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Post by slayernz on Jul 25, 2016 18:27:05 GMT -5
Zer0Winds if you only stopped throwing your teacups at Cadar when you encountered them, you'd find that they don't cause you grief. Cadari logic is simple. You're either an enemy, a threat, or ... no that's pretty much it. You're either an enemy or a threat. Threats mean that Cadari captains will be at battle stations, ready to launch at a moment's notice. Throw a teacup at them and that's provocation. I would recommend that instead of fighting them - join them. Being Cadari is so much more rewarding than being Steel Song. You live longer for one thing. You get to appreciate the sleek lines of a well-crafted torp for another. It's quite a revelation for Steel Song Captains when they first realize that torps are NOT shaped like this
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Post by slayernz on Jul 22, 2016 7:08:50 GMT -5
MintDragon Although I started out in ST as Cadar (I liked the torps) ... I have spent the last four years playing predominantly De Valtos ... cos I love the money Javat and I have always been on pretty good terms. They haven't actually attacked me much and in return, I let their faction live. Thulun are annoying so I periodically pound them into the ground, but Steel Song are the only ones who seem to go all out and try and kill me. I guess it doesn't help that within the first couple of hundred turns, I have gotten to about -300RP with Steel Song. A part of me deeeeeep down suspects that they might just be retaliating to my attitude towards them ... but then I shrug it off and keep on blasting them ooh so satisfying.
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Post by slayernz on Jul 21, 2016 17:32:29 GMT -5
But do I go for Javat or Steel Song (because I'm so alone on that boat... might as well show it)? Dilemma!! 😭 Noooooooooooo .... must .... stop .... you .... from .... putting .... target .... on .... your .... chest. Be Javat! Javat is cool. Javat is Green. Javat is bright and sunny. Steel Song is almost the opposite of Javat. It's like a target. No, not a target. A black hole (that's because they suck so much). The bumps on the wheel that surrounds the black hole is because of the fact it was made out of corrugated cardboard.
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Post by slayernz on Jun 29, 2016 17:34:30 GMT -5
One thing that both annoys me and pleases me is that in the grand scheme of Quadrant politics and trade, Steel Song is so... irrelevant. Besides Xeen Prime, all their planets are tucked away in obscure corners of the Quadrant, and for the most part you could just ignore them completely. And even Xeen Prime lies at the far end of the upper left corner of the Quadrant, at the edge of where stuff really happens. Sure their ships show up every now and then outside their middle-of-nowhere turf, but you could just ignore them and nobody would care. Got bad rep with Steel Song? No problem, you're unlikely to actually run into them anyway along the major trade routes. And even when you do find yourself in the middle of nowhere near a Steel Song planet, there's always indy planets nearby that serve as a better stopover anyway. If you have to use a faction as scapegoat to climb the rep ladder in the Quadrant, I recommend dumping the negative rep on Steel Song. Nobody else cares anyway. So who gave them control of 1/6 of Faction politics in the Quadrant?!?! On the free map, Steel Song are exactly bottom-left and top-right of the map. Kept well out of the way of the important houses. Even in the full Elite Map, I agree, they have insignificant footholds in the quadrant, and in almost all cases, you can avoid them with ease* Why are they part of the great 6 factions? First of all, a long time ago (back before the exodus, they were a very strong military house. Back then, ironically, they supplied the best steel in the quadrant, and produced mighty military ships. They were a force to be reckoned with, and few other factions bar the mighty Cadar could withstand them (now very few factions can stand them). During the great exodus, Steel Song provided the necessary protection to help the fragments of the fragments of humanity to survive the first Xeno onslaughts. Thus, Steel Song earned their right to sit at the big table. Times change, but traditions remain. There are still six factions in the quadrant - but let's face it, Steel Song and Rychart are routinely derided for their inability to do anything but produce good cling wrap and headware. However even Thulun, with their strong penchant for heavy lace rely on the textile factories of Rychart, and merchants always have strong demand with the fashionable Devaltos customers. Javat produce the best raw materials, and Cadar blow up the most things. Even though Steel Song are a remnant of their former self, they do have their place in the mechanisms of the galaxy. Like Rychart producing quality fabrics that keep the economic wheels of Devaltos and Thulun turning, Steel Song produce something that keeps the economy of Cadar alive. That is - if Steel Song ceased to exist, far less Cadari torps would need to be manufactured, putting into jeopardy the Torp manufacturing industry, worth trillions. No, even I, staunchest of those who hate of the Song understand that they are a necessary evil. Or evil necessarily. Or incessantly evil? *although why would you? You know that it is your job ... nay, your DUTY to seek out and purge the galaxy of Steel Song vermin. We work so hard to squash them out of existence. It is sad that some generations past, they bred with ratkin, and ratkin produce litters as frequently as you and I brush our teeth. Oh incidentally, I've heard that Steel Songers don't bother brushing their teeth - due to the oversized rat teeth that have grown into their jaw bone.
