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Post by mordechai on Jun 21, 2012 2:42:26 GMT -5
I do some contracts for a faction and the ally on the faction for which I'm doing the contract demotes me! (With friends like these...) I've noticed this with different combinations of Syndicate contractor and ally. For example, I just completed 3 contracts for Rychart and De Valtos (it's current ally) penalized me each completion. I'm currently running 4.4.7, but I started the game on a previous version (4.4.x) and it happened then, too.
Lvl: 45 BH on crazy
Nook Tablet
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Post by Feuerleitsystem on Jun 21, 2012 6:57:01 GMT -5
On the higher difficulty levels, even if you do contracts that only affect Independents, at least one faction won't appreciate your action. Try to hook up a political officer, sometimes it becomes clearer. Simple delivery missions into deep space turn out to actually been "live stock" deliveries of other factions agents.
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Post by slayernz on Jun 21, 2012 18:34:36 GMT -5
There are a couple of things that could have caused the reaction. When you sign up for a contract, check the subject of the contract.
In a scenario of:
Rychart allied with De Valtos
De Valtos allied with Cadar
De Valtos in Solar War with Steel Song
You could be at Rychart Prime and sign up for a contract to deliver some "honored guests". However, these Honored Guests are wanted by Syndicate Cadar.
Delivering the honored guests could definitely cause your RP with De Valtos to drop and/or you to be demoted. If Rychart was allied with Cadar, you could even see your RP with Rychart drop!
Same goes with capture/kill missions - if you do something against Cadar, then De Valtos will be grumpy.
Finally, even if you chose an assassination mission against a Steel Song target, when you finally close in combat, you might find that they are actually flying the Cadar flag. That means if you were to blow the ship out of the sky, De Valtos would get grumpy.
In Capture/Kill missions, if you are a BH, Military Captain, or if you have the Predator Tracking Array, do a Surveillance of the target first. That way if you see that it is a Cadar flag (and you have time), you can let the target go (acknowledge/retreat). Then you can do another surveillance, and another attempt. Funnily enough, the target may have switched flags (not to mention ships).
One last thing to note ... contracts are created on an individual person level not the faction level. This means although two factions may be allied, the individuals doing the contracts have their own motivations. A Rychart merchant may have had his cargo stolen by a particularly greedy De Valtos villain. That Rychart merchant would happily issue a contract to kill said De Valtos villain, even though Rychart and De Valtos are allied. Better to pay someone to do your own dirty work than get your reputation soiled.
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shallowthought
Exemplar
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Posts: 382
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Post by shallowthought on Jun 21, 2012 19:28:47 GMT -5
Enemy captains may appear under a different flag than was suggested by the contract. However, the flag does not guarantee that they are actually of that faction. The same applies to delivery missions - just because you go to (say) javat to drop off a package, does not mean that javat was the actual target.
After any mission is completed, a political officer will alert you as to the actual identity of the contract target.
I believe that contract target factions change more often:
1) on higher difficulty
2) later in the game
(this may not be correct, however).
Get yourself a political officer, even if it's just for a few contracts, and you'll see what's going on better.
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Post by slayernz on Jun 21, 2012 19:45:19 GMT -5
Hey Shallowthought ... I'm SURE I wrote my reply after your one ... did I just discover some temporal distortion field or sumfink?!? Oh never mind ... I think I was just thinking of Feuerleit's comment on getting a Political Officer. They do help clarify if the target isn't what you think it is  |
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Post by mordechai on Jun 24, 2012 2:55:29 GMT -5
I think Feuerleitsystem's "On the higher difficulty levels, even if you do contracts that only affect Independents," addressed the issue; I wasn't aware of it. Before concluding there was what I thought a bug,I tried to eliminate other possible issues, such as other alliances and not-so-independent Independence. shallowthought: "Get yourself a political officer." For a bounty hunter? With only three officer slots available, I don't think it's a good idea. slayernz:I release and reacquire whenever I see a flag I don't like. I've even been thinking of using it to get a flag I actually like, but with a maximum rank of 21 long since reached, I'm not sure it's worth the bother. Thanks to all. After ~8 month hiatus, it's nice to be back in the captain's chair again. |
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shallowthought
Exemplar
[ Patreon & Star Traders 2 Supporter ]
Posts: 382
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Post by shallowthought on Jun 24, 2012 9:03:07 GMT -5
Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, maybe start a new character? It will let you see what sort of trickery goes on - you could take a contract against cadar, who appears in a ship with thulun's flag, but actually turns out to be de valtos. without a political officer, you'd only see cadar and thulun, leading you to wonder why de valtos now hate you.
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