tech implications.  Most of the time, the pirates themselves aren’t stupid and can speak as clear or obfuscated as they desire to non-pirates or the readers.  

For role players in the game, it may be a little harder.  We just don’t have enough terminology and auditory cues in our mind’s ear to get a hang of it yet.  In-game, such usage will likely come through emulation of the fiction (plus voice actors) and the NPCs they interact with so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

So, all you scrum, I’ve bought the new Cathcart lore and I’ll see if I can help flesh out this dingo.  The Creole part will probably still take a bit to get used to though.

-Kinshadow

So, many of you have seen the fire-storm on the SC forums over the off-hand perma-death comments that Chris Roberts.  This week, Chris posted an article to assuage (or validate in some cases) the fears of some community segments.  I'm not going to do a full Spectrum Dissection on this as it is all pretty straight forward (instead of fiction-wrapped), but, as always, lets point out some gems:

• Slavery of players is possible!  It is mentioned that you can pick up unwilling ejected players and shuttle them to the confines of prison or sell them into slavery.  My 'guess' is that this would be treated as just a minor 'death' (no character damage incurred) with a different cost (slavery buy-out) and that you won't be sitting in someones hold until they get to a slaver base.  This also gives more insight into how 'live' bounties will work.
• Reduced reputation upon character death.  My guess is that this is truly the most painful part of death.  Since characters have no 'stats' that affect combat, reputation will be the main character building mechanic outside of ship upgrades.  I can imagine many hours going into rep points o get perks, safe passage, etc.  
• Pirate reset?  Some people are pointing out the rep reduction as a way to get out of pirate status.  My guess is that the other costs of death will outweigh the 'cost' (running missions) to counter negative reputation.  Killing yourself over and over seems like an easy thing to balance if it is a major concern.
• Bounties?  Not really mentioned.  It wouldn't make 'sense' for bounties to carry over to offspring, but it could be a way to absolve yourself of them.  Whether this is an exploit depends on the role of the bounty system itself.  Will bounties be absolvable other ways (bribes/ payoffs)?  Can you have more than a handful of bounties?  Will bounties restrict players in real play?
• Pod-killing:  Ejected players can be killed by others, but severe penalties (rep, bounties, etc.) are the deterrent.  Whether this is a problem for scallywags is TBD, depending on how rep-skirting works for the majority of pirates.  On a related note, the 'ease' at which a player dies is a big factor.  Tight dogfights seem ripe for collisions, so I hope that pod-kills require explicit targeting.  One side benefit of this system for pirates: Major-deaths (deaths that incur body damage) for pirates may actually be less likely than major-deaths for other combat-oriented careers.  A pirate with negative rep may occasionally or frequently kill his ejected victim as he has less to lose (lost slave income if he has the hold space).  A player who kills a pirate will get negative rep for killing him (rather than taking him to prison).  Thus, pirates may end up paying, but they may end up with significantly more minor-deaths (no body damage) in a given character life.
• Boarding:  Head shots can cause a major-death.  Thus, the fewer major-deaths that pirates might see during ship-to-ship combat may be balanced out by increased mortality from boarding (assuming boarding ends up being common).

As always, did you see any other interesting conclusions in the article?  How do you like the new mechanism?

-Kinshadow

Spectrum Dissection is a new feature type on Dread Citizen where we take RSI’s fiction releases (Spectrum Dispatch) and distil the nuggets of game information from them.   RSI uses these posts to release game information in a unique and fun way, but I’ve noticed many members glossing over the details and not connecting the same dots.  Each post also has implications outside of the primary subject.   So, let's collaborate and see what these posts and really saying

Smugglers (http://robertsspaceindustries.com/advocacy-case-file-twor-wynton-smuggler/)