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Post by slayernz on Jun 26, 2016 17:45:15 GMT -5
I wouldn't compare Steel Song to the Jedi. If anything, I'd compare them to the Vogons.
The biggest difference between Steel Song and Vogons are that Vogon ships are huge blocks of metal and concrete - very inefficient and brick like, but like a brick, would go through a house window without much effort. Steel Song ships, in contrast, are like very large cardboard boxes made out of ... well cardboard. The only non-cardboard parts are the catapults mounted for launching teapots. In recent generations of Steel Song ships, additional cling wrap was observed. I guess that helps a little with the void of deep space.
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Post by slayernz on Jun 5, 2016 3:40:09 GMT -5
redartrats certainly welcome to the forum and your captain did brilliantly well. Early versions of the game didn't care what your reputation was - you might have a mission to deliver a message to a palace of a faction that wanted you deader than a very dead thing. That made contracting a tad more difficult than it is now Even still, Steel Song doesn't like me landing on their worlds. My face is on so many wanted notices it isn't funny. Well it is because I still manage to land from time to time - maybe after you've blockaded their planets for decades or centuries, they just give up.
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Post by slayernz on May 31, 2016 23:17:38 GMT -5
You're a lame star trader if you haven't gone and blown up a dozen Steel Song ships recently. Go on - I know you want to ...
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Post by slayernz on May 26, 2016 22:45:27 GMT -5
Let's face it Rychart are the wannabe try-hards of the Syndicates. They aren't in the league of Devaltos, and can't stand up to the military might of Cadar. Really, it'd be like talking about Sharks, Giant Squids ... and guppies. Yes, Rychart are guppies. Lots in number, but quite inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. They are still significantly better than Steel Song, but only because Rychart control the center of the quadrant. Steel Song, on the other hand, have the ass-end south-west (where nobody bothers going). All they have going for them is their fashion sense ... Thulun, while better than Steel Song, are too self-obsessed with the numbers of layers of lacy frills on their garments, and layers of aristocracy. Ships are made by serfs, who have been beaten into servitude and kept uneducated. As such, they don't necessarily fly very well, but have matching curtains and carpet.
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Post by slayernz on May 25, 2016 17:20:55 GMT -5
So it's been a while since I've come here. Just checked the backlog of ST Updates, and it was probably ~July 2015, a bit before the new UI was implemented, when I stopped. I just submitted my Join the Lore character for the ST2 backer reward, and am getting a slight itch to start playing again... Can someone give me a brief rundown of major events since my departure? - Does slayernz still hate Steel Song?
- Does Cadar still shoot torpedoes?
- Does old Turdlip still look as bad as before?
- Can I have more than 1 Templar officer at a time now?
- Is the "endgame" Alien hunting experience still a bore, or it's improved?
- What's this thing about hats?? Who's Pang??
- Have the overall game difficulty levels been changed? I used to enjoy playing on Crazy the most.
- Any major changes to ship designer or ship upgrades that I should be aware of?
I've missed being here. Welcome back athios ... it's nice to have you back and flying through the void with us again To answer your questions: Steel Song and I have come to a very amicable arrangement. IF they work hard on staying out of the way of my ordinance, I will not try and kill them with it. Of course Cadar still shoot torpedoes. That's a silly question. If the Cadari collectively decided to focus on peace for more than a week, two thirds of the Cadarian economy would go down the tubes because of the impact to all the torp (and weapons) manufacturers Old Turdlip looks fine now. Well he did the last time I saw him floating through deep space. Coming across his body as I was traveling between the stars was an interesting story that I'll have to save for the spice hall one day. You can have more than one of the same officer already. It won't make any difference as the second officer doesn't stack. I'm not sure about the Templar Officer specifically though because the last one I met loved his Hydra so much that it became a health hazard for the rest of my crew. I've stopped hunting Aliens. They don't like me. I don't really like them. However, I do find it healthier and more life prolonging if I don't go out of my way to find them. Still, hunting Aliens hasn't really changed a great deal in recent years. Play BF for that type of fun There is nothing new about hats. Okay that's not quite true. Rychart merchants will go to great lengths telling you exactly WHAT is new about hats, but let's face it. They're hats. They're labelled "Made by the Rychart Hat Factory". And probably they're secretly made with slave Steel Song labor. Difficulty has been tweaked - with the ability to boost in at 1000 turns and things like that. Impossible is still impossible, but surprisingly doable. That's a complete contradiction, but again, if you've actually learned something in the lower difficulties, you might just survive. Note my comments about alien hunting Ship designer is still one of the coolest additions to the game in recent years. It's the reason why I built the Slayer NR1, NR2, NR3, NR4, and am now flying around with the NR3.1 (I found the NR4 just unbalanced and stupid, and stopped my cats from being in cat heaven), so I reverted to an earlier design. What to do now? Fill in your exploits (and why you've been away so long) in the Devaltos Spice Hall. Pick a song in the 1000 topics thread Fire a few torps in the torp thread Drink some Vudka or some Rouge. Shoot down a Steel Song ship. If you only have time to do one - always pick the last. Others will come in due course.
