|
|
Post by hayenne on Sept 1, 2011 5:55:32 GMT -5
Not sure whether this is an intended behaviour, but facing neutral [white] Merchants/Smugglers (with a negative faction reputation) shows you the Surrender button, instead of Acknowledge.
As they will not chase or fire at me unless I start doing so myself, I really see no use to obscure their desire to flee from you ASAP.
I (occasionally) surrendered my Insane captain to a neutral smuggler with an enormous negative faction rep (-490 or so) and the team executed me on site despite they did not even intend to engage my ship.
edit: Reproduced for Pirates too - I have rep with Pirate fraction, trade permit and death warrant. Pirate is [white], but Surrender button is shown. Surrendering is essentially the same as acknowledging.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cory Trese on Sept 1, 2011 10:41:38 GMT -5
I'm a little confused as to why you would say that "Surrender" and "Acknowledge are "essentially the same."
If you could explain that reasoning more, I may be able to help explain the game's rules in a way that clarifies how ST RPG is designed to work.
Acknowledge means to light a beacon and that both ships depart the immediate area of space from long range.
Surrender means to lock weapons, disengage the void Engine and await a boarding team.
Independents do not determine hostility to your ships based on your Faction Reputation -- they are unconcerned with how much esteem a far off Prince may have for the Captain. Thus, the independent ships are, for the most part, unconcerned with the Captain. They will retreat -- in the case of the Merchant and Smuggler, they will almost always retreat.
However, if your Captain surrenders to an Independent Captain a totally different result should be expected. The Independent Captain will board the surrendering ship, check the Cargo hold and verify that the Captain has no active Warrants with any Faction.
The Independent Captain may not value positive Reputation, but they are not above turning a Faction Captain over to the authorities for trial or in an extreme cases, executing the Captain. The Independent Captain may not like the Central Database, but he will take Credits when he can get them.
|
|
|
|
Post by hayenne on Sept 2, 2011 3:39:59 GMT -5
I'm a little confused as to why you would say that "Surrender" and "Acknowledge are "essentially the same." What I meant is there is no difference between 'acknowledging' and 'surrendering' to certain classes like merchants. They will ALWAYS just fly away, disregarding whether you surrendered or not. In this case, surrender only makes sense if the vessel is hostile to you; else 'acknowledge' sounds logically correct. Apparently the game does not see things this way and oft suggests me to surrender to neutral Indie's or Fraction merchants or smugglers, which have no intention to chase me whatsoever. They will retreat -- in the case of the Merchant and Smuggler, they will almost always retreat. Ouch. What is the scenario when they will not retreat? (Presuming I did not act in a hostile way) However, if your Captain surrenders to an Independent Captain a totally different result should be expected. The Independent Captain will board the surrendering ship, check the Cargo hold and verify that the Captain has no active Warrants with any Faction. Will Captain always board the ship, even if he is a merchant? Did I leave something amiss? I hope my explanations clear the matter! |
|
|
|
Post by Cory Trese on Sept 2, 2011 11:35:51 GMT -5
I'm a little confused as to why you would say that "Surrender" and "Acknowledge are "essentially the same." What I meant is there is no difference between 'acknowledging' and 'surrendering' to certain classes like merchants. They will ALWAYS just fly away, disregarding whether you surrendered or not. In this case, surrender only makes sense if the vessel is hostile to you; else 'acknowledge' sounds logically correct. Apparently the game does not see things this way and oft suggests me to surrender to neutral Indie's or Fraction merchants or smugglers, which have no intention to chase me whatsoever. Depending on the Faction Reputation and active Rumors in the Sector, Merchants and Smugglers have different behaviors for Surrender and Acknowledge. The two different buttons are shown based on the Captain's Reputation, Permits and the Sector's status. They buttons are actually different functions entirely and are triggered based on the conditions above. Therefore, I do not see the two as essentially the same -- I see them as fundamentally and completely different. The difference between surrendering and acknowledging is based on the factors of the relationship to the hostile ship. Depending on this relationship, your Captain will know if the ship can be Acknowledge or if Ignored/Retreat is necessary. Surrendering will preserve the Captain's reputation, conserve fuel and expose the Captain's Cargo hold to scanning as well as a check of the Captain's Faction records. Independent Captains will take it a step further and scan all Faction records. Retreat/Ignore will not preserve the Captain's reputation, consumes fuel but protected the Captain's cargo hold and avoid any legal entanglements or inspections. This conversation seems to be going in circles somewhat. I do not mean to be dense if I am misunderstanding the question/request I apologize. Any other senior forum members care to set me straight on this and help me find an actionable request in the thread? Thanks! |
|
|
|
Post by bansh33 on Mar 1, 2012 11:22:22 GMT -5
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but this is related to my more recent concern regarding foreign military ships searching you (presumably on the authority of God Himself) even in your home faction's territory. I think I can clarify here.
Let me break down the logic here (or try to). What I think Hayenne means is this:
1) Merchants and Smugglers always want to get away from you, regardless of your reputation with them.
2) When encountering either of the two above, the header color in the encounter screen is always white (indicating a non-hostile), regardless of faction reputation.
3) When reputation with the other faction is negative (exact amount is unknown to me), at some point the "Acknowledge" button becomes "Surrender."
4) Despite the non-hostile nature of the encounter, and the preferences of the other Smuggler/Merchant captain to get away as fast as possible without combat, Surrendering could cause your captain to be executed by a peaceful captain.
5) This behavior doesn't make sense in light of the above. Hayenne believes (and correct me if I'm wrong please) that "Surrender" should only appear if the opposing captain is either (a) hostile, or (b) has some motivation to search and seize regardless of hostile/non-hostile status (i.e. in the cases of military vessels or privateers).
6) As a separate point entirely, in the cases of pirates/privateers, when you possess positive rep with a faction and a trade permit, the "Surrender" button still appears even though the results are always the same as "Acknowledge." This is what hayenne meant by "Surrender and Acknowledge are essentially the same."
I think what confused the conversation is that #6 is unrelated to points 1-5, and that hayenne used "neutral" to mean 'non-hostile,' and you (Cory) took it to mean "Independent."
Hope this helps. Again, sorry to resurrect an old thread.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cory Trese on Mar 2, 2012 21:26:18 GMT -5
This is an interesting rule. I will meditate on it.
|
|
