Death Warrants.

[boeu]

What good are they? You get assasination jods without them

[absimiliard]

You get paid more for those jobs with them.

[oldalchemist]

A Death Warrant ought to reduce negative rep when you take out someone on a contract job.

I'd like to see a more definite protection under Shalun Law. Maybe Warrants should be more expensive and/or require some sort of upkeep, either in money or in # of contracts taken per space year.

[absimiliard]

Hrmm. Perhaps my meat-brain is malfunctioning, but doesn't a rumor state that according to Shalun Law the crew and cargo of a legitimate target may be taken without repercussions?

(of course the rumor could be wrong, or I may be mis-attributing)

-abs

[boeu]

Good ideas there alchemist. And abs i hope that true cause i blow em all up whether im ment to let em live or not lol. Cadar rules

[absimiliard]

Yeah, I often go that route too Boeu. There's something seriously fun about the "take no prisoners" route.

That said, I find my captains live longer when my bounty hunters don't loot/press/destroy (cargo/crew/ship respectively). The reputation hits do seem to be lower, which is why I question if my memory of the rumor is correct. (and less rep-hits means it's easier to not catch a criminal charge from the Houses/Syndicates by paying your fines and collecting your pardons.)

For real serious play I can get twitchy enough about angering my potential patrons (the great Houses and Syndicates) that I only contract on Indeps. But usually there aren't enough independent scum around to keep my contract-slate full, so that's a pretty rare style.

Of late I'm mostly playing my smuggler, Snuggles McSnugglypants. (don't ask, it's safer that way)

-abs

[boeu]

At the moment ive got a Crazy Pierat. Trying for ships of strength or honor. Having no luck after 65 yrs atm. Best rep being+ 4 lol.

[absimiliard]

Ok, on the topic of rep, and speaking seriously (which is a little odd for me in this mood) I've found that for most of my playstyles I get an easy choice of two options for rep:

1. No one LOVES me, but no one hates me either. (rep. is positive, but low, with all Houses/Syndicates)

2. Someone REALLY LOVES me, and some other folks (or all others) REALLY HATE me. (very high rep w. 1-3 factions, and serious criminality to the others.)

Option #2 usually breaks down on House/Syndicate lines or is all about me having a serious hate-on for one particular faction.

Explorers are pretty much my only playstyle that ever hits the "Everybody loves like there's no tomorrow" stage with all factions.

(and crazy, genocidal, pirates are pretty much the only "Everyone hates me" characters I play, and that was pretty much just once, when I was going for the award for having everyone hate you)

-abs

[boeu]

Yeah got that award. But im really struggling to get either the 3 houses to love me or the 3 syndicates. Just cant seem to manage it no matter how careful i am.

[Tenebrous Pirate]

I am getting pretty close with my merchant on insane to having rank 18 and 151+ rep in all 6 factions. :-D

You just have to be very, very careful in what you do with who, and be willing to kill a lot of time when there are too many trade embargos going on.

[slayernz]

I got extremely close to the 151+ RP in all 6 factions ... and then that captain had an encounter with an alien in the cold darkness that is deep space. I would hope that the alien was a she ... but one could never be too sure. In any event, the last words the surviving crew heard from the captain were "Hell no, you aren't sticking that thing in there!"


Back on track, regarding RP, sure you can get protection from RP loss from the faction that created the contract. Hell, they'll love you even more. However, no matter what warrants, badges (badges, we don't need no steenkeng badges), or flashing red and blue lights we have, the faction of the fine and upstanding privateer you just riddled with barrage rounds will never say "Oh, you were just doing your job. We'll turn a blind eye".

No ... any faction who just had one of their own assassinated by yours truly will definitely not invite you to their next birthday party. Okay, they might not - Thuluns could be too stupid to rescind the invite

[oldalchemist]

I think Smugglers are best for the 'everybody loves me' play. If you watch your rumors, you make massive rep doing what you do best: Selling illegal goods.
Once you've got rank and permitting from everyone, you just have to keep your nose clean and watch out for independent pirates and aliens. Everyone else will let you pass. Keep your greed in check and keep your crew happy.
I'm on Crazy right now with just under 3 million spacebucks and I'm inching my way to the level 50 retirement award by running safe trade and stockpiling.
The hard part is getting to the 6 positive reputations.

[slayernz]

YOu know, if you play a smuggler, you should be able to buy and sell artifacts, weapons, electronics, and adult hat literature without having to purchase a trade permit from a faction.

Further, even if your rep is moderately negative (may be up to "War Criminal"), you should be able to access the exchange hall due to your "contacts"

[oldalchemist]

Maybe a smuggler rolls his tactics, stealth, or negotiation against the security rating of the planet to see if he can make secret transactions?

I didn't invest in this case of rowdy hats and fake mustaches just for fun!

[Cory Trese]

I would be down to add this, but how does it work? do you roll it once when you land? that might encourage land-spamming? if it is a button, how do we warn them it might mean battle?