• Forged reg-tags -  The fiction outlays that the smuggler being interviewed was caught using fake tags.  Bad black market deals on stolen IDs or shoddy work on repurposing a stolen hull could make each landing a gamble.
• Disengaged cargo hold - This ‘sounds’ different than simply jettisoning cargo (see hardpoints below), but the mechanic of getting rid of your cargo to move faster has been long suspected on the forums.  This provides confirmation that this will be a usable tactic and may be useful to many beyond smugglers.
• Breakaway Hardpoints - The name of this upgrade / mod class is a bit ambiguous   On one hand, this may be what the disengaged cargo hold is actually referring to where mods can be ejected.  The concept sounds very interesting for all criminals, especially if there are black-market / banned weapons you’d need to ditch in a hurry.  The lingering questions are: What is the tradeoff to make the point breakable (e.g. just cost or weaker upgrades) and what are the insurance implications?  That said, the 'breakaway hardpoint' is mentioned in the same paragraph as disguises.  So, this could be referring to mod disguises themselves that 'break away' (see the Hidden Upgrades below).
• Sentient Transports - People as cargo.  Hinted in Kid Crimson (and Privateer if you’re looking way back), slaves will likely be a black-market trade item (probably high value).  Now, other people-smuggling also sounds possible.  You may be smuggling diplomats or the like across borders for profit or criminals out of systems.  It would be interesting if dump a sentient transport has harsher penalties or if you could sell passengers into slavery.  Perhaps that is too dark..
• Criminal Syndicates - It sounds like there will be multiple organizations of crime to can ally with.  There is some trade offs mentioned in contrast to lone-wolfing it, but it is heartening to hear the depth of the criminal enterprises.  I would like to hear if there is reputation associated with these syndicates and if positive rep in one means negative rep in another.  The benefits of these reps would also be interesting.  Failing at a smuggling job could incur bounties, but it would be good if there is more to it.
• Specialized Holds - Cargo holds that trade space for stealth (of cargo).  There doesn’t seem to be much use for this outside of the smuggling profession, but the concept of masquerading could be applied to things beyond cargo in the hold.  Combined with the jettison mechanics, perhaps certain weapons could be stored and then launched from the hold?  Hidden mines perhaps?
• Hidden upgrades - Also mentioned are hidden upgrades (thrusters).  Again, probably useful to many professions.  Traders fleeing pirates or the pirates themselves are other obvious customers of such stealth mods.  Q-Ships (war vessels disguised as trade vessels) are the other obvious implication.
• Underground Shops - Shops with legitimate fronts that specialize in underground tech and illegal operations.  Combined with criminal syndicates, these posts sounds like multiple criminal professions will be able to find ports of safe harbor across the game.
• Job boards - Both ‘unconnected’ and syndicate sponsored, the smuggling profession sounds like some depth has been put into the missions smugglers can take.  It would not suprise me if there is a similar system for targeted piracy or assassinations.  See the Bounty Hunter board below for more possibilities.

Bounty Hunters (http://robertsspaceindustries.com/news-update-bounty-hunter-guild-news/)

• Job Boards - Just like smugglers, it seems Bounty Hunters will likely have some form of job board.  The bounties are mentioned as part of a guild newsletter so there may be some dependency on your guild as to what job you can see.  Also, the fact that the bounties are in a letter, I would venture to guess that you’ll be able to see jobs over your ship’s comm (as opposed to landing on a planet to see it).  The jobs are mentioned as only available to members in good standing.  So, in the terms from the smugglers post, these may be similar to syndicate jobs.  It would be interesting to know if there are similarly ‘unconnected’ BH jobs outside of the guild.
• Job Range - The jobs on the board range from tracking to captures to dead or alive (assassinations). Some mention guild permission, special circumstances, etc.  The morality of the jobs on the board seem to be varied, so it would be interesting to know whether all jobs that are guild sponsored are ‘legal’ with the UEE.  Similarly, it would be interesting to know if there are other BH guilds that are less scrupulous.  For instance, bounties being placed on regular citizens, military officials, etc. may only be available to certain BH guilds or, perhaps, those are treated entirely different (e.g. a pirate gang’s assassination / grudge board).
• Intact Cargo - Jobs may require intact cargo.  Since boarding is a fairly intense activity, the big question here is if there is a way to ‘force’ the cargo to be jettisoned (without destroying the ship).  This could have huge implications to piracy tactics.
• Guild Reputation - One job is mentioned to be available to ‘silver-level members and above’.  Is this a rank based on reputation?  Do you buy levels (e.g. is the guild a co-op with shares) or earn them (via jobs)?  Either way, this sounds like good news to those operating outside of the law.  Any levels / rep outside of Citizenship is a boon to those that can’t earn it.
• Auto-lasers - mentioned as rapid fire (high refresh rate) and good for wearing down shields.  Likely also a favorite in piracy if disabling the other ship is the goal.
• Targeting - Also mentioned in the ships doc, etc., the ‘tracking sight’ / targeting computer is another upgrade point.  It would be interesting to know if the upgrades apply to all weapons (obviously Class 2 and above) or are somehow installed per gun.
• Grappler - An energy weapon that stuns the ‘unprotected’ occupants inside a ship (if the shields are down).  This sounds like a perfect boarding tool (rendering no resistance while disabling thrusters and boarding), so it will be interesting how it will be balanced.  The phrasing makes it sound (to me) that the counter may be a part of personal equipment (e.g. personal anti-stun armor), but this is an open question.  How this is balanced in dogfighting is also a question.  If could simply wear down shields and then stun, the physical armor of the hull would be useless.  So, the weapon may have a very short range, very long recharge, an easy counter in normal fights, or some other balance.
• The Veil - a transponder that broadcasts a fake ship ID for a limited time.  IDs have been mentioned in past posts, but the limited time part is new.  The time may be a balance issue and upgrade option, so it will be very interesting how this is handled to many professions.
• System Effects - Shields and scanners could be radiation affected.  This is great info for those in the ambushing business.
• Pirate Planet Protocol - The ‘trashworld’ Spider was mentioned in the 3.75M crowdfunding update.  This post mentions that the ‘planet’ has a unique landing protocol.  The way the system is mentioned (only give ID after 4 requests) makes the system sound manual, which is an excellent bit of flair for pirate immersion.
• Customs Crossings - Not really new info (mentioned in several of the fiction stories), but border crossings are reiterated as problematic for the criminal element.
• Random fiction tidbits - Bounty hunters are also called Shacklers (slang).