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Post by slayernz on May 22, 2016 4:57:11 GMT -5
who on earth surrenders to a space hive??? It'd be like surrendering to a Steel Song merchant!!!
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Post by slayernz on May 19, 2016 23:20:13 GMT -5
The ship painting option is not available in ST1 ... the labor costs are too high. I myself tried strapping a few steel song prisoners passengers to the outside of my hull with some paint and paint brushes. NOBODY told me that I needed to give them space suits ... OR bring them in during re-entry. It did annoy me though that they didn't even start the job. To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. I might vent more about it in the spice hall down the road.
Nonetheless, custom-paint or even altering key colors in ST is not possible - but hopefully is possible in ST2
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Post by slayernz on May 8, 2016 19:49:10 GMT -5
"We do not provide ETAs"
"Please update your review"
"There is a time and a place for Piracy"
"Death to Steel Song"
"We pronounce things differently to everyone else"
Okay ... so some of those aren't TB quotes - but they should be on bumper stickers all the same.
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Post by slayernz on May 8, 2016 18:03:09 GMT -5
It certainly seems like an impossible challenge to unlock every reward - and in fact, some are so frustrating that you want to pull your hair out, but they are all doable. What's even better is if you do invest the time to learn the game and its layers, you'll find that the rewards become easier and easier to unlock. I recently upgraded my phone, and have unlocked all but a small handful of awards/rewards. One captain unlocked the majority himself including the Independent Captain and Clan and Syndicate heroes. The hardest challenge was actually being NICE to Steel Song. They're back down to -49,160 reputation - where they belong!
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Post by slayernz on May 4, 2016 22:44:14 GMT -5
capthawkNope, no penalty at all. No rank, no permit, no cash penalty, and as there were no alliances, I didn't lose RP with any other faction either. Note: 1. As stated, if faction A and faction B are in alliance, attacking a faction A pirate WILL cause -ve RP on faction B 2. IF faction A and faction B are in solar war, then attacking a faction A pirate will cause a +ve RP for faction B 3. IF faction B is Steel Song, then you really really hope that faction A and faction B are allied. When they are in solar war, it's just plain annoying, and you end up just having to ignore and NOT attacking faction A. Of course, if faction A is Steel Song, then why stop at attacking pirate ships?
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Post by slayernz on May 3, 2016 23:28:04 GMT -5
violet a good rule of thumb is that once you've got yourself up and going and encounters aren't an issue, don't surrender to any ship. Especially not pirates. Why? Pirates are finicky and expect you to have some flimsy piece of virtual paper. You sometimes lose that paper through no fault of your own. Sure you blockaded that planet, or destroyed a merchant or two, but they started it your honor! It was their fault! Anyway ... if you surrender to a pirate and you don't have that piece of paper, you automatically get looted. How rude! You can't shoot them in return because they've already shot off in search of the next sucker. What happens if you ignore pirates? Well you have a TP, then they'll ignore you too, and you'll both go off on your merry way. IF you don't have a TP, then they'll turn around and be hostile to you. Assuming you've got an okay ship and good pilot skills, the encounter will be over very quickly in your favor. What's the risk? Okay, the good news is killing a pirate doesn't get you any -ve RP for that faction. That means if a Devaltos Pirate attacks you (and you defeat him), you won't lose any reputation with Devaltos. The bad news is that if Steel Song are allied with Devaltos and you defeat a Devaltos Pirate, you will lose RP with Steel Song. Wait, that's not bad news. Steel Song are always sticking their noses into things and should be smited with regularity. SSS = Smite Steel Song. It's on all of my ships and I've been lobbying Cadar to include it on their flag.
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