Did you see something I missed?  Let me know in the comments. :)

-Kinshadow

As with many online games, Star Citizen has started picking up a fairly enthusiastic role playing community.  The forums and RSI chat are filled with users trying on the skins of their yet-to-be realized characters and pirates are no exception.

Among the user base, you see a myriad of references to pirate cliches and popular culture.  I would venture to say that ‘pirates’, as a group, have one of the widest scopes of role play opportunity in the game.  Here are a couple role playing stereotypes I’ve seen or can envisage being used in game.

• The Traditional - The is the epitome of pirate cliches.  The Elizabethan pirate, if you will.  Full of ‘Avast, me hearties’ and ‘Walk the plank’, this kind of role player harkens back to the Caribbean and pirate lore.  From a realism point of view, this archetype actually makes very little sense.  Why would a criminal in a spaceship talk like reject sailors from the 1700s? That said, pop culture quotes are fun and timeless.  I’m sure we’ll see many Jack Sparrow quotes echoed in the pirate asteroid bars across the ‘verse.
• The Reaver - A savage, kill-first barbarian modeled after the namesake from Firefly / Serenity.  There are lots of gradients here, but I hope to see at least some ship skins enabling the archetype.
• The Rogue - Your Han Solo / Captain Malcolm easy talking swagger with jets.  Probably the loosest of definitions, but you’ll know it when you see it.
• The Gunslinger - Probably not that common, but the ‘old west’ bandit is another template that would be applicable.  I doubt you’ll see many ‘stagecoach’ robberies, but quotes from The Duke may not be out of place.

Can you guys think of more?  I’m not saying all role playing pirates would fit these molds, but I’d bet the game will see a few.

Lastly, quick update on the site and the fiction: “Real Life” (and a bit of writer’s block) has gotten in the way of new posts and January has been / will be tight for me.  That said, I plan on getting up the first part of the new story in the next week or two and I have a few articles in the pipe.  Thanks for reading.  :)

-Kinshadow

Last week our discussion topic was on multiple accounts and the strategic influences of such.  This week, let’s look at the other aspect impacts of multiple identities and how PvP and the overall player conflict ‘system’ of Star Citizen could be impacted.   

Please note, this article is a bit more ‘what if’ than my last several and I’m well aware the theories here are way too dependent on game systems that likely don’t even exist yet.  The thought process here is just for the fun of it, so don’t take any of this too seriously.

Several recent interviews with Chris Roberts and the ‘crime’ Comm-link post have covered some aspects of characters skirting the confines of Star Citizens reputation system.  Chris is considering having multiple characters per account to specifically address those who may want to try both sides of the good/evil coin.  There are a couple of details that we don’t know yet (many of these aspects may have not been designed yet) on the state these two (plus) characters will exist.  Will they share any material possessions? What about their garages?  Will it be easy to transfer goods between characters (we already know ships can be transferred)?  Easier than between two normal players?

Similarly, while we got a brief amount of data on piracy in the ‘crime’ post, a bunch of questions about reputation were left hanging.  Players will have access to a system where they can broadcast fake IDs (or just hull/ship IDs) to avoid a bad rap during PvP and to use for landing, etc.  There will also be a way to bribe certain people and some form of monetary penalty if captured by the Advocacy.  So, assuming you’re careful and handle your IDs well, can you be a Citizen pirate?  Is there reputation outside of the type covered by the type associated with the IDs?  Can we gain reputation with black markets or NPC pirates and, if so, how does that relate to Citizenship and fake ID codes?

[UPDATE]  After some discussions on forums  on the above points, I just wanted to be clear on the intent in this article.  The above paragraphs are not pro or con multiples IDs or Characters.  The original point was that there will likely be multiple ways to engage in PvP outside of any detriment system and that the points below are not easily avoidable.

All that said, this post isn't really about the questions not answered.  What I’m actually looking to talk about is how these elements will affect playstyles in Star Citizen.  With several different ways to skirt the law or avoid any bad reputation, why not be a pirate?  Just to be clear, when I say ‘pirate’, I mean a PvP player that doesn't exclusively hunt specific types of players avoiding law constraints (the fabled bounty hunter).  The ‘crime’ post does indicate that piracy will be a skill-based activity that isn't a profession for the faint of heart, but the downsides are centered around long-term cost accruals or loss of benefits (citizenship) due to a bad rap.  There isn’t much downside as currently described if your ‘alt’ character is the pirate who is potentially supported by a Citizen-trader / bounty hunter / military pilot.  

So, let’s just say everyone has a pirate alt.  For the sake of this discussion, let’s ignore the playstyle polls about who likes what and assume people ‘also’ want some PvP in their play (say most go for 20-50% of their playtime) and the multiple identity facilities take away any downside.  Is this bad?  What does this mean?  Well, the theoretical driving pressure in a rational game system is the economy.  The economics of ‘normal’ piracy (as in a profession you make money at doing) really depends on there being lots of other players as prey.  If there develop trends in when players tend to use their casual pirate characters (e.g. weekends, holidays, etc.), then the game balance will spike with a  combination of player conflict and lowered availability of of trade / mining prey vessels / players. 

Following this reasoning,  I would expect the number of people involved in the clashes to start saturating any systems / routes that are feasible (not heavily UEE protected), which is turn would disincentivize remaining trade outside of UEE core.  Those routes would likely in turn get saturated and produce fewer profits.  Any players not already involved with PvP would then be incentivized to join in, growing the level of conflict.  Some steady state of ‘safe’ trade would eventually be established at much reduced levels.

The whole system would eventually reset (e.g. at the end of a weekend) and swing back the other way (back to some steady state PvP level) and starved trade routes would be flooded with people going after that quick buck after the shipping drought.  Thus, the whole system could see a somewhat cyclic behavior around player conflict and economic incentives.

There is one primary SC feature that could shift the likelihood of this cyclic free-for-all: instancing.  In theory, the SC universe doesn’t really have a limit on the people in a route or ‘where’ an instance is.  If there is one section of space / sector that attracts the weekend PvP element (via an event or some other coordination), then as many instances as need would be spawned there or on the associated routes, freeing the rest of the universe for normal commerce.  The problem with this is that anything that increases the safety for traders / miners increases non-PvP traffic in other areas, which causes the pirate element to prey on those elements and move outside of any kind of restriction.

Lastly, one element that isn’t really considered here is the player matching system itself.  Depending on how this is tuned, the system could simply tune PvP likelihood based on economic pressure.  There will theoretically be systems / waypoints that are always open PvP (matching is supposedly for inter-waypoint travel), but it may be possible that tuning player matching keeps enough trade open to maintain a mixed-playstyle balance.

At the end of the day, I would like to remind the reader this whole article is just a hypothetical thinking exercise for generating discussion.  I don’t have any answers and I don’t have a solution to suggest, but these ‘system’ issues like these are something consider in such an environment.  It will be very interesting to see how the instancing and player-matching systems will allow CIG to apply valves and vents to the PvP pressure that could build up or if game-wide player conflict will have any of the mentioned cyclic effects.

-Kinshadow

Just in case you aren't following the RSI Spectrum Dispatch feed, there was a whole post on the ‘cost of crime’.  Here’s a rundown of the new info:

• Piracy and all PvP activities are hinted at being highly profitable themselves, but having high incidental costs.  So, it seems there will be a heavy bias on profit per skill for pirates, smugglers, and such.
• Ship damage will be a major cost in game.  This doesn’t seem to be a pirate-only thing, but those who engage in combat will have higher bills than those who stay risk-free
• There will be legal fees.  I assume this means if your ship gets destroyed in a lawful sector and the Advocacy picks you up
• Medical costs are also mentioned as an issue for those skirting the law.  As shady doctors are mention, I’m guessing that ‘death cost’ in game is handled by either medical or legal fees for the criminal element depending on the sector.  Perhaps this a benefit of Citizenship as they won’t pay a rescue fee in UEE territory?
• Off load fees and laundering fees for stolen goods.  Pretty much a given.
• The most interesting part of the post is an ID management system where you can purchase fake IDs and use those to get around.  It mentions you must keep track of the cleanliness of the IDs, but I’m crossing my fingers we’ll see a plugin / UI mod for that.  The good news here is that piracy doesn't make you an untouchable in UEE space.  Those of low repute will still be able to mix and match their income sources and switch IDs to take advantage of ‘opportunities’.
• Bribes are mentioned though they are mentioned as risky.  It will be interesting to see where they give you this option.